Yesterday, I finally went to the first symphony concert of my subscription. Originally, I was supposed to have gone to a concert over a month ago already, but it was the night that hurricane Ike hit, so I rescheduled it. The new concert was yesterday afternoon, Beethoven 2 and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo.
Beethoven, of course, was fantastic. The cello solist, 25-year-old Alisa Wellerstein, was also very good, although I typically enjoy the entire orchestra more than solists. Therefore, I didn’t like Tchaikovsky as much as Beethoven’s 2nd Symphony. The first of the smaller pieces, “Adagio con Variationi” for cello and orchestra by Respighi was just amazing. Instantly I knew again why I am going to symphony concerts. Here, the interplay between the cello solo and the orchestra was perfect. Finally, Debussy’s “La Mer” was impressive as well.
In a few minutes I will hand out and proctor the COMP 202 midterm. Early today a student told me that he is sick and may not be able to take the exam. I said I will write a make-up exam and schedule a new time for him to take it. I spent the early afternoon writing a second midterm, but now it appears he feels better. If he does take the exam and I end up not needing the make-up exam (@ He ended up not taking the exam, so I need the make-up exam. @), I will probably just use the questions for the final.
On Wednesday I’ll be pulling double duty when it comes to teaching, as Corky has asked me to sub in for him in his COMP 311 class.
