Back from the BSO's performance at Strathmore. The pieces under the authority of conductor Marin Alsop's robustly light touch were:
1. "Doctor Atomic Symphony" by John Adams.
2. Violin Concerto in E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn, with guest violinist Stefan Jackiw.
3. Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, "From the New World," by Antonin Dvorak.
It was for the third piece in the program that my friend particularly wanted to go out on a schoolnight, in the rain, to hear. I agreed to go because her husband would not, and after all the Sunday "family" dinners she's had me over for, I figured my companionship was the least I could offer.
"New World" is a good draw and a great end to an evening out. It'll keep all us oldsters awake. But more than that, the piece is an exploration of a landscape in musical tones, shades and contours, lights and earthy darks.
It was the second piece that got the biggest applause, though, thanks to the pyrotechnics of the guest hunk. Oh yeah, baby, the 25-year-old Korean-German wunderkind looked about 15, so it seemed to me the enthusiastic standing ovation may have been on the patronizing side. Maybe not. He really was quite fantastic.
For me, the first piece was worth the price of admission, though my friend said it was too "modern" for her taste.
Here is where I remind myself not to call this stuff "classical music." When you tell your friends you're going to a concert and it's not Lady Gaga or even Coldplay, you can usually just get away with saying it's classical music. But I guess the correct term is "symphonic" or "orchestral" concert. Anyway, the "Doctor Atomic Symphony" ain't "classical" no-way, no-how.
Having spent the afternoon listening to my CD of Philip Glass symphonies (conducted by above mentioned Alsop, that dinky little force of nature), I was probably in a better mental position to accept the less-melodically inclined Adams piece than my friend was.
Typically when at an orchestral concert, given little else to look at besides the clarinetists cleaning out their instruments every chance they can, I visualize dance, movement, and even a narrative. That was not the case with Adams. Instead, I was visualizing the landscapes of the dread, barren Southwest, and rhythms of dawn and decay. It was both fracturing and refreshing.
Because my friend and I had been yammering away before the program began, I didn't get to read about what I would be hearing this evening. So in the interval before the orchestra and hunky guest launched into the Mendelssohn, I glanced at the program and saw that "Doctor Atomic Symphony" was actually inspired by Robert Oppenheimer, dirctor of the Manhattan Project, which of course was set in the New Mexico desert and, according to the program notes, was "ripe for mythic treatment."
For some reason that made me very happy. That I "got" it. Listening to something I knew nothing about, not exactly prepared for, and feeling what the artist wanted me to (I think).
Love, hosaa,
getting it (I think)
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
My Invention
Last week when I went to the Round House Theatre, I noticed that they still hadn't repaired the stall doors in the restroom. Metal fatigue in the doors means that they don't latch securely into the supporting column and they fly open when someone else down the line rattles the structure a little. Like by opening or closing their own door.
I e-mailed the theater about the problem, but they didn't respond. :(
I just wanted someone to invent something to hold the door closed. So I did. :)
The only problem is that the little magnets I used hold 35 pounds each. I may accidentally lock myself in! But at least my privacy will be secure.
Love, hosaa
modestly inventing stuff
I e-mailed the theater about the problem, but they didn't respond. :(
I just wanted someone to invent something to hold the door closed. So I did. :)
The only problem is that the little magnets I used hold 35 pounds each. I may accidentally lock myself in! But at least my privacy will be secure.
Love, hosaa
modestly inventing stuff
Monday, September 13, 2010
Ooo That Kiss!
A little fun with Clay Aiken and his Timeless Tour back-up singer, Casey Thompson, set to "Eso Beso" as performed during Clay's PBS special, "Tried & True Live"
The dancers are Allison Holker and Italo Elgueta.
Download available: Ooo That Kiss
The dancers are Allison Holker and Italo Elgueta.
Download available: Ooo That Kiss
Thursday, September 9, 2010
A Picture of Mr. Ripley
Back from the Round House Theatre's first show of the 2010-11 season, The Talented Mr. Ripley, adapted from the Patricia Highsmith novel by playwright Phyllis Nagy and director Blake Robison.
I'm sorry to say I was disappointed in the production, a faint echo of last season's opener, the similarly themed A Picture of Dorian Gray. Whereas the Oscar Wilde classic had complexity and a cunning charm (not to mention RHT's stunning production, a spiffy Sixties rendering of Warholian decadance), the talents of this Ripley guy eluded me.
Nothing wrong with the acting (Karl Miller in the title role), but the static set and dreary, low-key direction couldn't keep me from drifting off.
Maybe it was just me. Tired, achy, a long day at work, and a good full meal before the show. But maybe it wasn't me. Who knows. Last year the Washington Post hated "A Picture of Dorian Gray," whereas I loved it and thought it one of the bravest productions RHT had ever done. So probably WaPo will love their Mr. Ripley--the couple sitting next to me did.
Anyway, that's my recap. Time for bed.
love, hosaa
wondering if I am officially a little old lady, with endurance only for the Sunday matinees anymore....
I'm sorry to say I was disappointed in the production, a faint echo of last season's opener, the similarly themed A Picture of Dorian Gray. Whereas the Oscar Wilde classic had complexity and a cunning charm (not to mention RHT's stunning production, a spiffy Sixties rendering of Warholian decadance), the talents of this Ripley guy eluded me.
Nothing wrong with the acting (Karl Miller in the title role), but the static set and dreary, low-key direction couldn't keep me from drifting off.
Maybe it was just me. Tired, achy, a long day at work, and a good full meal before the show. But maybe it wasn't me. Who knows. Last year the Washington Post hated "A Picture of Dorian Gray," whereas I loved it and thought it one of the bravest productions RHT had ever done. So probably WaPo will love their Mr. Ripley--the couple sitting next to me did.
Anyway, that's my recap. Time for bed.
love, hosaa
wondering if I am officially a little old lady, with endurance only for the Sunday matinees anymore....
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Corcoran, Close, Renwick, and Rockwell
Back from the Corcoran and Renwick galleries, so also catching up on the Norman Rockwell exhibition I saw earlier in the week. Corcoran is an independent institution, while the Renwick is part of the Smithsonian's American Art Museum, which hosted the Rockwell exhibition. I like pairing Corcoran and Renwick because they're only a couple of blocks apart; Renwick is off the mall-beaten path for most Smithsonian goers and so less densely populated with tourists.
Today was Corcoran's last "free Saturday" of the summer, where the doors are open for the public to sketch live models in the lobby. Fortunately for me the Chuck Close exhibit was extended, so I got to participate in art and see the exhibit.
This was my first taste of the open sketching event. I like to doodle wherever I go, but my skills were far behind those who attended today, so I gave up. I enjoyed the view of other participatants much better.
In addition to sketchers, there were singers: a performance by the Washington Revels was going on upstairs, just outside the galleries containing the Close exhibit.
The Chuck Close prints exhibit was interesting to me because I hadn't studied his work since college, which at the time would have stopped with his photorealism work. After that, he began experimenting with materials and techniques, from paper pulp to his own fingerprints.
This work would seem to me to fall more into the realm of craft, which is what the Renwick specializes in.
The Renwick's permanent collection features paintings that most of us would consider art, but also pieces that showcase the skill (craft) of working with materials such as clay, glass, fabric, and wood.
The featured exhibition at Renwick was "The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946." The objects in the collection were largely made of found materials--scrap wood, metals, shells, and other pieces.
This demonstrated an impulse to create that transcended the degradation to which humans had been exposed. It would be the same impulse that led Chuck Close to continue to create and experiment and express his vision despite physical disabilities.
Returning to the Norman Rockwell exhibit, "Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell. From the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg," I'm drawn to the "realism" of his technique, much as I was to Chuck Close's earlier works. Whereas Rockwell's realism was more idealized, Close's was more hyper-realistic. Both forced an idea of reality onto the viewer that is actually quite artificial. One did it with whimsy, carefully casting his scenes with real actors and constructing the sets, and the other with a startling focus on that most intimate of subjects, the face, decontextualizing it through sheer scale.
Before I even decided to see the Rockwell exhibit, I'd read a review (rant, actually) that lambasted this art as propaganda for an idealized America that never existed. Rockwell was a commercial illustrator; of course the images were selling something. I've never felt that diminished the work as art. My favorite piece in the collection, showing a writer dreaming of Daniel Boone, was an ad for Underwood Typewriters.
Back over to the Renwick, I loved the objects in the permanent collection, though I have to say I am bitterly disappointed to have bought a book from the gift shop that featured only one of the objects I saw today (Chihuly's glass cylinder; see above). The book, it turns out, was published in 1998. That's like a century ago, right?
Anyway, the most popular piece today was this glass dress by Karen LaMonte.
I say it was a popular piece because I had to wait about 10 minutes to get a clear shot of it. There were three women who took turns taking photos of each other with their heads sticking up out of the neckline of the glass dress.
Actually, it made me smile to see that. What started over at the Corcoran a couple of hours earlier--a day of people experiencing art at a very personal level--was just being carried over by these ladies enjoying a work of exquisite craft.
It is why we create, is it not?
love, hosaa
observing observers of life and art
Credit: All photos by C. G. Wagner
Today was Corcoran's last "free Saturday" of the summer, where the doors are open for the public to sketch live models in the lobby. Fortunately for me the Chuck Close exhibit was extended, so I got to participate in art and see the exhibit.
This was my first taste of the open sketching event. I like to doodle wherever I go, but my skills were far behind those who attended today, so I gave up. I enjoyed the view of other participatants much better.
In addition to sketchers, there were singers: a performance by the Washington Revels was going on upstairs, just outside the galleries containing the Close exhibit.
The Chuck Close prints exhibit was interesting to me because I hadn't studied his work since college, which at the time would have stopped with his photorealism work. After that, he began experimenting with materials and techniques, from paper pulp to his own fingerprints.
This work would seem to me to fall more into the realm of craft, which is what the Renwick specializes in.
The Renwick's permanent collection features paintings that most of us would consider art, but also pieces that showcase the skill (craft) of working with materials such as clay, glass, fabric, and wood.
 |
| Grand Salon, Renwick Gallery |
 |
| Blanket Cylinder Series (1984) Dale Chihuly |
This demonstrated an impulse to create that transcended the degradation to which humans had been exposed. It would be the same impulse that led Chuck Close to continue to create and experiment and express his vision despite physical disabilities.
Returning to the Norman Rockwell exhibit, "Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell. From the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg," I'm drawn to the "realism" of his technique, much as I was to Chuck Close's earlier works. Whereas Rockwell's realism was more idealized, Close's was more hyper-realistic. Both forced an idea of reality onto the viewer that is actually quite artificial. One did it with whimsy, carefully casting his scenes with real actors and constructing the sets, and the other with a startling focus on that most intimate of subjects, the face, decontextualizing it through sheer scale.
Before I even decided to see the Rockwell exhibit, I'd read a review (rant, actually) that lambasted this art as propaganda for an idealized America that never existed. Rockwell was a commercial illustrator; of course the images were selling something. I've never felt that diminished the work as art. My favorite piece in the collection, showing a writer dreaming of Daniel Boone, was an ad for Underwood Typewriters.
Back over to the Renwick, I loved the objects in the permanent collection, though I have to say I am bitterly disappointed to have bought a book from the gift shop that featured only one of the objects I saw today (Chihuly's glass cylinder; see above). The book, it turns out, was published in 1998. That's like a century ago, right?
Anyway, the most popular piece today was this glass dress by Karen LaMonte.
 |
| "Reclining Dress Impression with Drapery" (2009) |
I say it was a popular piece because I had to wait about 10 minutes to get a clear shot of it. There were three women who took turns taking photos of each other with their heads sticking up out of the neckline of the glass dress.
Actually, it made me smile to see that. What started over at the Corcoran a couple of hours earlier--a day of people experiencing art at a very personal level--was just being carried over by these ladies enjoying a work of exquisite craft.
It is why we create, is it not?
love, hosaa
observing observers of life and art
Credit: All photos by C. G. Wagner
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Great Grottoes
As most Clay Aiken fans know, after a tour has ended, the Man is inclined to retreat to what we lovingly call his "man-cave." There's something to be said for having a great grotto (though depending on which rumors you believe, he may be in the process of finding a new grotto... who knows? Maybe back to Wake Co., an area of political interest to him).
Grottoes may or may not have added geological appeal to the Man, again depending on which rumors you believe. I can't say that it was geology necessarily that led me to my day trip today. But it was Clay. Or rather, a nice long drive gave me the opportunity to listen to my two-disc custom made CD of the Timeless Tour (Biloxi show) featuring Clay and Ruben Studdard, and an interest of mine was (irrationally) Boonsboro, Maryland (irrational because it should be spelled with an e, having been founded by cousins of Daniel Boone).
A change of scenery is always good for someone who lives in a box--a noisy city box. In searching the Net for Boonsboro, I found a couple of interesting destinations: Washington Monument State Park and Crystal Grottoes Caverns.
So off I went, on a hot day with the a/c and CA blasting. First stop is Washington Monument, which isn't the one you're thinking of. This was actually (according to the brochure) the first monument completed in honor of George Washington, built by the citizens of Boonsboro in 1827.
The monument was used by the Union Army as a signal tower during the Civil War, as it offered an outstanding view of the valley below, including Middletown, Maryland.
Truthfully, I didn't spend a lot of time contemplating history. It was hot, and I am in no way an outdoor cat. I met a sweet kid on the Appalachian Trail, passing through from Maine on her way to Georgia. Now there's someone who won't be grottoed.
Got back in the car and let Clay and Ruben continue toward the end of the first half of their concert... In mileage, I can't tell you how far away from my apartment Boonsboro is, but it is just a little bit more than half the length of the Timeless Tour, which was over two hours.
In Boonsboro, head west on Rte 34 to get to Crystal Grottoes Caverns.
I was glad to see a family from New Jersey waiting for the "next tour," which was apparently whenever there were enough people to take down to the caverns. The young man leading us was not a professional geologist, but learned all he needed on the job, which he'd been doing for about a year. This cavern has (according to the brochure) "more formations per square foot than any Cave known to man and is the most naturally kept Caverns in the world."
Okay, of course there's something Clay related in all this. The formations in their natural state are covered in clay. Heh. Our young guide explained that there is a massive "noncommercial" area of the caverns that are still being excavated, explored, cleaned. I asked what they used to clean the clay off the formations, and he said "toothbrushes and toothpaste." I confess to wondering whether it was cinnamon or mint.
This was a day trip for me, and a pleasant one at that. I had brought my computer and an overnight bag with me in case I wanted to stay over. Boonsboro didn't offer much else to attract me, certainly not the cafe that also offered guns and ammunition. Middletown was a nice stop for lunch, but I really did want to head back home.
To my grotto - and Clay and Ruben along the way.
Love, hosaa
caving
Credit: All photos by C. G. Wagner
Grottoes may or may not have added geological appeal to the Man, again depending on which rumors you believe. I can't say that it was geology necessarily that led me to my day trip today. But it was Clay. Or rather, a nice long drive gave me the opportunity to listen to my two-disc custom made CD of the Timeless Tour (Biloxi show) featuring Clay and Ruben Studdard, and an interest of mine was (irrationally) Boonsboro, Maryland (irrational because it should be spelled with an e, having been founded by cousins of Daniel Boone).
A change of scenery is always good for someone who lives in a box--a noisy city box. In searching the Net for Boonsboro, I found a couple of interesting destinations: Washington Monument State Park and Crystal Grottoes Caverns.
So off I went, on a hot day with the a/c and CA blasting. First stop is Washington Monument, which isn't the one you're thinking of. This was actually (according to the brochure) the first monument completed in honor of George Washington, built by the citizens of Boonsboro in 1827.
The monument was used by the Union Army as a signal tower during the Civil War, as it offered an outstanding view of the valley below, including Middletown, Maryland.
Truthfully, I didn't spend a lot of time contemplating history. It was hot, and I am in no way an outdoor cat. I met a sweet kid on the Appalachian Trail, passing through from Maine on her way to Georgia. Now there's someone who won't be grottoed.
Got back in the car and let Clay and Ruben continue toward the end of the first half of their concert... In mileage, I can't tell you how far away from my apartment Boonsboro is, but it is just a little bit more than half the length of the Timeless Tour, which was over two hours.
In Boonsboro, head west on Rte 34 to get to Crystal Grottoes Caverns.
I was glad to see a family from New Jersey waiting for the "next tour," which was apparently whenever there were enough people to take down to the caverns. The young man leading us was not a professional geologist, but learned all he needed on the job, which he'd been doing for about a year. This cavern has (according to the brochure) "more formations per square foot than any Cave known to man and is the most naturally kept Caverns in the world."
Okay, of course there's something Clay related in all this. The formations in their natural state are covered in clay. Heh. Our young guide explained that there is a massive "noncommercial" area of the caverns that are still being excavated, explored, cleaned. I asked what they used to clean the clay off the formations, and he said "toothbrushes and toothpaste." I confess to wondering whether it was cinnamon or mint.
This was a day trip for me, and a pleasant one at that. I had brought my computer and an overnight bag with me in case I wanted to stay over. Boonsboro didn't offer much else to attract me, certainly not the cafe that also offered guns and ammunition. Middletown was a nice stop for lunch, but I really did want to head back home.
To my grotto - and Clay and Ruben along the way.
Love, hosaa
caving
Credit: All photos by C. G. Wagner