Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra of Columbus (2/28)

This concert, at Central Presbyterian Church, featured three works. The first was a string piece by Bach, the third Brandenburg Concerto. That's probably my favorite of the six Brandenburgs and I enjoyed it very much. After that, the full orchestra did one of the night music movements of Mahler's Seventh Symphony. It seems odd for an orchestra of about fifty musicians to do this piece but it seemed to work OK. Mahler is one of those late romantic composers who was bent on creating the Greatest Masterpieces in the History of Civilization and the work seems bloated and excessive to me. But certainly he was a very skilled composer and there are plenty of gorgeous moments in this movement. The concert concluded with three dances from Manuel DeFalla's ballet score, The Three Cornered Hat. It is an unusual piece and it was awkward to play. The final dance, as DeFalla called it, had plenty of energy and was my favorite of the three.