Saturday, February 4, 2012

On the Road Again, Philadelphia

We left Massachusetts today for a 2 month tour of the south and south west. Our first stop is Philadelphia. We came into the city over the Benjamin Franklin bridge from Camden, NJ. The city skyline made quiet an impression. And we had a musical welcome.

Our Doubletree Hotel is on South Broadway, or Avenue of the Arts. The nick name is apropo. Everywhere are venues for performances. We went to the Kimmel Center to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra perform Stokowski's arrangement of Bach's second Partita Chaconne, Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade all conducted by Nicola Louisottoi. The Shostakovich solo was played by Nadja Salerno-Sonnerberg. She was great fun to watch. First she wore red velvet pants an early indicator that she was ready for battle. And battle she did, attacking the music with vigor and expressive body movements. A truly great performance. The Kimmel center is so beautiful. It is a space saturated with mahogany and formed with a nod to the cello.
We have a great corner room and can see up 3 avenues. The Kimmel Center is just below our room.
See more photos at Flickr