Two things drew me to the park for this concert, the beautiful weather (as opposed to the previous two Wednesday evenings, which featured flooding one night and a tornado warning the other, both of which shut down the concerts), and the Gorchakov, as opposed to the more commonly played Ravel, orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, which I had never heard before (not that I can tell the difference).

But neither was the main attraction (well, maybe the weather, as evidenced by the largest crowd of the year).

The first piece, the one-year-old Profiles, an homage to Harlem, was introduced by its composer, Carlos Simon, who told the audience that the sound of nearby sirens during rehearsal, given the subject matter, seemed entirely appropriate for the music, and that we should accept it as such if it happened during the performance. I couldn’t help but wonder whether the musicians had a different viewpoint.

After Profiles, the orchestra gave us Alexander Glazunov’s Concerto in A Minor, featuring solo violinist Esther Yoo. What followed that was the highlight of the night, as Yoo played a solo encore of . . . wait for it . . . Yankee Doodle Dandy that displayed her exceptional talent and artistic whimsey.

For a joyful five minutes, listen to the version I found online of her playing it at the 2022 Copenhagen Summer Festival.