Saturday, July 21, 2012

Great Barrington and Tanglewood

Neighboring Picnicers at Tanglewood
It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.  We spent it in Great Barrington, which has a different feel than the other surrounding towns.  There are far more young people, more of a hip, funky atmosphere.  We ate lunch, roamed the streets window shopping and gallery browsing.  Tonight we returned to Tanglewood for an all Wagner program.  It was thoroughly transcending.  More pictures at flickr.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Norman Rockwell and William Shakespeare

Rockwell Museum
Norman Rockwell moved to Stockbridge, MA in 1953 so that his wife could be treated at the Austen Riggs psychiatric hospital.  (side note. James Taylor was also treated there and refers to his time at Austin Riggs in the song, Fire and Rain).  Stockbridge remained Rockwell's home until his death.  He helped established a custodianship which became the Norman Rockwell Museum.  The museum is the authority on Rockwell and holds over 700 pieces of his.  We went primarily to see the current show, Howard Pyle.  Pyle was an illustrator and children's book author during the fin de siecle.  Rockwell studied and admired his works as a student.  Pyle hardly had his own style.  He would mimic styles he felt best illustrated the texts he was illustrating.  To my delight, the show included Hokusai's The Great Wave of Kanagawa.  Previously, I've seen this print only in reproduction.  There is always something new to discover in the Berkshires.
Tonight we saw The Tempest at Shakespeare and Co.  It's our only play this trip.  The production was not great.  Olympia Dukakis played Prospero and she was extremely weak.  Her voice is not suited to Shakespearean dialogue.  Physically, she didn't control the character, either.  To our delight Merritt Janson played Miranda.  We saw her last year as Rosalind in As You Like It.  It was the best portrayal of Rosalind we've ever seen.  She was equally good as Miranda.  Other principals were also noteworthy.  Kristin Wold as Ariel was charming and captivating.  More photos at flickr.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Hancock Shaker Village

Hancock Shaker Village
The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing....USBCSA....nope, no hope of an acronym there!  The Shakers are a religious sect who live communally and are amazing at invention, music, egalitarianism. The only remaining members live in a Maine commune. Since we had seen Borrowed Light at Jacob's Pillow on Sunday, we wanted to visit the Shaker Village in Hancock, MA.  It is a beautiful setting in which most of the buildings still stand in pristine condition.  The Shakers have not lived in the village since the 1960's.  We heard nice talks in the round barn and the dormitory about the structures and life in general.  The dormitory dining room had 2 interior windows, borrowed light.  
This evening we attended a Brahms Piano concert at Ozawa Hall performed by Gerhard Oppits who, over 4 evenings, is playing the complete works for piano without one piece of sheet music.  Very impressive.  We sat on the lawn this evening among the crowd that spilled out of the hall like fruit from a cornucopia.  It was beautiful to watch the interior of the hall warm as the sky cooled to evening then night.  We re-visited our discussion about LeWitt's art.  I asked why Wayne could consider the Brahms' piece art and not the LeWitt wall paintings.  More photos at flickr.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Mass MoCA

Sol LeWitt Wall Painting
Mass MoCA in No. Adams, MA is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual and performing arts in the US. It is located in a converted factory building, which offers huge display spaces. We went primarily to see the "Oh, Canada" and "Invisible Cities" shows. Fortunately, a tour of all the galleries was beginning as we arrived. It was nice to get an over view and introductions to pieces in each gallery.  We had not been to the museum since its initial opening and were pleased and surprised at the improved holdings and curatorship. The most interesting was the Sol Lewitt retrospective. Please visit this site to understand the magnitude and importance of this show. 65 artists and students spent 6 months installing the work which will be on display for 25 years. Lewitt had gifted his work to Yale University when he was dying from cancer. Yale, realizing their limited space, sought out Mass MoCA and LeWitt agreed. He visited and collaborated on the placement and configuration of the spaces prior to his death.
Sol LeWitt Wall Paintings
Of the two other shows, I liked The Mountain by Graeme Patterson in the Oh, Canada show.  My best description is art within art within art.  Patterson describes it as the first of four installations that focus on his personal experience with male bonding.  Coming in a close second was the entire Invisible Cities show, particularly Melting Pot by Miha Strukelj.  The concept is inspired by Italo Calvino's novel of the same name in which imaginary conversations take place between Marco Polo and Kubla Khan.  Polo describes his voyages and the cities to Khan.
Invisible Cities

I was so happy to have finally seen some contemporary art that can be visually exciting, provoking, evoking and accessible without extensive reading and probing to understand the artists' intents.  More photos at flickr.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Clark

The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute is in Williamstown, which is also home to Williams College.  This makes for a great day visit.  The very small town center hosts a wonderful gallery, The Harrison and an adequate little lunch spot, Thai Garden.  The Harrison's main show was John MacDonald's paintings and Paul Caponigro's photographs. MacDonald's work, pictured above, was of landscapes in and around Williamstown.  The quality of the paints is almost encaustic in appearance.  I couldn't decide if that was a mixing choice or a medium effect until reading the artist's statement.  He's a plein air painter interested in light and texture.  

The Clark is a very interesting place.  It  houses the private collection of the Clarks, (he, grandson of Singer Sewing Machine founder) and has a mission dedicated to research, and extending and advancing the public understanding of art.  This trip was a bit disappointing because the original building is under renovation and the current show is recent archaeological discoveries of northern China.  I admit this lack of interest is due to my complete ignorance of Chinese art, religion, culture, etc, etc.  I did enjoy a couple of the sculptures. Zhenmushou (Tomb Guardian Beasts) from the Tang dynasty.  The expressions and the melding of beasts/humans was captivating.  And the Warrior Guardian from the Qi dynasty because of his posturing amused me greatly.   ZhenmushouWarrior Guardian


John and Kathy returned for a sleep over on their way back to PA following their trip to P'town.  We ate at Chez Nous.  It was enjoyed by all.  More photos at flickr.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Ozawa Hall

We spent most of the day reading and napping.  Sometime in the early afternoon we went to Lee for lunch and then to the new Big Y for water, milk and bananas.  Not very blog worthy.  But tonight we attended a concert at Ozawa Hall.  The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra played Brahms' Tragic Overture, Schubert's Symphony in B minor, and Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra.  Each piece used a different conductor.  They were all big symphonies with large sound which we thoroughly enjoyed.  It is fun to see the student musicians revel in the opportunity to play and be heard. The picture is taken from the top of the hill. Attendees have the choice of sitting outside or inside.  The angle disguises the orchestra seats but highlights the drama of the building and the stage.  More photos at flickr.


Sunday, July 15, 2012

Jacob's Pillow 80

We had an early performance time today, 2pm at Jacob's Pillow, to see Tero Saarinen's Borrowed Light. Saarinen is Finnish who began his career with the Finnish Ballet. The piece is inspired by the Shakers and uses original Shaker music. However, the work is not about Shakerism but rather community and devotion. There are 8 dancers and 8 singers from the Boston Camerata. The dancers and singers share the stage; their costumes are black and the light is stark, cast at an extreme angel from stage left. The title comes from the Shaker practice of adding interior windows to a building in order to extend daylight hours. There were many aspects I liked. The dancers make exaggerated zombie like movements with a lot of stomping. All of us would have preferred more traditional dance. But I did appreciated Saarinen's ability to extract and project a visceral feeling of human struggle both emotionally and physically within a community or space. Here is a brief clip of Borrowed Light from the company's website. I don't believe it is the Camerata performing the music here, though.
Tonight we ate at Bistro Zinc. It was amusing that at our 8pm reservation the menu was practically empty of all selections. All these old folks around here eat early and wiped out the kitchen.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Tanglewood 75

It was a sun scorching day. We had worried that the predicted evening showers would affect our Tanglewood concert. But it was beautiful all day and night. First thing I realized at around 5am was that I left all the tickets at home. Thus, we began the day by stopping at the Tanglewood box office for replacement tickets. We next stopped in Lenox for a light lunch at Patisserie. They have the most mouth-watering, beautiful desserts. I highly recommend it. We ate on the patio and then went across the street to visit The Wit Gallery and discuss works and possible options with the clerk. We didn't have time for extensive visits to other venues, but we did take abbreviated tours. First, we stopped at Arrowhead, Herman Melville's home in Pittsfield. There was a very funny sculpture in the field of Moby pursued by Ahab.
We also stopped at Ventfort Hall, the filming sight for Cider House Rules.
It was now late enough that we headed to Tanglewood and took our place in the short line for the 5:30 opening of the grounds. Inside we found a beautiful spot under a huge maple tree to spread out and relax. The performance this evening was in celebration of Tanglewood's 75th anniversary. The pieces were all relatively short with various conductors attending. I'll list the highlights for my own memory, but to also recognize the performers. 1. Keith Lockhart conducted Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man and 3 dance episodes from On the Town by Bernstein. 2.James Taylor sang with John Williams conducting selections from the Great American Songbook. 3. Stefan Asbury conducting Haydn's Piano Concerto in D. 4. Andris Nelsons conducting Anne-Sophie Mutter playing Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy and Yo-Yo Ma playing Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile. 5. Andris Nelsons conducting Ravel's LaValse 6. David Zinman conducting Beethoven's Fantasia with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver conducting Our groups' favorites were Mutter's performance and the Beethoven. The Chorus gave me chills. Everything was topped off with a fabulous fireworks show.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Becket Bound

We are back in the very lovely Berkshires of Massachusetts. We come every year to enjoy Tanglewood, Shakespeare & Co., Jacob's Pillow, The Clark and more, more, more. Our friends John and Kathy met us. They actually arrive ahead of us because we got a late start and then hit very heavy slow traffic. We had stopped at Whole Foods along the way and picked up steaks and every cheese, cracker, hors d'oeuvres one could desire. After conversation over the hors d'oeuvres in which we solved most of the nations political and social ills, we ate, drank and laughed into the wee morning hours. Great to be back here where we are staying for the second year in Becket at the home we exchange with Kate and Greg. Hope they have as much fun in Wareham.