Scotch snaps

Ludwig van's piano concerto in b-flat minor.

Huli, you would have loved this performance, as I did. Absolutely one-two-three-TRAVEL!

Zemlinsky's Eine Florentinische Tragödie, on the other hand, was entirely beyond me. In general, opera plots are pretty thin--its magic is that alchemy of theater, music, and language. Strip away the theater and the music (to my untrained ears, it was more random sound than music) and all you have is language. As much as I enjoy the sound of German and Oscar Wilde's wit, the performance was 49 excruciating minutes grappling with wakefulness. Call me unsophisticated--in my heart, I want the rich melodies that will stay with me until sleep.