Hans Graf conducted two performances on the weekend.
Saturday brought us the Beethoven Violin Concerto, beautifully executed by Gil Shaham, and the complete Firebird (scroll down that page and go to "1910 Ballet Score"). As my companion said, what a difference from the Firebird Suite only which one usually hears at concerts. Another revelation! It was played without pause, but it was easy to follow from the titles of the individual scenes, and the BSO was at its best.
Sunday, we had Midori (she looks a bit older than in the photo) play Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No.1. In my opinion, she managed to breathe new life into that old war horse, it was very enjoyable. Midori, without much fanfare, is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of her famous debut with Zubin Metha and the New York Philharmonic.
Before the concerto, there was Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, always a pleasure to listen to. Although it's labeled Opus 90, it is a rather early piece, written when the composer was in his early twenties and traveling in Italy. The final piece was Richard Strauss' tone poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks). Again, one could easily follow the scene titles, which I could find online only in German, where they are a bit more elaborate than the ones listed in the program. We did enjoy it; and an aside: I wish that Strauss' tone poems woulod be performed more often.
The lawn behind the Music Shed fills up before the concert – rain or shine.
A good sound system allows for quite decent listening.
