Just one night after the Season Opening Night Gala hosted by Washington National Opera, another set of patrons (and the critics of the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post) came together to fill the Kennedy Center Concert Hall to open the National Symphony Orchestra’s season on Sunday night. In terms of funds raised, it was the most successful opening ball in the NSO’s history, according to Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Blackstone…

This week’s concerts by the National Symphony Orchestra brought together the ideal guest artists for the violin concerto by Jean Sibelius. Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä and Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos came to international attention with their ground-breaking recording of this smoldering Romantic concerto, with the Lahti Symphony (including the only recording of the concerto’s original version, withdrawn by Sibelius immediately after the premiere). From the memorable opening of the first movement, Kavakos drew a rich,…