A night at the symphony

It is sometimes difficult to find one word to describe an evening at the symphony. But on Friday, June 1, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra relieved me of this burden: The concert was genius.

That adjective aptly describes the evening with vocal phenomenon Bobby McFerrin and teenage piano prodigy Kit Armstrong. Armstrong, 15, performed first; he won a standing ovation for his Mozart D minor Piano Concerto, K.466.

The applause was well deserved. His playing was not overdone or ostentatious — both refreshing and reassuring to see in a young pianist. He knew how to blend with the orchestra and to hold back just enough to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Perhaps the best moment of the night was when Armstrong and McFerrin improvised an encore to the Mozart. Toward the end, McFerrin vocalized some themes, which Armstrong echoed on the piano in a playful banter. He topped it off with a harmonized, improvised run.

That won him another standing ovation.

Many in the audience were probably already familiar with McFerrin, the man responsible for the seminal 1988 smash (and recipient of a Grammy for Best Song) “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” And who could resist this one-man a cappella group? His vocal improvisation pieces ranged from baroque to modern, and the audience received a rare treat when it got to harmonize on bass for him.

Which brings us to McFerrin’s famous rendition of “The Wizard of Oz” in fast-forward. He vocalized all the parts himself, mimicked characters (his Wicked Witch is uncanny) and threw in a few tornadoes. That alone would have given us our money’s worth.

But to top it all off, the symphony did not disappoint with Mendelssohn’s famous Italian Symphony. The winds were especially light and pleasant, delivering a remarkable final movement.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra got it right. Nothing but “genius” describes it.

SPECIAL SECTION: Arts and Entertainment
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