Symphony : Mozart and Elgar
Saturday was the latest in our Boston Symphony subscription series.
The program was:
- Mozart
- Symphony No. 38 in D Major K.504 “Prague”
- Elgar
- Violin Concerto in b minor, Op. 61
Guest conductor was Sir Colin Davis, guest violin soloist was Nikolaj Znaider of Denmark.
Overall, it was good. It was certainly technically great. But, like the Saint-Saens piece a few weeks ago, it was missing something. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was the playing, but some emotion or something was missing. After leaving the concert hall, neither my friend nor I could hum either tune. Davis has a strange conducting style, and Znaider is, perhaps, the tallest person I’ve ever seen!
Maybe I just don’t absorb melodic music that well. (My favorites this year have all be the out there stuff like Stravinsky’s Petrushka and Bartok’s Mandarin.)
I’m still in awe of Symphony Hall, though. The acoustics are second to none.
We also found out about something the BSO doesn’t really advertise, I suppose because the audience size is so limited, but they have “Chamber Teas” on some non-concert Fridays. I may see if I can get into one of those.
Next up: Debussy, Lieberson, and Schubert. But it’s not until MARCH 27!!! I may not be able to last that long without doing something. And through the absolute worst part of winter, too! I see the Opera Boston is staging a world premier in February. Maybe I’ll go see what that’s about. Or maybe something else is going on.
