Vacationtime

From the Blog Too

   Yesterday, Friday, June 24, Ramon drove Ellie and the Salazar kids and me to Queretaro, where we checked in at a hacienda we had already been familiar with. The purpose of the trip, however, was to hear a concert by the Orquesta Filarmonica of Queretaro, of which Miguel Salazar is the principal oboe. That evening, however, Miguel was going beyond his usual role and was the soloist in a performance of Mozart’s Oboe concerto.

   Miguel was splendid and was well supported by the Mozart-sized orchestra, conducted by the Queretaro's music director, Jose Guadalupe Flores. The response of a very decent audience was enthusiastic.

   After the intermission, Flores conducted a fine performance of what is probably Shostakovich’s most popular symphony, his Fifth. That it is popular is no accident. Shostakovich deliberately wrote this “accessible” work to get back into Stalin’s the good graces.
   Sunday, June 26, back to Mexico City, ending vacationtime.