I came largely to check a box (“Well, I’ve never seen Kronos Quartet before, and this program looks like it has a nice microcosm of their work, so …”), but I left feeling that it was much more than that. I’d love to attend tonight’s performance as well if I had the time. Alas.

And it chipped away a little — a little — of my natural resistance to amplified and prerecorded music in a concert setting. Quite a feat.

I initially had a similar reaction, but I decided upon thinking about the production that it actually was helped by the fairly quotidian text. I have read Euripides’s original play, and I felt that on stage this text worked pretty well for what the production was trying to do. And, note that it was billed very clearly as an adaptation of Euripides, not as a production of the original version of the play, either in terms of text or cast.

The bigger issue I see here is the notion that our students feel that they’re special and somehow deserve never to be disappointed, especially at the end of their time here. I teach at U-M, and I love it, and I love my students, but this attitude needs to stop. The childish, ungrateful reaction of many students a few years ago to holding graduation at Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti when Michigan Stadium was under renovation was particularly embarrassing for the U-M community, in my opinion.

So, I’m sorry you were disappointed by the production, but acting indignant because it somehow sullied the end of your time with us is completely out of line.

This was intended to be a reply to Joe, but it seems not to have posted that way.

I initially had a similar reaction, but I decided upon thinking about the production that it actually was helped by the fairly quotidian text. I have read Euripides’s original play, and I felt that on stage this text worked pretty well for what the production was trying to do. And, note that it was billed very clearly as an adaptation of Euripides, not as a production of the original version of the play, either in terms of text or cast.

The bigger issue I see here is the notion that our students feel that they’re special and somehow deserve never to be disappointed, especially at the end of their time here. I teach at U-M, and I love it, and I love my students, but this attitude needs to stop. The childish, ungrateful reaction of many students a few years ago to holding graduation at Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti when Michigan Stadium was under renovation was particularly embarrassing for the U-M community, in my opinion.

So, I’m sorry you were disappointed by the production, but acting indignant because it somehow sullied the end of your time with us is completely out of line.

Consider this another vote of approval for brief remarks from the stage. I consider myself an experienced listener of chamber music, and this wasn’t my first time with Britten 3 (the Belceas did it just a few years ago at UMS — many here might remember), but I found Ed D’s talk extremely helpful.

Aside from the very helpful remarks, the performance — the entire program — was at the very high level we’ve come to expect from this group. It was highlight of the UMS season this year, I think, despite strong competition from the Jerusalem Quartet, the DSO, and everyone involved in the Milhaud.

The Toccata and Fugue was Leopold Stokowski’s arrangement for orchestra of a Bach organ work. I suspect it was chosen as a cheeky contrast to the rest of the program. And I’d guess that the chorus stayed through that piece because they could leave less disruptively before the Barber, when the orchestra was doing some rearranging as well.

Glad you enjoyed it! So did I.