See as a Google Calendar (click on Agenda tab in upper right)

Upcoming Stuff To Do


- Already going -

New York plays: God of Carnage, A Steady Rain

Friday night sing-alongs at Jacob Wirth

MFA First Fridays, SoWa First Fridays

Anish Kapoor's solo exhibition at the Royal Academy in London to Dec 11


- Upcoming -

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concerts (for Mom) Dec 10 - 12, 2009 (or maybe Sunday Music & Spoken Word)



Wherever they are
Pilobolus
Mummenschantz
Prairie Home Companion
Cirque du Soleil
Basel Twist

Places I want to go
Galapagos
Great Barrier Reef
Cloud/rain forest
African savannah
Berlin
Rome, Venice
Zermatt

Boston stuff to do
ArtsBoston.org

Museums around Boston
Gardner Museum - Third Thursday "Gardner After Hours"
Museum of Fine Arts - MFA First Fridays
Institute for Contemporary Arts
RISD
DeCordova
USS Constitution
Harvard
MIT
Somerville Museum of Mosaics
Museum of Bad Taste (? in basement of Somerville Theater)

Boston performing and presenting organizations
Boston Symphony Orchestra - $9 rush Fri 10am, Tu+Th 5pm; talks at 6:45 and 12:15; cafe 5:30, "after 7"pm, 11am lunch
Boston Philharmonic
Boston Classical Orchestra
Boston Chamber Music Society
Boston Conservatory
New England Conservatory
Longy
Boston University School of the Arts
Boston Cabaret
Regattabar

Boston opera organizations
Boston Lyric Opera
Opera Boston
Boston Opera Collaborative
Guerilla Opera
OperhaHub
Longwood Opera
Intermezzo
Juventas! New Music Ensemble

Enjoyed the BSO's open rehearsal!

I was surprised at the long line for tickets twenty minutes before the start time -- it stretched outside nearly to the corner of the building, and it didn't seem to be moving very quickly. I was worried about missing the beginning. It was cool to see a mix of people from college age to older folks with canes lining up for the concert.

I made it in a couple minutes before the conductor got on stage. I was disappointed that the seats I wanted up close on the first balcony were taken by the time I got there (open rehearsals -- open seating), and the ones on the other side I spied from across the hall turned out to be reserved. I went to my go-to seats at the back of the second balcony.

I came mostly for the Honegger Pastorale d'été and Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2, and was middling on the Stravinsky Petrushka (1947 version).

I was charmed by the Honegger. It had a gentle arc from quiet beginning to dance-y high point in the middle, back to calm. I reminded me a lot of Copland, but with a little more resonance or reverb. I thought a lot about how well this might work as a chamber ensemble arrangement, perhaps woodwind quintet plus string quartet and maybe string bass.

I was surprised by the Saint-Saëns on two counts. First, the composition itself more than met my expectations for a composition by him: well-crafted, intelligent, expressive, varied.

More memorable than the composition itself was the soloist, Lise de la Salle, 21 from France. She came on stage pretty casually with her hair loosely up in what looked like a bun, carrying her purse and wearing a baggy sweater in authoritative high heels. She sat down with poise. Then, wow.

I've heard a few virtuoso pianists in performances, but I don't remember being so impressed by one before. Incredible agility, power and grace. Go to a performance by her if you can!

After the first movement she took off her sweater to a few chuckles and tittering. Clearly she'd been working hard during the first movement, and under her sweater, she had a tighter one on that showed off her beautiful body.

The second movement was quite playful and charming and even from the back of symphony hall I could sense that she and the whole orchestra were enjoying the fun of the piece. At the remarkably cute ending, the audience laughed and chuckled out loud.

Apparently Ms de la Salle had been working hard on the second movement, too, because she then took off the second sweater, leaving herself in a thin-strapped little top. The audience laughed out loud, perhaps wondering, like I did, whether she'd take something else off after the third movement!

After the third movement, the audience was quick to applaud loudly, holler, and after the applause ended, talk excitedly into intermission. I don't recall the last time a classical performance has gotten so many people so excited.

The Stravinsky was well-done and familiar, but it just didn't grab me. I don't know why. I don't think I object to anything in it, but neither does anything really move me. (When I saw a couple of scenes by Basil Twist puppets, I was thoroughly engaged.)

Danish organ music at King's Chapel in Boston was enjoyable enough. Nothing really grabbed me, and only one piece turned me off.

Saw comedian Vidur Kapur. A competent stand-up comic. Not particularly memorable, pleasant enough.

King's Chapel Bach on the organ, played by Malcolm Proud.

I was surprised to be so moved by the chorale Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier BWV 731. So sweet and beautifully crafted and played.

The Prelude & Fuge in E minor BWV 548 was engaging and interesting, too. Still a bit much for me to follow the whole thing, but cool to notice things going on at shorter time scales.

I missed some of the Byrd piece at the beginning, but it was interesting to notice how much was going on compositionally with the work, though he died 60 years before Bach was born.

I like these noon concerts.

Went to the Jamaica Pond Lantern Parade. It was quite cool to see all the people out with their lanterns, making a ring around the pond. Also nice to meet and run into a couple people I know.

Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl at Lyric Stage in Boston

Went with Paul to see this (he liked another play he saw by Ruhl, and I thought the review looked good and like the last thing I saw at the Lyric Stage: Grey Gardens).

A fun, clever, sometimes dark play well-performed and -staged. As ridiculous as much of it was, it had the quality for me of keeping me wobbling between awareness of the artifice of the play, emotional engagement with the characters, and curiosity about what's meant to be "real" and "imagined" -- both in the play and in the world. Nice.

BSO Beethoven Symphonies 1, 2, 5 open rehearsal.

After listening to the Teaching Company's Symphonies of Beethoven course lectures on these symphonies in preparation for the BSO's series of all nine of them, it was nice to hear them with "new ears" of a sort.

I was particularly engrossed in No 2, particularly the first movement, as the program notes said it was like the introduction of a number of characters in a comic opera. It got me thinking about wanting to find or commission one or several works that introduce "characters" associated with different instruments, then have the characters interact (counterpoint) and change (variations?, harmony, elaboration) over the course of the piece.