Photo: Dmitri Shostakovich, 1975.
[click photo to enlarge]
With the last bell-like tones of David Buck’s dulcet flute (by the way, have you heard such amazing and beautiful sounds from a flute before?) and the eerie calm of the fading chords of the strings, the end of the hour-long Shostakovich Eighth Symphony faded into the night at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The silence after the music evaporated into the air was mystical, spiritual and magical.