Monday, January 17, 2011
Frenzied Joy - Again, At Last!
To celebrate Peter's birthday yesterday, Paul and Stephen took us for our first visit to the San Francisco Symphony at their stunning home in the concert-perfect Davies Hall, down on Van Ness , a bus ride away from our apartment. It was thrilling. Totally thrilling.
How have I allowed myself to be away from this particular joy for so very long?
If there was any doubt - which there has not been - about the wisdom of moving to San Francisco, last night's experience at Davies Hall disappeared that doubt forevermore: we are in a city with a world-class great orchestra - thoroughly accomplished and deeply gifted - and we can now count ourselves among its true fans: we will armor ourselves with tickets for whatever we want to hear, and we want to hear a lot. We have found the remedy for our patient ears and our suffering souls: out ears have been very patient, as we tried to give them the best we could find , our souls have been suffering for lack of thrilling inspiration, and we have found - yes indeed - we have found their remedy: the San Francisco Symphony
I've never been a symphony orchestra groupie before, but, this might be my time. Last night's program of Katchaturian, and Prokofiev, with a charming, delicate curtain raiser by Mussorgsky, was so gorgeous, i cried most of the way through it all...especially the Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet , which threw me back to anotrher wonderful evening many decades ago.
I had the privilege of seeing Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fontanne, and the entire Royal Ballet Company, dacne the Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet. They were on tour, and miraculously, Atlanta was included in that tour. Momma got us front row center seats, if you can imagine, at the lovely old Fox Theatre, so I could see Nureyev sweat, we were so close the stage. And I could practically smell the sweet talcum powder on Dame Margot....she had to have been 50 by then...but she danced with the grace and delicacy of a young ballerina and I fell so madly in love with the entire art form at that moment of her entrance.
The Prokofiev is stunningly dramatic, and those opening strains were forever embedded in my soul because of that performance...they became instantly familiar to me, as did the passages introducing young Juliet to the stage, as flighty as a feather or a heavenly species of bird. I relived it all on Saturday night, therefore the evening was rich with brilliant technical prowess (SF has some damned fine payers), and gorgeous memories, not to mention, in the Katchaturian Violin Concerto, the utter stunning beauty of the violin soloist Vadim Gluzman's playing: yikes! such dexterity and speed, with every single note clear as a bell in the even the fastest possible passages...and deeply exciting surprises in Katchaturian's writing...we were treated to gloriousness! Three movements, laced with magnificent folk melodies, virtuoso execution of extremely difficult cadenzas, and achingly beautiful storytelling...i've never heard a live performance like it in my life. Bravo Gluzman! And bravissimi for keeping up with him, you gorgeous musicians of San Francisco!
I am so in the right city for where I am in my life now, and my evening with the San Francisco Symphony underscores that lovely truth! Play on!
All of us.
Play...and dammit, dance on, as well!
How have I allowed myself to be away from this particular joy for so very long?
If there was any doubt - which there has not been - about the wisdom of moving to San Francisco, last night's experience at Davies Hall disappeared that doubt forevermore: we are in a city with a world-class great orchestra - thoroughly accomplished and deeply gifted - and we can now count ourselves among its true fans: we will armor ourselves with tickets for whatever we want to hear, and we want to hear a lot. We have found the remedy for our patient ears and our suffering souls: out ears have been very patient, as we tried to give them the best we could find , our souls have been suffering for lack of thrilling inspiration, and we have found - yes indeed - we have found their remedy: the San Francisco Symphony
I've never been a symphony orchestra groupie before, but, this might be my time. Last night's program of Katchaturian, and Prokofiev, with a charming, delicate curtain raiser by Mussorgsky, was so gorgeous, i cried most of the way through it all...especially the Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet , which threw me back to anotrher wonderful evening many decades ago.
I had the privilege of seeing Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fontanne, and the entire Royal Ballet Company, dacne the Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet. They were on tour, and miraculously, Atlanta was included in that tour. Momma got us front row center seats, if you can imagine, at the lovely old Fox Theatre, so I could see Nureyev sweat, we were so close the stage. And I could practically smell the sweet talcum powder on Dame Margot....she had to have been 50 by then...but she danced with the grace and delicacy of a young ballerina and I fell so madly in love with the entire art form at that moment of her entrance.
The Prokofiev is stunningly dramatic, and those opening strains were forever embedded in my soul because of that performance...they became instantly familiar to me, as did the passages introducing young Juliet to the stage, as flighty as a feather or a heavenly species of bird. I relived it all on Saturday night, therefore the evening was rich with brilliant technical prowess (SF has some damned fine payers), and gorgeous memories, not to mention, in the Katchaturian Violin Concerto, the utter stunning beauty of the violin soloist Vadim Gluzman's playing: yikes! such dexterity and speed, with every single note clear as a bell in the even the fastest possible passages...and deeply exciting surprises in Katchaturian's writing...we were treated to gloriousness! Three movements, laced with magnificent folk melodies, virtuoso execution of extremely difficult cadenzas, and achingly beautiful storytelling...i've never heard a live performance like it in my life. Bravo Gluzman! And bravissimi for keeping up with him, you gorgeous musicians of San Francisco!
I am so in the right city for where I am in my life now, and my evening with the San Francisco Symphony underscores that lovely truth! Play on!
All of us.
Play...and dammit, dance on, as well!
Labels: SF Symphony
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Despite my lack of comments, I'm still tuning in to your blog Evalyn - and enjoying it very much. I especially liked your piece about how you miss your mother.
Also - it's clear you have a critic's eye for detail. Often smaller publications are looking for freelance critics to cover evening events such as concerts, plays, etc. (Thereby avoiding having to pay a staffer overtime to attend an evening function.) I think this would be an excellent way for you to break into print - if this is your goal. I see someday the possibility of your having a column extolling the many virtues of SF. You certainly have the enthusiasm for the city! Cheers!
Also - it's clear you have a critic's eye for detail. Often smaller publications are looking for freelance critics to cover evening events such as concerts, plays, etc. (Thereby avoiding having to pay a staffer overtime to attend an evening function.) I think this would be an excellent way for you to break into print - if this is your goal. I see someday the possibility of your having a column extolling the many virtues of SF. You certainly have the enthusiasm for the city! Cheers!
# posted by 
: 10:14 PM
: 10:14 PM
Thanks , as ever, RIck ...i would love to break into print, and your suggestion is a great one...at this point, however, I am immersing myself in the workshop experience, and what's so is this: i've an enormous passion for all things to do with writing, right now, and at least 3 dozen ideas to write about...add to that the enormous amount of stuff I've already written, and you have me, while not exactly drowning, then at least flapping pretty hard to keep my ears far enough about water to hear what i need to learn...Adair Lara is brilliant and inspiring...the workshop is filled with glorious and smart-as-hell people, many of whom are already in print...and here I am, personality and enthusiasm to spare, with tons of stuff needing writing in me, and with tons to learn about how to take notes, how to edit, how to shape, how to focus,how to detail with interest, etcetcetcetc...i am doing this with both material I've already written and with the dozens of new assignments she gives us weekly. SO: right now the tunnel is dark with information, excited realizations and discoveries, with admiration for the stuff I hear being read all around me,...but very little light at the end of this tunnel yet...there will be, but now...for now...i must be patient and content in this exciting dark...a dark that thrills me, even as it feels un-navigable...when drowning, I am realizing...JUST KEEP FLAPPING!
When I am ready for market ideas, I will ask you for some suggestions...right now? Aaaaargh....i am learning.
xxev
When I am ready for market ideas, I will ask you for some suggestions...right now? Aaaaargh....i am learning.
xxev
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