(On July 3, the Institute will stage its “NOI+F Takeover,” an all-day program of performances at the National Gallery of Art.)

The program paired Jennifer Higdon’s atmospheric, elegiac “blue cathedral” (which has received more than 1,000 performances as it approaches its 25th anniversary) with Beethoven’s own architectural wonder, his “Symphony No. 9 in D Minor” of 1824, for which the orchestra was joined by the Heritage Signature Chorale (directed by Stanley J. Thurston) and a quartet of soloists.

Of special note with this particular account of the Ninth was its replacement of Friedrich Schiller’s 1785 poem “Ode to Joy” with a new English text by former U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith. Originally commissioned by Carnegie Hall for a program celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Smith’s adaptation of Schiller’s poem widens its scope while (for the most part) retaining its themes.

Anyone who has ever heard Jennifer Higdon’s “blue cathedral” has likely wondered for a moment how it might sound in such a setting. A musical remembrance of her younger brother Andrew Blue (who died in 1998 of skin cancer), it’s also an attempt by Higdon to evoke “a journey through a glass cathedral in the sky” — an effect achieved through a sustained lightness and translucence in the music’s textures.

Alsop gently roused the piece — its rustle of chimes and bleary strings. The flute (representing Jennifer, and played by Honor Hickman) appears first, trailed by clarinet (Andrew, played by Yoomin Sung), their melodies pointing up at the clouds. As the piece builds, it broadens, and Alsop kept tight control, leaving room for individual instruments to push through a glowing mass of strings and woodwinds. In the end, Higdon returns to a game of hide-and-seek that’s both playful and mournful, with strings that sag like willows and a low mist of returning/departing chimes.

It was a fine performance against steep acoustic odds. You’d never guess it was Alsop’s first time conducting here.

The conditions of the cathedral may have worked more to Higdon’s advantage than Beethoven’s. Though Alsop masterfully marshaled focus and ferocity from her players, the spectacular heights of the space sometimes made for a sonic soup — long tails of reverb that complicated crisp intentions; fluid passages of strings often frothed into the equivalent of white water; and a powerful Heritage Signature Chorale couldn’t help but overrun the orchestra’s banks.

Still, the opening of the first movement (“Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso”) sounded particularly thrilling rushing through the nave like the forefront of a flash flood. Splendid flutes and oboes left dramatic trails, as did its declarative finish, which hung in the air and commanded a respectful silence.

Just after the iconic opening outburst of the second movement, Alsop put finger to lips, treading lightly with the orchestra into its thickening thicket before letting its free, whirling energy take over (i.e. the “Molto Vivace”). Bright plumes of flute lit up the place before a whiter-knuckled repeat that sounded like it was in a hurry. The cathedral blurs, but it also deconstructs: I’ve never heard the trumpets in this movement sound quite so distant (or full of character), or a single timpani sound so cavernous (or more like a void). I especially enjoyed nimble (if overly eager) playing from the horns and clarinets. Toward the movement’s end, things started to fray, and Beethoven’s call for unity felt suddenly more pressing.

Concertmaster Sultan Rakhmatullin brought naturalistic phrasing and endearing sensitivity to third movement solos, with Alsop keeping the back-and-forth between strings and woodwinds disarmingly conversational. Here, the space felt uncannily suited to the music’s slow dissolves and diffuse colors — the horns and clarinets were especially entrancing.

The chorus of responsorial cellos that open the fourth movement was exquisite — both ghostly and urgent, present and not. From here, the “Ode to Joy” theme begins its journey through articulations — not least of which is Smith’s.

Through the hand of the former poet laureate, Schiller’s call for all men to unite as brothers is refined into a more explicit desire to “bid us past such fear and hate.” His invitation to those who know “abiding friendships” is extended by Smith to anyone whose “spirit is invested/ In another’s sense of worth.” And Schiller’s embrace of millions is amplified and updated to terms decisively more grim: “Battered planet, home of billions/ our long shadow stalks your face.” Smith turns Schiller’s gaze from the “starry canopy” to the “fractured” planet below, and begs for forgiveness.

Of course, you might not have known any of this had you just been sitting and listening: The new text wasn’t supplied on paper nor projected through titles on any of the many screens installed around the nave. Smith’s adaptation is melodically (even syllabically) faithful to the original, but despite beautiful turns and ensemble singing from soprano Adia Evans, mezzo-soprano Jazmine Olwalia, tenor Lawrence Barasa Kiharangwa and bass Kevin Short, the words themselves were lost in the sonic wash of the cathedral.

Short’s introduction (“O friend, my heart has tired/ Of such darkness./ Now it vies for joy”) was a stunning display of his instrument and its ability to find every corner of the cathedral. An energized Kiharangwa delivered a steely solo over the movement’s “Turkish March.” Evans and Olwalia each gave brilliant turns, their voices often coiling into a golden braid. And the Heritage Signature Chorale illuminated the long choral corridors of the movement’s core — a monumental sound.

With everything turned to 11, Alsop and company barreled through the finish — at barely 60 minutes, this was a conspicuously brisk Ninth. And the sound of the extended ovation met the orchestra’s energy: With 2,300 tickets sold, this was the largest concert the cathedral has presented in at least a decade. Environmental penitence and fuzzy edges aside, the “Ode to Joy” remained the ecstatic cataclysm it can’t help but be.

(If you missed this concert and it’s just not summer without a dose of the 9th, the National Symphony Orchestra will offer its own account on July 12 at Wolf Trap, led by conductor Ruth Reinhardt and featuring violinist Njioma Grevious, soprano Keely Futterer, mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Beteag, tenor Ricardo Garcia, baritone Blake Denson and the Cathedral Choral Society led by music director Steven Fox.)

As a result of her vote, the court’s majority left prosecutions of felon and former president Donald Trump unchanged (for now) and severely limited any impact on hundreds of other Jan. 6 insurrection cases. A tiny fraction of the Jan. 6 defendants will actually be affected.

The obstruction statute 18 U.S.C. Section 1512 (c)(1), at issue in many Jan. 6 cases, prohibits “altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing a record, document, or other object with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding.” The court had to decide what actions are covered by the subsequent Section 1512(c)(2), which penalizes conduct that “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”

What does “otherwise” mean? The court declined to either take the broadest or most narrow definition available. Instead, it held:

As we have explained, subsection (c)(1) refers to a defined set of offense conduct — four types of actions that, by their nature, impair the integrity or availability of records, documents, or objects for use in an official proceeding. When the phrase “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding” is read as having been given more precise content by that narrower list of conduct, subsection (c)(2) makes it a crime to impair the availability or integrity of records, documents, or objects used in an official proceeding in ways other than those specified in (c)(1). For example, it is possible to violate (c)(2) by creating false evidence — rather than altering incriminating evidence.

The crimes, such as creating false documents (say, phony electoral ballots), are covered, but general obstruction activities are not. The crime must be tethered to the objects and/or documents at issue in the proceeding.

The key to understanding the decision is Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s concurrence. She explained exactly what the court did:

Joseph Fischer was charged with violating §1512(c)(2) by corruptly obstructing “a proceeding before Congress, specifically, Congress’s certification of the Electoral college vote.” That official proceeding plainly used certain records, documents, or objects — including, among others, those relating to the electoral votes themselves. And it might well be that Fischer’s conduct, as alleged here, involved the impairment (or the attempted impairment) of the availability or integrity of things used during the January 6 proceeding “in ways other than those specified in (c)(1).” If so, then Fischer’s prosecution under §1512(c)(2) can, and should, proceed.

In other words, even this defendant might still be convicted of conduct related to records, documents or objects in the congressional proceeding if he was seeking to destroy the electoral ballots. (Fischer was also charged with other conduct under other statutes.)

“As Justice Jackson’s concurring opinion makes clear, the Court’s interpretation of Section 1512(c) is still broad enough to cover Fischer’s alleged conduct,” constitutional scholar Matthew Seligman, who authored an amicus brief for the case told me. “By violently storming the Capitol, the violent Jan. 6 rioters impaired the availability of the electoral certificates that Congress convened to count — Senate staffers had to flee the building with the certificates so they weren’t destroyed.” In short, Seligman concludes that “while the Court narrowed the government’s expansive interpretation, it did so in a way that will affect few — if any — actual Jan. 6 cases.”

In other words, creating electoral vote slates (as Trump allegedly did) would still be prosecutable. This decision therefore has essentially no impact on Trump, who was charged with four criminal counts including 1512(c)(2) and conspiracy to violate 1512(c)(2). His alleged involvement in concocting false electoral slates falls four-square within the court’s ruling. (Depending on the fine print, the court’s immunity case could still restrict his prosecution.)

As for the rest of the Jan. 6 insurrection defendants, the Justice Department in a statement released after the decision made clear: “The vast majority of the more than 1,400 defendants charged for their illegal actions on January 6 will not be affected by this decision. There are no cases in which the Department charged a January 6 defendant only with the offense at issue in Fischer.”

Just Security co-founder Ryan Goodman explains how the media exaggerated the impact of Fischer. “A quarter of [the defendants] pleaded guilty but NOT to obstruction,” he emphasized. “They pleaded to other charges. Those charges and those sentences are utterly unaffected by Supreme Court’s ruling.” It is really a sliver of a sliver who might be affected.

For example, all 128 people convicted at trial under 1512(c)(2) were also convicted of other crimes. At worst, they would need to be resentenced if their 1512(c)(2) conduct did not fall within the Supreme Court’s opinion. Beyond that, the legal gurus at Just Security found that for the “71 defendants who have been charged under Section 1512(c)(2) and are still awaiting trial, all of them are charged with crimes in addition to 1512(c)(2), and a majority are charged with one or more other felonies.” Depending on the facts, their 1512(c)(2) charge could either be dropped or their sentencing could proceed as charged.

Of the very small number of defendants (48) who pleaded to obstruction under 1512(c)(2), 22 were also charged with another felony. The other 26 pleaded just to a 1512(c)(2) count; all but 11 of those could be charged with another felony such as civil disorder and theft of government property.

A grand total of 11 defendants — who pleaded only to a 1512(c)(2) offense with no other felonies available — conceivably might have those reduced to misdemeanors. (There are also a group of 73 people either convicted at trial or waiting for trial on 1512(c)(2) plus one or more misdemeanors.) That is it. Fischer in no way opens the prison doors, and it certainly gives Trump absolutely no comfort.

This is not to tout the reasonableness of the right-wing majority. Having snatched immense powers from the executive branch and Congress this term, the court’s unbridled activism is undeniable. We certainly have seen an untrammeled imperial court dragging government back to the 1920s (on nonregulation of air, water, workplace safety, etc.) and individual rights to the 19th century. It has run roughshod over our democracy, which empowers the people’s elected representatives to make policy decisions. Rather, Fischer stands as a lonely exception, an example of judicial finesse.

Two points deserve further mention. Most vividly, this case serves as yet another glaring example of the mainstream media’s rush to hysterical conclusions. Overwrought headlines after the decision came down suggested hundreds of cases would be overturned. Those were inaccurate. Precision should take precedence over clickbait. Second, if Trump gets more appointees for the Supreme Court and the rest of the federal bench in a second term, there might be no brake on the damage this court can do. The prospect that the court could get worse should send chills up and down the spines of all Americans.

Roughly comparable to the more advanced American JDAM guided bombs, these glide bombs are large Soviet-era munitions retrofitted with guidance systems that experts say often fail — resulting in impacts on Russian territory.

The majority of the bombs were discovered by civilians — forest rangers, farmers or residents of villages surrounding the city. In most cases, the Defense Ministry didn’t know when the bombs had been launched, indicating that some of them could have been there for days.

According to the document, at least four bombs fell on the city of Belgorod itself, a regional hub with a population of about 400,000 people. An additional seven were found in the surrounding suburbs. The most, 11, fell in the Graivoron border region where some could not be recovered because of the “difficult operational situation.”

The document, originally intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence and passed on to The Post, includes a spreadsheet of incidents citing emergency decrees on bomb cleanup and evacuation and appears to be a product of the Belgorod city emergency department.

Astra, an independent Russian media outlet, verified that many of the incidents in the document matched those it had collected from local governments and reports in local news media. People mentioned as witnesses have been confirmed as residents.

While the bombs usually fail to detonate, one of the first recorded hitting Belgorod in April 2023 did explode when it crashed into a normally busy street, creating a crater 65 feet wide, shattering windows, and hurling parked cars onto roofs of buildings. The impact happened at night, however, and no casualties were reported. A day later a second, unexploded bomb was found buried 23 feet into the ground.

Russian military acknowledged at the time that the “accidental release of aircraft munition” from a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber was behind the explosion. The document later confirmed it was FAB-500, a glide bomb, carrying a 500 kilogram, or 1,100 pound, payload.

Local authorities generally remain quiet about the incidents, only reporting “accidents,” blaming Ukrainian shelling or just not reporting the various explosions rattling the area, particularly more recently.

On May 4 — after the period covered by the document — another bomb fell on Belgorod, injuring seven people and damaging more than 30 houses in a small community. Citing a source in the emergency services, the Astra media outlet reported it was also a FAB-500.

Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said only that “an explosion happened.”

“The governor always reports what exactly caused the explosion, but this time he decided not to disclose it,” independent local outlet Pepel noted at the time. “This indirectly confirms that the explosion was caused by a Russian air bomb that fell on the house during the bombing. The nature of the destruction also indicates this.”

On May 12, another blast destroyed several stories of an apartment block in Belgorod, killing 17 people. The Russian military blamed a Ukrainian missile, while the Conflict Intelligence Team, a Russian research group specializing in open-source investigations, said video from the scene indicated it was the result of another accidental FAB-500 bombing or a rogue antiaircraft missile fired by a Russian defense system.

On June 15, an explosion took place in the town of Shebekino, near Belgorod, and part of a five-story building collapsed, killing at least five, likely another glide bomb mishap.

According to its own tallies, Astra estimated that Russia has accidentally dropped more than a hundred bombs on its own territory as well as occupied areas in eastern Ukraine over the past four months — the same period that has seen a major increase in the use of glide bombs.

The Russian government has not responded to a request for comment on the document or reports of failed glide bombs.

The glide bombs are a Soviet relic hailing from the Cold War, designed as “dumb bombs” to be dropped on a target. Russia adapted this large inventory of unguided bombs to modern warfare by retrofitting them with guidance systems known as UMPK kits — cheap pop-out wings and navigation systems.

This allows Russian Su-34 and Su-35 jets to launch them from a distance of about 40 miles, which is out of reach for most Ukrainian air defense systems.

“A certain percentage of Russian bombs is defective. This problem has existed since they started using these UMPK kits and it’s not being fundamentally solved. We think these accidental releases are caused by the unreliability of these kits, something that does not seem to bother the Air Force,” Ruslan Leviev, a military expert with the Conflict Intelligence Group that has been tracking Russian military activities in Ukraine since 2014, said in a recent front line update.

Since developing the weapons and especially with the start of 2024, Russia has launched hundreds and hundreds of these bombs at Ukrainian positions, indicating a fairly low, but not insignificant rate of failure.

“According to our estimates, only a fraction of these bombs fail, so it doesn’t affect the practical effectiveness of this weapon, no matter how cynical that may sound,” Leviev said. “Unlike Western high-precision bombs, the UMPK kits are produced relatively cheaply and in large quantities, using civilian electronics, where reliability requirements are much lower.”

Glide bombs are also not as precise as cruise missiles, and often miss the target, but because of sheer explosive power they still do significant damage.

The glide bombs have put added pressure on Ukraine’s ground-based air defenses and have been instrumental in Russia’s demolition of Avdiivka, which its troops conquered in mid-February, marking its most significant gain since the capture of Bakhmut a year ago.

“Those weapons allow Russia to supplement an inadequate inventory of tactical air-launched missiles and to avoid using free-fall bombs that expose pilots to a greater risk of being shot down,” according to recent analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Ukraine’s best defense against them is the U.S. Patriot surface-to-air missile that can destroy a Russian aircraft before it approaches to release the bomb, but the systems are in short supply.

In late March, the Defense Ministry announced the development of a new, heavier version of the glide bomb, the FAB-3000, weighing twice as much as the next-biggest model. The number corresponds to the weight in kilograms, making it more than 6,000 pounds. It was finally deployed June 21 against the Ukrainian village of Liptsy.

The ministry also said the production of the lighter FAB-500 and FAB-1500 had been drastically increased.