The first thing to say was that the Boulder Philharmonic were excellent throughout. The “mixed bag” refers to the choice of pieces, not the quality of the playing. And the guest conductor (and candidate director), Leslie Dunner did a very nice job. So let’s look at the music.

• Sibelius Andante Festivo
  I have to confess that for me Sibelius is something of a “two-hit wonder”. Both Finlandia and the Karelia Suite are the kind of pieces where everything just works and the result is an instant classic. The Andante Festivo has many of Sibelius trademark elements, but although I enjoyed this performance I wasn’t seized by it.
• Brahms Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op.77 (Corey Cerovsek, violin)
  WOW! Cerovsek was absolutely thrilling: infectious energy, dazzling technique, and complete command of the piece. I was trying to think of the last violinist who affected me in this way, but although I can see and hear her – a veteran of the English establishment, playing with the dash of someone half her age, we saw her with the BSO a few years ago – I can’t remember her name at this moment. [UPDATE: Ida Haendel, of course!] Anyway, this was the most glorious classical performance I’ve been to in quite a few years. If you get a chance to see Corey Cerovsek, grab it!
• Nielsen Symphony No. 4, Op. 29, ‘The Inextinguishable’
  How frustrating! There’s a lovely symphony in here, trying to get out. (And as Rick pointed out, it almost succeeds in the last half of the third movement.) But back in 1916, when this appeared, Nielsen was clearly trying to make a political point, with the various themes competing with one another, interrupting, warping the tempo, and successfully (if heavy-handedly) conveying a world of conflict. Eighty-nine years ago it might have been shocking, but since then we’ve had everything from Shostakovich and Stockhausen to the Sex Pistols. Since the piece can no longer shock, it remains as a collection of unfinished gems without a setting (in Rick’s nice image). Oh, well.