Barber Violin Concerto

My current favorite is Barber Violin Concerto. When I heard that Cho-Liang Lin is coming to town and perform this piece, I immediately got a CD and started listening. The moment I listened to the beginning of the 1st movement, I just fell in love with this Concerto. It is beautifully sentimental and sweet, yet dramatic. It brought me back to my teenage years of bitter sweet first heart broken love. There must be a girl still inside me. We still want to believe in the fairly tale somewhere in our heart, you know:)
The one I am listening to now is by Gil Shaham. He is a superb violinist. He makes it look so easy whatever he's playing, doesn't make a face or move around. He simply plays and you can't help but to listen. I hope I can go see him in a concert one day.
Unfortunately, I couldn't go to Cho-Liang Lin's performance that night due to my schedule conflict, but I was able to attend the open rehearsal earlier on the day of the concert. CD is nice, but there's nothing better than listening live. Tears were falling down on my face, it is so beautiful! But the funny thing happened in the middle of the piece. Mr. Lin abruptly stopped playing. Everybody wondered what was going on. Then he said "I am sorry but the bug was trying to get into my nose." We just laughed so hard while an annoying little bug was still trying his hardest to get to Mr. Lin. Finally he chased it away and continued on. The third movement was just like a bullet train. How is it possible for him to move his fingers so fast without skipping notes? Here is a clip of young Cho-Liang Lin in a master class with Itzhak Perlman on youtube.