Berlioz is not amused by Nielsen's antics.

There is an ungodly amount of “man-splaining” that occurs at the symphony and opera. What is “man-splaining” you ask? It is the terrible habit men have to point out and “explain” obvious elements to the women whom they accompany.

“The conductor is very clear.”

“The soprano is very present.”

“The brass is very loud.”

These are the remarkable insights of the unremarkable male. “Very” is a staple of the man-splanation.

Rose Lombardo

When the conductor dabbles in this dubious practice, then it’s gone too far. On Saturday night the conductor, Joshua Weilerstein, attempted to sell the audience on the evening’s program.

I am assuming that, as his bio mentioned, this was part of his commitment “to bring new audiences into the concert hall and [create] a natural dialogue between musicians and their public.”

Maestro Weilerstein man-splained, among other things, that Bump by Christopher Rouse was like Bernstein’s West Side Story but only if it was set in hell, that Nielsen’s Flute Concerto reflected the sense of humor of the composer, and that we all needed to read Berlioz’s program notes about Symphonie Fantastique in order to fully understand the music.

My attention was pulled toward comparing Bump to West Side Story. My mind then started trying to adapt West Side Story into a hell setting.

Joshua Weilerstein

Who would be the Devil? Were the Sharks and Jets competing groups of demons? Wait, wasn’t the whole idea of the “West Side” setting based on it being a rough neighborhood? Damn it. West Side Story is already set in hell, so to speak. All the while the music had been moving right along but my focus was elsewhere.

That’s the danger of man-splaining. It can get in the way of what is happening. The biggest man-splainer of the evening? Berlioz. His program notes about Symphonie Fantastique are his vision of the music but I, and perhaps only I, don’t care what Berlioz thought his music was about.

There was a time when I studied program notes as though my future depended upon it, but that is no longer the case. I found myself being more confused than informed so I gave it up.

This is an instrumental thing. I’m a big fan of understanding context and setting and tradition in opera and theater.

I’m afraid I’ve made it sound as though this concert was less than stellar. That was not the case.

Nielsen’s Flute Concerto was a tremendous display of musicianship by San Diego Symphony principal flute Rose Lombardo. Nielsen’s aforementioned sense of humor kind of came across. It would be easy to describe this music as quirky, but it's something more than that. Perhaps we could say it is peculiar, or maybe unexpected is better. Yes, unexpected. Nielsen found his own path early on as a composer after dabbling in Wagnerian circles for a spell. Nielsen doesn't fulfill most of our expectations. That is one thing he has in common with our dear friend Berlioz.

The performance of Symphonie Fantastique revealed why Maestro Weilerstein is in such demand. Everything about it had an extra layer of sparkle, snap, and pop. There was a field of crackling energy surrounding the orchestra and even the somewhat tedious third movement came off well.

When we came down the final stretch of the Witch’s Sabbath it sounded as if the orchestra was toppling the walls of Jericho after having marched around the city seven times. They did not then proceed to kill every man, woman, and child, but you get the idea.