Brahms Gets the Ax

"Let's try to keep each other awake," one matron told another before Friday night's performance at The Lyric Theater. Many in the audience displayed a disconcerting lack of enthusiasm for the program of Brahms and Beethoven. Rather than being inspired by the music presented by The Kansas City Symphony, they attended out of a sense of civic obligation and for the opportunity for social engagement. The performance? I've never cared for Brahms, but Emanuel Ax was splendid. Beethoven's compelling Pastoral Symphony was impeccably rendered.