The Washington Post: NSO’s ‘Wind & Wave’ celebrates the sea, but ignores the tide

The Washington Post
By Michael Andor Brodeur

The National Symphony Orchestra’s sea-and-sky themed program features violinist Anne Akiko Meyers in a world premiere by Michael Daugherty

This guy right here loves a theme. When orchestras build a night of music around a central idea — be it a topic, a color, an era, a season — it offers listeners a comfy couch of context that allows us to settle in and feel situated. Having a theme also allows us to hear pieces of music in fresh dialogue with one another.

More to the point of this review, sometimes a theme just provides a good enough excuse to invite old friends over for a party, as was the case with the National Symphony Orchestra’s “Wind & Wave” concert on Thursday (repeating Friday and Saturday nights). This sea-and-sky-inspired selection brought together works from Richard Wagner (the overture to “Der fliegende Holländer”), Samuel Barber (“Night Flight”) and Claude Debussy (“La Mer”).

Read more here.

Photo Credits: Jati Lindsay