symphony catch-up #2

Another MSO concert I attended this winter included Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1. Ordinarily seeing Shostakovich on the program causes my mood to sour, knowing that I'll have to endure about 40 minutes of dissonance. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The Violin Concerto No. 1 isn't as bad as most of Shostakovich's compositions. Plus I had the pleasure of hearing this piece played by Sarah Chang, who is most certainly one of the world's premier violinists. It was worth it for Ms. Chang's performance alone. In addition, the orchestra played Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, which is always enjoyable.