The pre-concert talks prior to Philharmonic concerts are always a great place to learn about the program. Saturday evening’s concert offered Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3. Lecturer Fred Plotkin organized his talk around two threads that run through both works – lesser-known and Vienna. I would have never known or understoon the connection between the two pieces had I not attended the lecture.

The soloist on the Mozart was pianist and audience favorite, Emmanuel Ax. While the Bruckner is not a solo piece, the brass section, particular principal horn Philip Myers had plenty of work for the second half.

In this all-American program (and all-Ivy League as I learned in the pre-concert talk), we got hear music from three generations of contemporary composers: Christopher Rouse (Prospero’s Room), Leonard Bernstein (Serenade for Violin, String Orchestra, Harp, and Percussion), and Charles Ives (Symphony #4). For some, a full concert of contemporary music might seem a bit much, but this evening’s collection served up a rather satisfying experience, especially with the addition of conductor, Alan Gilbert and violin soloist, Joshua Bell.

I was thinking about why I enjoy attending the Philharmonic so much. It has to do with excellence. Even as an audience member, I get to be a part of a musical event that embodies what we think of as excellence. While each program contains choices of musical selections that may or may not appeal, the performance is always of the highest quality. And that is very satisfying.