Can it really be the fourth year in a row that Kelly and I going to the Fort Worth Opera Festival? I guess it is! I love Fort Worth: great trail run in the morning, just a few minutes from home (read about it here), a couple hours riding top-notch roller coasters with my son, then a world-class opera at night. It made for a fun day.
After Elliot went to the symphony with me a couple times (read here and here), he decided that he wanted to go to the opera as well. How can you say no to an 11 year old who wants to go to the opera with you? So tonight Elliot, Kelly, and I went to hear Verdi's Il Trovatore. I have to admit, I knew this was a long opera with a convoluted story line, so I wasn't sure Elliot would like it. I was certain that afterwards he would say maybe he didn't want to go to the next one. But he liked it a lot!
We started the evening, apropos to going to an Italian opera, with a little Italian dinner at Mamma Mia. He got his favorite, fettucini alfredo with chicken. He immediately liked the waitress because she brought him a big glass of water and not a kiddie cup with a lid. We all ate too much.
We got to Bass Hall, with which Elliot is becoming quite familiar, and found our way to our seats. We have the best seats in the cheapest section: front row center in the highest balcony. As promised, the story of Il Trovatore is rather convoluted. Gypsies burned at the stake, babies tossed in the fire, mistaken identities, spurned lovers, brother against brother in a civil war, what are we to do! Of course the music is fabulous, and some of the arias were spectacular. The Fort Worth Opera's presentation was flawless and the singers, terrific. We saw Dongwon Shin, the troubadour of the title, in the 2008 FWO Festival production of Turandot.
"Tell us again about that crazy gypsy who threw her baby in the fire!"
This is quite a famous opera, but the only music I recognized was the "Anvil Chorus," sung by the gypsies in Act 2. You'll recognize it, too, I bet. Here's one of many appearances of the tune in a toon:
For an actual review by someone who might know what he's talking about, see the Star-Telegram.
My angels with the Bass Hall angel in the background.
Did you know that the fashion icon Coco Chanel and composer Igor Stravinsky were lovers? Neither did I. Both of them left a huge legacy, her with her perfume and (I guess) her dresses, him with his music. As pioneers in their fields, they cross paths and inspire one another at a crucial point in both of their careers.
The best part of this movie is the opening sequence, depicting the first performance of Le Sacre du Printemps, or The Rite of Spring. They didn't portray the entire, typically about 30-35 minute, performance, but I was surprised at how long it was in the movie. I should have noted the time, but I bet it was 15 minutes or more. As I noted in my review of the FWSO's performance, this premiere caused a near riot, and the movie's depiction seems to be very close to historical accounts. The negative reaction does seem to be as much from the ballet, if not more, than the music itself.
This video isn't from the movie, but both this production and the production in the movie purport to reproduce the original 1913 choreography and costuming.
After that performance, Chanel learns of Stravinsky's living conditions. As a refugee from Russia, he has little money, and lives in a cramped apartment with his ailing wife and four kids. She invites the whole family to live with her at her villa. Shortly, the two of them start an affair right under his wife's nose. During this time period, Chanel develops her famous fragrance and presumably Stravinsky works on his compositions.
Although I enjoyed the depiction of the Rite of Spring premiere, the rest of the movie did little for me. It's well made, great picture of 1920s Paris, well acted, etc. But the eponymous characters came across as couple of artsy elites who think social mores are below them and that the consequences of their choices on their families don't matter.
Elliot and I went to the symphony a few weeks ago with a voucher we got at the symphony open house during the Main Street Arts Festival. Elliot loved it! So I inquired with his music teacher whether she could get another voucher for us. She came through with two, so Elliot invited his friend, a talented pianist. I don't know how much that little boy knows about the piano, but we all got the opportunity to hear one of the greatest pianists around.
Barry Douglas has played for Fort Worth audiences before; he won the bronze in the 1985 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The next year, he won the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, the first non-Russian to do so since Van Cliburn himself. With this performance, I was about ready to give him another medal.
A college friend of mine, an accomplished pianist, told me about a time when, as a little girl, she was riding in the car with her mom. As they listened to the classical radio station together, she started crying. When her mom asked what was wrong, she said she was crying because the music was so beautiful. I have never had an experience quite like that, but I came closer than I ever have at this concert. Although I have heard Tchaikovsky's familiar Piano Concerto No. 1 before, when Douglas and the orchestra started playing, a wave of emotion washed over me; I felt like I was going to start weeping. I calmed down after a few measures, but my sensitivity to the music was heightened and I floated through the rest of the piece. Beautiful, powerful, emotional, awesome. Douglas's brilliant playing accompanied by the FWSO's usual great performance made for one of the most memorable pieces of live music I've ever heard.
By the way, this happens to be the same piece Van Cliburn played to win the Tchaikovsky competition in 1958. Here is a 1962 performance:
Some concertgoers left at intermission, perhaps thinking that nothing could top the first half of the night's program. Elliot, his friend and I stuck around and were not disappointed. The second piece of the night was Titanic, by FWSO's composer in residence. At first I thought, What is this, pops night with movie themes? But Boyer's piece predates the over-hyped movie by 2 years. Before the orchestra began, Boyer himself stood up and walked the audience through a description of the piece. What a unique opportunity, to hear from the composer himself. In a tribute to the musicians who continued to play while the lifeboats were being loaded, he worked in songs the ship's band played, weaving those melodies together with sounds evoking the crash on the iceberg and sinking of the ship. It was quite effective and evocative.
The final selection of the night has been a favorite of mine for years. If I remember correctly, the first CD I ever bought was Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. As expected, the FWSO performance was extraordinary. I love the power and challenge of this piece. Coincidentally, a couple weeks ago I watched the movie Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, which opens with the premier of The Rite of Spring. As you may recall, the audience reaction got out of hand, with shouting and arguments, so much so that the police were called in. I played that portion of the movie for Elliot and insisted that he not behave like that at the concert! The program notes at the concert included an account that premier; the movie seems to have gotten the details right. No riots ensued on this night.
All in all, I have to agree with the Star-Telegram reviewer (here), who said that this "was, arguably, the best performance that this writer has ever heard them deliver."
Fermat's Room has a great premise and some interesting development, but ultimately does not deliver. Four great mathematicians are invited to a mysterious meeting at the home of a fifth. None has ever met the others, but throughout the evening connections between them are revealed. During dinner, the host is called away, and the four guests soon find that they're trapped in one room. The walls of the room begin to press in on them, literally, and they have to solve a series of riddles to find a way to avoid being crushed.
Getting kind of tight in here! Shut down all the trash compactors on the detention level!
It seems like it would be a thriller with a higher level of intellectual engagement, and it does start off that way, but it ends up being a thriller in the vein of the brilliant psycho who devises impossibly elaborate means of scaring the pants of his victims before killing them. I tire of that sort of story. That said, if those movies are your cup of tea, Fermat's Room is better than most.
Every now and then a good comedy comes along to remind us that a movie doesn't have to be stupid and juvenile to be funny. I admit, sometimes I do enjoy stupid, juvenile movies, but if there were more movies like Please Give we wouldn't have to waste our time with bad comedies. Please Give reminded me a bit of Woody Allen's movies, only funnier and with more of a story, or of Gigantic.
Cathy and Alex have a used furniture store in New York. They buy furniture from the children of people who have died. Cathy feels bad about marking up heirlooms, profiting from the children's ignorance of the furniture's value. They have also bought the apartment next door to theirs. As soon as the 91-year-old tenant moves out, they'll tear down some walls and expand their living space. Cathy feels bad about waiting on their neighbor to die. Their moody teen aged daughter (is that redundant?) offers her wry observations and helps the couple keep some grips in reality. Alex struggles with being bored in their marriage, while Cathy tries to figure out how to assuage her guilt by giving money to street people or volunteering at a nursing home.
Cathy insecurity and Abby's precociousness make for some entertaining mother/daughter talks.
This is one of those great family comedies (by which I don't mean appropriate for all members of the family, but comedy about a family) in which there are not earth-shattering issues, but in which we can laugh at them while laughing at ourselves.
Sometimes "Christian" movies are pretty good. Often, they stink. But I have to give some credit to aspiring filmmakers who try to make high quality movies with a Christian message. The most successful recent church-based movies have been from Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia. Their movies, Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof were pretty decent, if a little on the sappy side. Last year, New Song Community Church in Southern California produced To Save a Life. Now Mariners Church in Irvine, California has produced I Am.
I really wanted to like this movie. It has a cooler, darker, grittier vibe than the Sherwood movies. The style seems to have been influenced by movies like Crashor Traffic (both of which I really liked). Unfortunately, I Am's execution is but a poor reflection of those movies. Everything was there technically. The acting was passable, at least as good as a decent TV show. But the story, or interlocking stories, I should say, just didn't click. The storylines were stilted and the characters and scenarios were cheap stereotypes.
Some scenes were filmed in this super awesome looking Mariners Church wedding chapel.
This movie grew out of a series of videos produced for a Mariners Church Bible study on the Ten Commandments. I don't really even see that they provide much fodder for discussion. Maybe some people struggle with decisions like whether to cryogenically preserve themselves, whether to claim credit for their late rock star son's song, or whether to kill the man whose medical experiments claimed my wife's life. Is there value in using extreme situations to illustrate the struggles we all have with sin? I think they just make it easier to excuse ourselves, like the old, "I know I'm not the greatest guy who ever lived, but I'm not as bad as Hitler" kind of argument.
So kudos the Mariners Church for the effort, but what a shame that the movie wasn't any better. Not that great from the perspective of simple movie watching pleasure, and not that great for spiritual reflection.
This weekend's concert was a bit of a contrast from last weekend's trip to the symphony. Kelly, Elliot and I joined thousand of screaming teenagers and their youth leaders for a noisy night at Six Flags's Music Mill Amphitheatre. I love the fact that Elliot loves worship music. He's a worshipper with heart and his favorite music to listen to is the worship songs of artists like Chris Tomlin and David Crowder. He and Kelly went to see Chris Tomlin play a Christmas concert last year at a local church, and when he learned that David Crowder was going to be at Six Flags, of course he was excited to go.
The opening act was a band I had never heard of, Needtobreathe. I guess I'm not really in tune with Christian music these days; they won the Dove Award for Group of the Year for 2010 and 2011. I had no idea they were so hot. Besides their success in Christian music, they've had some success on the mainstream charts and have had their songs featured on some movies and TV shows. I recognized one song from the radio, but now I can't tell you what it was. They play solid rock and roll with a Southern twinge. I couldn't tell you what they were singing about most of the time. Elliot and I agreed on that. I asked him if he liked them and his comment was, "I can't understand what they're singing."
That may have been a sound system issue, because when The David Crowder Band came on, I couldn't understand a lot of his singing, either, and I know many of his songs. They played several familiar songs, with lots of audience participation. Clearly this was a crowd of Crowder fans! After a few songs, Crowder said we were entering the "rock opera" portion of the concert. They broke away from the familiar set and began some extended jams. I was really getting into it! Fans like to hear their faves, but the best part of a live concert is the extemporaneous, energetic breaking away from the usual play list. Crowder is clearly a fun-loving, innovative, extremely creative musician, with much, much more to offer than "three chords and the truth." Unfortunately, my wife's and son's musical ears are more attuned to KLTY than to experimental rock. They both said it had gotten too loud and too wild and wanted to leave, so we missed the last part of the show. But I thought what we saw and heard was terrific!
This is not his stage hair. He looks like this all the time.
I love the David Crowder* Band's music, although I never have understood the asterisk after his name. (By the way, they have a trunk load of Dove Awards, too.) They are musically and lyrically creative (not to mention visually--Have you see their Lite Brite video of "SMS [Shine]"?) Mostly I love that they create worship music that draws young people into worship. As worship leader at University Baptist Church in Waco, as a worship leader at the Passion conferences, as an award-winning recording artist, and now as my son's favorite band, David Crowder will stay at the top of my list as well.
