Weekly recap

It's been an odd day, waiting for Hurricane Sandy to really really really hit us. Sandy is sort of here already, but so far it's just rather heavy rain and wind -- and waiting, and listening to newscasters warn us all of impending doom. My workplace is closed today and tomorrow, so I spent the day working from home, which is nice.

I may or may not have storm photos later, but for now I'll just catch up on what has been happening over the past week.

Neil and I saw Verdi's Requiem at the Kimmel Center last Sunday.

The scheduled soprano was out due to allergies, so there was a substitute, Angela Meade, who was fantastic. At the end of the concert the conductor knelt before her on one knee while the audience went wild with cheers.

After the concert, we headed to our old haunt, the Perch Pub, for food and drink (and thanks to a gift card from a thoughtful friend in Illinois!).

Isn't that drink pretty? It's the Saint Nick of Port Richmond, described in the drinks menu behind the glass.

Our bartender/server was very nice. He asked us, after we had exchanged just a few words, "Where are you from?" I replied, "Willow Grove," and he followed up with, "But you didn't grow up there, did you?"

"No, we both grew up in the midwest, in the Chicago area."

"I could tell by the way you pronounce your vowels."

This surprised me, since I don't detect any accent when I speak. It turns out he is a recent graduate of acting school, and had studied American dialects. He's currently working in a small indie production. You can see him reflected in the bar mirror below.

So that was the weekend. Last week we had wonderful fall weather, just beautiful. As always, I appreciate the gardening and landscaping in the city.

As well as the skies and the breeze.

My morning walks with Mr. Bean begin in darkness this time of year.

Last Tuesday I took a group of physicians out to dinner after work. On my way to the restaurant, I walked through Macy's, where the enormous organ (largest working organ in the world, I believe) was being played.

And the shoes and boots were impressive.

And the mannequins were exhausted.

We ate at Varalli, which is located directly underneath the Perch Pub, and is owned by the same people.

Great food, great conversation.

The days leading up to the Big Storm were gorgeous. Bean enjoyed the leaf piles.

And we both admired the neighbors' ingenuity in constructing Halloween decorations as we ambled round the 'hood.

So that was my week. Busy today moving stuff from the lower level (which could flood) to a higher level of the house, and watching and waiting . . . .

An evening with Bach, Shostakovich, Rimsky-Korsakov, and tacos

Two concerts, continued.

So, after saying good-by to our Perch Pub companions, we walked over to the Kimmel Center. We had purchased tickets in the conductor's circle, above and behind the orchestra. We've never heard a concert from that spot before, and wondered what it would be like. The tickets are a little cheaper than in most other spots, so we thought perhaps the seats might not be so good.

It was spectacular.

Well, Verizon Hall itself is so spectacular. But what a view from behind the orchestra! The hall is designed to make you feel as though you are inside a cello.

When I got back home I used the zoom feature of the camera to get a better look at the score.

The first piece was Bach's Chaconne. It was so much fun to see the conductor, Nicola Luisotti, up close. This was his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He is music director of the San Francisco Opera and principal guest conductor at the Tokyo Symphony. He is amazingly expressive and emotional while conducting. And - don't take this the wrong way -- I couldn't help but think of Bugs Bunny emoting while conducting.

Maestro Luisotti was so energetic he did almost levitate, like Bugs.

Then came the big event of the evening, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. She grew up not far from Philadelphia, in Cherry Hill, and is a hometown talent, since she attended the Curtis Institute.

And in spite of being a world-famous musician, she is very down to earth. But not when she is playing. Then she soars, and she soared at the Kimmel Center, playing Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, her signature piece.

The audience was very, very appreciative. There was an intermission, and then Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade, one of the most enjoyable pieces in the repertoire.

Again, the audience was extremely appreciative. I think this was both because the performance was wonderful and because the Philadelphia Orchestra has been having a very publicly bad year, with recent talk of bankruptcy and losing pension funds, etc.

The naked women in the lobby do not seem to be concerned - perhaps a bit bemused.

And then out on the street and back to Perch Pub for the second time that night, this time for dinner.

I had the pork tacos.

The couple sitting to my left had just returned from the evening performance of Rain, and we chatted with them about the Beatles, shows we had seen, Philadelphia, and the economy.

Back on the street at midnight, walking to the hotel. The streets were comfortably crowded at that hour - not so crowded that it was difficult to walk, but not so deserted that it seemed scary.

Also, the bus stops on Chestnut, which look pretty good during the day, look even better illuminated by night time street lights.

Our plan was to get up in the morning and go to the Museum of Art to see the Van Gogh exhibit, but other events intervened.

To be continued.

Scrambled eggs

Yesterday was the day of two concerts, two trips to Perch Pub, conversations with four strangers, and staying up past midnight (which is unusual for me).

First concert - Rain, the Beatles tribute band, at the Academy of Music.

I knew the answer to this bit of trivia:

The show was very, very good -- not least because I found myself watching through tears at a few points, just being reminded of that time so long ago.

After the show (a 2:00 pm matinee), we walked down Broad Street.

Then we checked in to the hotel. (This overnight stay in the city is a Christmas gift from my son - very thoughtful!)

The hotel is Club Quarters, a very nice downtown location aimed mainly at business travelers. It's the only time I've stayed at a hotel with a little (very little) library of reference works in the room.

I'm sure the books are just for show. I don't think there is a businessperson in the country who is not already familiar with the Stephen Covey books, and who needs the reference works when you have a laptop or iPad or smartphone?

Before the next concert, we went to the Perch Pub for a drink. This is the restaurant I have mentioned before, because they served the best martini in the world.

We met a very nice couple and talked to them for about an hour. Chris (actually, his name is Krishna, but he has Americanized it) was born in Malaysia, she in the US. He has a really fascinating point of view - he is a Hindu, believes in reincarnation (and that this world may be hell), is a conservative Republican who is angry with George Bush about the war in Iraq, and both he and she are great people to talk to in a bar!

Oh - and they were on their way to see Rain, the concert we had just seen. But this will be their third time seeing it - they have also seen it twice in New York City. Seems the Beatles were just as popular in Malaysia as everywhere else, and Chris grew up with the Beatles just like we did.

We headed back down Broad Street for the Kimmel Center. Broad Street south of City Hall is lined with theaters and other venues, which is why it is called the Avenue of the Arts.

And so on to the second concert of the day. To be continued.

Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears

I love this song, and this is one of my favorite versions of it.




Rufus Wainwright is one of my favorite contemporary musicians, and this makes me realize that I need to become more familiar with the rest of his talented family.

And this also reminds me that Stephen Foster is one of my favorite composers. Really. Such lovely melodies. And a sad, short life. Many tears, indeed.

Ferry Cross the Mersey

Gerry and the Pacemakers were one of my earliest favorite groups, and Ferry Cross the Mersey was one of my favorite songs. My son Chris once asked me what songs I liked when I first started to listen to music, and I mentioned Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Somehow he found a tape of their first album (this was before CDs, and when obscure things were much harder to find - before the Internet) and gave it to me for Christmas. One of the best presents I ever received.

When he was once more at home he needed it

From Swann's Way, the description of Swann hearing again a musical phrase he had been seeking unsuccessfully after hearing it once or twice before. What a different thing music was before recordings; imagine not being able to hear music unless it is live, and longing to hear particular pieces that you may very well never hear again in your life:

With a slow and rhythmical movement it led him here, there, everywhere, towards a state of happiness noble, unintelligible, yet clearly indicated. And then, suddenly having reached a certain point from which he was prepared to follow it, after pausing for a moment, abruptly it changed its direction, and in a fresh movement, more rapid, multiform, melancholy, incessant, sweet, it bore him off with it towards a vista of joys unknown. Then it vanished. He hoped, with a passionate longing, that he might find it again, a third time. And reappear it did, though without speaking to him more clearly, bringing him, indeed, a pleasure less profound.


But when he was once more at home he needed it, he was like a man into whose life a woman, whom he has seen for a moment passing by, has brought a new form of beauty, which strengthens and enlarges his own power of perception, without his knowing even whether he is ever to see her again whom he loves already, although he knows nothing of her, not even her name.

Good-bye pipe organ; hello praise band

The trustees of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary have approved the creation of a new school, the School of Church Ministries. The new school is the result of work by a task force that recommended combining the School of Church Music and Worship with the School of Leadership and Church Ministry to form one program that trains ministers to serve in multiple roles.

According to Paul Richardson, professor of music at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, combining classical music training with theology studies in a seminary setting is primarily a Southern Baptist innovation. Music programs at Southern Baptist seminaries were often unsurpassed in size and scope; only three schools accredited by the Association of Theological Schools offer doctorates in music, and all are Southern Baptist seminaries.

The Rev. Al Mohler, president of the seminary, noted that the restructuring comes in the wake of a “substantial drop in the number of music students at the graduate level in Southern Baptist Convention seminaries.” The music school, founded in 1944, is “not economically viable” today. He said that a reduction in the size of music faculty from 11 to four full-time positions will take place by attrition.

In the 1980s and 1990s, enrollments in schools of church music reached record numbers. At the same time, trends in worship styles began to change, shifting away from hymnals, choirs, organs, and classical music toward more casual liturgies and popular music.

I have visited lots of churches over the past few years, and have seen many praise bands, as well as traditional choir/pipe organ type of services. The odd thing is, to me the praise bands look dated - they remind me of my early Jesus people days. And very often their members have grey hair. I'm not so sure they attract young people so much as they appeal to Boomers. (Of course, every type of music likely has adherents of all ages.)

And I would never make an argument in favor of training people for jobs that don't exist.