Well, it was time for my live music experience of the year.  Once again I
chose a Concert at Round Top, half way between Houston and Austin Texas.

If this reads like a plug for the summer festival at Round Top...well,
so be it.  When I attend a concert there I am reminded why I like hearing
music there and less so at other halls.  The hall is like a large barn.
It has a concrete floor, plastic chairs...the kind you buy at the grocery
store.  The walls and ceiling are beautifully carved wood.  The sound is
so live you can hear a cricket.  Normally that would be murder with many
audiences, coughing, unwrapping candies, talking, etc.  Not so at Round
Top.  Last night their orchestra, some of the finest college age musicians
from all over, gave an outstanding concert which included the Dvorak Cello
Concerto and the Lutoslawski Concerto for orchestra.  For those of you who
know me, I was there for the Lutoslawski.

The last time I heard that work in concert was when the composer conducted
the Houston Symphony.  I still have a tape of the broadcast.  With about
five recordings of that work, this was the most engaging performance I have
ever heard.  The audience was wildly enthusiastic.  I can honestly say that
during the quiet passages you "could hear a pin drop."

This student orchestra played their hearts out.  It was obvious they
loved the music.  I am no stranger to excellent orchestras.  These young
musicians played at the level of the Dallas or Houston Symphony Orchestras
at their best.  They had less than a week for rehearsals.  I was amazed.

Peter Bay's conducting was beautifully balanced and quite
simply...brilliant.

While I am rather pessimitic about the future of art music, last nights'
concert was able to dispell some of that negative thinking.

Karl