ESO finally does Bartok!

I was surprised and excited to read in the Herald today that the Elgin Symphony Orchestra will be performing a Bartok piece for the first time. I didn’t notice it before, because they made it a part of the Rach 2 program, so it sort of fell under the radar. It’s the Concerto for Orchestra, by the way–as you probably guessed, but this is really great news. Maybe next year they’ll consider Janacek. Interestingly…(nervous laughter)…I found a sort of connection between the ESO and Janacek. Well, not really, but if you recall that Margaret Hilliswas music director of the ESO for many years (and choral director of the CSO), and before that she was a protege of Robert Shaw, where I’m willing to bet she was involved in his magnificent performances of the Glagolitic Mass. That’s the connection between Janacek and the ESO… OK, that doesn’t make any sense, but that’s irrelevant. Don’t overthink it!

So if you guys at the ESO are listening, bravo for Bartok and bring on the Janacek. Let’s make Ms. Hillis smile from the clouds.

Possibly related posts:

• Are they finally breaking ground?
• ESO’s Chicago connection
• Anthony’s finally sues (for $15M)
• Elgin finally takes action
• Elgin Symphony Orchestra blog