Enough is Enough!

"Possibility of some accumulating snow this weekend."
Normally I would react to words like these the way any 5 year old does, even though I'm far from being that young anymore: with great joy and anticipation. I am an avid skier, and one of those people that just can't get enough snow. I always find it magical the way snow transforms any landscape into something so clean and pure (at least for a short while, here in the city). But it's almost April in Baltimore people! I have already had a run or two outside, in shorts and short sleeve shirts, and have reluctantly given up any dreams of doing just a few more runs in a neighborhood ski resort. Enough is enough! Daffodils need to come up unhindered, tulips don't need to fight through the the white stuff to display their rainbow colors, and forsythia won't be happy to have its sunny flowers weighted down by a blanket of white.

Whether it happens or not, the BSO is playing some sunny pieces on the first half of its concerts this weekend. Another of our favorite guest conductors, Yan Pascal Tortelier, is leading us in the elegant Valses Nobles and Sentimentales by Ravel as well as Grieg's melodious and very romantic Piano Concerto with my fellow alumnus from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Orion Weiss as a soloist. The second half displays the orchestra in Lutoslawski's powerful and very unique-sounding Concerto for Orchestra. Don't miss it!

-Ivan Stefanovic