I took some photos during my trip — not many, but a few — and I’ll be posting those, along with a weekend debrief, hopefully tomorrow. Until then, here is an excerpt from the review in today’s Star Tribune, written by Larry Fuchsberg:

“The juiciest nine minutes of Saturday’s Sommerfest double-header came at the beginning, courtesy of 31-year-old John Mackey, an Ohio-born New Yorker. Mackey’s “Redline Tango” (2003) is a streetwise orchestral showpiece that has nothing to do with illicit lending practices.

The music is pleasantly in-your-face, its brashness just a mite self-conscious. Mackey’s handling of large forces is assured, his timing unerring. {Yes, I added the emphasis, although I think they should have put that bold-face in the paper, too! Heh heh.} The piece’s middle section, a kinky coupling of klezmer and tango, would not sound out of place in a red-light district.

The composer’s shifty rhythms posed no obstacle to conductor Andrew Litton and the Minnesota Orchestra, who swept through the score like a well-regulated hurricane.”

Indeed. The orchestra and Litton kicked ass. More later…