CITY DAILY PHOTO JULY THEME DAY - BLUE

Only one possibility in this town this year.

Ellie Goes to the Symphony 1

When Mrs. C and I are off to somewhere, Ellie frequently pipes up with "I go there sometime?"  We always say yes or we hope so. She has mentioned this several times when we were going to the symphony. Last night was her turn,

The marvelous St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has several holiday programs. This weekend it's excerpts from Disney animated films with the orchestra playing the scores, led by resident conductor Gemma New. Ellie was spellbound as the screen went through old and new favorites, including Moana, Frozen, Winnie the Pooh and several more. More pix to come of her experience.

A Heck Of An Introduction

After thirteen years, the St. Louis Symphony's beloved music director, David Robertson, will leave us at the end of this season. I don't know how he has kept it up this long. His home is in New York. His wife is the concert pianist Orli Shaham. They have twin sons. I saw that he is conducting Cosi Fan Tutti at the Metropolitan Opera this spring. Oh, and he is also chief conductor or the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It has been a great pleasure to have him here.

Time passes. Our new music director, starting with the 2019-2020 season, is Frenchman Stéphane Denève. This weekend was his only guest appearance this year and we've never heard him before. O M G. He conducted a program of French music, featuring sisters Christina and Michelle Naughton, below, playing the Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos. There arms are so fluid they looked like four octopus tentacles. Denève is a spectacular talent. We look forward to hearing much more from him.

The handsome couple below saw me taking the picture of the Naughtons on my phone at intermission. They asked me to take their picture on his phone. We are glad to have more young people in the audience.

The Way

The Way is the most massive work in Laumeier Sculpture Park.The name suggests religious fervor and conviction to me, the one path to salvation, nirvana or perfection. Except that there are so many ways, and so many incompatible with one another. You can see a picture of the whole thing and learn a bit about it on the park's web site here. It is as imposing as certainty.

I mentioned that yesterday afternoon was the closing performance of the St. Louis Symphony's 2012-2013 season. They played Act III of Alban Berg's Wozzeck (gee, it must have been miserable to walk around all day being Alban Berg) and the Beethoven 9th. OMG, as they say. This may be a second or third-tier city but we certainly have a first-tier orchestra. It's a treasure.         

Backstage

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Just a quickie - working too late, have to pack for the weekend, etc. etc. We're going to Kansas City today and on to Marysville, Kansas, tomorrow. Carolyn's mother's birthday is right around our Thanksgiving holiday and she'll be 94 in a few days. We need to show up.

The first two pictures are in the men's locker room backstage at Powell Hall. The other two are of the orchestra members' lounge. The men (and it's about 50-50 men and women these days) share 2 or 3 to a locker. There seems to be a bit of attitude. Notice the "No Practice Zone" sign in the third picture. The last pic is part of the musicians' coffee/tea cup nook. The first space, "D Halen", the concertmaster David Halen, is empty. One or two have dry tea bags hanging off the side. Also note the  pretzels in Row 2, Column 1.

May or may not be a post tomorrow on our country's Thanksgiving holiday. Maybe I'll find something in KC tonight. Maybe something will go up in the morning my time, instead of the usual midnight.

Inside The Hall

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The auditorium of Powell Symphony Hall tells you that you are in an important place. Our orchestra is in the top tier in the United States, up there with New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. The feel is traditional, but then a lot of what is heard is the work of what Peter Schickele calls decomposers. The SLSO's music director, David Robertson, makes sure that the work of the 21st and late 20th Centuries is well represented. (Geez, The Rite of Spring is 99 years old. Get with it already.)

The colors of the hall are red, cream and gold. The music has even more hues.

Powell Symphony Hall

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A couple of weeks ago the St. Louis Symphony held an event for subscribers (which we've been for 35 years). You could tour Powell Hall with a docent, front and back of the house, learning its history and secrets. Cameras were welcome.

This is the grand hall between the auditorium and the street. It was patterned on the chapel in Versailles. Not identical - it lacks the grand paintings - but our colleague Cieldequimper may recognize the pattern of columns and balconies. 

We will visit the auditorium tomorrow.

BTW, we attended yesterday afternoon's performance, featuring Ukranian-Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman playing the Tchaikovsky concerto. Holy bleep! I would never imagine that human fingers could move so fast. Brilliant.

At The Gypsy Caravan

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The rain held off enough yesterday for me to shoot one of the two events to which I was invited. Showers moved thought the area all day. The Renaissance Faire is on again next weekend and will have to wait. but the other photo op was a treat.

The Gypsy Caravan, an annual fundraiser for the St. Louis Symphony, has been going on for 37 years. Never been before. it's a gigantic flea market where you can buy anything from the ridiculous to the sublime. I was reminded that gray days are great for small scale photography: saturated colors, no harsh bright spots and shadows, no squinty eyes. I wandered from vendor to vendor, uttering my magic words: "Hi, I'm doing volunteer photography for the Symphony." They opened all doors.

BTW, I'm very happy with this picture. Kind of Diane Arbus-y, although it's in color. There is a growing set of pix from the Gypsy Caravan on Flickr here.

TOMORROW: trinkets and figurines.