BookDetectiveMeister (10/19/2020)

Hey, it’s pandemic time. Things will be a little different. For the record, I love the New York Public Library. Even when it doesn’t work exactly right.

I give you A Tale of Three Holds.

NYPL allows you to place books on hold and then pick them up a grab-and-go (approx. 50 as of now) location. Great concept. I have three books on hold: Underfoot in Show Business (Helene Hanff); Death in Venice (Thomas Mann, new translation); and Dog on it (Spencer Quinn). I am, respectively, 1 of 1 holds, 2 of 3 holds, and 1 of 1 holds.

Unfortunately, the only copy of Underfoot is at Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. I only learned that by calling NYPL after my book had been on hold for more than a month. LPA is not a grab-and-go location, so they’re not sending books out.

Death in Venice, I’m just holding my breath on. Hopefully not for too much longer. I don’t want someone to have to announce Death in Manhattan.

Here’s why I really love the NYPL. When I returned a book at 96th/Lex. on Friday, I asked the librarian about Dog on it. She told me that NYPL only has two copies. One is listed as ‘Missing’ and one is listed as ‘In Transit’. It has been ‘In Transit’ since Aug. 13 (before I turned 66!). She said that it might be at the Parkchester branch and gave me their phone number. I called Parkchester after work today. No dice.

Parkchester thought that the book might be at the E. 67th St. library (which is a grab-and-go location) or at 40th St/5th Ave. (which has a new name that I will never use; it will be the Midtown Library for me forever). Well I called both. No dice. But here’s the thing. The librarian at Midtown told me she’d check to see if it was on their shelf (this has happened to me once before at this branch in these pandemic times.). Even though I called her at 5:45pm (and the library closes at 6pm), she gave me a return call before she left for the day.

I spoke with three NYPL librarians today and got superb service, even if I didn’t get the result that I was looking for. I am a proud supporter of the New York Public Library. And I can’t wait to get back to live performances at LPA, and writing about them, just as soon as it’s safe to do so.

Concert/BookMeister

Another Try at Live Music (9/19/20)

 The Orchestra Now

Roque Cordero (1917–2008) – Adagio trágico (1955)
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912) – Four Novelettes, Op. 52 (1903) – Allegro moderato; Larghetto; Andante con moto; Allegro molto
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) – Serenade for Strings, Op. 48 (1880) – Pezzo in forma di sonatina: Andante non troppo – Allegro moderato; Valse: Moderato – Tempo di Valse; Élégie: Larghetto elegiac; Finale (Tema Russo): Andante – Allegro con spirito

Such a joy. Especially the Tchaikovsky. This was a live onscreen broadcast(?) from the Fisher Center at Bard College. Still too much new-ness for me. No applause at the end of a work?
I must confess that I did not tune in for the entirety of the curtain-raiser. What I heard sounded OK.

Interesting tid-bit about Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. His mother named him after the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He was English, of African descent. The four movements of his work that I heard were quite pleasant though they didn’t blow me away.

The Tchaikovsky Serenade is near and dear to me. As a college student, it was choreographed and set on me (and others). I was quite surprised to realize how short the waltz movement is. All four movements brought back wonderful memories. I also just heard on WQXR today that the waltz movement was fitted out with lyrics that Kathryn Grayson sang in a film. More to explore. It’s always a joy to hear live performances of music that holds a special place in the memory.

Kudos to The Orchestra Now for creating live music that we can experience via computer. Still strange, but better than nothing. I especially enjoyed it when the string players applauded the concertmaster (duh!) for a job well done.

ConcertMeister

Live Music (9/12/2020)

This was a well-thought-out (if flawed) plan.

Ukrainian Institute of America
2 East 79th Street, NYC
Music on the Steps

Serenade for Strings in E Major. Op. 22 – I. Moderato; IV. Larghetto; V. Finale: Allegro vivace – Antonin Dvorak
Four Seasons of Buenos Aires: Inverno Porteno (Winter) – Astor Piazzolla
Melody in A Minor (arranged for solo violin and string orchestra) – Myroslav Skoryk
Concerto for Two Violins – J.S. Bach

The steps alluded to above are the steps of the Ukrainian Institute. Here’s the deal. The musicians (nine string players that I heard) played on the steps of the building (a mansion at Fifth Avenue and Seventy-ninth Street). We, the audience, stood on the sidewalk. The buses and street noise didn’t help, but we all made the most of it.

I adore the Dvorak Serenade. Here, the small ensemble played the first movement with a gentle and lovely style, though it did build nicely. The fourth movement was slow and sweet, poignant at times, with a slightly lively middle section before returning to the slow tempo. The Finale was lively from the get-go. It was a lot of fun, including bringing back themes from the opening movement and then finishing with a flourish.

The Piazzolla was written in a style that I’ve heard referred to as nuevo tango. Yes, there are the traditional tango rhythms, though expanded in style. This one opened with a slightly moody feel. Then the tempo picked up a bit, though still moody, bouncing back and forth.

I did not stay for the rest of the concert. The crowd had grown; there was no way to social distance; and the 100%-masked audience became less than 100%. That was not a risk I was willing to take. Even for live music.

As I said, a good (but flawed) experiment. If they do another one, I’ll watch the live streaming. I won’t like it as much but I’ll feel safer and healthier.

ConcertMeister

Commenting as FilmMeister (8/23/2020)

 The 39 Steps (1935)

Touted as a Hitchcockian masterpiece, this one was tough for me to navigate. I know that I tried to watch it Saturday night and failed miserably. I think I’ve tried watching it in the past but have never made it all the way through.

Huzzah! I finally made it through. I still had to visit my good friends IMDb and Wikipedia in order to wend my way through some of the more intricate plot twists and turns. Part of it, for me at least, is the whipcrack-rapid-fire dialogue so prevalent in ’30s cinema. If I can’t hear and understand you, I can’t get plot twists rushing by me at really, really fast speeds. (Not just with this film—I find that this is the case in other early talkies.)

While I enjoyed the performances (even though I was guessing at how they fit/furthered the plot), I was still behind the eight ball an awful lot of the time.

Once I actually saw the final music hall scene, all was revealed. I’m glad I finally lasted long enough to see it.

FilmMeister

Commenting as BookMeister (8/15/20)

The Road to Little Dribbling; Adventures of an American in Britain (© 2015)

What an enjoyable book. I’ve read Mr. Bryson before. He’s a very articulate writer, with the knowledge of just how much snark to throw in as well as just how often to repeat himself. This isn’t a book you can use as a guide for walking in the United Kingdom. Well, you could, just not all at once. Nor did he.

He created an imaginary ‘Bryson Line’ ranging from Bognor Regis in the southwest to Cape Wrath in the northeast. Along the way, he strayed from that line early and often. With wonderful results. He also commented on British railways, British parks, British roadways, British museums, British education, and British food. Oh, he also threw the USofA under the bus a few times too.

I especially liked his reminiscences of Durham Cathedral (which has its own staff architect—I’m not making this up, you know) as I celebrated my fourteenth birthday in Durham. A choir I was a member of assumed the duties of singing services in the cathedral while their choir was on tour in the US.

OK, one snarkism and then I’ll go. “I was immediately attracted to some shirts in the window, entirely because of their name: Seidensticker Splendestos. … I even thought of a slogan for the company: ‘Splendesto—when splendid isn’t good enough.’ … I had an excellent evening. When the waitress cleared my plate she asked me how my meal was. ‘Oh, splendesto,’ I said and meant it most sincerely.”

OK, two. How could I forget this one? “Cornwall ... isn’t a county at all but a duchy—a distinction the Cornish are very sensitive about. (You could say that it is a touchy duchy.)” For the record. Little Dribbling is not an actual place. Cornwall is.

I’m not a Goodreads person; I do not need to set up yet one more online persona/account/password. I do, however, recommend this book.

ConcertMeister

Naumburg Orchestral Concerts (7/14/2020)

Sort of. Obviously, the performance was not ‘live’ in these Covid-19 times. That said, this program was originally scheduled for NYC on 7/14/2020, before all live concerts were canceled. As a result, all six performers gathered in Boston to stream this all-French program on Bastille Day. I normally don’t make comments like this, but I feel I must here. The audio broadcast left a little to be desired. There were audible ‘pops’ in the sound, akin to what you might hear on an older vinyl recording. There were two live video feeds—WGBH(?) and the Violin Channel—so it’s possible that one stream might have been better than the other. I’m not tech-savvy enough to have explored that. Anyhow, here’s the program:

Marc-André Hamelin, piano; Lara St. John, violin; and The Ulysses String Quartet

Claude Debussy – Sonata for violin and piano, L. 140
Allegro vivo; Intermède: Fantasque et léger; Finale: Très animé

Maurice Ravel – String Quartet in F major
Allegro moderato – très doux; Assez vif – très rythmé; Très lent; Vif et agité

Amédée-Ernest Chausson – Concert in D for violin, piano and string quartet, Op 21
Décidé; Sicilienne; Grave; Très animé

The Debussy was played from memory by Ms. St. John (in fact, she played from memory throughout) while Mr. Hamelin played from a paper score (throughout, sans page turner—social distancing does not allow for that). The first movement was sweet and lyrical with some more powerful and rapid phrases, as well. The second was a little more rhythmic and almost playful except that the music seemed very serious. The final movement was brisk but still serious, though not in a heavy way.

The first movement of the Ravel string quartet was tuneful, with harmonies that were almost harsh; it was also dramatic at times and had a quiet ending. The second movement opened with pizzicato (plucked strings) playing from all four. That was followed by a mix of bowed and pizzicato playing, a second section where all players (maybe not the cello?) muted their strings, followed by a section that was very similar to the opening. The third movement featured a slow theme in the viola that was then taken over by the cello and then passed on to the first violin. The movement was somber yet not mournful, and even included a brief, fun, dancelike section. The last movement was brisk though still fairly serious.

The Chausson began with a dramatic opening for solo piano, joined by the low strings of the quartet, then the entire quartet, and finally the violin soloist. The movement was dramatic throughout. The second movement had a gentle dance quality incorporating all six players from the very beginning—a lush quality followed soon after. The third movement took us back to a piano/solo violin duet followed by a piano string quartet section. It once again was serious in nature with a quiet ending. The last movement was much more brisk, not quite happy, but at least more hopeful, leading to a very dramatic conclusion.

Lest it seem as though this was an all-out serious, downer concert, the encore, Un Petit Denouement, was a delightful mash-up for all six players, arranged by Ms. St. John, that included Frères Jacques, La Vie en Rose, Saint-Saëns’ Swan, La Marseillaise, and Offenbach’s Barcarolle. Oh, and all six performers wore berets.

Bonus: Added information gleaned from interviews with the performers included that the Debussy was a later work in his canon and was considered a ‘salon sonata’. And Mr. Hamelin has a Boston connection and actually chose the Steinway piano (from the New York factory) that was used in the concert.

ConcertMeister

As You Like It (7/11/20)

I liked it. I didn’t love it. This was a black and white 1936 film version starring Laurence Olivier and Elisabeth Bergner. Oddly, she got top billing. Not oddly, she was married to the director of the film, Paul Czinner. More to the point, the score for the film was written by William Walton (1902–1983).

I liked the score. I am not a dyed-in-the-wool Shakespeare scholar but it seemed to me that Walton played a little fast and loose with some of the songs from the Shakespeare text. On at least one occasion, it seemed to me as though a song usually sung by Touchstone (the Fool) was reassigned to a different character, and it occurred much earlier in the film than it does in the play.

The story, of course, is filled with characters assuming other lives, characters assuming other genders, and characters behaving in a silly manner. Not quite Monty Python silly, but pretty darn close. Hey, it’s a Shakespeare comedy.

Not surprisingly, all ended well (but that’s another play/movie for another time). The music by William Walton, though, was totally on spot.

ConcertMeister