Went to an amazing concert. Although the performers were not very famous, the way they played was great.
The conductor, Ludovic Morlot, was a short and modest man, and he conducted without a baton, but what impressed me most, was that he also conducted the orchestra without a score… He knew all of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony by heart!
The violinist, Valery Sokolov, was a young guy from Ukraine, who similar to the conductor, played without bravura, but quite skilful yet calm. Hardly seemed tired at all at the end, although Sibelius’ concerto is quite demanding.
We sat at row Pf, which is De Doelen code for “6th row”; so quite near the front. And unlike the Concertgebouw, in De Doelen you don’t have to look up a meter when you’re close to the stage.
Before the concert we had dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant with the suitable name “Pavarotti” 
Oh, and 45 minutes before the concert started, we attended an introduction, by an old lady, who had a voice with resembling the Polygoon Journaal from the 1950s But she gave some interesting background info on the composers and the works we were going to hear.
