Classic start for new symphony

On the program for Sunday’s premiere performance of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra is one of the most familiar compositions of the classical era, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. It may be a good selection for the triumphal return of the symphony from financial death, and not only because it’s such a musical icon.

It’s also a symbol of perseverance. Beethoven’s Fifth, first performed Dec. 22, 1808, was under-rehearsed and received coolly — partly because the audience was freezing to death. This was Vienna in winter, don’t forget.

But when the master brought it back 18 months later, the weather was warmer and so was the reception. If at first you don’t succeed … well, we all know the rest.

So welcome back, symphony! And bravo, a few days in advance.

The mysteries of redistricting

To say there are a lot of moving parts in the state’s troubled reapportionment plan would be putting it mildly. Not the least of them are the shifting district boundaries. Also, numerous incumbents may contemplate moving house in order to avoid electoral clashes with other legislators who now share districts with them.

It’s hard to know for certain whether any of this was done on purpose — whether the lines were "gerrymandered" to punish dissidents in the state House, as some have charged.

Still, if this had been the idea all along, wouldn’t the redistricted lawmakers have been on the outs in the first plan the Reapportionment Commission put forth, the one thrown out by the state Supreme Court for including the military and out-of-state students? Anyway, a vote today may clear things up. Or not.