Reposting from FB:
At The Kansas City Symphony on Friday night I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Leila Josefowicz play the extraordinary Violin Concerto No. 2 by the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski. She and it rank right up there as one of the most ferocious instrumental performances I've ever witnessed. Given the composer's Polish identity, I am only wondering if the piece, from 1933, can be heard as a response not only to personal ill health (Szymanowski died four years later and this was his last major work) but to the ugliness then rising in Europe. (Just a thought; more study needed.)
This morning, I'm watching Josefowicz, via YouTube, play a John Adams violin concerto, which rivals Szymanowski's ferocity. In any case, you have two more opportunities to see her with the very fine KC band, and its pinpoint leader Matthias Pintscher— tonight (Saturday) and Sunday afternoon (she'll certainly ignite some pre-Super Bowl fireworks).
Earlier this season, Josefowicz played the Szymanowski concerto with the NY Philharmonic. Maybe a recording will eventually make its way to the YT screen. I can't say I've followed Josefowicz's career from apparent child prodigy to MacArthur "genius grant" and beyond, but I will certainly pay more attention now. Also on the KC Symphony program is Ravel's lovely "Mother Goose" suite and the epic Symphony No. 5 by Prokofiev.
Astoundingly, when I mentioned to a restaurant manager that we were heading to the Symphony last night, he knew that the Prokofiev was on the program and said he'd read the composer's autobiography when he was young. After 300 pages, he told me, Prokofiev was still only 17. Go figure. What's not to like about a night on the town?
Here’s on of those YT vids, with Leila J in John Adams’ concerto: