Monday, July 17, 2006

Music Hath Charms

June was travel month. July is music month. At the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, we saw Monsieur Chopin, a one man production by Hershey Felder who plays Chopin, in more ways than one. Felder is talented and charming and the evening brought us not only drama, but many of Chopin's greatest hits. Wow! Afterward, wine and dessert at Harvest, always a treat. The bar was populated with women, not there for a pickup but having a drink and a snack together.

One of the Boston areas best kept secrets is the Buzzards Bay Musicfest at the Fireman Center for the Performing Arts in Marion. Delightful free concerts with both orchestral and chamber music. We attended the chamber music concert featuring Mozart, Poulenc, Doppler and Borodin. For some reason, I had Poulenc down as an early music composer. Au Contraire, he is very modern, but good modern, and the sextet for winds and piano was a riveting piece. Put this even on your calendar for next July.

Saturday morning we were lucky enough to hear the Tanglewood rehearsal for Sunday's performance, Sir Andrew Davis conduction Kodaly's Dances of Galanta, List's Piano Concerto No 2 in A, and Dvorak's 6th symphony. Jean-Yves Thibaudet played Liszt wonderfully, and gave the Steinway a good workout. Lizst must require such strong hands and wrists. The Dvorak symphony was wonderful, with the famous Scherzo and a great finale. Ole!

Wait! We heard more. Saturday night we schlepped chairs, booze, cookies and fruit salad up to Ancramdale in the Berkshire hills to the Grey Fox Bluegrass festival. The hills were alive with fiddles, guitars and voices, and the people watching wasn't bad either. I especially liked the dance tent with the Zydeco dancers. Git up and stomp music, for sure. Lots of families there, and a whole hillside of RVs. Quite an encampment. Looked like fun.

My current book starts at Music Mountain and moves to a folk festival, and I was pleased to confirm that everything in the book seemed authentic.

I should hear from an agent tomorrow! Still waiting and waiting and (ho hum) waiting for another one. Seasons pass, and still no word. In the meantime, I have the plot pretty much in place for the rest of Festival Madness. My Adirondack literature came today, and so one more research trip is in order along with another visit to the Chicken Bone Saloon in Framingham.

Did you ever play an instrument? Grapeshot played the piano and an ungodly squeaky clarinet. She thinks she still remembers the fingering for the Washington Post March.

Tres Vite,

Grapeshot

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