11/22 Woodstock Symphony – There’s a man in the audience in a complex wheelchair, body crooked and face grimacing, Hawking-like, saliva running down his chin dripping onto a phablet in his lap – yet when the orchestra plays, in the dark, I catch a few glimpses of him and see him harking, stretched out into space with bird-like intensity.

J called Sibelius 2 the symphony that could have been an email, but that was after Monday’s rehearsal and when she’d only heard a polished but soulless rendition of it by the New York Philharmonic. By Friday, the first time they’d played it through entirely, she was beginning to feel different. For me, tonight, it was the most spectacular symphony I ever heard, but then again, my listening may be developing rapidly at the moment, but also: how would I argue, let alone convince anyone who thought differently.