I had the great pleasure of seeing and hearing Alisa Weilerstein and Inon Barnatan perform at Herbst Theatre on Thursday night.
My classical vocabulary is limited, so I'm always pleased when I have the chance to listen beforehand to works I'm going to be hearing in concert. That was especially nice this time with the Kodaly and the Golijov - I hadn't even heard of Golijov before this week, and I quite liked "Omaramor." (I'm intrigued by all the magnificent classical performers and music coming out of South America - I've come across articles on Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra several times this year.)
Joshua Kosman did a brief profile on Alisa, and her work to raise awareness about juvenile diabetes, a few days before her performance. I love Kosman's writing and criticism, but it's often frustrating: unlike, say, theatre, most classical music performances are one-tiime events, so when he reports on an outstanding event, there's no chance to go hear a subsequent performance (unless I want to fly to the next stop on the artist's schedule).
So often, live performances of classical music are a chance for me to become acquainted with new works. It was wonderful to discover the all these works, all new to me, and I am grateful to have gotten to hear them performed so passionately by two superb musicians.