Mixed Arias by Mozart, Bizet and Verdi - Gershwin and jazz standards

Dutch Radio 4's Concerthuis has been another splendid discovery. I have listened to two full concerts via my iPad connected to the hifi setup. One was a gala concert from May this year with the soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci and the Rotterdam Philharmonic led by Christoph Ulrich Meier.  I was browsing the composer list looking for something short and familiar to listen to. Hitting Bizet brought me to this concert. The soloist wasn't familiar at all. A short snippet from Carmen, however, revealed a quite interesting voice, somewhere in between the soprano and mezzo range. I looked a few things up which revealed an artist with an unconventional career, spanning very different repertoires (from Renaissance to contemporary) and spending very little time in the recording studio (so small wonder I'd never heard of her). So I listened on, particularly enjoyed the Carmen pieces and the beautiful concluding aria from Verdi's Don Carlos. The RPO played very well, the sound from De Doelen concert hall was very good and the audience was disciplined but enthusiastic. Altogether an enjoyable listening experience, in its vibrant live ambience quite different from an average studio recording.

The other concert was even to a greater extent a case of serendipity. I wanted to check what was available under 'Bartok', but my finger selected 'Basie' instead. So I ended up with a performance of the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, with pieces by Basie, Ellington and Gershwin, as well as a transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite for large jazz ensemble. Same pattern here: I checked one of the shorter pieces and was sucked right in. Wow, this was a fantastic occasion with the orchestra playing their butts off. The Tchaikovsky was a good curtain raiser. Rudolf Brautigam was on the piano in a swinging version of  Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. I was captivated by the Basie and Ellington standards. Gershwin's I Got Rhtyhm was a rousing finale, with the orchestra under full steam. The sound from the Concertgebouw was astonishingly good, with the brass section cutting like laser beam through the musical fabric. It was a real treat. Clearly, the Concerthuis has a lot to offer.