Parts 0 and IV

On the Thursday preceding the weekend I am still (!) describing, the MIT choirs held their biannual public sing. At an auspicious time each semester (in this case, campus preview weekend), the groups come together to sing in lobby 10, the formal centre of the MIT campus. We heard them through the end of the physics colloquium, and when it finished I went out to watch from the balcony. I spotted a couple of Gilbert and Sullivan friends, who also spotted me and waved me down to join in.

We sang a piece from (I am guessing) Thompson's Nativity According to St Luke, O Fortuna by Orff, and Alleluia, also by Thompson. There may have been others, but not many.

While chatting with Davie after it finished, he informed me that he was looking for someone to whom to sell two tickets to the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, playing in Boston that Sunday. He had planned to go with a friend, but found out later that he was required to perform with his chorus, at MIT's 150th anniversary convocation. I offered to purchase the tickets, and find someone with whom to go.

I therefore got in touch with Anna, my most enthusiastic concert-going friend, and she happily joined me.

The first piece the orchestra performed was Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture. It was magnificent. I'm a big believer in the strings being the main feature in an orchestral piece, and that was the case. It seemed to be a perfect example of why I would want to go to listen to an orchestra.

The second was Shostakovich's Cello Concerto, with soloist Alisa Weilerstein. Again I liked the orchestra, but I wasn't such a fan of the solo cello. I'm sure Ms Weilerstein was doing very well at achieving the composer's intentions, but sometimes I felt that entailed her working very hard to make the cello sound worse than it could. I'm somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to music, and I like more flow than was provided.

The third was Brahm's Fourth Symphony. I remember very little about this piece (that's what comes from being at the end of a long weekend of music!), but I enjoyed it, particularly the buildup of emotion through the piece to a climax towards the middle-end.

The orchestra performed an encore: unusual in my experience for an orchestra, but perhaps that's because I mostly see the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which plays a subscription season. The encore was Elgar's Nimrod, a perfect piece to end an orchestral concert. It's dramatic and passionate, without feeling like the emotion is pulling itself apart. It's famous, and the right length for an encore: just leaving us wishing for more.

The orchestra was naturally the highest quality of production I saw, but I will just as happily see any of the other groups if I get the chance in the future: and I dare say I will!