the very definition of charming

Although renown as a genius, a prodigy, virtuoso, and many other labels, the one I was bowled over by was how absolutely charming Itzhak Perlman was from the stage of the Van Wezel.  A terrific selection of music was made even more enjoyable by his lighthearted charm with the audience.  He was especially effective in teaching the audience (who must have been opera goers - who applaud at virtually every pause) about not applauding between movements of a composer's work.  He also had a moment or two of fun (for us) in teaching the tech staff about the lighting for the auditorium... house lights at 50% during the performance despite them being full bore for the entire first half of the program.

The timing of the concert (at 8 PM) meant we could all watch the sunset outside just before going in to our seats (fifth row center for us!)

 

the works announced from the stage include a Prokofiev, a Tchaikovsky, the theme from 

Schindler's List and several others... all performed after introductions by the again- very charming Perlman.  

Phil said he could think of no artist as "decorated" as Itzhak Perlman and the information from the program would bear that out- he has received pretty much every possible award and then some I think...

(all of the above taken directly from the program guide for last night)

I also found the ten commandments worth considering - 

Numbers VII and VIII being my own personal favorites - the singing along and shouting out song titles is probably my biggest pet peeve of this list of pet peeves.  

we did the full concert series last year- with three excellent concerts - by the Haifa Symphony, by Joshua Bell and by Lang-Lang - recounted in this prior post: http://semifreelife.semifreelife.com/2014/01/tchaikovsky-gesundheit.html

this was the only one for this year, as we have expanded our cultural outings with other choices including things like the Julian Sands one man show on Pinter, the National Theater LIVE, and Fogartyville concerts.... but this was certainly an excellent choice! A fabulous talent!!!!

And today, we are off to Ed Smith Stadium to see the Cardinals versus the Orioles in a spring training game. It will be our first time in this venue. (we have done spring training stadiums for the Yankees, Braves, Twins, Tigers, and Pirates (x3 because this is our local Bradenton team). So far my favorite venue has been the Joker Marchant Stadium (Tigers in Lakeland) because they are near Plant City and served strawberry shortcake with ice cream!!!    So I will report back on the experience at the Orioles- Cards game in Sarasota...

Oh- the drama!

was all I could say after hearing/seeing Lang Lang in concert tonight.... oh my, Librace has nothing on this guy... his over the top performance was thankfully matched by virtuosity-

Up next- in the series-

bet we will like this one better... not that Lang Lang wasn't impressive- but so so so over the top in the drama- that I felt the main impression I took away was of that - which wasn't really what I came for...

the curtain rises

Last night the fall theater season began for us.  We hadn't been to the theater since June 6th when we went to see Stella & Lou. Last night we went to the TimeLine Theater for a new production of A Raisin in the Sun.  Stirred by our attendance last season at the Asolo Theater production of Clybourne Park

(see my prior entry- http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-plays-thing.html )

we saw that Time Line was planning to stage Raisin this year w\hen we went to see "Concerning Strange Devices"  http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2013/04/more-incredible-theater.html last spring...during a week of fabulous theater.

The story of Clybourne Park is both concurrent to Raisin and five decades later long after the neighborhood had become a black neighborhood and was then in the process of re-gentrification.

Both plays were excellent- and have well deserved reputations - Clybourne won a Pulitzer in 2011 and the Tony for best play in 2012... As for Raisin, though it received popular and critical acclaim, reviewers argued about whether the play was "universal" or particular to African-American experiences. The New York Drama Critics' Circle named it the best play of 1959, and it ran for nearly two years and was produced on tour. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with a black director (Lloyd Richards) on Broadway.  In 1960 A Raisin In The Sun was nominated for four Tony Awards.

The entire cast was excellent with a particular shout out to the Mama (Lena) character - well worth seeing....

so we are "off and running" with the theater season- next week we see 4,000 Miles at Northlight and then in October we have Mansfield Park at Remy Bumppo and Old Jews Telling Jokes  at the Royal George and I am going to try to squeeze in The North China Lover at Lookinglass as well....

Then earlier this week I booked all our Asolo theater tickets for the winter season - we will see four plays at their rep and three classical concerts at the Van Wezel. 

Oddly enough the Asolo is also doing 4,000 Miles this season in April of next year (their last selection while it is Northlight's first)- If I love it I may get additional tickets to see it as a comparison between productions....

So we are soon headed to NYC to see the kids and Larno- expect some reports of our week there at some later point... and then we begin preparing for China in earnest... coming soon!