Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Mardi Gras
Last night at the Met I saw Lucia di Lammermoor, my favorite so far this season. I enjoyed the staging, singing, and performances. There were two stand outs: Natalie Dessay as Lucia and Joseph Calleja as Edgardo. Dottie and Kathy remarked on how much they enjoyed the acting. How expressively Ms. Dessay rendered her veil and then cradled it as though it was her child. There were three remarkable pieces of music: the sextet in Act II "Chi mi frena in tal momento", Lucia's mad scene "Ardon gl'incensi", and Edgardo"s "Tu che a Dio".
On the negative: why start at 8:30 and then run on until after midnight. Some people left after the mad scene and missed Edgardo's "Tu che a Dio".
From what I'm reading:
"The good life is the life of inner serenity" Epictetus
Monday, March 7, 2011
Why the blog: acewalking-thecity?
Why Blog?
It started when Kathy asked me to write 'reviews' about the shows I was going to. I have season tickets to the opera, membership with The Irish Rep, The Classic Stage Company, The Public Theater, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I also see a couple of shows on Broadway, live music at various clubs, movies and try to keep informed with the Daily New York Times, The New Yorker and The Economist. So the blog became a record from a native New Yorker, newly retired, of what he's doing and seeing and thinking. New York is my retirement hobby.
Why Ace?
When I was a teenager sitting on my stoop listening to doo wop on the radio with some friends, Billy started to snap his fingers and Ralph began to whistle. I whistled and snapped. I wouldn't say my skills were electrifying but that's how I got the nickname "Ace".
Why the city?
Because it's beautiful, always moving and engaging.
Why walking?
Henry David Thoreau said he couldn't preserve his health and spirits unless he spent 4 hours a day "sauntering". Rousseau passed most of his last 15 years in walking. When asked by a visitor to be shown into Wordsworth's study his servant replied: " Here is his library, but his study is out of doors."
It started when Kathy asked me to write 'reviews' about the shows I was going to. I have season tickets to the opera, membership with The Irish Rep, The Classic Stage Company, The Public Theater, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I also see a couple of shows on Broadway, live music at various clubs, movies and try to keep informed with the Daily New York Times, The New Yorker and The Economist. So the blog became a record from a native New Yorker, newly retired, of what he's doing and seeing and thinking. New York is my retirement hobby.
Why Ace?
When I was a teenager sitting on my stoop listening to doo wop on the radio with some friends, Billy started to snap his fingers and Ralph began to whistle. I whistled and snapped. I wouldn't say my skills were electrifying but that's how I got the nickname "Ace".
Why the city?
Because it's beautiful, always moving and engaging.
Why walking?
Henry David Thoreau said he couldn't preserve his health and spirits unless he spent 4 hours a day "sauntering". Rousseau passed most of his last 15 years in walking. When asked by a visitor to be shown into Wordsworth's study his servant replied: " Here is his library, but his study is out of doors."
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