Yes, I did attend two different performances in Avery Fisher Hall on October 21. Sometimes when presented with adversity you just have to muddle through.
Colin Davis and his London Symphony Orchestra came to AFH and gave three concerts. This is the second of the three; I missed the first. The London Symphony Chorus came along and here performed Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Soloists were Helena Juntunen, Sarah Connoly, Paul Groves and Matthew Rose. The performance as a whole was on the slow side, was massive, and contained great passionate outbursts of emphasis. I'm almost tempted to say that Sir Colin has turned into Otto Klemperer who reigned in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra while Sir Colin was achieving his own great renown (at least among rabid recording collectors like myself) with fleet Mozart and Berlioz.
This Missa ranged from the quietest hushed stillness to rampaging power punctuated with cannon-ball timpani shots. But it was all in the service of Beethoven's great masterpiece. In short, there are other ways to play this but there was nothing wrong with Sir Colin's way; you left knowing that you had heard the Missa nearly at its best. The chorus and orchestra were splendid throughout the ranks with the chorus particularly fine when they encountered the impossible coloratura which Beethoven throws at them. The soloists were not stellar (although tenor Groves was about as good as you get) but they played their part well. Now I eagerly look forward to Sunday's War Requiem two days after a declaration that the Iraq war will be over this year.