[Steve]

Last Saturday evening I attended the Peoria Symphony Orchestra with guest Sarah Chang.

What a wonderful evening. The first selection was Dvorak Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 53. Miss Chang played beautifully.

Now the plus. I was seated in the second row, center. I able to hear Miss Chang's violin via direct (before reflections), and also fairly close to the mic.
I obtained some good information as to how her violin actually sounds.

Something I had not thought of, at least twice Miss Chang finished a solo portion, and then had to tear off a couple of broken strings from her bow. Just a little tidbit, that things can happen during a performance. Of course it did not affect her wonderful performance.

Unfortunately, she was not involved with the second selection, Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68. Still, it seemed the orchestra made a special effort to top their typical quality performance.

The whole evening was one of quality, elegance, just superb. One of those once in a lifetime experiences.

Cheers

Steve

[Tyson]

The Dvorak is a really good violin concerto, I'm not sure why it's not played more often.  Kind of like a slightly more lyrical, less tense version of the Brahms violin concerto.  Glad to see a major artist championing it.

[richidoo]

We heard her play with NC Symphony maybe 7-8 years ago. I forget what she played, it was a modern concerto, it blew me away.  I bought her 4 Seasons record, it's great. She is a major talent on the instrument. She has a special voice.   

[benguin]

Steve, we were at the same show- although we were seated about a third of the way back in the hall.  We thought her performance lived up to expectations as well- really made for a great first half of the evening.

On the bow strings, we've seen that happen a lot with particularly energetic performances and it's amazing how quickly the performers can pull off the stray strings and continue on.   Last year we were at a recital for a lead cellist who was going so vigorously that he broke a string--- and kept on going, adapting to use the remaining ones to counter.  It was really something to see.

Glad to see you had such a sweet spot for the performance!
  - Ben

[Steve]

The Dvorak is a really good violin concerto,

I agree Tyson. And this Dvorak concerto is good for Miss Chang to express her superior expertise. I liked the frequency range covered as this allowed one to hear all her violin could produce.
I have a YouTube of her playing the same selection, but the orchestra venue is physically different in that the side walls are not close to
the double bass, thus not fully reinforcing it (and other instruments) as much as in Peoria. The YouTube also sounds a little stuffy. Still, I can sense the direct sound of her violin.

Steve, we were at the same show- although we were seated about a third of the way back in the hall.  We thought her performance lived up to expectations as well- really made for a great first half of the evening.

On the bow strings, we've seen that happen a lot with particularly energetic performances and it's amazing how quickly the performers can pull off the stray strings and continue on.   Last year we were at a recital for a lead cellist who was going so vigorously that he broke a string--- and kept on going, adapting to use the remaining ones to counter.  It was really something to see.

Glad to see you had such a sweet spot for the performance!
  - Ben

Thanks Ben. Yes, I agree, I think we both had great spots. Somehow, when something happens like a broken string or else, it gives something extra special to the performance for me. But I do not know how to explain it. It was just a very enjoyable evening.
 
Cheers take care all.