The board surely knew what it was getting when it appointed this prickly 72-year-old maestro: a top-down, old-school conductor, undeniably accomplished, technically incomparable yet prone to willful, micromanaged performances.
Still, for a singer who is also an experienced conductor, Mr. Cura is maddeningly willful in this performance.
Then, especially as the very propriety of Bach on the piano was being questioned by the new early-music orthodoxy, Ms. Argerich's performance seemed willful, wildly individualistic and incomparably exciting.
George Morfogen gives a standout performance as the willful, absent-minded Uncle Harry, who dotes on a grandniece and documents the weather and wind direction in his daily personal almanac.
For children the highlight will be the preliminary performance at 7 15 p.m., "Shakespeare's Clowns and Villains and Willie's Willful Women," featuring comic scenes from the plays, performed by the KCSC Young Company.
Mr. Maazel deserves credit for introducing new works in strong performances, but his willful, agenda-driven accounts of repertory staples can be hard to take.
But in the moment of performance it was a willful, wild ride, boisterous and profound.
Is Wills's blindness willful?
Or, people will have a willful ignorance to it.
His performances can be oddly willful, as if just because he has such ready control, he can't help exercising it.
