This week hasn’t been for me. I mentioned to my hair stylist this morning as I was getting a haircut that if this evening’s concert by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra wasn’t very good then I’d be fine with it because so little else this week has been. Expectations are certainly not everything, but they do have quite an impact. As Lothar Zagrosek began conducting Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Overture, I found my negative attitude quickly shifting. The piece begins soft and sweet with a wonderfully rich undertone. Take a medjool date, slice it lengthwise to remove the seed and then spread a very thin layer of a decent peanut butter across the inside and the taste will have all of the color and body of the beginning of this piece when it is done well. Zagrosek, who was conducting without a score, brought out every subtle thing that I could want out of the piece.
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