Knitting in the Shadows

Music Happens

This week I got music.

I got awesome classical music -- and the next night -- I got to see Kitty perform in Beauty & the Beast (more music).

First up, Joshua Bell performing Beethoven with the Academy at St. Martin in the Fields.  I love Beethoven.  Especially the symphonies.  And with this performance, I heard things in the 7th Symphony that I'd never really heard before. 

I've listened to this version (von Karajan directing the Berliner Symphony Orchestra) countless times.

Bell does something deliciously different, so it was familiar and new at the same time.  I love it when musicians do that!

I'm still missing my "mindless" knitting -- so no progress was made on the AWOL Hopeful Socks.  Luckily, The Beethoven was so good I hardly missed it.

And the next night, I saw again why our school's drama department is so well known.  We had a packed house for the third formal performance of Beauty & the Beast.  Alas, I have no pictures, but it was GREAT.

I still had no knitting, but I did spend part of the time waiting for the show to start (and intermission) winding a skein for a new project.

I'm so lucky.

Gratitude for the day:  I'm so grateful to not be tone deaf!

So much music!

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending my daughters' band concert.  As always, I'm a little bit amazed at how well their high school band performs - how good they sound, and how challanging the music they play is. 

This year, Kitty is First chair clarinet -- which means that I get to really see her! (First chair players are right there on the front edge of the band. One of the pieces they played included lots of really quick notes in the clarinet section - watching her fingers flying was kind of amazing.  (BookWorm, alas, is a tiny thing, who sits in the center of the back row.  Only by careful and luckyseating can I ever see her on stage).

Having enjoyed Tuesday's performance, I then had the honor of driving Kitty to a small town 45 minutes away for the IMEA Solo & Ensemble contest, where she played something wholly unrelated to the band concert music.  Her solo was beautiful and challenging -- starting slow and gentle and lyical, then speeding up, until at one point the sixteenth notes were just flying, and then slowing back down again, all the while maintaining tone, and using sometimes subtle and sometimes overt dynamics (getting louder and softer for those of you not enmeshed in musical performance).  Her performance was really good.  The judge thought so too, awarding her what turned out to be one of his few I's of the day.  (We've since learned that he handed out a lot of II's). 

This performance was particularly amazing to me, since there was a bit of a mess about getting there.  I had planned on rousting us at 7:10 or so, and leaving by 7:30 at the latest, sneaking a quick detour to buy her "real" (or as I call it "foofy") coffee, and arriving no later than 8:30 for her 8:50 performance. This would have given her an easy 20 minutes to warm up and prepare herself. 

ahem.

My alarm clock declined to participate in that program.  I woke at 7:57.  We flew out of the house at about 8:10.  I bent the speed limit laws into unrecognizable pretzles, careening down back country roads at speeds that were likely unwise, and thanked the universe that there was no traffic on them.  We arrived at 8:45.  She had time to find her room, and breathe for about 2 minutes outside the door before she had to go it.  She had time to warm up with one scale while the judge finished writing notes about the previous performer ... and then she was on.

And wow.

and then....

Monday, we were gifted with tickets to see Gaelic Storm.  They performed last night.  Very different music again... but so much fun.  (And listening to Patrick Murphy 's yummy Irish accent as he introduced the songs did not detract from my evening <grin>). 

I'm rather fond of this song -- which they sang last night.

And Thursday -- I'll be going for more music.

Pardon me while I wallow in my own good fortune.

Music, and the Magic of the Body

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending another wonderful concert at our local performing arts center.

We heard the Tchaikovsky  St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra perform music by three composers; two of whom are among my very favorites, and one of whom is on my general favorites list.  The last piece they played is one of my favorite pieces in the world.

They started of with Wagner.  But not the demanding, imposing, Wagner who fires you up with The Ride of the Valkyries.  Nay, the lush, heart-string pulling Wagner who wrote a Prelude to his opera that so beautifully meshes with the final piece from that opera that orchestras now play them together -- as one piece. 

Prelude and Love Death from Tristan & Isolde

(You can listen to it -- it's 15 minutes long, and this version has the tell tale scratchiness underlying it that shows it was recorded from an LP, but it's still lovely).

Oddly, I found that there were places in this piece that foreshadowed the final piece of the night. 

The second piece was Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 (which evidently was written, and even performed, before Piano Concerto No. 1).  The pianist, Alexandre Pirojenko, was amazing. 

 

 

The Washington Post says of him, "has the technical skills to do anything he wants with a piano; better yet, what he wants to do is sensitive, original, and brilliant."  If the performance I saw was typical, I think they're right. I couldn't track down a you tube of the Beethoven piece, but here he is playing a bit of Rachmaninov.

 

 

Okay, SAW isn't exactly right. We sat in the choral balcony, behind the stage.  It's a great place to HEAR the performance, but not so good to see -- especially (oddly) in the front row.  Occasionally I'd lean forward across the sort of aisle between the front row and the rail, and peer over the rail, but even then you couldn't see much of the orchestra.  That's okay, I wasn't there to see as much as to hear.

And not seeing meant that I could sit with my eyes closed, without feeling guilty about not watching raptly.  Sometimes, I even do that ... just sit, raptly listening.  But most of the time, my hands are busy.  If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I take knitting with me to hear live music.  Currently, I've been toting along this pair of simple plain socks to most events.  They're just simple stockinette (well, so far, we know about my capacity for endless stockinette), and that means that I can sit and knit, eyes closed, listening, while my fingers do their thing.  Golf Pro likes it, because it means that my hands aren't trying to conduct, which evidently they do unelss they're otherwise occupied.  I think it's pretty magical that my body can go on doing something as complex as knitting socks without watching.  I'm working two socks at a time using the "magic loop" method, which means I have to change yarns mid "row" (before moving the loop).  Even so, my fingers can do this without visual guidance.

The final piece is one of my most favorite in the world.  Rimsy Korsakov's Sheherezade.  I'm not sure, but I think I may owe a debt of gratitude to one Goeffrey Thursby (I know he shared Lt. Kije with me; I think he may also have introduced me to Scheherazade).  The concert notes say that Rimsy Korsakov considers this peice to be free from Wagner's influence, but I know that I heard things in Prelude and Love Death that were echoed in passages from Scheherazade.

This passage isn't one of them, but I figured if I was sharing music, I may as well keep it up  :-)

 

Last night, while knitting in the balcony, I was working on a pair of socks for Golf Pro. 

At the end of the evening, I had him try on the toes, just to double check how much further I had to go before starting the next phase in their shaping.  One would think that by now, I'd just know... but these socks are in a much finer gauge than previous pairs, and I've long since learned that when you change the gauge, you change not only horizontal stretchiness, but vertical stretchiness, so I checked before shaping. I learned that my husbands feet are just the right length that my forearm is a perfect measure for how long the foot should be before I start increasing for the gusset/heel dance.  (I think that's pretty magical).

Awesome Music

Windycon may be about writing science fiction, but it's also about awesome music.

This year's Musical Guest of Honor was a delciious little group called Tricky Pixie.  Tricky Pixie is made up of the lovely cellist Betsy Tinney, the ever delightful SJ Tucker (the Skinny White Chick with the amazing voice), and the ever entertaining Alexander James Adams.

My weekend of musical joy started with a pre-view sort of concer with Sooj (SJ Tucker) and Betsy....(I kind of wish they'd played this one... it's pretty)

and ended with a rousing concert by Tricky Pixie.

And yes... they do sing

Along the way, I also enjoyed Mary Crowell, who is sadly under represented on you tube, but is there on itunes.

Heather Dale, who does lots of music about the Arthurian sagas, as well as....

and a solo concert by Alexander James Adams, who writes some pretty serious stuff,

along with some very fun stuff

Alexander has so many CDs out that I just kind of gibbered, and plan to download things song by song until I figure out which discs I need to own entire (I fear the answer may be "all").

And just before the "main event" with Tricky Pixie, I snuck in a wee, grossly under-advertised, performance by Amy McNally. Amy (like Betsey), is one of those amazing artists who plays with other artists and groups, and just makes the whole thing sound better. (Amy played wtih Mary, for example, and it was just delicious). And... she's just an all around nice person too.

We heard stories about other concerts, and were alerted to you tube videos that are too fun not to share, like this one, in which the Ninja surprises Sooj

 These marvelous concerts resulted in a certain amount of fiscal indescretion -- 'cause there were CDs, and I couldn't stop myself from buying several.

They are doing me no good whatsoever in getting this ear-worm out of my head though.

 

I wonder, does this mean that there's an alligator in MY house?

Music Day

Though I did knit a lot yesterday, I can't really show you much.  It was all about one of those socks for CPY.  However, I DID finagle the non-standard toe-up heel, and am now on the home-free section of the cuff....

Today, I'll likely finish the sock, because today has a lot of waiting built in.  In a few minutes, we'll set forth in the lightly blowing snow, hoping that it stays lightly blowing as we travel west for about an hour.  Then, we'll check in to the State's Music Educators Associations Solo & Ensemble Contest.  Both girls will be performing.

The Bookworm will go first:  she plays at 12:06 (don't you love the precision? Anyone think that they'll be that close after three and a half hours of performances?).  We have to be there 45 minutes early for her to check in and warm up etc.   After that, we kill time until Kitty plays at 2:42.  I think we're likely to leave the building in search of lunch at a restaurant. But even with lunch, there will be waiting time.

And what does a knitter do with waiting time?  KNIT of course.

So, I have three projects in my knitting bag for the day.  The sock, of course.  Laminaria.  And a cowl.  With any luck at all, I'll have some progress I can show you by the time the day is over.

Meanwhile, wish us luck.  We need instruments that tune and stay that way, confidence that withstands a room full of strangers and judges, and musical fingers and lips that cooperate.  Oh, and reeds that don't suddenly turn vengeful.

Sunday Afternoon in the Park

What Your Handwriting Says About You

You are a laid back person with rather low energy. You aren't lazy... you *are* sensitive and empathetic. You are very extroverted and outgoing. You are loving, friendly, and supportive. However, you are also manipulative and controlling at times. You are very detail oriented and meticulous. You are a careful thinker and a true intellectual. You need a bit of space in your life, but you're not a recluse. You expect people to give you a small amount of privacy, and you respect their privacy as well. You are somewhat traditional, but you are also open to change. You listen to your head and your heart. You are a decent communicator. You eventually get your point across, but sometimes you leave things a bit ambiguous.

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

I find it amusing that Nora's handwriting says the same thing about her.

But I'm not going to taunt you with nothing more than a Blogthing...  I'm going to show you what happens when I take my kid to get enough plants to fill a planter:

There are six plants in each of those bags.  One bag is actually for the garden... but the rest are herbs.

Here is C's planter - fresh from the planting this morning:

It  now contains three trailing flowering things for pretty, and one each purple sage, French thyme, chamomile, curry, and spearmint [and no, I've no idea how she chose those].

Luckily, in addition to that one, I happened to have four others in need of new plants:

Herbs are such fun.  I find it amusing that these two plants both claim to be basil:

There were still a few plants left over.  It turns out that two of the varieties of Rosemary I found plan on getting several feet tall.  I put them in the round planters near the gazebo. (photos forthcoming when they're finished).  One of the two Lavenders I wound up bringing home seems like it will work fine there.  The other lavender will just have to go in the ground -- it too gets bigger than I'd paid attention to. (And why do I insist on spelling Lavendar the British way, thus having to fix it repeatedly?).

(And no, you don't get to hear about the tree yet).

Once we got our planting done, we hung around the house for awhile, and discussed exactly when C would be getting one of her presents. We'll be getting her ears pierced as soon as humanly possible -- but not today.  Today, birthday or no, C had to go play in the park.  Clarinet that is.  Evidently her band director thinks that the year should end with a Concert in the Park.

Here we see a bunch of kids getting ready (mine has her back to us... oh well).

I think they all look great.

They of course, think they look like dorks.

Here's the crowd, before any of the playing actually began

Eventually, it was C's band's turn, and they assumed their chairs:

I don't know if you can see them, but they've all got clothespins -- trying (more successfully than not) to keep their music from blowing away.

Soon enough, they settled down to playing some good tunes.

It was a good concert.

J took it lying down... and I noticed something odd about her "jewelry".

Yep... that's a hospital bracelet.  Why on earth is she still wearing it? And what do I have to do to get her to let me cut it off??  (Are all kids this... er... weird?).

So.  I spent a good 2 3/4 hours hanging out in the park.  I'll bet you'll never guess what I did with all this time guarding the blanket?  Why, I knit socks, of course!

Sock de la Mer quite enjoyed the music.  I got from the end of the gusset about 1/2 way down the foot (perhaps a tad further).  I did spy another knitter in the wild, listening to the bands play, but I didn't get my camera out fast enough to catch her for the blog.

After the concert -- it was time for birthday dinner and cake and all that good birthday stuff.  C claims to have had a good day.  I did too.  I think that counts as one in the win column for us!

Book Report & Days 5& 6

Book Report:

I have finished another book.  A Fold in the Tent of the Sky by Michael Hale (355 pp).  Interesting. A series of plays on paradox ... There's a group who hires people with psychic abilities to do spying of sorts for folks willing to pay big bucks for obscure information.  One of the psychics figures out how to materialize corporally in distant places ... and in the past.  So he goes around changing things (first change was to prevent Sharon Tate from being murdered by Charles Manson -- clearly that character has some personality issues). The first time someone changes things, folks at the institute catch it, and remember two time lines... but soon only one person left remembers both time lines. The interplay of multiple time lines, and the ripple effects of the changes he makes are interesting. 

Day  5 Report -

This was mostly a lazy day, but it did include a fun surprise for the girls.  Little did they know that while they were off horse-back riding, Mom and I went to Woodsound Studios and picked up a rental cello for them to try.  Sunday, they head their first lesson from Mom:

C, having taken violin in 4th grade, has a bit of an advantage.  She's already got the concept of the bow-hold generally, and has adapted to the cello bow-hold quite nicely.  She's working on playing a scale already!

J is learning how to hold the bow, and how to move it across the strings.  She's having lots of fun.

Both of them will have a "real" cello lesson with a phenomenal cello teacher, Myles Jordan, on Wednesday afternoon.

Day 6 - Monday

C has sailing lessons this week.  For reasons I cannot comprehend, J has NO interest in this activity, so she'll be hanging out with Mom and me in the mornings.  There was a bit of a snafu finding the class, but C was patient and happy just watching the water.

J was a bit more active about waiting... and just had to stick her toes in

While C was learning all the ropes for sailing, the rest of us went off shopping and bought some new clothes at a nifty store called Mexacali Blues. It was a successful adventure for Mom, and J and me! 

The afternoon included lunch, a trip to Biscay Pond for a bit of a splash, then grocery shopping, and getting ready for an evening of wonderful music with the Daponte String Quartet.  Those of you who are compulsive link clickers will have noticed that Myles Jordan is in the Daponte String Quartet... we feel pretty special and spoiled that way.

The girls weren't as up for music as they'd thought -- likely because the concert started with some esoteric Prokofiev -- so we left at intermission.  I'd have been sorely disappointed to miss the second half, but Mom and I are going again ... this time in Freeport.

Tomorrow: more sailing, a knitting update, and just maybe -- alpacas???

All the Gods are Smiling

I am feeling tremendously blessed this week.

Waaaaaay back in June, I tried to order tickets to see Yo Yo Ma, who performed here last week.  First they said I had four tickets (and billed my credit card).  Then, in late August, when they sent all the tickets I'd ordered they said they were sold out of YoYo Ma, and refunded my money.  About a month ago, they realized that this had pissed people off... so they crated a list of folks to whom they'd done that, and as people returned (RETURNED???) their YoYo tickets, they began calling to offer them..

Now, I'm a person for whom timing has always been a problem.  Whenever a cool event comes up, I'm the one who can't go because we can't find a babysitter.  I know this about the universe...

Last week, I'd arranged with a friend that my kids would spend Friday night at her house so that DH and I could go out w/o worrying about getting home for the babysitter.  Soon, her kids will spend the night here so that she and her DH can do the same.

Then C got Strep Throat.... not a good sign for sending her out to other people's homes.

but .... we got the antibiotics in time that she was no longer contagious (or even feeling particularly bad) by Friday night.  The deal was still on.

Thursday evening at 6:30 I got a call from the concert folks.  They had two pairs of Yo Yo tickets (thus the four I'd ordered).  Did I want them.

Are they nuts?  Like there was a question?  Like I was gonna say NO??? (well, I might have if the babysitting were an issue... but....

I already had babysitting in place!!!!!

So, I got to go hear Yo Yo Ma play three of Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites.  He was, of course, marvelous.  He received, of course, a standing ovation.  He played an encore of something that I think might have been from his Appalachia Waltz.  It was lovely.  I liked it better even than one of the cello suites (shh, don't tell).  It received, are you ready? a standing ovation.  We're an appreciative crowd here in the flat lands (and yes, it was a packed house.  Even the back balcony (which is behind the stage) was all but full -- out of the 150 seats there, only 8 were empty).  He responded with visible delight, and performed another encore -- this was something that sounded very oriental, but I've no clue what it was.  I really liked it though -- I wish I knew what it was so I could buy a recording.  The third standing O was not enough to lure him back into his chair.

I did take knitting.  It stayed in the bag at my feet.  For Suite No. 5, I thought about it, but realized that in that packed house, I likely would disturb my seatmates, so I left it be.

Then, yesterday afternoon, a friend called with four tickets she couldn't use to go see Fazil Say  play.  Did I by chance want them?  for free no less? OMG! Another one of those silly questions. 

DH didn't want to go (???), so I took the girls to their first really fine concert.  They still need a bit of concert training, but I guess they've never really been in a situation where the action at hand was listening... just listening..  They struggled, but it turned out okay in the end.

Well.  let me tell you... if you like piano music at all, and have a chance to hear this man play live -- run, don't walk, to the ticket counter. (FYI: He's in New York  on Friday the 14th (click link for details), and then in Italy for a month.  Next US concert thereafter appears to be November 19 in Chicago, but there's a recital in Charlottsville on the 17th...) I had no idea what I was getting into, really, but I am so incredibly glad I went.

Here is the blurb that advertised this concert.  It is understated.

His originally intended program included a performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring arranged for piano (4 hands).  He performs on a Boesendorfer computer grand piano -- he "records" himself playing two of the hands, and then performs with the piano playing those two while he plays the other two -- thus playing with himself.  Evidently, though they flew the piano in from LA, and the technician in from Vienna (and Fazil in from Istanbul), there was some degradation in the computer file that let the piano play .... it wasn't up to Mr. Says's standards.

So, learning this Tuesday afternoon, he substituted (for Tuesday evening's performance, Beethoven's Appassionata !  It was incredible!  There are no words...

The other pieces he played were equally stunning.  Well, almost.  I liked the Appassionata best.  But either way, the appreciative crowd (not as large as Yo Yo's but certainly equally responsive), gave a vigorous standing ovation.  He responded with an encore of a piece that I suspect is from Silk Road but I'm not sure. 

It was incredible.

 

I don't think I've felt so high from music in years.  The audience seemed to agree, for the standing O was even more vigorous.  He responded with another encore. This time it was a marvelous Gershwin arrangement of Summertime (Summertime I on the link).  It brought tears to my eyes.

We stood again for another highly energetic ovation, with further cries of Bravo!

He responded with yet ANOTHER encore.  Again, a piece I know but can't identify. Again, it was amazing.  Again we stood for a rousing ovation.  But all good things must come to an end I suppose, and he finally left the stage for good.

I'm still floating though...

When the girls and I got home from the concert, there was a package waiting for me.  At first blush, it looked like this on the inside:

Can't see it well?  Neither could I.  But I was stunned none-the-less.  It was a present .. a BIG box o yarnie goodness sent to me as a thank you for work I'd done as list mom and in-house mediator at SwapFeedBack   Now the charming person who sent this had said she wanted to send me a little something.   See how well she packaged it? all safe in ziplock bags inside it's cardboard box... I was expecting maybe sock yarn for a pair of socks...  and she did indeed send yarn for a pair of socks...But she sent all this too!:

In front, you see that 100g  ball o' sock yarn ( Lana Gross Meilenwiet Cotton Multiringel for those who care);  just behind it is a 1.5 oz skein of Hunt Valley Cashmere.  Already, I'm feeling pretty loved. 

But there's more!  2 gorgeous skeins of Geisha (an incredibly soft bit of microfiber fluffiness).  I wasn't a scarf person Monday, but now... I so want that against my skin ... I may convert!  But there's still MORE!!

Three are 8 (eight, that's EIGHT!!) skeins of Pingouin Fleure de Laine 100% wool!  Plenty to make a sweater!!

Do I feel loved??? uh, YES!!!

And in case that email didn't convey it well enough: THANK YOU Cheryl!  You're amazing!

And it managed to get just a tad better before I slept too. 

How could a day get better than free tickets to an awesome piano concert AND free yarn you ask?

The frogs in our pond started peeping, so I had a new lullaby to go to sleep by.