What a great program, starting with Barber’s The School for Scandal Overture, followed by a short break to raise the grand piano to center stage from below, which for some reason I always get a kick out of. I wouldn’t mind them bringing the whole orchestra up from below, maybe with the aid of a fog machine.

We were then treated to Conrad Tao playing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, which reminded me of Michelle Cann’s rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue I saw a few months ago in the way that the music seems to enliven the musician. I kept envisioning a Tao bobblehead giveaway day, but the CSO failed me in that regard.

Tao started choking up before his encore when telling the audience how much he appreciated their applause, having grown up going to concerts at Symphony Center. He then favored us with his transcription of the 1953 (as opposed to 1939) Art Tatum recording of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I love Tatum and Tao did him justice.

After all that, we were just getting started, coming back after intermission with Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, complete with finger snapping, and ending with Sensemaya by Silvestre Revueltas, an enjoyable piece that was new to me.