St. Louis Symphony

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra paid a visit to Columbia this weekend; Sarah and I were in attendance. The program of Glinka's Russlan and Ludmilla Overture (1842), Brahms' Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn (1873), and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor (1888) was exceptionally executed--technically superb and musically passionate--but so narrow in scope as to make the Tchaikovsky masterwork come off as a generally unmoving finale. I mean, was nothing written for orchestra outside this band of a mere four decades?

I was even more disappointed when I reviewed just this year's (right--all of two months!) repertoire on the orchestra's web site, which included some of these gems, any of which would have provided some musical variety and greatly enhanced the concert: Tippet's Suite in D, Elgar's Cello Concerto in D minor, Haydn's Symphony No. 92 in G major, Britten's Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, or even Seven Early Songs by Berg.

Not to say the performance was lacking in any way. Just a bit too much of the same, if you get my meaning.