The piece was brilliant and to my untrained though experienced ears, it went off flawlessly. Again, I was distracted from time to time by Brent’s hair falling over his forehead as he played. He had to push it back during periods when he wasn’t playing. I found that boyish but very endearing.
The audience, comprised largely of conservatory students, loved what they had just heard and gave everyone a standing ovation. The Manfred concluded the first half of the program and, perhaps because it is a more somber piece, it met with much more restrained applause.
I wish now that I had gone to the Green Room at intermission, but I wanted to hear the symphony. I knew Brent loved it, and I had heard it only on CD, so I didn’t want to miss it. It’s, as he described it, “lush, emotional, romantic, a
