CLASSICAL MUSIC

Call it a romantic cliché if you want, but there’s just something about a violinist playing while standing. Brings to mind a special night in a cozy bistro with someone you care about across the table. Maybe that’s why I was so enamored of the San Diego Symphony’s “A Shimmer of Strings” concert, streamed from Copley Symphony Hall.

The performance featured violin, viola, cello and bass players from the symphony in a program conducted by symphony Music Director Rafael Payare. The works: Mozart’s “Divertimento in B-flat Major K. 137,” Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki’s “Adagio for Strings, from ‘Symphony No. 3’ ” and Dvorak’s “Serenade for Strings.”

Prior to the beginning of the program, symphony strings players talked about performing while standing and why they enjoyed it. So did I, especially during the opening Mozart segment, conducted by Payare with his signature flourish.

Preceding the Dvorak performance is a quick guide to the viola and to those who play one. Before the middle Penderecki segment, Payare fondly recounts his friendship with the man he knew while still in his native Venezuela. It adds poignancy to the subsequent performance of the adagio.