Due to the generosity of the Music Director, Dr. Thomas
Schmidt, when I am in New York, I often practice on the pipe organ at St. Peter’s
Lutheran Church. This organ was built in
1977 by Johannes Klais of Bonn, Germany.
I usually practice 7 to 9 am, before other activities start
in the sanctuary. On Tuesday morning this
week, St. Peters provided breakfast and a place to rest to many homeless
people. I am learning J.S. Bach’s Prelude
and Fugue in e minor (BWV 533), and of all the music that I practiced that
morning, my sense was this music was the most well received by the people
resting in the sanctuary.
On Thursday evening, I attended the New York Philharmonic’s
production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeny
Todd with good friends and opera buddies, Helen Levine and Marge Baxter Levine in
Avery Fisher Hall. The gruesome tale was
well told by the superb orchestra, Bryn Terfel in the title role and Emma
Thompson in the role of Mrs. Lovett, the meat-pie-maker, and an excellent
supporting cast and chorus. The
orchestra, led by Alan Gilbert, and the cast were clearly having fun, and the
audience responded.
With Helen Levine and Marge Baxter Levine at Sweeney Todd at Avery Fisher Hall
I signed up for Apple’s one-to-one service when I bought my
MacBook Air for school last fall. One of
the benefits of this service is that I can take as many classes as I have time
for at any Apple stores. Since there is
not an Apple store in Bangor, I take advantage of the multiple Apple stores in
New York City when I visit. So far I
have taken classes at both the Fifth Avenue and the Grand Central Apple stores.
Jules Massenet’s (1842-1912) Werther was first performed in Vienna in 1892, just two years after
Borodin’s Prince Igor. Massenet was a professor of composition at
the Paris Conservatory. Werther is an adaptation of Goethe’s novel,
The Sorrows of Young Werther, which
was loosely based on Goethe’s early life. On Friday evening, Jonas Kaufmann sang the role of Werther and Sophie Koch sang the role of
Charlotte. The music was very expressive
and the performances were impeccable.
