Return to SLSO -- Part One

I don't need to rehash all the reasons that the last 20 months have been rough for live performance. We, like many people, didn't go to a single live performance in 2020, and only started going sort of reluctantly in the latter half of 2021.

Throughout the pandemic, SLSO was very good about providing digital content and surveying subscribers to find out what they were looking for, both through the thick of lockdowns and upon preparing for the return to in-person performances. They are requiring both masks and proof of vaccination to attend shows for the time being, and also have much more if a build-your-own philosophy rather than a set concert series, which I love. This means my concern series can include some classical selections, but also movies and popular music.

So far, we've been to three shows. We took a Friday off work and went to a lovely but sparsely attended 10:30 a.m. performance comprised of the following pieces:

- Caroline Shaw, Entr'acte

- Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question

- Christopher Rouse, Rapture

- Sergei Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 3

This performance was conducted by Stephan Deneve, and I love going to his shows because he does a little intro where he explains why he selected the pieces he did, what they mean, etc. In the first half, my favorite piece was Entr'acte. Rachmaninoff, who took up the entire second half, obviously is a classic. 

For our second show, with Stephan again conducting, his pairing was inspired by a desire to highlight the "new" and remind the listeners that what we consider classics were, at one time, premieres. The pieces were:

- Carlos Simon, Fate Now Conquers

- Edvard Grieg, Piano Concerto in A Minor, op. 16

- Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 67

The Beethoven was, of course, phenomenal. The Grieg concerto was done in three movements, some of which I enjoyed more than others.  The Simon piece really was new - 2020 - and was tolerable because it was short.

We finished out this year's symphonies with a Bach spectacular:

- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Sinfonia in C Major, H. 659, Wq. 182/3

- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Cello Concerto in A Major, H. 439, Wq. 172

- Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat Major, BWV 1051

- Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV1046

It was a god show overall, but my favorite of the pieces was the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, which was chock full of viola duets that were so fun to witness.