NYPhil Rehearsal Brahms Symphony #2 and Bent Sorensen's World Premier Evening Land

Good news - bad news:  Good news, Emanual Ax was on the program to perform Mozart's Piano Concerto #20 (1785).  Bad news, his performance was scheduled after the intermission of the 1 1/2 hour rehearsal of Brahms & Sorensen's compositions.  Unfortunately,  I didn't stay to hear what I'm sure would have been one of the highlight performances for the year.  Nonetheless, Conductor Edo de Waart (b 1941 Netherlands) lead the orchestra in a majestical performance of Brahms Symphony #2 (1877).   Johannes Brahms composed 4 symphonies. All of them are unique in mood & timbre.  Symphony #2 has a joyful and pleasing quality played at mostly fast & steady tempo.  It has a pastoral, serene quality.  Conductor Waart stopped the orchestra only a few times, but with each break, Waart had the orchestra replay the same measures repeatedly.  It sounded as if he was bringing out the string section in the Allegretto con grazioso but then, I don't know so.  I did like hearing the premiere of Bent Sorensen's (b Denmark 1958) Evening Land (2015-17).  The piece was commissioned by the NYPhilharmonic.  Someone got my memo, and the order of the program for the rehearsals was announced.  However, today was a no brainer, no piano, no Ax to grind or tinkle the ivories.  Brahms orchestral piece was played first (easy call) followed by Evening Land.  What I found interesting in addition to being privy to a premiere was the juxtaposition of Brahms' piece & Sorensen's.  Evening Land sounded somewhat as if Brahms's 2nd Symphony was restructured for the 21st C with an edgier and more expansive musical phrasing.  Sorensen's instrumentation was similar to Brahms in his use of strings and horns but he added claves, paper blocks and filled the harmonic blends with timpani, bass & log drum.  The rising crescendos evoked a richer, more ominous & mysterious sense.  Yet, Sorensen's classical construct felt built upon Brahms.  Brahms 2 later symphonies shifted towards a more exhilirating & sombre ambience.

DAVID HOCKNEY at the MET Retrospective 1960s to the Present - A Delightful Gift on Exhibit

David Hockney (b UK 1937) is an artist whose talents & lifestyle are free of constraint.  The collection contains his iconic pool paintings, double portraits, photo-collages and lesser known sketches & watercolors and some of his most recent works.  The retrospective spans a career infused with a keen interest in conveying motion and the ideal of continuous movement in life.  Many of his abstract & illusionist paintings of the 1960s have never been exhibited.  His "Tea Painting" is constructed in pieces to resemble an actual tea box complete with directions but completely off kilter.  "The Hypnotist" has a man dressed in black directing a lighting bolt into the eyes of an abstract female form dressed in white.  There is a ghostlike image emanating from the man. The scene is poised on stage surrounded by a bright green curtain putting the viewer in the audience.  Many of Hockney's works draw the viewer in. "The Hypnotist" is bewitching & one of several in which he uses a curtain to frame the painting.  "Play within Play" shows a play on stage & a man pressed against a piece of acrylic with his nose & fingers distorted.  There is a lot of clever whimsy & sense of fun in his works. I was drawn to an abstract painting entitled "Shame" (1960).  After reading its title, I deciphered a phallic image & ejaculation.  The 2nd gallery contains landscape paintings of CO & AZ vibrantly painted which contain Native American motifs.  The vivid Aztec palette conveys strength & solitude.  Other paintings from the 1960s show domestic homosexual relationships.  Notice the several portraits of his parents.  Only his mother looks directly at the artist while the father's focus is elsewhere.  I liked the self-portrait sketch (1983) & his sketch of Warhol.  Hockney's fascination with movement is pronounced with images in and around water; the distortions of refraction creates a visceral rippling effect. This is also felt in his photo-collages.  The combined photos establish a kinetic energy.  The CA painting's palettes are cool shades of green, blue, grays lending a calming aesthetic.  Hockney travels through the US and abroad shift momentum towards vivid landscapes.  Hockney paints from his travels & his locales.  The Grand Canyon paintings are glowing & majestic.  The interior paintings from the 1980s show his influence of Picasso & cubism.  My favorite painting was "Mt Fuji and Flowers".  The painting has a 3D affect.  The Japanese vase & white flowers are placed on a window ledge looking out towards Mt Fuji. The more recent works show Hockey as an artist interested in incorporating new technologies.  The iPod works enable Hockney to create actual movements and changes.  Hockney is an artist always experimenting & representing his fascination with his ever changing surroundings.  "If you see the world as beautiful, thrilling and mysterious as I think I do, then you feel quite alive." (DH)  

Natan Sharansky in Conversation: Russia, Israel, and the World Beyond at Roosevelt House

Natan Sharansky (b Ukraine 1948) earned his degree in computer science from the Physical Technical Institute in Moscow.  After graduating he applied for a visa to emigrate to Israel which was denied for security reasons.  Sharansky became active in with the struggle to allow Soviet Jews freedom to exit Russia and simultaneously became a founding member of Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG).  The MHG was an organization joining dissidents representing various social issues.  Sharansky was charged in Russia in 1977 with collaborating with the CIA.   Despite US denials of any ties between Sharanksy & the CIA, he was convicted and sentence to 13 years in the gulag with hard labor & solitary confinements.  After serving nine years in prison Sharansky emigrated to Israel and reunited with his wife and children.  In Israel, Sharansky became an Israeli politician serving as Deputy Prime Minister.  He published his memoir of his life in prison and is now head of the Jewish Agency which facilitates Jews from all over the world to immigrate to Israel.  Sharansky has received both the US Pres. Medal of Freedom & Congressional Gold Medal.  The most notable comments made by Sharansky:
1.  The time he served in prison was the easiest part of life.  He never gave up his integrity.  Being out in the world, doing what is right and doing enough to fulfill one's obligations is what's most difficult.
2.  Israeli politics is challenging because too many politicians are unwilling to compromise.  Also, with the mass int'l immigration, language barriers are becoming an issue.
3. A peace accord would have been attained had Syrian President Assad not been so greedy.  Israel had been willing to release the Golan Heights.  In retrospect, it's fortunate for Israel not to have given up this territory.  It would have made Israel too vulnerable to a nuclear armed Iran.
4. Obama should have held firm on his threat of force against Assad should he use chemical weapons on his own Syrian people.
5. The Jewish Agency has facilitated 3.5 million Jews to move & integrate into Israel.
6. Putin is the 1st non-anti-Semitic Russian leader.  He's made it easy for the Jews in Russia to leave. (It could be argued he is anti-Semite by purging (albeit peacefully) Russia of its Jewish population.
7. There's hope in finding a peace accord with Mubarak, Gadaffi, Assad (all dictators) but Netanyahu is currently the biggest obstacle.  The major terrorist threats stem from Russia, Iran, Syria and Hezbollah.

Danish Film THE SQUARE Thinks Way Outside the Box Directed by Ruben Ostlund

THE SQUARE directed by Ruben Ostlund (b Sweden 1974) is an absurdist art & poignant social commentary that doesn't fit within the bounds of convention. It was awarded the Cannes-Palme d'Or Prize 2017.  The film is an English/Swedish & Danish speaking film that stars American actors Elizabeth Moss as an art reporter and Tery Notary (Planet of the Apes films) as a Neanderthal performance artists.  The male lead is the charismatic Christian (Danish actor Claes Bang) art director for a Danish contemporary art museum.  Ostlund's wickedly humorous exhibition of the absurdity & elitism of the contemporary art world is very biting.  But, it bites off more than it can chew by sludging through the drifts of social disregard for the omnipresent mendicants that remain invisible.  The esoteric & elite modern art world trips over itself in its pretense of cutting edge sophistication.   The gravitas of free speech with limitations becomes too heavy.  The pompous poke at Julian Schnabel made for a good joke.  Media attention at any cost earned a loner kroner.   Moss was underutilized and Notary's baboon act at a fancy art gala went overboard.  Of course, that was picture Ostlund was trying to paint, the inane clamor for contemporary art juxtaposed to the countless homeless in actual dire need.  Still, I will help you by steering you away from this overly pretentious (though not pointless) and ultimately unsatisfying waste of time.

A Rangers' Come From Behind Win Over the Red Wings in Overtime - HENRIK! ZUCCRAELLO!

The Rangers & the Red Wings are facing off in a lot of overtime games.  The Rangers have taken 7 of 13 wins in overtime play with the Red Wings.  Last night at the Garden our NY Rangers got the overtime win coming from behind.  It was looking like the Rangers were iced in the first period by the Red Wings.  The Rangers only managed 6 shots on goal while Henrik Lundqvist staved off 17 shots.  The 2nd period the Rangers started to heat up but the Wings still had far more shots on goal.  The game remained score less in the 2nd period with both goalies playing exceptional defense.  The third period the Red Wings got the red light on within minutes to take the lead.  The Rangers skated hard scoring the tying goal halfway into the 3rd sending the game into overtime.  It only took 37 seconds for the Rangers to score the winning goal from Mats Zuccarello with an assist by Brady Skjei. Henrik Lundqvist had 40 saves on the night.  "It was a great finish by us" said Lundqvist.  Lundqvist came back onto the ice to shouts of Henrik! Henrik!  He waved his arms in triumph and tossed his hockey stick over the glass into the fans.  GO RANGERS!

Stephen Shore's Photos at MoMA Shows the Cool Sixties and Shots of Mundane Solitude

Stephen Shore (b Amer 1947) was on the cutting edge snapping photos of Warhol and 60's celebs in raw black/white small shots.  This series has a hip feel making you feel more like an interloper than in with the in crowd.  Shore's photos in the other galleries include clear gelatin prints, off kilter angles, bright Kodachrome shots, portraits and locals.  Shore shares duo portraits of his parents both in full dress & undergarments, revealing nothing is sacrosanct along including intimate sexual acts.  Regardless, there is a sense of isolation or solitude in most of his photos.  I liked the assemblage of black/white series photos of the Pontiac shown in different proportions.  This quiet medley had a melodic sensibility.  Otherwise, there was also an overall melancholy sense of passing time in posed group photos.   William Eggleston's influence is reflected in Shore's interest with the mundane and ordinary made to appear extraordinary.  What's most impressive are the various trajectories & styles in which Shore's branches.  I was particularly drawn to the photos where a large tree subdivided the surroundings.  I'd preferred the landscape photos taken by Shore.  It's worth stopping in to see these photos through Shore's changing lens.  

Max Ernst "Beyond Painting" at MoMA Surrealist Dada Art a Bit on the Far Side

The Max Ernst "Beyond Painting" exhibit at MoMA amasses more than 100 works (all from MoMA's permanent collection) that include oil paintings, over paintings, prints, collages, illustrations & sculptures.  Ernst (b German 1891-1976) fought for in the German army during WWI.  His wartime experiences were traumatizing.  His artistic expression as a leader in the Dada & Surrealism movements are reflective of hallucinatory & bizarre imageries.  I've never gravitated towards Ernst's works.  Perhaps they are meant to be unsettling and remote.  As you enter the exhibit there is a large photo of Ernst taking while living at Peggy Guggenheim's apartment.  Ernst fled Germany for France during WWII where he was interned for periods as a German nationalist.  He immigrated to the US after WWII.  Guggenheim not only became a major patron of Ernst, she also became his third wife.  I would argue that Guggenheim's promotion of Ernst's work propelled him into the art world.  Although, he did garner attention from Pollack (one of Guggenheim's major benefactors).  I thought the overpainting were the most intriguing & unique works.  And, I appreciated his rubbings of found objects with added embellishments.  Many of the paintings & sketches reminded me of Salvador Dali or Marcel Duchamp but somewhat less compelling.   The sculptures looked similar to those of Picasso.   A large high school group came through while I was in the galleries.  They breezed through the exhibit with disinterest in the collection.  My 2 favorite pieces in the exhibit were collages "Sun & Forest" (1931) using corrugated cardboard and oil painting & "10 Children Frightened by a Nightingale" with figures carrying knives and a minuscule bird in the deep blue sky.  Max Ernst "Beyond Painting" did not stir an arousing exchange from me.  

Korean Filmmaker Hong Sang-soo's Fictional/Factual "On the Beach at Night Alone" Won't Strike Home in US

Hong Sangsoo (b S. Korea 1960) is a prolific and highly regarded screenwriter/director (In Another Country).  His filmmaking accolades have of late taken a back seat to notoriety.  Mr. Hong's professional relationship with Kim Man-hee (b S. Korea 1982) had become personal off-screen. Mr Hong has often worked with the lovely, talented Ms Kim who is a celebrity in S. Korea like Kim K here.  The press has pressed the couple into affirming an adulterous relationship that has gotten mass media attention in S. Korea.  The couple's tumultuous & titillating affair has taken a personal toll on both director and leading actress.  The film is beautifully shot in both Germany & S. Korea.  The story is divided into 2 segments.  The first is set in Germany and the later in a seaside city in S. Korea.  Young-hee (Ms. Kim) is toying with her friend the idea of remaining in Germany & living with her.  The two take long walks in the desolate park & along the cold shore discussing their desires, quagmires of the importance of honesty, companionship and experiencing everything in life before dying.  Other hot topics include eating, adultery & death with dignity set against frigid landscapes.  There is a disconnect between the two women within their friendship.  The film set in Germany ends with Young-hee being carried off from the beach at night by a stranger who had been stalking the women.  The rest of the movie is set in S. Korea where the same enigmatic male appears behind glass as if invisible to Young-hee & her friends.  Here too, she flirts with the idea of living  permanently and coy about her relationship with the director whom she often collaborates.  The two halves of the movie mirror each other in tone, oceanside views and drunken discourse.  The final dinner party ends pitting the legendary director (Mr Hong) across from Young-hee.  They both have at it in their inebriated states; his love has wrought" shame & dying regrets".  Talk about airing your dirty laundry...art imitating life, life imitating art.  I found this confessing too distressing.  I'm not interested in a voyeuristic film of Kim & Kanye bickering over an affair though many here might care.  I don't think the masses here will clamor for Hong's confessional film "On the Beach at Night Alone".    

The Whistling Girl an Irish Jazz Cabaret with Lyrics from Dorothy Parker's Writings at Irish Arts Center

The Whistling Girl was an evening of original jazz music by Trevor Knight on keyboards with vocalist Honor Heffernan.  Heffernan is an int'l jazz singer, actress & recording actress.  The title for the evening is dubbed from the poem of the same title by Dorothy Parker.  The aprapo acronym I would surely name it would be Screeching Girl.  Ms. Heffernan's vocals were strident and grating.  Her persona was a blank monotone.  She maintained a glaring glaze probably meant to emulate Parker's defiant demeanor & disdain for convention.   There was a mordant theme for the macabre.  Parker's syntax of impending death, doom & gloom overshadowed the room.  The intensity of Heffernan's vocals, her sheathing in black garb with drink & a smoke in hand created a bitter & mournful mood.  This served well for "The Siege of Madrid," Parker's postings from the Spanish Civil War with Picasso's Guernica on the screen behind her and "Salome's Dancing Lesson," though using a male's head for a prop was a flop.  Heffernan didn't engage in banter with the audience except to introduce her talented band prior to their finale.  The musicians lead by Knight included Garvan Gallagher on bass, Tom Jameson on drums and Ed Deane on guitar.  The music was a pleasing & interesting blend of jazz that at times was reminiscent of Pink Floyd.  When Knight took over on vocals he reminded me of Leonard Cohen.  The musical score laid the soundtrack for melancholy, Parker's prose its sharp wit but Heffernan's vocals were not a great fit.

MUDBOUND - Flawless Film of Racial Hatred in 1930'40s of Shameful Past Where We're Still Stuck

The historic fictional film MUDBOUND based on the novel by Hillary Jordan is a brutal depiction of loathsome racial bigotry and the horrors of war.  The movie is set in rural MS in the late 1930s-post WWII and hones in on a black family, the Jacksons and a white family, the McAllans.   The Jacksons are dirt poor tenant farmers working the mud soaked land owned by the McAllans.  The eldest Jackson son, Ransel (Jason Mitchell) and the younger McAllan brother Jamie (Garrett Hedlund) both fought valiantly in WWII.  They return home changed men but to a hateful segregated Jim Crow south that has remained entrenched in the fabric of Southern life.  Ransel's division was segregated in the barracks, tanks, latrines and even their blood supplies are kept separate.  Of course he is resentful  by the fascist regime still in tact that he & other black soldiers fought against & died for abroad.  Jamie returns to his brother's farm suffering from PTSD.  Jamie's Pappy (Johnathan Banks "Breaking Bad") & brother are racist brutes.  Jamie finds solace in drink & in the camaraderie of fellow veteran Ransel.  Their friendship which must remain covert to avoid violent repercussions is a doomed mission.  Pappy & his cowardly KKK pals find evidence of Ransel's relationship with a white woman which they use to justify the torture & lynching of Ransel.  Jamie's forced to witness though he fights to save Ransel from being murdered by his father & hooded cronies.  The film is remarkably powerful, emotional & convincing.  The cinematography captures the rain drenched, murky terrain.  The actors are all phenomenal.  Laura McAllan (Carrie Mulligan) is married to the loutish older brother and burdened with hardships.  Her bleak circumstances cloud her sensibilities to the sufferings of Mrs. Jackson (an incredible performance by Mary J. Blige) permitting her to subjugate her to servitude.  The emotional core & historic atrocities from this oppressive, systematic persecution rested on the heartfelt performances by Ransel & his parents.  The film directed by Dee Rees deserves numerous honors.  There are other outstanding films that represent a genre of black oppression; a most shameful category.  MUDBOUND resonates the anguish & suffering systemically inflicted on African Americans during this epoch.  What's most glaring is noting current events that show lynchings still occurring.  These may appear differently than the lynchings of the past but perpetrated, senseless & unjustified killings of African Americans still persist today, the majority of which are exonerated.  I praise MUDBOUND for its clear & poignant storytelling that should move the wheels of justice to advance us to a society free of racism & inequality.