Belshazzar's Feast

COMPOSER: William Walton

GENRE: choral

PERFORMANCE DATE: Thursday, February 23rd, 2017 at Powell Hall with John Relyea (bass), Sir Andrew Davis conducting, and the St. Louis Symphony Chorus

This was an open performance rehearsal night, and the first symphony performance for my daughter, Emma (in a concert hall). That made this evening very special. At first, I was worried it would be a challenge for her to sit still and listen, but the story told in the work provided a lot of things for us to talk about: the biblical inspiration, the emotions portrayed by the singers giving us, as listeners to the story the opportunity to reflect on how the characters felt to be driven from their homeland, enslaved, and then delivered. Emma was very good at catching on. A massive work such as this, with a great choir and large orchestra cannot help but be powerful. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was also very insightful to be there during a rehearsal, where, after an initial run through, I had the opportunity to hear the chorus director give feedback and request reworking some areas. Helped me to think more critically about a performance, seeing the work in action. Emma and I also brought along a book, The Beginner's Guide to the Symphony, which was a lot of fun to read through, and pick out the different instruments, learning very interesting facts. I learned so much that I didn't know about the brass and woodwind sections.