Opera at the Grocery Store

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My Piano!

Our new piano is in storage at the moment.

Score of the Waldstein Sonata

I have a piano! Finally! After having to give up the piano that I had in Connecticut in order to move to Vermont — the piano that Andrew played — we bought this baby grand. We bought it but it can't be delivered until after mud season. Thankfully, mud season is early this year (or earlier than it is in Vermont), so I am unpacking my Beethoven and Chopin scores (and all the others, too). And Andrew? Next time you visit, we will regale everyone with our Brahms' Hungarian Dances duets again! Soon, I will be practicing my Chopin preludes. Whoo hoo!!

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J.S. Bach - Crab Canon on a Möbius Strip

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Pi Day Part !!

Technorati Tags: pi, Hard N Firm
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Ciao, Gaia

An Inconvenient Truth will be an opera? Yes, it will open at La Scala in 2011. Read Giorgio Battistelli's response to Al Gore's request for changes in Battistelli's libretto in the revealing article The Aria of Prince Algorino by John Tierney. . . . 

. . . You ask for a detailed revelation of how Petroleo prevents Prince Algorino from becoming king. I understand your interest and desire to introduce another villain. (Incidentally, the translation of “Bush” would be “Arbusto,” not “Shrubulo.”) . . . 

Do you have a plot or perhaps an aria to send to Battistelli? Read An Inconvenient Opera: Your Version for submission details. You could win immortality.

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NPR: Music Home

NPR: Music Home

You must check out this new NPR music site. It's too big to describe. But live studio sessions, interviews, lists. I just started to check it out tonight.

Then go to iTunes and get yourself a copy of  Simone Dinnerstein's Goldberg Variations.

NPR+Music
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Photo Hunters: Music

April 1993: Placido Domingo Visits Hartford, Connecticut
In 1993 I taught a sixth grade of Puerto Rican, Vietnamese, African American, Jamaican, and Portuguese children. My husband (who died 13 months later), another teacher and I transported all who wanted to see Domingo on this Saturday. The event was empty except for us, some high school students, my own children, and the principal. It was a very informal meeting and we actually shook hands with this magnificent tenor and humanitarian. My Amelia photographed it for the Hartford Courant and my Andrew wrote the article. I scanned the article years ago and found it tonight. If you care to see, when you click the photo will be large and you will see that I have identified people in the photo. The text of the article follows:

The Metro Bridge (The Hartford Courant)
April 1993; page 7

Domingo Offers Song and Words of Wisdom

by Andrew --------
Metro Bridge Staff Writer

The maroon curtains of the stage were torn and ripped, and parts were missing.

At other schools the grand piano would be on the stage ready to be played, but at Bulkeley the piano was wrapped up and on its side next to the stage.

This was the scene when the world renowned tenor Placido Domingo visited Bulkeley High School. His visit was short and he sang only one song, without a piano. But the purpose of his visit seemed to be more focused on giving a message to the inner-city high school students than performing.

Hartford Mayor Carrie Saxon Perry and State Rep. Edwin Garcia were among those who attended the event. Winners from Bulkeley of the statewide foreign language poetry competition recited poems for Domingo in Italian and Spanish. Then the Bulkeley students asked Domingo questions.

One student asked how many languages he spoke. He listed many and added that everyone should be proud of his or her heritage.

He told the audience that it is important to keep the language of their ethnic backgrounds. He said that in today's society one cannot get along speaking just English.

The next part of his talk was directed at the Latino community. He told the audience he was born in Spain and is Spanish.

He said only people from Spain are really Spanish and if you are someone from a Spanish-speaking country you should not call yourself Spanish, but a Peruvian or Colombian or whatever country the person comes from.

After the questions, Domingo asked some of the children to dance. They came on stage in white dresses ornamented by red and green ribbons and tambourines.

They danced the tarantella, a dance native to Italy, while Domingo clapped to the music.

Then he sang a Spanish folk song a cappella called "Te Quiero Mucho." The crowd rose to its feet and cheered when he finished. Shortly after, Domingo made his way through the mob of fans that followed him to his limousine.

As Domingo drove away the audience applauded, still very excited. His visit was over, but his words were not forgotten.

The memories of that intense year are vivid within me. There were awful times but also these wonderful times. I am proud that I was able to get all my home and school kids to see Domingo.

Thank you for visiting. ClickPhotoHunt for more participants.

Technorati tags: Placido+Domingo Hartford+Connecticut Metro+Bridge Hartford+Courant PhotoHunt

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Tom Lehrer Collides With The Periodic Table Of The Elements On YouTube: Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub

Tom Lehrer collides with the periodic table of the elements on YouTube: Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub.

Millard Fillmore's Bathtub is a great blog that you should check out.

This post I am linking to is fun for me because I love Tom Lehrer and because I just saw the Pirates of Penzance.

See also:

The Pirates of Penzance by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan
TomLehrer.org The Tom Lehrer Web Site

Millard+Fillmore's+Bathtub Tom+Lehrer Pirates+of+Penzance
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Photo Hunters: Two for One

I ran down to Rutland on Wednesday in order to attend this concert at the old Paramount Theater. What a wonderful night! The music was superb. I can't say enough about it, so I will let the video tell you all.

Most of the photos are lousy, but the music? Well, you'll see! I felt very self-conscious taking photos (I never used flash) but I should have taken hundreds more: everybody else had cameras, phones and video. But this is what I got.

Why is this my Photo Hunt? It was two huge shows for one. And one of the acts was two singers. I chose the song in the video because it was the shortest song by the first musician. On Thursday morning I went to the iTunes store and bought a lot of music.

Happy Hunting! I am birding today and am going to the Pirates of Penzance tonight, but I will visit you during the day when I am home and tomorrow (before the Demo Derby at the Fair, that is!)

Technorati tags:PhotoHunt
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The Powder Kegs In Concert

The Powder Kegs are one of my favorite groups. I heard them on A Prairie Home Companion in April when they won the 2007 Talent Contest. I immediately bought their album, The Seedhouse at the iTunes store.

Last Thursday, August 9, they appeared in Newport to benefit the Goodrich Memorial Library. About a hundred people showed up for the concert in the Newport police building.

Unfortunately, because of my wet lens and wrong settings, my photos of them are pretty poor. But I found that they have a Flickr account, so go make them a contact (they have none!) to keep in touch with what they are doing.

Sunset over Lake Memphremagog.

It was a beautiful night in Newport. The band was late because of car problems. They set up way at the end of the police gymnasium and then played one song with the microphones. They immediately turned the electronics off and moved up close to us in the audience, which won them tremendous applause. The double bass player was especially personable..

The concert benefitted the Goodrich Memorial Library across from the police station where the concert was held. During intermission, a tour was given of the library. I walked down to the bank during intermission.

The Newport police stations and municipal building. The concert was held in the huge section in the back with the big roof, which is where the police gym is.

The clock tower of the Orleans County Court across the street from the police station.

After the concert, I picked up Mousie at Amy's house and went home to a great weekend.

Technorati tags: The+Powder+Kegs The+Seedhouse Newport Vermont

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UPDATE: Music Meme

In my post about the music meme I failed to list one of our most important pieces in my family: Ralph Vaughn-Willliams Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Teabird was tagged by Dorothy who also tagged me for this meme. I did not remember this most important Vaughn-Williams piece and I am grateful that Teabird's post on her blog Tea Leaves reminded me of this omission.

The summer before Neal died, he, the kids and I went to Tanglewood for a performance of the Boston Symphony. They played this Vaughn-Williams piece. It was N's last concert. Each of my children own a copy of this piece. I have gone through several copies of it and continue to buy it as soon as an old copy begins to skip. 

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Tagged with Music

The easiest way to learn who I am and what I require is to pay attention to my music. Scrungy's Creator tagged me with this meme:

• Name between five and ten songs that have made an impact on your life. I'll leave it up to you to decide how many you wish to describe.
• Pass it onto five other people with a link back to your own post and this one as the original.

Ballade No. 1 In G Minor, Op. 23 (Frederic Chopin)
My son Andrew is our pianist. He was preparing this piece for performance (Roo was 16) when his father (my husband) died. He played this at the memorial service. Besides Andrew's performance, my favorite performance is by Janusz Olejniczak on The Pianist CD. This ballade expresses the joy and the agony of life.

The Thrill Is Gone (B.B. King)
I heard this for the first time when Neal drove me home from work in 1968. It was first time I was alone in a car with him.

Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) Op. 45 (Johannes Brahams)
I learned this requiem when quite young (in English). It creates joy and despair in me whenever I sing or hear it. I can't give you a section that I prefer because they are all so profoundly melodic and spiritual. Brahms use of cellos is sublime and perfection.

Amahl and the Night Visitors (Menotti)
A Christmas opera that defines the season. It is not Christmas unless we play Amahl.

A Ceremony of Carols (Benjamin Britten)
It is not Christmas without these classic carols with harp, strings and organ. You must have a children's choir!

Chopin Waltzes
I love to play these.

Beethoven Sonatas
I love to play these. There are several for any mood I happen to be in.

Brahams Symphonies
You know what I mean.

Say Goodnight (Beth Nielsen Chapman )
Death is not the end. Frankie's song.

Blue (Da Ba Dee) performed by Eiffel 65
Wingnut and I love to sing this at the top of our lungs while driving on a summer day!

If You Want To Sing Out Sing Out, Moonshadow, Peace Train, Wild World (Cat Stevens)

I have to stop now. The list could go on forever but these are the highlights. So many memories (joyful and sorrowful) are here. I am listening to Cat Stevens now and singing.

So here goes: I tag:

• Robyn
• Gledwood
• Ruth
• Somerset Bob
• Samela

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Andrew Went to Brooklyn (Long)

Last weekend, my son Andrew went to New York City as he usually does to see Dan on alternate weekends. This weekend he also visited Danielle (not our Danielle) in Brooklyn. She has a baby daughter, Amira, and is a social worker. Andrew introduced Danielle to her husband, Max, at the University of Maryland, College Park. In fact, Max and Danile's first kiss was in Andrew's apartment at UMD. They were on the balcony alone when everyone else was inside. Andrew takes credit for this match. The three were undergraduates there.

Max is from Africa but raised in America. His father is an ambassador from Mali. When the kids were in college, Max's father was in the United States. He was then transferred to Italy so he and his wife life in Rome now. Danielle goes to Italy at least two to three times a year and has even studied there for a semester. She has been to Tuscany often and has persuaded Andrew and Dan to go to Tuscany this October. She may ever accompany them.

I am haranguing Andrew about having a camera in Tuscany, opening a Flickr account and posting to Flickr daily. As young as he is, Andrew still is not facile with the web 2.0 applications!

This weekend in Brooklyn, they (Andrew, Danielle, Amira, and another friend) went to visit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Danielle had a digital camera and now I finally have recent photographs of my Andrew! As a new mother, Danielle is accustomed to taking photos and updating her family with them.


Andrew enjoyed the Japanese pond. The Koi (the huge goldfish) were kissing the turtle and the turtle didn't like it. The turtle took its "hand" and pushed the fish away from its face. Fish were also bothering the turtle by eating algae off of the turtle's back. Some fish jumped completely out of the water. After they left the Gardens, they had some very rich chocolate cake at a cafe. Dan met them there.

While in Brooklyn, Allison, Dan and Andrew went to dinner and then to a bar for cocktails. During the evening, Andrew ran into four people with whom he went to college. One person he had not spoken to since his freshman year. She came up to him and said, "You went to the University of Maryland! You were a piano major and you used to have long hair!" (Andrew was a double major: piano performance and psychology. He is now a psychologist.) This woman was in his freshman music theory class and was a piano major. However, she could not handle the pressure and soon switched majors. She is now a physician. Go figure.

The classmates that Andrew met this weekend are doctors, lawyers, and one (who also attended Tanglewood with Andrew) is a pianist. This pianist plays at the church across the street from Dan's apartment in Greenwich Village. Her church is Dan's view.

Andrew returned to Washington, DC on Monday morning on the bus. Everyone was asleep on the bus. There are a lot of people who live in NY and spend weekends in DC and vice versa. Three of the fifteen people at Andrew's office are in a NYC/DC commuting relationship. Andrew therefore sees a lot of the same people on the bus. There are a lot of couples kissing goodbye.

Andrew and Dan are coming here to Vermont in September for his birthday. All his sisters are also coming so we can celebrate his thirtieth birthday together. He is the youngest in the family so this will be a big occasion.

If you like, you can view all 18 of Danielle's photos in my Flickr set here.

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Red Sox Twitters

The game was called. Spring has retreated. We were allowed to go home an hour early. The drive was the worst of the season because of the wet snow. I slipped several times even though I have studded winter tires on.

But it was a good day. I stopped by the road to take another photo of Jay Peak this morning. A van of parents and students stopped to make sure I was OK. Then another teacher stopped for the same reason. M. told me that she saw me pulled over on Monday and turned around to see if I was OK. I was. I was on Rt. 5 taking a photo of Barton Mountain from the Coventry side. I will have to attach a sign "TAKING PHOTOS" to the car so nobody worries.

The rehearsal for the spring concert was wonderful. I had to sight read because I had failed to practice. But I did fine! I was the best player there! So from now on I will only play with young students who have only one to two years experience on their instruments. It makes me feel great! The concert is May 9.

Tomorrow is the last day of school before vacation. I have activities planned: at least two dates, and a date with my sister in Montpelier for our traditional bookstore tour and lunch at the New England Culinary Institute grill. It may even stop snowing (although as of now, every day on the NOAA forecast has snowflakes in it through Monday).

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Good Friday Confusion

4/6/07: A burned-out cabin on the River Road, North Troy.
The Missisquoi River is behind.

I was on my break when VPR was playing Bach's St. Matthew's Passion. I confused the portion I heard with the Easter section of the Messiah and became disoriented. It was snowing, cold and windy. The roads were covered with packed snow and it was blowing through the air as if it were mid-winter. Messiah is traditionally, now, Christmas music, and I hear it every Christmas. What was the date? Very quickly I realized that the music was clearly Bach and not Handel. I also realized how important context is to me and how strongly I weave seemingly unrelated things into my perceptions and expectations of the world.

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Rachmaninov Had Big Hands

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Mrs. Grumpypants

<-- That's me: but let's make it Ms. Grumpypants. I was called that by a student today after I chided him for having to pick up his paper airplanes one more time. I had a severe headache so I know I responded too harshly to the poor kid. He tossed himself into a chair and whispered to another student that I am Mrs. Grumpypants today. I cracked up when I heard him.

The photo was taken this autumn on Photo Booth with color effects (I forget which ones). I personally like how it emphasizes my eye color.

I got the rest of the 2003 recipes on the recipe blog today. I only had two responses to my Booking on Thursday meme. It is too cold, too dry. The cats are fighting because they can't stand being in the house anymore. It's going to be below zero all next week. I am in the depths of sadness again. I had huge technical difficulties in a lab class today that wrecked the whole effect I was trying to create for the students. I tossed away 5 gig of old podcasts I was saving for somebody special that never wanted to hear them anyhow.

But I found a lovely blog (blogaway: see the blogroll on the right) that linked me to a great song by Tom Chapin that was on NPR Morning Edition earlier in the month: just click TomChapin in my del.icio.us tag cloud (at this very moment it is not popping up in the cloud but it should appear shortly). The song is an NCLB lullaby called "Not On The Test". Cool.

But the throttle on the car still is not freezing. It isn't even threatening to freeze. I am bombing around on ice at 50 mph or higher. But I notice the brakes aren't too great at -15°. So I simply make sure that there is plenty of room between me and whoever is in front of me. Not that that happens too much.

Todos: blog about my father and Eli Maor; blog about my freezing throttle.
9:39 PM and -10° (I think it has warmed up a bit: perhaps the clouds that are coming in have trapped some heat).

Bad Things, Good Things

Interior of Barton United Church (UCC and UMC), Barton, Vermont

It's been a very sad few days. My life has changed again. It was pretty scary there. But my daughters, son and friends have helped me through it. I hope I can help them as well when they need it. I cannot dwell on the deep sadness. I have gone through worse and remade my life before: and this time the supports and networks are in place for me so that I can do it again.

Before I knew it, good things began to happen.

I have been asked to serve a term on the parish council! I think it is a three year term. I will be back in society again and I haven't been for months. Meetings are one Monday night a month. I'm sure there will be committee work or something, but that'll keep me busy and involved in the community. I love this town. I need to be back in it.

Today the music teacher asked a bunch of us teachers to perform with the students in the Spring Concert. I am so excited! The art teacher plays flute, I play piano, one of the kindergarten teachers plays alto sax (who knew??), one of our paras plays trumpet. The music is the Masterpiece Theater song from PBS, and it's a simple transposition so I won't embarrass myself and I will need minimal rehearsal time at the church. Years ago the church gave me a key so I could go in and practice and I have not taken advantage of it too much. This is going to be one great concert!

I returned to Bible Study tonight! I have not gone for ages because I worked the afterschool program on Wednesdays and was too worn out to go to church on Wednesday night. Then people at church were sick, and then the snow would fall at night so the minister could not make it. But tonight everything fell into place and I went. The minister had a more pressing meeting in West Glover but we had a meeting. It was good to be back and smell the old church and hymnals.

I am going to pick up my Marcus Borg books again. Download The Life of Buddha (free and legally free) and get back into my studies.

One of the most exciting things is the Women's Retreat all day Saturday at church. Just women. A Muslim woman is going to talk to us in the morning. The only drawback: a bag lunch! But they have a microwave. I could take a frozen dinner. But I'll probably stop at the Pharmacy and pick something up.

It is 8:04 PM and 3°. It's going to be very very cold tonight. They say the "coldest of the season." There goes my oil! Just when I finally paid for my last delivery!

The stairway to the meeting house and bell tower.

From Beethoven to Andrew

This amazes me so much! Since 1827 (the year of Beethoven's death) there is a direct line of only six individuals from Andrew to Beethoven (six degrees of separation?*):

Andrew at his last birthday party, September 2006.

Andrew's piano teacher in college was Raymond Hanson.
Raymond Hanson's teacher was Harold Bauer.

Harold Bauer

Bauer's teacher was Ignacy Paderewski.

Ignacy Paderewski
Paderewski's teacher was Teodor Leszetycki.

Teodor Leszetycki

Leszetycki's teacher was Carl Czerny.

Carl Czerny

And Czerny's teacher was Beethoven.

Beethoven

This is such a good math problem! One person at each node of the graph of this relationship. How many people enjoy this connection?

*Six degrees of separation would not pertain to multi-generational links because the more generations, the more degrees of separation. The generation after Andrew would be the seventh degree of separation.

My iMix: Providence TV songs from 3 seasons