Jeffrey Kahane's performance of Mendelssohn's rhapsodic "Songs Without Words" in New York's Alice Tully Hall on Sunday was "energetic and eloquent," writes The New York Times, noting Kahane has seldom performed in the Big Apple in recent years because of his role as director of several symphony orchestras, including Colorado's, where he currently resides. Kahane has struggled with hypertension, but nonetheless will give up the orchestra in 2010, the Times writes, to spend less time on the podium and more time with his piano. Kahane and his composer son, Gabriel, recently participated in a "delightful piece" named for Kahane's dog, Django, called "Django: Tiny Variations on a Big Dog" (via Concerto Net).