In the meantime

So it's been a bit quiet here lately. As often happens, posting frequency tends to trail off as the school semester gets more intense. But, this will be the last semester! Woo hoo!

Yesterday I went to Amoeba Music on Sunset for the first time - amazing that I haven't been there before, having lived in LA all this time. The place had previously seemed almost too cool for me: everyone goes there for rock and alternative CDs, no one talks about it much for classical music. But who knew they had a very large, very well stocked, very reasonably priced classical music section? Lots of used CDs that aren't no-name recordings of Beethoven's 5th. I had a field day, and walked out the door with 7 quality CDs for $45. I got:
- Berlioz: Les Nuits d'ete (Susan Graham, soprano)
- Schubert: 'Trout' Quintet
- Brahms: Liebesleder Waltzes
- Puccini: La Boheme (full recording, 2 CDs)
- Adam: Giselle (Royal Opera House Orchestra, 2 CDs)
I was thrilled, because I've been able to find good, cheap recordings at a land-based store. Usually I have to go to Amazon and end up paying more.

What other things have I been up to since my last post?

RENEE FLEMING IN RECITAL at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in mid January. Nice little recital with one piano, though we were sitting way, way far away (we're talking second to last row of the farthest balcony here). She had the same gorgeous voice and charm that she had over the summer, but it wasn't quite as fun without the orchestra. And the whole experience was somewhat tinted by our company up there in the balcony: the woman sitting in front of us I swear had not showered for days - her hair smelled awful and greasy. So that's what I remember more when I look back on this concert, the greasy hair. Too bad, since it was very nice recital.

AIDA, the new national tour of the Elton John/Tim Rice musical, produced by Theatre League. This was the first tour to use the new, lower tier national tour contract for Actor's Equity. The actors are paid less so that the tour has lower overall costs, theoretically allowing for more economical tours. This "Aida," though, was not so good. The actors were decent, but the direction wasn't very good and the ensemble was pretty awful. That and the material itself isn't the greatest.

THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA, the new play by Edward Albee at the Mark Taper Forum, which opened at the end of January. This was a very thought provoking play, strongly acted and performed. I won't give away too much about the plot, but it's a really excellent piece.

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATRE played a week in Orange County in early February. The company is dancing excellently, but the new works being created for it are anything but exciting. "Shining Star," choreographed by David Parsons, is a disco ballet set to the music of Earth, Wind and Fire. But its a more of a shining piece of junk, for even though the dancers are great there's no real choreographic value to the whole thing. Just a flashy mess. Then again, "Shing Star" was viewed right next to "Revelations" - a real masterpiece. I first saw "revelations" early on in my dance watching; I didn't really get the historical relevance at the time, but now that I do, the piece really comes off brilliantly.

SIR PETER HALL'S production of AS YOU LIKE IT opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles on February 4. It's a very long, very detailed production of Shakespeare's "As You Like It." At times, it seems as though the actors simply gathered in the room and started reading from the play - they're all just standing around talking. And even though they draw many interesting interpretations out of the text - especially in Rebecca Hall's portrayal of Rosalind - the whole thing is just one long, dreary affair. As my seatmate said to me: you can really appreciate this production, but maybe not enjoy it so much.

I've got tickets to two LA Opera productions in the next few days, and also a local production of "Ragtime" coming up. But also 3 papers due during the coming week. So we'll see how much posting I get in...