Friday, January 18, 2008

Music, and no snow


The snow is supposed to swing south of us this time. That always seems so bizarre, but I'm not complaining. It is supposed to be pretty cold. We'll have to wait to see what it looks like when we get up in the morning. We didn't have anything to do tomorrow anyway. The weather-guesser that we watch says that we should get a minimal amount of snow, just cold and windy.

We went to the Symphony tonight - an excellent performance as usual. We had a guest conductor - a young Australian, currently living in Germany. This was his U.S. debut, and he should have a great career ahead of him. The program opened with Wagner's Overture to The Flying Dutchman and Haydn's Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra. The trumpet soloist was wonderful!

The main selection was Beethoven's 5th Symphony. It may be over-performed and familiar, but that's because it is a magnificent work. The opening four notes, DaDaDa DUM, are probably the most famous in orchestral music. It was interesting to read in the program that Beethoven wrote his 5th and 6th symphonies during a time when he was realizing that he was going deaf - an unimaginable tragedy for a musician. His frustration and depression pours out into this emotional piece. And, at it's conclusion, it will always bring the audience to its feet. Tonight was no exception.

Today's photo is heroic architecture from Vienna - the Austrian Parliament Building.

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