A very full day and a great night with the SSO

I have been playing the Akiko Suwanai recording of the Dvorak Violin Concerto this past week because of Lara St John's concert with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra tonight.  David Smith was their guest conductor and I liked how he introduced Smetana's Má vlast. Both kids stayed awake and that's a testament to the quality of the concert tonight!  We got tickets for the family and the kids played with some other Saskatoon Suzuki Strings students before the concert in the lobby.

I must admit I'm not much of a Dvorak or Czech music fan, but I certainly can see that changing.  I've always enjoyed the playing of the Czech Philharmonic and Ivan Moravec (their wonderful Brahms concerti recordings!).  What has been occupying my ears more this week has been late Beethoven piano sonatas played by Christoph Eschenbach.  He's had quite a life and what a pianist!  Opus 109 (sonata number 30) takes me to the same plane of enjoyment and admiration as I have for Schumann's Opus 17 and Brahms Opus 118, Nr 2.  I was listening to it last week as background music when it just ended (and I thought, wow, that moved me).  I've sure taken a long time to getting around to listening to more Beethoven sonatas.  There is much more to discover.  More on that in the future.

Manuscript of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Nr 30