St. John the Divine

On a neighborhood walk the other day, I stumbled in to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, by some measures the largest cathedral in the world, and perpetually unfinished. I have walked by in many times, but I haven't been inside in many years.  The interior space is truly impressive.  And entering into a gothic style cathedral from the streets of NY's upper west side is a totally incongruous experience.

Paris or New York?

The interior

The light through a stain glass window on a perpendicular wall:

Another church in the neighborhood.  Where am I?

A favorite entranceway in our neighborhood:

A Long Walk

Vera and I decided to take a long walk today, considering that, with the imminent arrival of Hurricane Sandy, we might not be going anywhere for a few days, with heavy rains predicted and the possible shutdown of the subway system.   (Vera wants to get some sandbags for our apartment!)
We started out just north of the World Trade Center, and walked through all the chic districts:  TrBeCa, the Meatpacking District, The West Village, and the southern part of Chelsea, with a stop at a Belgian Brasserie for lunch, sitting outside in the still warm weather.   New York is endlessly fascinating in its variety of architecture and people.  All of these reclaimed industrial areas have a broad mix of all kinds of buildings, from clusters very small 2 or 3 story 19th century houses to mammoth industrial warehouses, with bits of modern architecture mixed in, both high end and plain.  Chic restaurants and high end boutiques next to shipping warehouses still functioning.  The people are equally mixed.
We also walked a bit along the seawall (they don't call it that here), the Hudson River Park.

Pictures:

The seawall with the new WTC in the background (and some serious black clouds):

(Update after Hurricane Sandy: this area was all under water during the storm..)

Some old houses:

And here is a self portrait in front of a store selling very chic black pumpkins:

World Series: Mahler 8, Ives 4

Last night we went to hear the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, in a program of Ives' 4th Symphony and Mahler's 8th.   Either one of the pieces is an incredibly complex undertaking for both orchestra and listeners that would normally be the centerpiece of any evening.   Sadly to say, Botstein and his orchestra would never be mistaken for the NY Philharmonic, and there were numerous flubs throughout the evening, including 2 false starts for the second movement of the Mahler.  That said, it was a treat to hear Ives 4th, which is rarely performed, and one of the landmark pieces of the 20th century.  I last heard it performed by the NY Phil. with Boulez conducting in the 1970's.   All of Ives' crazy juxtapositions and startling dissonances were there, and it is inspiring to hear his way of hearing music, which is very different.  We don't get expressionist climaxes of angst;  things clash and then they stop.   The Mahler had so many people on stage that parts of the chorus were on the second tier balcony, about 3 seats over from us.   What the orchestra and chorus lacked in cohesion they made up for in sheer quantity of sound.  It was a pleasure to hear Vancouver's Tyler Duncan as one of the singers, though they were not clearly audible as Botstein placed them in the back of the stage among the chorus.
It was the 50th anniversary of the orchestra's first concert, so all tickets were priced at their original price, as in 5 or 7 dollars.