Music Update

Ok, so I was wrong...the music that we saw last night was Brahms, Stravinskij, and Poulenc. It was wonderful, we walked not into the main theatre like I expected (which is amazing, 4 stories of box seats!), but into a side room that was about three stories tall and painted all over the walls. Here's a photo I took with my phone:

The pieces were smaller, only for clarinet and piano. The Brahms (my favorite) was the Sonata for clarinet and piano in F Minor, op. 120 no. 1. As soon as the first movement ended, I broke into a smile, both because it was wonderful, but also because no one clapped! The first time I've been to a concert when someone didn't applaud in between movements. This reminds me, at this concert there was one of those Classical Music Aficionados that I love running across at these sorts of things. He of course sat in the front row, an older balding gentleman with thick horn-rimmed glasses and a tan plaid ill-fitting suit paired with black shoes. I know that he heard the most of anyone there.

The Brahms consisted of four movements, allegro appassionato, andante un poco adagio, allegretto grazioso, and vivace. When it ended, the clarinetist came back out to perform 3 short Stravinskij pieces for clarinet solo. These were light and playful, but also technically excellent, showcasing the player's great control. The pianist rejoined him after a small break to duet again on the Francis Poulenc piece, of which I was not as great a fan. Hilary loved it, though, as she had played it for her clarinet final exam. Afterwards, she and Heather and I walked around the space admiring it. I think it is wonderful that there in this smaller theatre is a space (or, I assume, spaces) for moments such as this, and enormous and lavish room to house the creation of a small piece of excellence.

Sunday there is another performance, purely piano, of Mozart, Schumann, Brahms, and Moskowsky. And tomorrow is a piano and soprano performance of Schubert, Brahms, Tosti, and Bianchi...I'd love to go to all of them, but I might just do the Sunday performance. It's so great to be back in a classical music context.

That was Sunday evening...Monday was another gorgeous warm sunny day. A few of us had a nap-time sunning session out in the courtyard, and then we helped host some neighboring small children with easter crafts and an egg hunt. Yesterday continued the culture begun on Sunday when we went to the Palazzo del Gusto, the Palace of Taste, for a wine tasting. We tried a couple different makers of the Orvieto Classico, which is one of the few whites that I've been able to get excited about. Even more importantly, I got from the woman running the wine tasting a bunch of literature about the association of 17 area wineries and other information about local Umbrian wines.

Today we watched the Sigur Rós film Heima on the large projector and sound system. Gorgeous. Do you want to know what true artisanship is like? Watch that film.

My drawing has, I think, turned a corner. We are doing "Caravaggio" style drawings in which we need to create, with srong light and shadow, an atmosphere of some sort. This is going well, and so is the light and shadow still life we are all working on in class. Now that the element of directed and intentional light has been introduced, I have something to be excited about, which helps.

Do not forget the significance of this week.