I enjoyed Boston Philharmonic's All Wagner Program. In particular, Siegfried's Funeral March is quite moving for me. I was disappointed that often I couldn't hear the soprano soloist that well, with the whole orchestra on stage rather than underneath.

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.

BSO Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky et al

I particularly liked the Tchaikovsky Francesca da Rimini, and am looking forward to hearing more Tchaikovsky soon. The Stravinsky Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra was engaging, though I'd have to listen to it again, I think, to have a clearer idea of the program notes' assertion that the influence of Tchaikovsky is all of it.

The Martinu (Frescoes of Piero della Francesca) and Thomas (Helios Choros II) were missable. In particular, while there were a couple of engaging short moments in the Thomas, it repeatedly reminded me of my dislike and dismissiveness of recent "bleep-bop" art music -- that to me sounds like a series of pairs of pitch-harmony-timbre clusters coming helter skelter one after another. *sigh* Fortunately, the concert ended with the Tchaikovsky.

The last of the MFA classes "The Creative Eye" finished today. While it started out a little awkward with me arriving a couple minutes late and realizing I was both the only male and the only one under 50 (I think -- there may have been a woman or two in her 40s). Each week we spent about a half hour each at three works (still lives, landscapes, portraits, sculpture), spending a long time looking and sketching or writing and then talking about what we saw and a bit about the painting, the style, the artist, etc. A lovely class that has helped me see more. And I was quite impressed with the teacher, who I wasn't surprised to find out had done education work at the Met.

BSO Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich conducted by Vasily Petrenko

A fascinating concert for many reasons:

It was the first time I sat in the first balcony very close to the stage where I could see the conductor well from the side.

Vasiliy Petrenko was fascinating to watch: young, intense, authoritative without seeming imperious, gracious to the audience, and making more use of his face and body in more different ways than I remember seeing a conductor do before. I'd like to watch him again.

While none of the three pieces (Stravinsky Scherzo Fantastique, Rachmaninoff Isle of the Dead, and Shostakovich Symphony 10) really grabbed me, I enjoyed all of them. The standout for me was the Rachmaninoff (who I generally like) and the clear inspiration and relationship with the painting that matches the name of the piece.

Boston Philharmonic Brahms Violin Concerto in D Op. 77 and Dvorak Symphony 7.

Went with Tim to this lovely concert in Sanders Theatre. The Violin concert was well-performed, but didn't grab me. The encore by Feng Ning was an impressive arrangement of a classical guitar piece.

I don't remember hearing the Dvorak Symphony 7 before, but I really liked it. I was also pleased that as Ben Zander was talking about the piece and having the orchestra play excerpts, I though "ooh, that sounds like Wagner", at which point he turned and said, "If you like that, come back for our Wagner concert next time."

Saw Paula Poundstone with Mark at the Wilbur Theater. Lots of fun. The most memorable for me was her talking about how awful she thought it would be to fell like your marriage was threatened by gay marriage. "Um, Honey, I'm not feeling close to you now that Patrice and Maureen are getting married."

The Donkey Show was kind of fun, and there were lots of beautiful people, both in the cast in glitter and on the floor as audience, but it just didn't grab me. I'm glad I brought ear plugs, too.

I saw Fences at the Huntington with Erik and Alex up from Providence. I was quite impressed with the show. I've liked August Wilson works put on at the Huntington before, but I don't remember the audience gasping three times during a play before. And I gasped once, too -- a rarity for me. And it was just on the simple delivery of surprising and heartbreaking news -- no violence, no screaming, just a devastating statement of fact. Looking forward to the next Huntington show I see next year.

Had a lovely little trip to Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor with Rick. Kind of cool yet strange to see how green it's becoming after being filled upwards in the 1990s. Lots of open grass, nice to lie in and feel the wind and the sun without hearing much of the city a few miles away.

Varla Jean Merman in Provincetown was excellent and, as expected, bawdy and funny. Varla Jean and the Mushroom Heads got to play with kids' shows in an even racier way than Avenue Q. Can't wait to see her again.

The Brave New Workshop Saves the Planet; or Yes We Can, but Do We Have To? with Jon and Kristin was lots of fun. An actually funny and clever (and sometimes juvenile) satire/two-act-set-of-related-sketches. I was particularly struck by Kim Jong Il's plans for a doomsday unicorn from his guts. I still snicker at the little soliloquy. (Dudley Riggs)

Went back to the ICA again with Larry to see the Shepard Fairey exhibit again before it closes up. Wow I like his stuff, especially at such huge scale. Reminds me a bit of how Beethoven can take stuff and repurpose and vary and recombine it to make amazing new stuff from fairly simple starting materials.

Went to the New England Aquarium. Was pleasantly surprised -- despite the dark bunker of a building, there's a lot of cool exhibits. I war particularly enthralled by the Giant Ocean Tank, and the penguins were fun, and the jellies mesmerizing.