Jane's Walks 2024

Jane's Walks 2024
May 3–5, 2024

A little history. Jane's Walks are named for Jane Jacobs, who was an early urban planner. Specifically, she helped to prevent Robert Moses from destroying Washington Square Park. Read up on her.

(Day 1) Art hopping through the Upper Westside (May 3, 9AM); Urban Forest Care in Hell’s Kitchen (May 3, 11AM); The Hidden (& Not So Hidden) WWI Memorials and Monuments of Central Park (5/3, 1PM); Financial District: It Happened Here First (5/3, 3PM).

(Day 2) Meet the Women's Rights Pioneers of Central Park (May 4, 9AM), alas no one met me; Queer Harlem Renaissance: Exploring Queer Harlem History Using Augmented Reality, 5/4, 1PM; From Walter to Walt: Cruising Whitman's Literary Seaport (5/4, 3PM).

(Day 3) Before Brooklyn Commons: MetroTech's Creation and Resulting Displacements (5/5 @ 11AM); LUV in PLG: Telling you about my girlfriend who lived next door (May 5 at 1 PM).

Wow, what a weekend. The first walk met at the Hungarian Pastry Shop. IYKYK. I did not. Ask if you're interested. We walked across Amsterdam Ave. to the Children's Sculpture Garden on the grounds of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. I had no idea it was there, and I've been going up there for decades. Fascinating. Check it out if you're up there. It turns out that the pastry shop is pretty well known too, just not by me. The second stop was the cathedral itself. This was pretty well known by me, but I saw a lot of things that were new to me. My last visit was probably in the 1990s. I've posted a couple of photos on FB (I'm Uncke David on FB; ask if you're interested). The third stop was supposed to be Columbia University. Nope, protests interfered.

The second walk was trees in Hell's Kitchen. Have you ever seen those planters between bike lanes and the rest of avenue traffic? If there's a tree (or other plants) there, a tree steward is taking care of them. These folks volunteer their time to make your city more healthful and more beautiful. I learned a lot from the Hell's Kitchen tree steward who led this walk, which also included a visit to a hyperlocal (word stolen from NY1 TV) park.

The WWI Memorials walk was really pretty nice. Unfortunately, one of the memorials we saw was recently vandalized. But I did learn that there is a memorial to Joyce Kilmer (author of the poem Trees) at the base of, appropriately, a tree. I also learned that Joyce was a he. Now you know, too. 

The fourth Friday walk was stellar. The leader was incredibly knowledgable, she spoke to the large group (30+) in a voice that could be he heard by all, and she was witty, too. Since a lot of what she would be discussing was buildings and occurrences that don't currently exist, she passed out 'imaginary caps' so that we could follow along. Clever lady, and it worked beautifully. Before we started, her iPad that had a lot of photos that she wanted to show us crashed. She took a vote as to whether we wanted her to go to Starbucks and upload them all over again or start the tour. We opted to start the tour. Technology is great until it isn't. Fortunately, her photos came back.

More on days two and three later.

ConcertMeister (even though it was not a concert)

The Gerda Lissner Foundation Vocal Competition Winners Concert 2023/2024 (5/2/24)

First off, I was thrilled to be in a Carnegie Hall free concert. I didn't even have to practice! That said, I'm not a huge fan of vocal competitions (or Tonys, Oscars, etc.). I understand how they work, but the inherent ranking rubs me slightly the wrong way. Off my soap box, now.

The Lissner Foundation Concert presents Lieder/Song, Opera, Operetta, and Zarzuela winners. The program also honored Metropolitan Opera star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo—and he performed. And we did, too. More on that later.

There were ten prize winners who performed, so I will not name them all. I know you good folks are great at internet searches. I will say that Midge Woolsey (formerly of WQXR) was a wonderful host and that Arlene Shrut was a fabulous accompanist/partner who played for every performer on the stage.

Tops for me was Maire Therese Carmack (Mezzo-Soprano) who sang Love Let the Wind Cry by Undine Smith Moore, "Lyubasha's Aria" from The Tsar's Bride, and "Du bist der Lenz" from Die Walkure.

Quite the show piece was "Al pensar en el dueño de mis amores" from Las Hijas del Zebedo, sung by Rosaria Armas. Have you guessed yet that this was the Zarzuela winner? Zarzuela is sort of like Spanish-language operetta.

The operetta winner "If I Were on the Stage (Kiss Me Again)" from Mlle. Modiste, by Victor Herbert, tugged at my heartstrings because I performed in the chorus of the operetta in the late 1970s here in NYC. Shelén Hughes (Soprano) did a great job.

Karoline Podolak (Soprano) did very well with "Je suis Tiania" from Mignon and slightly less than successful with "Glitter and Be Gay" from Candide.

My other favorite was Yeongtaek Yang (Baritone) performing "Si può? ... Si può?" from I Pagliacci.

Anthony Roth Costanzo re-created part of his Met Opera Orpheus. In the opera, the chorus shouts/sings "No" several times. He had us rehearse it and then perform it when he performed. It was effective, but wore a little bit thin. I'm not big on audience participation.

All in all, a wonderful free concert in a wonderfully historic hall. I even changed my seat before the concert began, and the staff members were extremely helpful.

ConcertMeister

Centennial Celebration Concert (4/28/24)

New York Mandolin Orchestra

What the what? Yes, there is a New York Mandolin Orchestra. Yes, it was founded in 1924. Yes, there was a free concert (I gave a modest donation) at the Church of the Holy Trinity, about a block and a half away from my apartment on a lovely Sunday afternoon.

For the record, a mandolin orchestra has first mandolins, second mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, and, in this case, a mandobass (I'm not making this up, you know). Additionally, two of the mandolinists played guitar in the concert, but I have no idea where or when.

There were nineteen pieces on the program so I am not listing all nineteen. My first takeaway was that a lot of the pieces sounded very similar to one another. Mandolins have a limited volume range, and there is not a lot of sostenuto (sustained writing) for mandolins. They require a lot of strumming (think frantic Vivaldi violin bowing) to imitate a sustained sound. That said, I enjoyed the concert quite a bit.

My favorites included an arrangement of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (appropriately written in 1924) and Rachmaninoff's Vocalise (I've pretty much given up on hearing the original version).

Passage Work (Catherine Hawkes) was commissioned for this performance, and the composer was in attendance. Always a great feature of a concert. It had a contemporary feel while also mixing calm and energetic. It was appropriately festive.

The final work on the program was Palladio by Karl Jenkins. You may know it better as Exsultate Jubilate. (Not one of my favorites.) Surprisingly, I liked the mandolin orchestra arrangement a lot.

Now, a few words about audience comportment. When they make an announcement about turning your phone off, please heed it. Yes, a phone went off during the concert.

Please turn your phone off during the concert. A patron in the row in front of me was so busy scrolling through photos that no applause was offered. Zero. One patron was so busy with the me-machine that it was dropped to the floor. One patron was so busy chatting with a person in the row in front that shushing was warranted. No, it was not me, but I sure was thinking about it. Yes, it was a free concert. No, that does not allow boorish behavior.

That said, explore the opportunities available to you.

ConcertMeister