Concerts

I haven't been working all the time in recent weeks!

The past three Wednesdays, I have been to concerts of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. This orchestra puts on a series of concerts at the Hatch Shell, Boston's outdoor orchestra venue, each summer. I had never been to one, but have been vaguely meaning to go for a while. I found three that interested me and invited some friends, finding a bit of interest for each of them.

The first week was opera scenes, a collaboration with Boston Lyric Opera. I especially enjoyed one of the women's arias (though I can't remember which one!).

The second week was Beethoven and Dvorak (and Brahms as an encore, which the announcer gave away at the start of the show). I was interested to note, but perhaps not surprised, that my knowledge of classical music is not that extensive despite my many years playing: I didn't recognise either of the Beethoven pieces (a piano concerto and an overture) or the Dvorak (symphony), despite at least two of them being towards the better-known end of their composers' outputs. I guess there's just so much music out there, and so many other things I do with my time! Sometimes I think I should listen to music more, but the resolution never lasts more than a few days, because it's not always convenient and I often just forget to do so. Plus, I think silence is better for working.

Last week it was a collaboration with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company for Kiss Me Kate. I sang a song from this show (very badly) as my first audition for MITGSP. The website advertised a "semi-staged" production: I thought it more staged than semi. The whole standard of the production was very high: it was more of a professional production transplanted to an unusual setting with the necessary compromises than the cobbled-together production one could fear for a non-mainstage production. The performers were absolutely top-notch. Most of them were on book a substantial fraction of the time, but it didn't hurt the performances.

I must say, I was a bit disappointed with the show as written. Taming of the Shrew is a bit unsatisfactory at its best: there just doesn't seem to be a way to swing the resolution that doesn't feel awful to a modern audience. I think Kiss Me Kate only accentuates this difficulty. The modern day setting makes it worse to start, and there really isn't any depth to the relationship of the main couple in act II beyond what happens in the play. I don't think it works at all, and I would be much happier if act II went in a totally different direction (act I could stay identical): as long as Brush Up Your Shakespeare stayed in!