Review of the Metropolitan Opera’s ‘A Concert for Ukraine’

At a time when so many thoughtless habits — going online, traveling, even breathing — have become a source of threat, there’s wonder in old rituals. You may think it hopeless for symphony orchestras to try staying current in the ways they usually do, but this was a week in which custom and commitment aligned to produce some special effects. I attended three concerts all by ensembles constituted in the 19th century led by white men in their 40s, playing music from the 1820s (Beethoven), 1830s (Berlioz), and 1840s (Schumann). I have heard those pieces many times before in subtly but not radically different interpretations, in similar…