Festivals: Romantic Revival

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Think Young. Nonetheless, the festival was more than an exercise in camp. As conceived by Frank Cooper, 29, a piano teacher on Butler's faculty, it gave modern concertgoers a rare opportunity to evaluate the musical staples of a century ago. It also displayed the extraordinary technical proficiency of the romantic musicians. Gifted virtuosos themselves, 19th century composers delighted in numbing their audiences with stunning pyrotechnics—as Violinist Aaron Rosand showed as he swept restlessly across the stage during Eugene Ysaye's Sonata in A Minor, a sardonic paraphrase of the medieval chant Dies Irae. "You can't do this sort of thing tongue in cheek," explained Pianist Lewenthal, although he did just that when he put on a velvet-trimmed cape and top hat to take bows after his florid performance of Charles-Valentin Alkan's surprisingly discordant Sonatine in A Minor.

Cooper himself has no illusions about the quality of all the works performed, but he is sure that the musical world is on the verge of a major romantic revival. "We are in an age of involvement," he says. "Think of our young people: their long hair, their odd dress, their idealism. How like the romantics."