Inmo Yang Plays Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto

I always love starting the weekend with a Utah Symphony concert and the one last night was amazing!  The orchestra began with Le chant du rossignol (The Song of the Nightingale) by Igor Stravinsky.  I have heard this piece performed before and I love it because it is so dynamic.  Stravinsky originally intended it as an opera but it was eventually used as the basis for a ballet by George Ballanchine (I definitely imagined movement in my mind as I listened).  The story follows a nightingale who sings for the Emperor of China but is forgotten when the Emperor favors a mechanical one given to him as a gift.  The nightingale flies away but feels pity when the Emperor is near death and returns again in order to restore him to health.  The nightingale is represented by a solo flute while the mechanical bird is represented by a solo oboe and it was really interesting to try to distinguish between the two of them.  Next, the orchestra was joined by soloist Inmo Yang to perform the Violin Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn.  This piece is incredibly romantic and atmospheric and I especially loved the sustained note played by the bassoon to transition from the first to the second movement.  Yang gave a thrilling and passionate performance and it was so much fun to watch his bow flying across the strings of the violin with seemingly impossible speed.  The appreciative audience leapt to their feet at the end of the concerto and Yang rewarded us with a beautiful encore.  The concert concluded with Symphony No. 3 by Johannes Brahms.  This piece is very dramatic and emotional and I particularly enjoyed the third movement because, to me, it sounded like the movie score of an epic historical romance that ends tragically.  I loved all of the back-and-forth themes played by the horns, the oboe, and the violins in the third movement and I also loved the muted ending of the final movement after all of the intensity that preceded it.  This concert was so beautiful and, in my opinion, it was the perfect way to unwind after a long week.  The same program will be performed again tonight and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).