Whenever I start to feel a bit jaded about music, there are nights like last night, when I was privileged to witness the Berlin Philharmonic - arguably the greatest orchestra in the world – open Carnegie Hall's 123rd season. This was my first opening night at Carnegie – I was supposed to go last year, but was stopped en route by an inflatable rat – and even though last night's concert was a short 90 minutes of crowd-pleasing romanticism by Rachmaninoff, Bruch and Stravinsky, Simon, Anne-Sophie and the Berliners didn't hold anything back. The Times has a full rundown here.
Berlin will be in town for a full week, including three more concerts at Carnegie and two performances of Peter Sellars' startling production of Bach's St. Matthew Passion at the Park Avenue Armory, which opens the fifth edition of Lincoln Center's White Light Festival. We'll be there for all of it; check back soon.
More pics from last night's concert on the photo page.
