Intriguing Voyage Out anchored by 19th-century delights in Seattle

There was lots to like in the Philadelphia Orchestra's All-American Celebration for Thanksgiving.

Marin Alsop made belated subscription debut with the CSO Thanksgiving weekend with a varied program contrasting 20th and 21st century British and American works with Dvořák's tragic Seventh Symphony.

Not painting by the numbers: with a trio, a pair of quartets, and an octet, the Seattle Chamber Music Society offers more than the sum of its parts.

As a teenager, I recall feeling how American classical music differed from European; its harmonies seemed as wide open as the plains depicted on film; its rhythmic freedom grabbed me viscerally. The same feeling obtains many years later and certainly did in this RSNO programme.

What’s in a name, or for that matter, a label? Why does music “sound” German, American, French, or Russian? Violinist Cho-Liang Lin and pianist Jon Kimura Parker presented a duo recital at Fort Worth’s Bass Hall Tuesday evening, titled “An Evening in Paris”. Their thoughtful program consisted of works by French composers of the early twentieth century, and also by (long-time Parisian) Stravinsky.