Bows flying through the air

It's always nice when a cello soloist finishes his phrases with a flourish, but last Friday night while we were at the Kennedy Center watching the National Symphony, the cellist had such a flourish we practically saw bows flying through the air.

British cellist Steven Isserlis played the Haydn Cello Concerto in C Major for a highly appreciative crowd. His appearance and performance technique were striking, however. He has a lot of salt-and-pepper, long, curly hair that he tossed around. His hair and bow flinging were in great contrast to the fleet-fingered, light, and delicate way he played—made love to—his cello. While some cellists sit hunkered over their instruments, he sat upright with his head elevated, and instead of scrubbing the strings, he lightly caressed them with his bow.

The Haydn was preceded by a work I'd never before heard, the 1906 work Serenade, Op. 3, by Hungarian Leó Weiner. I found the work rather frothy and trivial, but under the steady hand of Maestro Iván Fischer, the NSO played with a lovely, tight, ensemble sound.

After the interval, the full orchestra returned to play Rachmaninoff's famous Symphony No. 2 in E minor. It was a very solid performance, and Fischer really punctuated the fourth and final movement with a lot of conducting acrobatics.

I was pleased to see the concertmistress looking better this week. She wore a long, three-quarter length sleeved blouse with rhinestone studded cuffs over a full floor length skirt.