Harris has been, among other things, a stand-up comic, and it shows in his book, in lively phrases and an ear for the incongruous.
More interesting were two junior leads, Meaghan Grace Hinkis as Clara and Ludovic Ondiviela in the Nutcracker/Nephew role, both notable for their lively, articulate musical phrasing and confident grace.
After the intermission, Joseph Kalichstein joined Mr. Foster and the orchestra for a lively, inventively phrased performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17 in G (K. 453).
Phrasing in the lively opening movement was spacious without ever being slack, and one noticed the same contrapuntal clarity in the development section that Perahia brings to his keyboard work.
He repeated this lively rural phrase in Fond du Lac, Wis., and it was broadcast far and wide in coverage of the Democratic campaign.
The exceptional principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, an athletic and lively musician whose phrasing has ice-skaterly skills of timing and sweep, offers a varied program that includes works by Hans Werner Henze, Sofiya Gubaydulina, Prokofiev and Lowell Lieberman.
Though the performance he drew from the orchestra and cast was lively and articulate, there was plenty of space for phrases to breathe.
The challenge of piling sparkling and lively words or phrases on top of each other that not only stretch the width of the grid but also make the crossing Downs make some sort of sense is a formidable one.
It is possible, of course, that the most sensitive intelligence is sent by more secure means, not yet breached by Wikileaks.Even so, the cables are worth a read just for some diplomats' lively turns of phrase.
But there could still have been a lively discussion — without feeding a faulty assumption — if the question had been phrased differently.
