It was a performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra of Tan Dun’s mesmerizing “Water Concerto” at Strathmore on Saturday that left the puddles. Larsen’s “Earth” is romantically colorful and, as if viewed from space, its main theme, the hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth,” glows in a gorgeous, almost preternatural, mist. You know something unusual has happened when guys with mops are called in to swab the stage during intermission. The after-intermission feature was a big, blazing performance of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets,” introduced by the premiere of Libby Larsen’s “Earth,” written to add the planet to Holst’s seven-planet collection. They were gentle and offered a new repertoire not just of tones but also of attacks and releases.

Source: Washington Post May 22, 2016 11:43 UTC