June 8, 2006
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Mahlermania hits DC this weekend, as the National Symphony Orchestra ends its 75th season with three sold-out performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, aka the "Symphony of a Thousand." 

Mahler thought it was the greatest thing he had ever done: “It is something the world has never heard the likes of before,” he wrote, shortly after finishing the work in 1906. “Imagine the universe beginning to ring and resound. There are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving in their orbits."

I have a longish walk-up to it in the Washington Post today -- any insight in it is due to the extraordinary scholar Henry-Louis de La Grange, who patiently and eloquently opened up the work for me from his home in Switzerland.

 

Christina AmmiratiLast night, of course, was the musical event of the season: the Spring Concert of Hollin Meadows Elementary School, held in the Blazin' Bee Cafe (Mottos: Have a Nice Lunch! Stay in Your Seat!).  Band director Christina Ammirati was amazing as always -- anyone who can take sixty-three kids, fashion them into a razor-sharp band, and leave them all excited and inspired at the end is a pure golden gift to the musical community.

Imaginative programming and tight, exciting playing dominated the evening, as they have throughout Ammirati's three-year reign.  The players put on water wings for Les Taylor's "Shark Attack," paper bags were passed around for the cannons in Tchaikovsky's "Overture 1812", and the shouted conclusion to "Let's Go Band!" rivaled Beethoven's Ninth for sheer adrenalin-pumping excitement. Dynamite playing from all the kids, who are too numerous to mention by name -- except for Leila, of course, because, hey -- it's my blog.