Sunday, November 30, 2008

"Hunting" at Heinz Hall

I have been in Pittsburgh since Wednesday for the long Thanksgiving weekend. On Friday evening, my cousin Barbara and I headed to Heinz Hall to hear works by Mozart and Strauss (Johann Jr. and Josef) performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

It was a delightful concert that included Mozart's well-known Concert No. 21 in C Major and several of the Strauss brothers' great polkas. The PSO was under the baton of its new music director, Manfred Honeck. Lars Vogt was at the piano for the Mozart.

Honeck smiled as he remarked from the stage that the PSO's performance of the Strauss polka-schnell "Auf der Jagd" (Hunting) coincided with the opening day of Pennsylvania's deer hunting season on Monday. A PSO member in white tie even donned an orange hat and some camouflage and walked among the orchestra members, raising a rifle in the air at the "firing" moments of the piece.

For this week's very belated "YouTube clip for a peaceful weekend," here is a version of "Auf der Jagd."

Friede:

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