He also conducted a mean-spirited and dishonest campaign against Ronnie White, Missouri's first black State Supreme Court justice, when Justice White was nominated for a federal judgeship.
Michael Rafferty, meanwhile, conducts a spirited and impeccably clean-edged performance.
Laura Alley directed the appealing staging; Robert Lyall conducted a lithe, well-paced performance (barring a few blemishes), beginning with a spirited interpretation of the dramatic Overture.
William Lacey conducts a lucid and spirited performance.
Then, speaking in a deep, monotone voice like Mr. Stipe's, Mr. Tweedy performed a deadpan (though not mean-spirited) impersonation of the singer conducting a sound check.
George Manahan conducted the Juilliard Ensemble in a spirited account of Prokofiev's score, reduced effectively for five strings, woodwind quintet, piano, percussion and timpani.
Mr. Boico also conducted the Philharmonic in a spirited rendition of Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien," which featured strong playing from the brasses in the opening fanfare, which was inspired by a trumpet call from a barracks next to the hotel Tchaikovsky occupied on a visit to Rome.
Mr. Brown seemed destined for a last-place finish, but as it turned out, he might have had the right idea, finishing third in last Tuesday's Democratic primary, ahead of three other candidates who had conducted much more spirited campaigns.
But this year's budget merits an asterisk because it is being conducted against the backdrop of a spirited contest among a large group of Democrats and Republicans to succeed him.
