Tuesday, October 31, 2006

2006.10.30. Piano Trio at Benaroya Hall by guest artists. Gil Shaham plays the 1699 Countess Polignac Stradivarius violin. Lynn Harrell plays a 1720 Montagnana cello. Yefim Bronfman - piano.
  • Schubert: Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat major. Op. 99
  • Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50
Encore is a Mozart piano trio, one movement only.
I worked late and arrived at the ticket office 5 minutes late. Graciously the ushers seated me after the first movement. The three performers sometimes re-tune their instruments between movements.
2006.10.28. Chain Lake trail at the foot of Mt Baker. Road was closed shortly after the ski area. Mostly cloudy. Didn't see any mountain. Started from the upper ski area parking lot. Bagley Lakes, Iceberg and Hayes Lakes (the prettier ones among all, and next to each other), Mazama Lake. Already snow on trail. Turned back after passing Mazama Lake, because the hikers coming from the other direction warned us not to proceed, due to deep snow. Lots of blueberries still left, half frozen.
2006.10.27. Seattle Opera's premier of L'italiana in Algeri (set in 1920s). Music by Gioachino Rossini. Libretto by Angelo Anelli. Directed by Chris Alexander. Simple yet clever set by Santa Fe Opera. Cheerful music, silly plot. Mustafa played by Kevin Burdette is awfully funny.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

2006.10.25. Stephen Sondheim's musical The Company at The 5th Avenue Theater. Winner of six 1971 Tony awards including best musical, this is somewhat disappointing. But better than his A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which was completely disorganized (staged here about a year or two ago). A bit modern in plot, simple stage, funny lyric, good acting (as always). 2nd act in-cohesive.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

2006.10.23. UW Walker-Ames Room. A conference commemorating the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Keynote Speaker: Peter Dobay from the University of Pécs. A panel of eyewitness: Helen M. Szablya - the Honorary Consul in Seattle, a psychiatrist who participated the downfall of the Stalin statue in the central square, woodcarver László Józsa - one of the 256 (about half) in the Sopron University exodus to UBC. The retired foreign service officer David Hughes recounts his experience in Budapest in late 1989. The evening was concluded with comments by former Ambassador Mark Palmer (Dec. 1986 - Jan. 1990). Quite an emotional and educational event.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

2006.10.17. Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater from St. Petersburg:
Valery Gergiev, conductor
Alexander Toradze, piano
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11, "The Year 1905"

Monday, October 16, 2006

2006.10.14. Merritt Lake. 2 hours' drive from north Seattle. Hwy 2, at milepost 76, turn north on Merritt Lake Road (FR 657), 1.5 mile bad gravel. Elevation 3000 ft to 5000 ft. 3 miles one way, mostly in forest. Quite some fall colors around the lake and along Hwy 2.

Monday, October 02, 2006

2006.10.01. Skyline Ridge. 3 hours drive, 2 miles (~ 1500 ft) to the open meadow with tremendous views of not-so distant snowy peaks. Mt Baker was shrouded in clouds, Shuksan was clear and the Table Mountain in front of it. Very low lying blueberry bushes, with different hues of red, but no berries at all. A few ash trees are brilliantly yellow and orange.