This is the second consecutive year that we have come up to Vail to see the NY Phil. And today we celebrate our third anniversary of our move to Denver. This is a nice way to celebrate.
It was a nice concert. Starting with the Roman Carnival Overture of Berlioz, and moving to the Walton Violin Concerto, played with relish by Gil Shaham. He is very entertaining to watch and a very talented performer. The piece was much more interesting that I expected, as I’m not a huge fan of Walton. The piece had a lot of energy and rhythm; at one point I thought Shaham might start dancing!
But the real reason to show up was the performance of Pictures at an Exhibition. This has always been one of my favorite pieces, and Ravel’s orchestration is amazing. (Who else would double tuba with harp?) We heard sections last week with the CSO. It was great to hear the full piece tonight, but I have to say the the Colorado Symphony’s percussion section was much better. They did have the advantage of performing in a concert hall, where this performance was outdoors. It’s always odd to hear an orchestra with no reverb, it really points out all the smallest problems when the instruments are right in your face.
But it was a lot of fun. We will be back tomorrow.
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