Ice Sculpting Redux ~ February 2014

We found Randy Finch and the Ice Brigade in front of the Grand Rapids Art Museum doing their thing on 2/12/14.

By 2/14, everyone was taking pictures, including us :-)

But after one day above freezing day last week, 

the penguins and polar bears are mourning, "I'm melting!" 

I'm melting

Our visit on 2/24/14

Now we have just 2 or 3 feet of snow left to melt.

Here's the Ice Brigade back in 2011

Grand Rapids Symphony - 11/22/14

We were disappointed that David Lockington would not be here (because we love him) but were overall quite taken with the guest conductor, Andrew Grams, by the time the concert was over. He walked out with his left arm bent at his waist with his fist clenched, his baton in his right hand. He was animated, dramatic, and altogether fun to watch (stock photo).

A few comments about the music. Brahms wrote only one violin concerto and he wrote it for a friend of his. And apparently (obviously?) he composed it to show off the skills of his friend, violinist Joseph Joachim (on the right).

 

Technically, it is superb. One can hear glimpses of Brahms in the orchestra but the solo part is all technique, especially in the first movement. (Listen to his symphonies if you want to hear the beauty of Brahms.) And yes, violinist Augustin Hadelich is incredible, as he proved again during his encore, flawlessly performing Paganini's Caprice No. 5, a technical and impressive masterly performance. He has his own amazing back story, coming back from a serious burn at age 15 that threatened his future as a violinist (stock photo). But comparing this concerto to Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D (recently read in a review) doesn't work for me, as the latter is stunningly beautiful and the former is just technical to my ears. It's nothing against Hadelich because I'm pretty sure he can play anything, beautifully and perfectly.

The second work of the night was Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. It was interesting to hear individual instruments/sections highlighted and it was impressive overall but again, we were not swept away. I'm sure this is sacrilege to fans of the composition, but other than parts of the fourth and fifth movements, it all seemed somewhat randomly constructed.

Some music can bring you to tears just through its sheer beauty, but tonight was not that night. It was technically amazing but it did not touch our souls.

Sound of Music, Civic Theatre - 12/1/13

A seat in the first row balcony provides an entirely new perspective of this beautiful theatre, which was packed with families this afternoon. But seeing a version of the original stage play also made this an unsettling performance.

We all know the movie, the songs, and in which scenes the songs are performed. This started right off with “My Favorite Things” in the Abbey, when we all know that’s the song sung “during the storm” scene. The play gave us “The Lonely Goatherd” during the storm instead.

There’s no “I Have Confidence” but there are three additional songs unknown to movie audiences, “How Can Love Survive,” “No Way To Stop It,” and “An Ordinary Couple.” The love story plot is changed and the end result remains the same but without “I Must Have Done Something Good.” Rolf is not a snitch in this play but was in the movie - major change-up.

So other than these shakeups, the production was quite effective, complete with singing nuns dispersed throughout the theatre for the opening number. Maria mis-stepped slightly while climbing her stage hill for her “The Hills Are Alive” and the choreography during the song was clumsy. Her voice went slightly sharp or flat on several numbers and she doesn’t have near the octave range of Julie Andrews (maybe Mother Abbess) but then who does?

Spot on was Mother Abbess, Darla Wortley. Looking up her bio information in the program during intermission, I found she is a member of the Opera Grand Rapids chorus; her voice was so controlled and stunning, and with a huge range. She blew the house away with her rendition of “Climb Every Mountain.”

Max Detweiler (Andrew Schneider) was hilarious and the children were all good to great. Rolf and Liesl (Joshua Regan and Lydia Blickley) were sweet in their “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” number and had obvious ballet training.  When the children sang together, the harmonies were beautiful and mesmerizing. All in all, the cast was a wonderful ensemble.

The second to the last scene, when the Von Trapp family is performing at the festival while planning their escape, came complete with Nazi banners rolled out and soldiers placed strategically throughout the theatre, including up in the lights (middle section in photo). It was a little eerie.

What’s left to say other than either due to the balcony acoustics or the attendees, I heard candy paper rustling and audience whispering the entire time. My seat was a little too far right but all in all, first row balcony is pretty sweet seating. Cheers to live theater!

Wine, Beer & Food Festival - November 21-23, 2013

 

Friday night was our first foray to the festival and like last year, it was packed. Our first hurdle was getting through the coat check process. Two women were manning the station and were so incredibly slow that it was hilarious. The line snaked across the hall and it seemed like 10 minutes went by between a woman taking our coats and coming back with our tickets.  On Saturday there were additional faster-moving personnel (photo).

But we finally picked up our wine glasses and started working our way through the hall. We had an hour to spend before we would sit down for our reserved Tre Cugini Wine & Food Pairing.

It was time to sit for dinner and after a seating snafu with people who didn't read their ticket time/date quite right, we settled in for a lovely time. The owner introduced the wines and the executive chef, the food.

Our first course was ravioli filled with goat, ricotta, and parmesan cheeses, brushed with butter and sage, served over a light tomato sauce. It was exquisite, and remembering the tomato sauce still makes my mouth water. It was paired with a sparkling Villa Tavernago Ortrugo "Podere Visconti."

The main course was braised wild boar stew in red wine, thyme, and sage, served over polenta, and paired with Grifalco Aglianico del Vulture "Gricos." It was just ok as we preferred the wine and not the slightly gamey stew.

Our last course was dessert, a delicious napoleon puff pastry layered with whipped cream and fresh Michigan strawberries (we all laughed at the "fresh Michigan" strawberries at this time of year :-) ) It was lovely to behold and was paired with a dessert wine, Merk Verduzzo (2008 Venezia-Giulia, Friuli).

When we originally parked, we discovered we could park in the city reserved spots, and when I returned on Saturday, I did the same thing.

There was an entire Beer Loft to discover ~

 

 

 

 

 What is PBR doing here?

 

Other miscellaneous food and beverage photos ~

 

 

 

Finally the miscellaneous vendors hawking their wares ~

I should have moved this blanked-faced model slightly to the left to fill the sleeve :-)

Cheers to this festival and to great eating and drinking in Grand Rapids!!