Blomstedt, week 2. This week he led two famous symphonies, so the hall was packed, and ready to applaud at every full stop. Last week only one of the symphonies was famous, so the hall was half-empty.
The two famous symphonies were Beethoven 2, by all odds his most cheerful, and Brahms 4, by all odds his most melancholy. Excellent renditions both, both for little touches and large-scale sweep. I was most impressed by some of the transitions, like the way Beethoven's slow introduction melted into the allegro, or how the second subject in Brahms's andante floated out of the first.
Came up very early, so as to have time, finally, to see the exhibit portion of the Violins of Hope program, which is only open 4 hours in the afternoon, 4 days a week. (A fact which it took me 2 phone calls to discover, but I see that at least now they've taken my advice and posted the hours at the exhibit itself.) Quite a few violins, mostly hung to show the backs, several of which have inlaid Mogen Davids, some in stone and some in distinctive wood. Long exhibit notes on the histories of the particular violins, laid down on the bottoms of large upright cases, are not very readable that way.
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