Tsarskoye Selo

Today we went to a town on the suburbs, Tsarskoye Selo, to visit the summer palace and gardens of Catherine the Great.   Described by Ada as "Versailles on crack", it is yet another monument to the excesses of the Romanovs.   This is the palace with the famous Amber Room, recently reconstructed.  In fact the whole palace was virtually destroyed by the Nazis in WW2, and has been gradually reconstructed over the years, with work still in progress.  I find it amazing that the Soviets would dedicate so much time and money to the recreation of the excesses of the Tsars.  Lots of gold trim and ornate decoration everywhere, and a beautifully laid out palace grounds, with follies of all kinds, as in a Turkish bath.

The church attached to the palace:

But half the fun was getting there, via the Metro and minibuses through the suburbs.   We saw the House of Soviets on the Moscow Prospekt, a grand Stalinist avenue, which eventually becomes a wide avenue of mega-malls, Russian style.

Also interesting to see the smaller villages, in varying states of upkeep, including these Potemkin windows:

The window frames are fake...

The metro is quite an experience as well; the escalator ride down lasts several minutes, and marble is everywhere.



We had an excellent dinner at a Georgian restaurant,  with things like eggplant stuffed with walnuts.   A bit in the older Soviet style, as in they didn't have any beer left.

Happy Birthday, St. Petersburg!

Yesterday was St. Petersburg's 309th birthday, and there were all kind of celebrations.   (The city has a real birthday because there was actual moment when Peter the Great stood on a swampy, uninhabited island on the banks of the Neva River, and said, there will be a city here, and there was.)   The main street, Nevsky Prospect, was closed to traffic, and crowds ambled up and down the avenue.

Vera and Ada celebrating with their Russian flag.

There was also some kind of re-enactment of the Battle On the Ice between the Swedes and the Russians, complete with bits of Prokofiev's music from the film "Alexander Nevsky"   Even simulated cannon shots.

The building in the background above is across from the Winter Palace.  An interesting view inside the passage in the same building,  leading to the square.

We also saw the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, built to mark the spot of the assassination of Tsar Alexander in the 1880's.   Flamboyant Russian orthodox...  From the outside:

The interior is covered with mosaics and every kind of rare minerals and rocks.  The spot where the Tsar was killed:

More interiors:

One of the pleasures of St. Petersburg is just simply walking around, where every street corner reveals another astonishing vista.  In general, things are very well restored and maintained.  Women dress elegantly enough to outdo Vera, and the streets are full of life and energy.  I get a general impression of prosperity; whether that is really true I don't know.

Here is the view out the window from a Russian version of Starbucks (there are no real Starbucks here), to the Singer (as in sewing machine) Building on Nevsky Prospect.  The stuff in front has something to do with the birthday party.

In the evening, we went to the opera at the Mariinsky Theatre to hear "Boris Godunov", which was premiered in this very same theatre in 1874.   A beautiful old fashioned opera house, with great acoustics.    The production was a new one in the European style, updated to modern times.  The inn near the Lithuanian border was a strip club with neon signs and pole dancers, and Tsar Boris is escorted by security men with cell phones, etc.

Ada was pleased to see that the Tsarevitch slept in a bunk bed very much like her old Ikea one.  While the production does work in some spots, as when the people are pleading for help from their oppressive leader, the presence of monks doesn't really make a lot of sense and a lot is jarring with the real plot of the opera.   But, in any case, a stirring performance of the opera, well sung and played, with a genuine air of authenticity.

Oh, and the pre-opera dinner, Beef Stroganoff.    When in Russia...

And when the opera was over, at 11:00 PM, a beautiful walk home along the canals in bright daylight.   I haven't seen darkness since we got here.   There were fireworks on the way home (birthday), but they don't work quite as well in the daylight.   All this daylight, though, makes me want to see St. Petersburg in the winter, when it is dark and snow-covered.   

The Hermitage

Today we went to the Hermitage, which is both an art museum and a palace.  The palace is certainly a monument to the wealth and extravagance of the Tsars; endless rooms, decorated with every possible inch covered in carvings, gilt, tapestries, paintings, marble, wood, and whatever else they could find.  It is interesting to imagine how people actually lived there, and the little signs tell you that this is where the leaders of the provisional government met just before they were all arrested.

The art museum is equal to, if not better than the Louvre and the Met.  Catherine the Great and her heirs seem to have bought up every single available art collection in Europe.  Or if they could't buy it, they would copy it, as in the copy of the Raphael Loggia in the Vatican.    They had Italian painters copy everything in the original gallery, and recreated the entire thing in the palace.  Here it is:

I loved the room full of Rembrandts.

My favorite part was the third floor, with the rooms of Matisse, Gaugin, Cezanne, Picasso. etc.  (All confiscated by the state from private individuals after the revolution.)   For some reason, virtually no one was in these galleries when I was there.   For example, the famous Matisse "Dance", all to myself.

And here is a question;  opposite the Dance painting is the painting "Music".  Why are all the people in "Music" not touching each other and looking rather grim?

We also took a boat ride through the canals to rest our feet, and then visited St. Isaac's Cathedral.    Splendor in marble, malachite, lazulite and gold.

Dinner at a restaurant featuring food from Uzbekistan and Japan.   We went Uzbeki:   dumplings, fermented cheese, etc.  Not that good, really.

To the Finland Station!

We arrived in St. Petersburg today via a fast, deluxe train from Helsinki. St. Petersburg is truly amazing!   Though I was here 45 years ago (!), it is still a revelation.  The sheer grandeur of the layout of the city and the extraordinary quality of the architecture are without peer in any city I have ever seen.   The cityscape basically has the same buildings that it had 100 years ago.   In the meantime, of course, a lot has happened in Russia, but the city seems to be both locked into the past and thriving in the present.   The streets are full of people, looking cosmopolitan and energetic, in the way that Paris does.
We walked around the city after checking into our hotel, and because Vera was hungry, we stopped at a fast food blini restaurant, and Vera had a blini filled with salmon caviar at a place that looked like MacDonalds.  Chicken Kiev and borscht for dinner and a stroll around the streets in broad daylight at almost 11 PM after a late dinner.
Vera is reviving both the Russian language and patriotic Russian songs of her youth, and Ada somehow has learned to read Cyrillic, and amuses herself by reading signs.  Both are equally excited by the city, and ready for more tomorrow.

Helsinki 2

Today's highlight was the Rock Church, which is basically carved out of a large boulder in the middle of Helsinki.   The bottom half of the walls are from the boulder, and it is covered by a beautiful copper roof.   The only defect was the Christmas music playing in the background...

Pictures:

We took a long tram ride through various parts of the city, and had lunch in the market by the water.   Vera found her happiness in some sort of fish thing, washed down by a glass of vodka.

I found happiness in the train station, designed by Eliei Saarinen, and finished in 1919.
The waiting room:

Two guys out front....

I also went to the Finnish National Art Gallery, to see what Finnish painting is all about. Interesting, in that I know nothing at all about it, with no preconceptions.   Most paintings date from the early 20th Century onwards, and, no surprise, feature Finnish landscapes.  Some interesting Symbolist paintings, including this one, which is apparently Finland's favorite painting.  The Wounded Angel:

An excellent dinner at a Nepalese restaurant; there are a lot of these in Helsinki.  No reindeer curry, luckily.  

It's off to Russia tomorrow, by train.

Helsinki

We are in Helsinki, the beginning of our 5 city trip.   The same five cities, in fact, that I visited on a family vacation when I was 16 years old.  (I still have the itinerary from that trip, which my father saved.)
(I forgot to mention that the business lounge in the Dusseldorf airport had 3 different kinds of eau de vie available (for free).  Europe sure is different.)

Helsinki is our first step into Nordic culture.  The physical layout of the city is beautiful, surrounded by water and islands on all sides.   The city was laid out by a German planner, hired by the Russians after they conquered it, defeating the Swedes in 1809.  The most prominent architectural style is Art Nouveau, dating from the early part of the 20th Century.   An example is the apartment building we are staying in:

Decorations of all kinds:

Also, a Russian Orthodox church interior:

Then there is Finnish food.  Ever been to a Finnish restaurant in your neighborhood?
I had reindeer meatballs for lunch.   And special Finnish cookies:

And something to bring home to your friends...

One more picture, from the exterior of the White Church, the largest Lutheran church in town.  

Ada has survived a day with her parents, and Vera is determined to learn some Finnish, a language which is incomprehensible to us.   

Oh, and lots of people from Kaurismaki films walking the streets...

Dusseldorf

We are in the business lounge in the Dusseldorf airport at 6:00 AM Dusseldorf time.  My blogger page now gives me headings in German.  Vera is immediately happy because she is in Europe.  I have never seen someone so glad to see an airport at 6 AM.  She has disappeared into the shops, for the moment.   We are waiting for our plane for Helsinki, which leaves at 9 AM.

Our last few days in New York I tried to slow down a bit, so as to conserve some touristic energy for the next two weeks.  I did, however, spend a lot of time in the subways, taking photos and movies for my work-in-progress.   We did discover that, even with with more than 2 weeks in NY, it was still not enough time to feel totally at home yet, as in living a normal life.

Now the family tourism begins in earnest.    The paradigm for our method of tourism is exemplified by the time in Rome when we came to an intersection, and Vera wanted to turn right, Ada wanted to go straight, and I thought we should go left.   I don't remember what we ending up doing.   Stay tuned.

I am now going to press the Veröffentlichen button.   If the buttons turn Finnish in Helsinki, I may be in trouble..

Anything Goes!

Last night we saw the Cole Porter musical "Anything Goes"  in an elaborate Broadway production.  Wonderful music, of course, and razzle-dazzle choreography.   Since I rarely go to musicals, it is, needless to say, quite a contrast to our Wagnerian experience of the week before.  But in both cases, words matter.  Some of Porter's elaborate lyrics are lost in the singers amped and miked sound, all of which sounds a bit canned.   But overall, the performers were great, including the eighty year old Joel Grey, who can still tap with the rest of them.   And the crazy humor of the plot is a delight.

We got the tickets at half price from something called BroadwayBox.com, which saves you the standing in line for TKCTS in Times Square.


I also did something a little strange yesterday, and visited Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, which is a national historic site.  I have a memory of hearing that my grandfather was buried there, but there is no one left to confirm that, so I went to see if I could find his grave.   I didn't, but found my great-grandfather's grave.   The cemetery is huge; I expected it to be crowded like the Parisian ones, but it is actually full of open space.   Besides the beautiful old trees, though, it is not really very interesting.

And then there was the largest laundromat I have ever seen, with cool colors. (not in the cemetery)

Today Vera is at an all day symposium in honor of our musicologist friend Richard, and there will be a party tonight, as well.  (I go to parties, but not symposia.)

I saw an interesting exhibit at a gallery today of works by Andre Masson.  Three large rooms of paintings from 1925 to 1945, very colorful, in the Surrealist tradition, and eventually heading towards some kind of abstraction.   I was alone in the exhibition the entire time, and enjoyed the work immensely.  Next stop was the Whitney Biennial, which I hated.   The only parts I liked were the appropriated images from other artists.  It is all about concepts and ideas.  Even the one painter whose work I liked was accompanied by a blurb which admitted the need to conceptually justify the existence of painting, hence some little bit about the paintings being arranged so as to contextualize the architecture of the museum, or something like that.    End of rant.....

Tomorrow, our friends Krin and Paula are coming for dinner, and we have to get ready to fly to Helsinki on Sunday.

Chelsea Galleries and more art...

Yesterday it was time to visit the galleries.   While I usually look at photography, this time it was mostly art.  Amongst the idiotic, trendy, and annoying bits, there is always something interesting.   Highlights.

Anish Kapoor, who does very large things, created this big steel whatisit.  It had amazing acoustics underneath it.

One of the pleasures of gallery exhibits like this is the chance to enjoy the work in relative quiet.  There was no one else there.

I also like Brice Marden's paintings on chunks of marble that he does in Greece.   The combination of the texture of marble with the varied textures of the paint he uses is very interesting.   Photos don't do justice.   But...

Also saw a large retrospective of the works of Lucio Fontana, an Italian avant-gardist who worked mostly from 1947 - 1964.   This was at the Gagosian gallery, which puts on shows which would normally be found at MOMA.  Fontana's thing was "spatial constructions".   Lots of canvases with punctures and cuts of all kinds, and installations of small, completely black rooms with a few lights.   The Sixties awaits!

Vera ate lunch with a musicologist friend, and Ada has a nice friend from her time at Penn staying with us.

Met Museum, again

Another trip to the Metropolitan Museum on a very rainy day in NY yesterday.   I saw an amazing self-portrait by Rembrandt, which is its own special exhibit.

It became a day for looking at Old Master paintings...   I still find myself amazed at the sheer variety and fecundity of the human impulse to create art, as I wander through the museum, looking at Japanese screen paintings created at the same time as Rembrandt's paintings.   Saw some 6th Century Japanese bells,  about 3 feet high, all of which they buried, for reasons no one knows.  

We had dinner with my stepmother and her niece and husband at a very exclusive club in the basement of the Sherry-Netherlands Hotel.  A glimpse at a very different planet from the one we normally inhabit.  

A visit to Hopewell

Yesterday we drove down to Hopewell to visit my 91 year old stepmother in Hopewell. She is full of energy and opinions, and a delight to spend time with.   Ada and I went out on the farm to do a bit of hard labor removing invasive Russian Olive trees.

Don't mess with Ada:

Ada and her grandmother:

  We also went to see my former family home of 40 years, as it has been sold and completely renovated.  The new owners were eager to show us everything.  The house had not been fixed up for almost 50 years, so they had a huge job in renovating.   While it can be alarming to see something you've known for 40 years completely transformed, there was enough of the original remaining to make me happy.  Plus they had kept some of the idiosyncratic bits of furniture that we left them, which brought back memories.

the view out our window...

A view from our kitchen window.   Vera, who does not like trees, cannot be pleased.

Another view out our window today....   anything can happen in New York.    The immolation of a taxi. The fire trucks came eventually .

The Ring, Part 4

We saw the final opera of the cycle, Götterdämmerung, yesterday, starting at 11 AM and finishing at 5 PM. This is perhaps my favorite of the cycle, mostly because of all the more traditional operatic intrigue (magic potions and betrayal!) and the variety of scenes, including a chorus for the first time in the cycle. I have come to the conclusion that I very much like LePage's production. The consistent presence of the "machine" (as it is being called) takes on a certain weight and meaning as the cycle develops. The unity of the four operas is emphasized by the various permutations of the machine's positions, and the enormous size of the whole thing matches the grandeur of Wagner's music at crucial times. The basic concept is quite traditional, dragons are dragons, and there are no Valhalla Corporation business suits, etc. The more literal stage effects, such as the collapsing statues at the end, are less successful, and, I can imagine, future incarnations would get rid of them. Some of the abstract light video projections are amazing in person, and feel right in the context of Wagner's esthetic.

The singers and orchestra were mostly good, but nothing of the vocal kind that are truly memorable. The orchestra, under yet another conductor on the last day of their season, was impressive as always, but a bit sloppier that it should have been.

The first time time I heard the Ring, I was impressed, but thought I would probably never want to hear it again. Now I would be more inclined to do it again, but not right away!

When the Ring was over, we said goodbye to David and friends, and went to buy tickets for Cole Porter's "Anything Goes", which we will take Ada to on Thursday night. (A Wagnerian antidote?) Then Vera and I sat in a NY version of a beer garden in Bryant Park, next to the NY Public Library, having a beer on a warm summer night. Then off to Soho for a dinner at a noisy but good French bistro. Then we met up with Ada and her friend, and her friend's parents, whom we know, for coffee. Then subway home after a long day.

I saw an interesting exhibit at the Japan Society of Art Deco art from Japan from 1920 to 1940. Very interesting, as you see Japanese artists adapting Western ideas, and in some cases, transforming them into something new and better. I had hoped for more photographs in the exhibit; it was mostly decorative art, and some wonderful posters and sheet music covers.

The Ring, part 3

Wednesday's performance was Siegfried, the "comic" opera of the cycle.   Comic, yes, because it does have some lighter moments, but mostly it is more of the same.  While I am still totally engrossed by what is going on, I do begin to wonder why it takes Wagner so long to do everything.  He will have a character recount in detail to another character everything that happened in a previous scene, which we of course have just heard.  I think they tell you not to do that in Playwriting 101.   But this is Wagner, so we tolerate his excesses, because of the sublime moments that are like nothing else in music.  The scene where Siegfried wakes up the sleeping Brunnhilde is one of those.

The woman sitting in front of us saw her first Ring in Vienna at age 7....and has seen many more since then.

The conductor last night was Derrick Inouye, from Vancouver, whom I know because he conducted the premiere of "The Fairie Queen" ballet in Vancouver 15 years ago.   The performance was mostly excellent, I think, with the occasional shaky moments.  

A picture..

I went to the Metropolitan Musuem today, and saw several exhibits, one of the Stein family collections.   Interesting from a historical point of view, but I find in general that exhibits organized around a collector are less stimulating than those focusing on a theme or artist.  The other was an exhibit of Chinese print making from the 8th Century to the 21st.   Yes, the 8th century; Buddhist scrolls found in a cave along the Silk Road.  It was very interesting to follow the evolution, right through Maoist woodcuts to contemporary takes on Chinese art.    Also got sidetracked by art from ancient Mesopotamia.

Ada arrives tonight!   She goes to Philadelphia tomorrow...

The Ring, part 2

Last night was Die Walküre.   Now it is hard core, starting at 6:30 and ending close to midnight.  Still totally mesmerizing.  Wagner has this music drama thing really working; I find myself continually involved in how the music and story work together, and the infinitely subtle ways the music evolves with the characters.  There are some slow bits in this opera that drag a bit, especially when someone is telling someone else something that we have already seen.   All the controversy about the production is really peripheral to what is actually happening onstage; for 90% of the time, the big machine functions simply as a backdrop to what is happening with the singers and the orchestra.  Vera's favorite, Jonas Kaufmann, was sick.  His replacement was excellent musically, though I gather he doesn't quite match up to Kaufmann in the hotness department.      The orchestra is truly amazing; from our perspective, we hear every note clearly.  The contrast between the huge orchestral climaxes and the stretches where there is only a single instrument playing are very dramatic, and of course, the Ride of the Walküre was a blast!


On Sunday night we went to a musical "soiree" at the apartment of a retired Frenchman.   He cooks a delicious French meal, and guests bring a bottle of wine and some money to pay the musicians.  There is food, and then some musical performances.   In principle, a great idea; in practice, this particular occasion was marred by some very substandard musicians.  But still, an interesting peak into a little corner of New York activities.

The Ring, part 1

We saw Das Rheingold last night.   It was extraordinary!   It is beyond my capabilities to describe the experience;  I am not a Wagnerian expert by any means.  The fusion of music and drama is intense; the two and half hours flew by.   Our seats are very much on the side in the back of a box, almost directly above the orchestra, so we don't see everything on the stage, but we hear the orchestra and singers with incredible clarity and presence.  And as Wagner said, "we can hear what we don't see."  The LePage production for the most part is stunning, with a few silly and awkward moments.   The much discussed stage machine is spectacular in person, and creates amazing scene transitions.   The singers are sometimes singing while perched on a stage at a steep angle; they are tied to some kind of ropes that hold them in place.

Vera, who has seen all the productions in the HD broadcasts, says it is "10 times better live than on the screen".   We can't wait for more....

We had drinks and a snack (fried artichokes for me!) outside across from Lincoln Center with David and some friends, and stayed there until 1 AM.

pictures...  (Not taken by me....)

Chinese Painting

Today I saw an exhibit of a modern Chinese painter at the Asia Society.  His name is Wu Guanzhong. He died recently.   In his later years, he wanted to make abstract paintings, but working within the traditions of Chinese art, using rice paper, ink, etc.   At times the paintings look like Jackson Pollock, with splattered ink, with some of the curvy lines of Brice Marden.  They are never totally abstract, though.  Here are some samples:

Also saw an exhibit at the Neue Galerie of early photographs by Heinrich Kuehn, from the early twentieth century.   These were interesting primarily for the early printing techniques, gum bichromate prints and early attempts at doing color photography.  The textures and colors of the prints are beautiful, and almost impossible to reproduce, on the web or otherwise.

New York City Ballet

We arrived in NY at midnight, dropped off in Cooper Square after sharing a ride with our friend David.   It was full of life, so much so that we had trouble finding a taxi to our apartment.   But we did, and arrived, happy to be at home in NY.

Last night we went to the New York City Ballet.  The first piece Serenade, by Balanchine, was extraordinarily beautiful.  Choreographed in 1935 for 26 dancers, to music by Tchaikovsky, it was a pleasure to watch how Balanchine moves his dancers in relation to the music.  Abstract, mostly, but at times enigmatically programmatic, it was very moving.  The second piece was Balanchine's version of the Firebird, the music for which I know very well!   The choreography and story ballet are not really very interesting for me; the piece is more about color and spectacle, with Stravinsky's extravagant score and costumes and sets designed by Chagall that are even more colorful than Stravinky's music.
The last piece, entitled "Dance a Grande Vitesse"  ("DGV") was choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, with non stop music by Michael Nyman.  It was a mesmerizing spectacle of movement and music, with the full company constantly coming and going in complex patterns.  Vera proclaimed it a masterpiece, and I was happily intrigued.   A great start to our week of culture...

First post

I have been inspired by my friend Santa, whose travel blogs I have enjoyed reading, so I thought I would try to create a blog for our upcoming trip.   So here it is.
The above picture has nothing to do with our trip; it's just Maggie and her sister Peggie playing together and learning to share (?).    We will miss Maggie.