And, yes, last night's program by The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall was quite spectacular, imho.
The program:
Messiaen - "Les offrandes oubliées"
Liszt - Piano Concerto, No. 2 in A Major - with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as the soloist.
Strauss - "Ein Heldenleben"
Ravel - "Le jardin féerique" from "Ma Mère L'Oye" (as an encore)
The playing and sonority was truly beautiful throughout. The horns, the winds(!), the brass, the percussion... Wow! And Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin truly crafted some wonderful interpretations of all the pieces on the program. There were a few times when I was genuinely moved to tears - well, at least tearing up - by the quality of the music-making in the Hall last night.
*As and added bonus, my fried, Joe, was able to arrange for me to head backstage during intermission to see M. Thibaudet again. It turned out to be a bit of a rushed meeting, but it was fun nonetheless, and it was nice getting see "J-Y's" diamond-studded dog-tag pendant up close... And get a picture too.