This evening’s performance by the Philharmonic was themed around nature and fairy tales. Violinist Nicola Benedetti joined conductor Vladimir Jurowski and the Philharmonic for Karol Symanowski‘s Violin Concerto No 1 (Op, 35). This was a very interesting, contemporary work requiring both skilled soloist and conductor. Benedetti was a last-minute replacement for Janine Jansen.

The program concluded with a selection of music from Prokofiev‘s ballet, Cinderella. A year of Cinderellas as I just saw the Rossini interpretation of the story earlier this month at the Metropolitan Opera.

It’s always look forward with great anticipation any concert of the New York Philharmonic that has them performing Mahler. Tonight, I got to hear Mahler’s Symphony 3. Bernard Haitink (at the age of 85) conducted the Philharmonic, Women of the New York Choral Artists along with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

The was the glorious conclusion to a glorious day of beautiful music. (I saw the beautiful Bridges of Madison County earlier in the day).

I didn’t realize it, but this production is “touring” around the country with various orchestras. Like the New York Times says, this is largely a money-making venture for those orchestras that take on this project. While entertaining, music in each of the 14 Pixar films isn’t exactly the most engaging. But, as always, it was great to hear the Philharmonic. I am now interested in seeing some of these movies, not necessarily because of the music, but because of the animation. The music that interested me the most was that from The Incredibles. David Newman, from the famous Newman family (Alfred, Randy and Thomas ) conducted the performance. It was also fascinating to watch how the conductor coordinated the orchestra with the various montages from all 14 films.