Since I last updated my list of orchestra concerts Andrew and I have attended together, we have attended another nine concerts.
In the order we attended them, the nine concerts are listed below.
________________________________________________
Boston Symphony
Symphony Hall
Boston
Vasily Petrenko, Conductor
Stravinsky: Scherzo Fantastique
Rachmaninoff: The Isle Of The Dead
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
________________________________________________
The Handel And Haydn Society
Symphony Hall
Boston
Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Conductor
Andreas Scholl, Countertenor
Vivaldi: “La Fida Ninfa” Overture
Vivaldi: “Cessate, Omai Cessate” Cantata
Vivaldi: “Al Santo Sepolcro” Sinfonia
Handel: Arias From “Giulio Cesare” And “Giustino”
Vivaldi: “Filiae Maestae Jerusalem”
Vivaldi: Stabat Mater
________________________________________________
Berlin Philharmonic
Symphony Hall
Boston
Simon Rattle, Conductor
Brahms: Symphony No. 3
Schoenberg: Music To Accompany A Motion Picture Scene
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
________________________________________________
Boston Symphony
Symphony Hall
Boston
Bernard Haitink, Conductor
James Galway, Flute
The Women Of The Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Debussy: Nocturnes
Ibert: Flute Concerto
Brahms: Symphony No. 1
________________________________________________
Boston Symphony
Symphony Hall
Boston
Christoph Dohnanyi, Conductor
Frank Peter Zimmermann, Violin
Bartok: Divertimento For String Orchestra
Martinu: Violin Concerto No. 2
Dvorak: Symphony No. 8
________________________________________________
Boston Symphony
Symphony Hall
Boston
Colin Davis, Conductor
Nikolaj Znaider, Violin
Mozart: Symphony No. 38 (“Prague”)
Elgar: Violin Concerto
________________________________________________
Concertgebouw Orchestra Of Amsterdam
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Washington
Mariss Jansons, Conductor
Janine Jansen, Violin
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2
________________________________________________
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Symphony Hall
Boston
Riccardo Chailly, Conductor
Louis Lortie, Piano
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
________________________________________________
Cleveland Orchestra
Severance Hall
Cleveland
Franz Welser-Most, Conductor
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8
________________________________________________
The Leipzig and Cleveland concerts were extraordinary, the Berlin and Amsterdam concerts disappointing.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Four Temperaments
"The Four Temperaments", a supreme example of 20th-Century Classicism, choreography by George Balanchine (1946) to an original score by Paul Hindemith (1940).
Another List
Andrew and I attended seven ballet performances over the last year. We caught performances in Boston, Dallas, New York and Washington.
Six of the seven performances involved evening-length ballets, an unusually high number for us. Only one performance was a mixed bill.
In order, the performances we attended since my July 2009 update were:
________________________________________________
Boston Ballet
Boston Opera House
Boston
Giselle [Adolphe Adam/Jean Coralli-Jules Perrot-Marius Petipa]
________________________________________________
Texas Ballet Theater
Winspear Opera House
Dallas
The Nutcracker [Peter Illich Tchaikovsky/Ben Stevenson]
________________________________________________
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
New York
Romeo And Juliet [Sergei Prokofiev/Peter Martins]
________________________________________________
Mariinsky Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
Washington
The Sleeping Beauty [Peter Illich Tchaikovsky/Marius Petipa-Konstantine Sergeyev-Fedor Lopukhov]
________________________________________________
Bolshoi Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
Washington
Spartacus [Aram Khachaturian/Yuri Grigorovich]
________________________________________________
Boston Ballet
Boston Opera House
Boston
Coppelia [Leo Delibes/Marius Petipa-George Balanchine-Aexandra Danilova]
________________________________________________
Boston Ballet
Boston Opera House
Boston
The Four Temperaments [Paul Hindemith/George Balanchine]
Apollo [Igor Stravinsky/George Balanchine]
Theme And Variations [Peter Illich Tchaikovsky/George Balanchine]
________________________________________________
The Russian companies were a real eye-opener for me. The dancing of the Mariinsky was exceedingly refined, while the dancing of the Bolshoi was nakedly extrovert, even showy.
The Boston “Giselle” was our second “Giselle”, we previously having seen “Giselle” danced in Minneapolis by The State Ballet Of Georgia (Tbilisi).
The Boston “Four Temperaments” was our third “Temperaments”, we previously having seen “Temperaments” danced by New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.
I am now beginning to appreciate “The Four Temperaments”, one of the 20th Century’s great masterpieces. The first two times I saw the ballet, I found the work dry and academic. Additional exposure is causing me to change my mind: “The Four Temperaments”, more than any other Balanchine work, may exemplify 20th-Century Classicism at its richest and most elevated.
Six of the seven performances involved evening-length ballets, an unusually high number for us. Only one performance was a mixed bill.
In order, the performances we attended since my July 2009 update were:
________________________________________________
Boston Ballet
Boston Opera House
Boston
Giselle [Adolphe Adam/Jean Coralli-Jules Perrot-Marius Petipa]
________________________________________________
Texas Ballet Theater
Winspear Opera House
Dallas
The Nutcracker [Peter Illich Tchaikovsky/Ben Stevenson]
________________________________________________
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
New York
Romeo And Juliet [Sergei Prokofiev/Peter Martins]
________________________________________________
Mariinsky Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
Washington
The Sleeping Beauty [Peter Illich Tchaikovsky/Marius Petipa-Konstantine Sergeyev-Fedor Lopukhov]
________________________________________________
Bolshoi Ballet
Kennedy Center Opera House
Washington
Spartacus [Aram Khachaturian/Yuri Grigorovich]
________________________________________________
Boston Ballet
Boston Opera House
Boston
Coppelia [Leo Delibes/Marius Petipa-George Balanchine-Aexandra Danilova]
________________________________________________
Boston Ballet
Boston Opera House
Boston
The Four Temperaments [Paul Hindemith/George Balanchine]
Apollo [Igor Stravinsky/George Balanchine]
Theme And Variations [Peter Illich Tchaikovsky/George Balanchine]
________________________________________________
The Russian companies were a real eye-opener for me. The dancing of the Mariinsky was exceedingly refined, while the dancing of the Bolshoi was nakedly extrovert, even showy.
The Boston “Giselle” was our second “Giselle”, we previously having seen “Giselle” danced in Minneapolis by The State Ballet Of Georgia (Tbilisi).
The Boston “Four Temperaments” was our third “Temperaments”, we previously having seen “Temperaments” danced by New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.
I am now beginning to appreciate “The Four Temperaments”, one of the 20th Century’s great masterpieces. The first two times I saw the ballet, I found the work dry and academic. Additional exposure is causing me to change my mind: “The Four Temperaments”, more than any other Balanchine work, may exemplify 20th-Century Classicism at its richest and most elevated.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
World War I French Field Hospital
By 1907, the Lumiere brothers had perfected color photography.
In the last two years of World War I, the French government commissioned thousands of color photographs of the war. The resulting photographic record constitutes the only significant archive of color photographs of any nation participating in the conflict.
It is unknown whether this color photograph of a French field hospital dates from 1917 or 1918.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Another Updated List
I last updated the list of opera performances Andrew and I have attended together in July of last year.
Andrew and I have attended only two opera performances over the last twelve months. In order, they were:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, performed at Theater An Der Wien
Gioachino Rossini’s “Tancredi”, performed by Opera Boston
I must confess that I am not really into opera, which is the primary reason Andrew and I attend very few opera performances.
Andrew wants to attend the American premiere of Franz Schreker’s “Der Ferne Klang” at Bard’s SummerScape at Annandale-On-Hudson next month, but I am not keen on going. It remains up in the air whether we shall attend.
Next season, I believe we shall try to attend performances of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” to be presented by Opera Boston and Puccini’s “Tosca” to be presented by Boston Lyric Opera, but otherwise I doubt there will be much opera-going in our near-term future.
Andrew and I have attended only two opera performances over the last twelve months. In order, they were:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, performed at Theater An Der Wien
Gioachino Rossini’s “Tancredi”, performed by Opera Boston
I must confess that I am not really into opera, which is the primary reason Andrew and I attend very few opera performances.
Andrew wants to attend the American premiere of Franz Schreker’s “Der Ferne Klang” at Bard’s SummerScape at Annandale-On-Hudson next month, but I am not keen on going. It remains up in the air whether we shall attend.
Next season, I believe we shall try to attend performances of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” to be presented by Opera Boston and Puccini’s “Tosca” to be presented by Boston Lyric Opera, but otherwise I doubt there will be much opera-going in our near-term future.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Men's Basketball Players Can Be Cowgirls, Too
On Friday, March 12, Andrew and I, his parents and Alex—taking advantage of my Spring Break—embarked for Greece.
The previous afternoon, the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament got underway in Indianapolis.
We watched on television the first round game between Iowa and Michigan, a game Michigan easily won, 59-52. The game was not as close as the final score suggests, as Michigan enjoyed a sixteen-point lead with four minutes to play.
The Iowa point guard, freshman Cully Payne, played his heart out that day, scoring a career-high 25 points. Payne made every effort to carry his team to victory. His play was valiant.
In stark contrast, the rest of the Iowa squad on March 11 played very specifically in order to lose. It was patently apparent to anyone watching the game, in the arena or on television, that the Iowa players, Payne aside, had no intention of winning that game.
The most inexcusable performance on March 11 came from Iowa sophomore Matt Gatens (or “Max”, as Alec calls him). Gatens played a deliberately lame game—to say he mailed it in would be a vast understatement—and most observers believe that Gatens did so as a parting gift to Iowa coach Todd Lickliter, who was officially relieved of his duties as Iowa basketball coach the following Monday morning (but whose coming dismissal was widely known no later than the afternoon of Tuesday, March 9).
On the court and behind the scenes, Gatens had been undercutting Lickliter for months. Most persons in Iowa City were aware of the situation, and few were surprised at Gatens’s increasingly erratic play and behavior. Gatens’s poor, even dismaying, performance at the Big Ten Tournament, consequently, came as a shock to no one.
Happily for the basketball crowd in Indianapolis, Gatens did offer one particular pleasure on the afternoon of March 11: he played the part of a floozy chorine/cowgirl from the musical, “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas”—and he played the part of the chorine/cowgirl supremely well.
Of course, Gatens was assisted in his convincing portrayal by the Iowa basketball uniforms, the tops of which are modeled upon women’s volleyball uniforms and the bottoms of which are adapted from 1920’s bloomers.
The shoes, somehow suggestive of cowgirl boots, completed the eye-catching ensemble.
In the photo below, also from March 11, the cowgirl-boot nature of the shoes is even more apparent.
At a glance, the shoes indeed appear to be cowgirl boots—although, upon close examination, one may see that what appear to be cowgirl boots are in fact black shoes and black socks (at which point all sorts of Third Reich associations uncomfortably assert themselves).
The latter photo amply reveals Gatens’s shameful behavior that day: he is deliberately late in getting to the team huddle, his teammates waiting and his coach staring directly at him. Gatens’s body language demonstrates, in spades, the contempt he held both for his coach and for his teammates.
However, Gatens’s shoddy behavior is redeemed, at least in part, by his courage in cleaning out his ear in public in the presence of thousands of sports fans and before a national television audience.
Not everyone would have the bravery to do such a thing—even when playing the part of a floozy chorine/cowgirl.
The previous afternoon, the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament got underway in Indianapolis.
We watched on television the first round game between Iowa and Michigan, a game Michigan easily won, 59-52. The game was not as close as the final score suggests, as Michigan enjoyed a sixteen-point lead with four minutes to play.
The Iowa point guard, freshman Cully Payne, played his heart out that day, scoring a career-high 25 points. Payne made every effort to carry his team to victory. His play was valiant.
In stark contrast, the rest of the Iowa squad on March 11 played very specifically in order to lose. It was patently apparent to anyone watching the game, in the arena or on television, that the Iowa players, Payne aside, had no intention of winning that game.
The most inexcusable performance on March 11 came from Iowa sophomore Matt Gatens (or “Max”, as Alec calls him). Gatens played a deliberately lame game—to say he mailed it in would be a vast understatement—and most observers believe that Gatens did so as a parting gift to Iowa coach Todd Lickliter, who was officially relieved of his duties as Iowa basketball coach the following Monday morning (but whose coming dismissal was widely known no later than the afternoon of Tuesday, March 9).
On the court and behind the scenes, Gatens had been undercutting Lickliter for months. Most persons in Iowa City were aware of the situation, and few were surprised at Gatens’s increasingly erratic play and behavior. Gatens’s poor, even dismaying, performance at the Big Ten Tournament, consequently, came as a shock to no one.
Happily for the basketball crowd in Indianapolis, Gatens did offer one particular pleasure on the afternoon of March 11: he played the part of a floozy chorine/cowgirl from the musical, “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas”—and he played the part of the chorine/cowgirl supremely well.
Of course, Gatens was assisted in his convincing portrayal by the Iowa basketball uniforms, the tops of which are modeled upon women’s volleyball uniforms and the bottoms of which are adapted from 1920’s bloomers.
The shoes, somehow suggestive of cowgirl boots, completed the eye-catching ensemble.
In the photo below, also from March 11, the cowgirl-boot nature of the shoes is even more apparent.
At a glance, the shoes indeed appear to be cowgirl boots—although, upon close examination, one may see that what appear to be cowgirl boots are in fact black shoes and black socks (at which point all sorts of Third Reich associations uncomfortably assert themselves).
The latter photo amply reveals Gatens’s shameful behavior that day: he is deliberately late in getting to the team huddle, his teammates waiting and his coach staring directly at him. Gatens’s body language demonstrates, in spades, the contempt he held both for his coach and for his teammates.
However, Gatens’s shoddy behavior is redeemed, at least in part, by his courage in cleaning out his ear in public in the presence of thousands of sports fans and before a national television audience.
Not everyone would have the bravery to do such a thing—even when playing the part of a floozy chorine/cowgirl.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Updating My Lists
I am a maker of lists, and I have not updated my lists since July of last year.
I last updated the list of theater performances Andrew and I have attended together on July 7, 2009.
Since that time, we have attended another eighteen theater performances, bringing to seventy-nine the number of theater performances Andrew and I have attended since February 2006.
Theater performances over the last twelve months are listed below, in the order we attended them.
________________________________________________
J. B. Priestley’s “When We Are Married”, at The Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis
George Bernard Shaw’s “The Devil’s Disciple”, at The Shaw Festival, Niagara-On-The-Lake
Garson Kanin’s “Born Yesterday”, at The Shaw Festival, Niagara-On-The-Lake
Eugene O’Neill’s “A Moon For The Misbegotten”, at The Shaw Festival, Niagara-On-The-Lake
The Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine Musical, “Sunday In The Park With George”, at The Shaw Festival, Niagara-On-The-Lake
George Bernard Shaw’s “In Good King Charles’s Golden Days”, at The Shaw Festival, Niagara-On-The-Lake
Thomas Heggen’s And Joshua Logan’s “Mister Roberts”, at New Repertory Theater Company, Watertown
The Cole Porter-Samuel And Bella Spewack Musical, “Kiss Me, Kate”, at The Lyric Stage Company, Boston
Evan Smith’s “The Savannah Disputation”, at SpeakEasy Stage Company, Boston
Harold Pinter’s “The Caretaker”, at Central Square Theater, Cambridge
Conor McPherson’s “The Seafarer”, at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell
Gerald Sibleyras’s And Tom Stoppard’s “Heroes”, at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell
The Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler Musical, “A Little Night Music”, at The Walter Kerr Theatre, New York
Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter”, at American Airlines Theatre, New York
Arthur Miller’s “A View From The Bridge”, at The Cort Theatre, New York
Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons”, at The Huntington Theatre Company, Boston
Doug Wright’s “I Am My Own Wife”, at Signature Theatre, Arlington
Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit”, at The Lyric Stage Company, Boston
________________________________________________
Nothing we saw during the last year was particularly good. We were especially disappointed in the quality of performance on display at The Shaw Festival. Prior to our visit to Niagara-On-The-Lake, we had assumed—wrongly—that the quality of performance at the storied Canadian venue would be at the highest standard.
I last updated the list of theater performances Andrew and I have attended together on July 7, 2009.
Since that time, we have attended another eighteen theater performances, bringing to seventy-nine the number of theater performances Andrew and I have attended since February 2006.
Theater performances over the last twelve months are listed below, in the order we attended them.
________________________________________________
J. B. Priestley’s “When We Are Married”, at The Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis
George Bernard Shaw’s “The Devil’s Disciple”, at The Shaw Festival, Niagara-On-The-Lake
Garson Kanin’s “Born Yesterday”, at The Shaw Festival, Niagara-On-The-Lake
Eugene O’Neill’s “A Moon For The Misbegotten”, at The Shaw Festival, Niagara-On-The-Lake
The Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine Musical, “Sunday In The Park With George”, at The Shaw Festival, Niagara-On-The-Lake
George Bernard Shaw’s “In Good King Charles’s Golden Days”, at The Shaw Festival, Niagara-On-The-Lake
Thomas Heggen’s And Joshua Logan’s “Mister Roberts”, at New Repertory Theater Company, Watertown
The Cole Porter-Samuel And Bella Spewack Musical, “Kiss Me, Kate”, at The Lyric Stage Company, Boston
Evan Smith’s “The Savannah Disputation”, at SpeakEasy Stage Company, Boston
Harold Pinter’s “The Caretaker”, at Central Square Theater, Cambridge
Conor McPherson’s “The Seafarer”, at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell
Gerald Sibleyras’s And Tom Stoppard’s “Heroes”, at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell
The Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler Musical, “A Little Night Music”, at The Walter Kerr Theatre, New York
Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter”, at American Airlines Theatre, New York
Arthur Miller’s “A View From The Bridge”, at The Cort Theatre, New York
Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons”, at The Huntington Theatre Company, Boston
Doug Wright’s “I Am My Own Wife”, at Signature Theatre, Arlington
Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit”, at The Lyric Stage Company, Boston
________________________________________________
Nothing we saw during the last year was particularly good. We were especially disappointed in the quality of performance on display at The Shaw Festival. Prior to our visit to Niagara-On-The-Lake, we had assumed—wrongly—that the quality of performance at the storied Canadian venue would be at the highest standard.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Zell Am See
The narrow inner streets of beautiful Zell Am See, which we visited last August 7 (and we were to have lunch at the outdoor cafe on the right).
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
As Painlessly As Possible
Andrew and I spent a long Independence Day Weekend in Oklahoma.
On our way to and from Oklahoma, we flew through Dallas-Fort Worth both times. We did so in order that we travel on the same flights to and from Oklahoma City as my aunt and uncle living in Dallas, who joined my family for the long weekend. Booking the same flights saved my parents from having to make two trips to the Oklahoma City airport on Friday and again yesterday.
We did not do much all weekend. Oklahoma was hot and dry, as it often is in July, and we stayed home, visiting, except on Sunday, when we went to Norman for a cookout with numerous family members.
Andrew and I had not seen my family since Thanksgiving, when we had all gathered in Dallas, and it was good to see everyone again. No one was in possession of extraordinary news—we are, on the whole, a rather boring group—but at least we were able to catch up on each other’s minutiae.
My parents and my brother and sister are still talking about our trip last summer to Bavaria and Austria, which they enjoyed very much. They want to go somewhere next summer, too, the excuse being a celebration of my graduation from law school. Paris seems to be the destination of choice.
I hope I don’t flunk out, and spoil things for everyone!
Andrew and I have two long months ahead of us before Labor Day Weekend, when we will travel to Minnesota. We will try to get through the rest of a long Boston summer as painlessly as possible.
On our way to and from Oklahoma, we flew through Dallas-Fort Worth both times. We did so in order that we travel on the same flights to and from Oklahoma City as my aunt and uncle living in Dallas, who joined my family for the long weekend. Booking the same flights saved my parents from having to make two trips to the Oklahoma City airport on Friday and again yesterday.
We did not do much all weekend. Oklahoma was hot and dry, as it often is in July, and we stayed home, visiting, except on Sunday, when we went to Norman for a cookout with numerous family members.
Andrew and I had not seen my family since Thanksgiving, when we had all gathered in Dallas, and it was good to see everyone again. No one was in possession of extraordinary news—we are, on the whole, a rather boring group—but at least we were able to catch up on each other’s minutiae.
My parents and my brother and sister are still talking about our trip last summer to Bavaria and Austria, which they enjoyed very much. They want to go somewhere next summer, too, the excuse being a celebration of my graduation from law school. Paris seems to be the destination of choice.
I hope I don’t flunk out, and spoil things for everyone!
Andrew and I have two long months ahead of us before Labor Day Weekend, when we will travel to Minnesota. We will try to get through the rest of a long Boston summer as painlessly as possible.