I appreciate classical music as much as your average First World old guy, and perhaps more.

However, not much of it is played live in Abu Dhabi, or the UAE. For obvious reasons.

The Western classical canon is not prominent here and the Dead White Males of orchestral prominence are not guys the Gulf Arabs grew up with — and neither did the vast majority of subcontinenters. And between those two groups you have the people who run the country and the people who largely inhabit it.

But the occasional classical event comes through town, usually during the Abu Dhabi Festival, in March.

This year we took advantage of the event to hear an Old World orchestra play, and see (as much as hear) an American violinist of no small renown make his Stradivarius do tricks.

That it was at the Emirates Palace auditorium was an extra added attraction.

The Czech Philharmonic has been in Abu Dhabi most of this week, and served as backup to the Spanish tenor Placido Domingo two days ago. (“A bit disappointing; Placido is not what he used to be, but he tries,” confided the elegant woman who sat next to us.)

In this event, they played before and after the featured attraction. They opened with Smetana‘s Vltava, which is a bit of a cliche, sure, but when you are jonesing for classical you want at least one bit you have heard before.

If you jump to the 1:00 mark on this video, you will encounter the theme with which you may be familiar. This is part of a series of six “tone poems” written by Smetana late in the 19th century under the overarching title My Fatherland.

(The Vltava bit has an interesting history; the theme apparently is taken from a 16th century Italian work, and became popular throughout Eastern Europe in subsequent centuries, and a variation of it now serves as the music to Israel’s national anthem, which can be heard here. Anyway, that bit of the history may not have been known by organizers here but was immediately recognized by the person next to me. “Hey, that’s Israel’s national anthem.”)

The orchestra was very good, and it brought home for the umpteenth time how much better classical is in person than on even the best recording.

After the break, the Czech Symphony also played some Dvorak (he being the No. 1 guy in their national Big Two), and I was hoping for the New World Symphony (No. 9), but instead got his Seventh Symphony, which was fine — and good for me to hear, for the first time.

In between was the famous guy, Joshua Bell, a 45-year-old American violinist who looks straight out of the Midwest — and, actually he is. From Indiana.

Any featured performer has to play something difficult, and Bell did (Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor by Bruch), and it is best if a performer appears to be laboring while playing. Bell understands this implicitly; he was swaying and appearing to dig in to his Stradivarius (made in 1713, for goodness sakes, and he paid $4 million for it), and at one pause he pulled out a white kerchief and mopped his soulful brow.

He was listed only for the Bruch, but he gave a first-half encore, variations on Yankee Doodle, which was quite clever and enthusiastically received. And he came back for a second encore, with the orchestra, in the second half.

It was quite fun. Moving, even. At least for me.

I was impressed by the venue, which like everything associated with Emirates Palace is superb, but in this case not overstated (well, aside from the gold leaf). It seats 1,110 in business-class comfort, and is just about perfect as a venue for something like this.

The crowd was quiet and attentive, which is a bit unusual for a public event in this country. Not one cell phone went off, and I did not see a single person get up and leave, nor did I hear anyone talking — or even whispering. And I have never seen so many men in suits in one place, in the UAE. Not even close.

Afterwards, we walked around a bit on the grounds of the hotel, and came close to crashing one of the two wedding receptions being held. (We did sample a morsel from a dessert plate; I mean, it was just sitting there.)

It was edifying on several levels, and next year I expect I will try my best to see whatever orchestral event comes through and maybe, just maybe, go to the ballet or opera that they stage, as well.

It struck me that the symphony orchestra, playing one of the masters, may be one of the highest expressions of Western civilization.