concert review: San Jose Chamber Orchestra

So what's my first concert of the calendar year? An editorial request to review an SJCO potpourri concerto concert. Did a little research in advance on the unfamiliar Mendelssohn piece, and found the arranger at intermission to ask him a couple questions about what he did. But I didn't have to ask anybody about the theme of the klezmeresque encore: I recognized that song from childhood right away.

Another review was actually written before the turn of the year, though not published until afterwards: for my sins I had to listen to SFS's recording of Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, which I'd already sat through in concert. At least with the recording I could prop up the score in front of me and watch that go by, a process that almost inevitably leads me to greater appreciation of the music, so you get a more positive review.