Last Week In NM

Agnes Martin Gallery, Harwood Museum, Taos NM

Verdi Square, Upper West Side

Just before the Saturday afternoon performance of La Traviata starring Angela Gheorghiu.

Three Faces At The Cloisters

Vacation time

Not enough in this country.

Quote For Today

"I'm just attempting to find a language to express my genuine thoughts, which more often than not are about bringing back forgotten desires, about building something you can't not fall in love with." Malcolm McLaren

Another Painter Recently Discovered

http://www.eharrisgallery.com/Scott%20Richter/richter_2010_html/sr_2010.html

A Painter Recently Discovered

Victor Pesce

Born April 10, 1938

Died March 28th, 2010

http://www.eharrisgallery.com/vp2009.html

An April Passing

On April 21, 1924, the first "modern actor", Eleonora Duse,

died in Pittsburgh while on tour in the United States.

"Every great actor must, almost of necessity, be a highly complex creature: potentially both demon and saint, with countless delicate degrees of good and evil jostling and overlapping between the two. And Duse was the greatest actress of her time - perhaps of all time." Eva Le Gallienne

An April Birthday

The screen's greatest actor, born on April 5th.

Highly Recommended

A Change of Scenery

Something Textural

Tulips

Springtime

Not Just Another Violetta

As everyone interested in such things knows by now, Monday's opening performance of "La Traviata" had its problems. Simply put, the conductor and the singers were not always in sync. Even so, it wasn't difficult for the audience to remain engaged with the work, largely due to Angela Gheorghiu's definitive portrayal of Violetta. One of the few sopranos since Callas to truly make the role her own, Gheorghiu moved past instances of uncertain timing to propel the drama to its well known conclusion. Just one example of her ability to take the music to places others seldom go could be heard in her stirring account of "Amami Alfredo". Personally, as someone familiar with Gheorghiu's voice from repeated listenings to her recordings, the evening provided a first opportunity to hear and see the soprano live. In such situations one finds oneself merely adjusting to the fact that the artist is actually present; I spent the initial moments saying to myself: "It's really Angela". To some degree, this state continued throughout the performance and remains even now five days later. I'll be going back for the April 17th matinee for another look and perhaps some further observations.