Last night's performance at the Kennedy Center by the Cleveland Orchestra was the perfect tonic for an otherwise exhausting trip to the capitol city. Work (shhhh I'm a lobbyist) brought me to the land of lobbyists and lawyers. Flying across country, it seemed inevitable that everything would be delayed and I would be catching shuttles, hotel front desk people, and of course gate attendants in the nick of time.
Four hours of sleep later and a full day of work related stuff, my ears were ready for the Cleveland Orchestra.
As I was sitting in the Kennedy Center, it occurred to me that at the conclusion of the concert I would have heard three of the five major American orchestras perform live.
To me the program was an interesting mix of musical styles. Mozart's Symphony No.28 started the night off, followed by Adams' Guide to Strange Places.
Under normal circumstances I like John Adams. However, last night, the second piece on the program stayed around too long for my tastes. I don't think it helped that I was coping with a pretty intense tension headache. The headache made listening to Guide difficult. Propulsive, wild, and percussive aren't exactly the best adjectives for someone with a bad headache.
At intermission I tried to get the headache under control with some fresh air and water. I didn't want my enjoyment of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony to suffer. Headache coming along, I settled into my chair and heard the orchestra turn out a very fine performance of the sixth symphony.
Once I am finished with my work in D.C. I will attempt to analyze the concert and the performance more deliberately.
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