Music for the savaged soul

God blessed me last night with beautiful French music, courtesy of our Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and three wonderful guest performers. The program opened with Ravel's Mother Goose Suite (here performed by the University of Illinois Philharmonia Orchestra:

I loved Debussy's Danses Sacrée et Profane, in particular the performance by a gifted high school student-harpist named Hanna Blalock (performed here by Amy Turk and the Woking Symphony Orchestra). Enjoy:

Also loved Ravel's Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte, here performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa:

And Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto, which featured another young star named Julian Schwarz (performed here by the great Mstislav Rostropovich in 1977):

... as well as Saint-Saëns' Havanaise and Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, which featured Greensboro's own violinist extraordinaire Stefani Collins (here performed by the legendary Jascha Heifetz):

Here's Heifetz again, performing the evening's finale, Saint-Saëns' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso:

Great music is a wonderful thing.