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Thu, 28 Jan 1999 13:15:18 -0500 |
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Unless one of our Swedish listers wishes to contradict me, I seem to
remember that one of the longest encores ever was 45 minutes long.
This was Hugo Alfven's 4th symphony (which I like very much, although it
sometimes arouses sharp criticism). Its premiere in Stockholm was less
than successful, as was the case for many premieres of Swedish masterworks
in Sweden -- critics called it Sinfonia erotica, which was not supposed to
be appreciative, I think. In Vienna (Wien), it was a tremendous success.
The audience asked for an encore, and since the work is in one movement
(while remaining a symphony, one reason why Richard Strauss admired it),
the Wiener Philharmoniker played the whole of it again. And it was
performed again several consecutive nights in unscheduled concerts.
Some performers are *against* encores, for instance French pianist
Claude Helffer. Encores are not compatible with his notion of a lucidly
constructed program. Well, I personally play encores (not ten encores
as some do), but Helffer's view stands to reason.
Best wishes,
Thanh-Tam Le
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