The Kirov

The Kirov Orchestra came to Berkeley this evening, Valery Gergiev conducting. It was an all Russian program: Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capricio espagnole", Borodin's "in the Stepps of Central Asia". Prokofiev's Piano Cncerto No. 1, Balakirev's "Oriental Fantasy", and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade". We were carried away. The highlight, to me, was the first violinist in "Scheherazade". There was a light, effortless, gypsy qauality to his playing that caused the whole performance to rise above anything we have heard before.