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It was a great concert! The two soloists were magnificent, and played beautifully off each other. The audience responded with a thunderous standing ovation, although I'm sure that was as much for the quality of the playing (both are members of the orchestra) as for the music. It is a wonderful-sounding orchestra (it can be heard on a couple of Naxos releases), and the conductor shaped the music well - although he eschewed the hell-bent-for-leather tempi in the outer movements (especially last) which I think the composer intended. This might have been because rehearsal time was at a premium and the orchestra certainly hadn't played the piece before. The performance was not, however, lacking in energy.

There were a couple of "show biz" moments (mistakes happen in live performances!): at one point the violinist left out a measure - but it was because her music started to fall off the stand and was caught at the last second by a near-by colleague - who held it in place with his bow until the end of the movement! Woodwinds also made an early entrance in the 3rd movement, but I doubt it was noticeable to anyone who wasn't following a score (Yes, I did!).

The conductor spoke briefly about the piece before the performance. Thankfully, he pronounced Rozsa correctly! When he mentioned that the composer had also composed the music for BEN-HUR, the gentlemen next to me let out an audible sigh. Of recognition?

The music in the second half was equally wonderful, although of a very different aesthetic; I can't help but wonder what Rozsa would have made of it.

As you can see, the program was not entirely accurate! Rozsa wrote some pretty great pieces, including this one, after he died in 1955! Amazing! (Many thanks to Hank for helping me get these posted.)

I will try to remind everyone when the broadcast is near (June 20, 1:00 PM EDT) - it will definitely be worth tuning in!