Now that the holidays are over (I will resume my winter break movie commentaries tomorrow) I went back to my usual Friday night ritual! I found myself at Abravanel Hall for a thrilling Utah Symphony concert featuring the music of Haydn and Dvorak. Despite what it said in the program, the orchestra began with the exciting and energetic Slavonic Dance No. 8 with an equally energetic Thierry Fischer on the podium! After this piece, Fischer addressed the audience telling us that a new year should be filled with contrasts and surprises and so the orchestra would alternate between the movements of Haydn's Symphony No. 8 and Dvorak's Slavonic Dances (six of them). This made for a very lively evening as I eagerly anticipated what I would hear next because I kind of lost track of which was which and just enjoyed the music without overthinking it. The two pieces worked surprisingly well together and I loved Fischer's enthusiasm! My favorite was the second movement of the Haydn because it is romantic and contemplative with just a hint of melancholy and the orchestra played it with a lot of expression. After the intermission the orchestra returned to play Dvorak's Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn, a frequent guest of the Utah Symphony, as the soloist. It is easy to see why Abravanel Hall was packed almost to capacity because Hahn is such a dynamic and brilliant performer. I loved watching her fingers fly across her violin and I definitely enjoyed her performance. So did the rest of the crowd who jumped to their feat in a thunderous ovation! She was brought back to the stage numerous times and even favored us with a beautiful encore. It was a spectacular evening and I recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance of the same program (go here).
Note: I almost always get a ticket to the first Utah Symphony concert of the year because it is usually so hard to go back to school after the holidays and I need something to look forward to in order to make it through! However, I had a great week with my students so this concert was the cherry on top!