A Concert Full of Fun |
Concerts of classical music are usually fairly serious affairs. One wears appropriate clothing, behaves in a suitable manner and listens to the music played by the orchestra or chamber ensemble with attention and interest.
But the concert of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra that we attended last week was different from the usual kind of event. It started with a rousing performance of Khachaturian’s ‘Mascarade’ suite, which deploys all the brass and percussion that the orchestra can muster. The five pieces that comprise the suite are familiar to most people, as they often accompany circus performances and arouse associations of clowns fooling around and falling down. It was difficult to remain serious as the various parts of the orchestra produced the jolly sounds under the vigorous........