Alan Gilbert conducts the New York Philharmonic

Wednesday night's program included Berlioz's Le Corsaire Overture, Mozart's Violin Concerto #3 with violinist Lisa Batiashvili and Debussy's The Sea, 3 symphonic sketches.  For me, the price of admission (only $42 for an orchestra seat) was worth it for the Mozart violin concerto alone; played elegantly by Ms. Batiashvili.  Besides being a bargain, the performance on Wednesday nights begin promptly @ 6:45PM with no intermission.  Not that I was in a rush, but it's a bonus to have the performance over by 8PM.  The NY Philharmonic @ Lincoln Center is one of the big apple's tastiest tidbits.  Even a jaded New Yorker like me, a.k.a. A Know it All, learned a great deal about the composers.  In addition to being a piano virtuoso, Mozart was an accomplished string player and a concertmaster in his native Salzburg.  Berlioz, a genius composer, never learned to play the piano.  His father sent his son to medical school in Paris where he dropped out and pursued musical studies instead.  Berlioz's Le Corsaire is not often performed yet it is packed with an exuberant spirit.  Debussy musical studies began only after serving time in prison for brawling.  Upon release he was steered to the Paris Conservatoire where his musical career began.  Needless to say, you don't have to be an Einstein in order to appreciate beautiful music.