The Symphony Silicon Valley season is over. Opera San Jose ended last week. Part of me is happy to finally have a break. The other part is sad, and I know I’ll be feeling a bit lost for a while; it always takes a bit of time to adjust to no work.

The concert today went well, and I think all three were actually fine. I thought the soloists, violinist Axel Strauss and cellist Mark Kosower, were excellent, and I’d love to see them back with us sometime soon.

The Haydn, Symphony No. 102, is a funny little piece in some ways … I suppose typical of a lot of Haydn. Odd little twists, funny slightly off-kilter phrases at times, and some notes that make me laugh. I enjoyed playing it.

I was especially looking forward to Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements and I wasn’t disappointed. There’s a bit of jazz in it. There was one spot where I thought, “Is he quoting another composer here or is it just me?” And there were other great moments. It’s a fun piece to play!

And then the Brahms double was, at least for me, mostly a time to listen. Brahms wrote sparingly for second oboe in this piece, and I got to sit back and enjoy for nearly all of the work.

So now I continue with my teaching, but I have only one little performance coming up and then it’s musical silence for yours truly.

Sigh.
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