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There was no snow on the ground yet, last December when Julie took me to The Grand Theater to see a play; it was snowing and cold last Tuesday, though, when we returned to that historic stage to hear a little band from Austria.

I didn't really know what to expect when I agreed to go with Julie to see an orchestra perform Mozart. On Monday, our friend, Stephano, called and asked if we wanted his tickets as he was down with a cold and had no inclination to go. I don't listen to a lot of classical music, but I do like Mozart, so I told Julie I'd go with her -- and I have no regrets.

The Salzburg Festival Orchestra stopped here in Wausau on their American tour, direct from the Salzburg Festival in Salzburg Austria. Alexander Janiczek conducted the 28 member string and woodwind ensemble performing an all Mozart program for an attentive and appreciative Grand Theater audience. Stephano, of course, wasn't the only person in Wausau with a cold. There could be heard throughout the performance, the occasional sniffle, and I felt pretty guilty when I had to sneeze, myself --one guy even gave his nose a good honk -- but you could have heard a pin drop when at the softest point in an extremely dynamic violin solo the sound of a pin bouncing on the stage could have served as percussion to the barely audible notes.

I am hardly an aficionado of Mozart, nor classical music in general, but I know what I like and in my humble opinion, that performance was flawless. THERE WAS ONLY ONE PIECE THAT I recognized (from symphony 40, I believe) but it didn't matter; recognizable or not, I enjoyed listening to every movement.

I've been fortunate, this month, with three concerts in as many weeks. When I decided to write about the Sofa King concert two weeks ago, I hadn't the slightest intension of doing a series on music, but it seems to have turned out that way. Even lastweek, when I decided to write about the America concert, I had no idea I'd be reviewing another show today. With that in mind, I say that I have no plans for next week and I think that this will be the end of my ipso facto series on area music offerings -- but if something comes up . . .

Sorry if that pun was too painful, Stephano or anyone else out there who's had the flu. While I had a touch of the flu myself last week, it didn't hit me that hard. This is, after all, the cold and flu season; so if you've got tickets you're too ill to use, let me know. I'll take 'em -- anything but opera.