Checking his Rear-View Mirror
It's always a touchy situation when the student finally eclipses the teacher. That subtle shift in dynamics that indicates the balance of power is about to flip-flop. That's what Joseph Haydn thought he saw in his rear-view mirror with his student Ignaz Pleyel, who was improving rapidly. So Haydn stepped up his game and wrote a terrific new symphony. In the end, Haydn didn't have that much to worry about with Pleyel. Today we'll hear Haydn's A-game, his Surprise Symphony, from a concert in San Francisco.