Weekend links

Stories and reviews from the past weekend in the Washington Post:

Holiday in Harmony: Anonymous 4, by Joe Banno.

Another view: Charles Downey on Ionarts.com.

NSO's Messiah beautifully concentrates slimmed-down ensemble, by Stephen Brookes.

Other views:
Charles Downey on Ionarts.com.
Mike Paarlberg compares the NSO's Messiah to that of the National Philharmonic in Washington City Paper.

Rocking the Strads: Sybarite5 at the Library of Congress, by Anne Midgette.

I neglected to link Jacqueline Trescott's great article this weekend about the diaries of William Steinway, coinciding with a small exhibition at the National Museum of American History and a full display of the diary on-line. It's a fascinating piece of social history, documenting the minutiae of an American businessman's work, life and sexual activity (carefully recorded and tallied) during and after the Civil War.

Another December concert that was worthy of note: on DMV Classical, Andrew Lindemann Malone paid attention to the University of Maryland's Wind Orchestra on December 9.