Before arriving in Berlin for performances with the excellent DSO, I heard that Kreizberg, one of my favourite conductors, had cancelled! And unfortunately, the young Estonian they found as a replacement - no easy matter when Mahler’s 1st Symphony is in the program - not only had never done Mendelssohn’s # 1, my “Champagne” Concerto, but admitted not liking it either… Great! And I was so looking forward to playing it…! Although the musicians were aware of his blatant “swimming” in the Concerto, and tried to “stick” to me all the way, the experience was, musically speaking, no where near what it would have been if only… Oh well; win some, lose others!