Gardner Chamber Orchestra Par Excellence

Paula Robison led the GCO in a beautiful rendition of Handel's Water Music. Annie Rabbat always provides stellar performances on violin as does Jing Li on the cello. The woodwind section was exceptionally strong with Elah Grandel on bassoon and Kyoko Hida and Mie Shiraishi on oboe. John Gibbons is one of the great harpsichordists of Boston. Paula Robison is such a stand out on flute that is a joy to hear her perform under any circumstances.

Last Sunday Christopher Taylor attempted Bach's Goldberg Variations on a dual keyboard piano. It is an exceptionally challenging piece of music that Glenn Gould performed to near perfection in 1955. Taylor seemed challenged by the piece and Anne Hawley, the director of the Gardner Museum and Russell Sherman, his mentor, were in attendance. I liked the Water Music better but my friend Emily was thrilled to hear the Goldberg Variations performed live.