2006.1.27. 1pm Seattle Symphony:
Mozart: Overture to Don Giovanni, K.527
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K.219, "Turkish"
Mozart: Requiem, K.626
Itzhak Perlman, conductor
Rachel Lee, violin
It's awkward to see Perlman struggle on to the podium.

2006.1.24. Seattle Rep plays August Wilson's Radio Golf. The story line is simple: a black real estate developer who runs for Mayor encounters a small problem with a re-development project. One of old properties that he is going to tear down was acquired as a city repossession for back taxes without a notification to its owner. The owner refused to sell.
The plot was good, so is acting. But some of the words were eaten. I couldn't get all of what they were saying with this black accent. The writer however tried to piece into the story too many episodes from the past to emphasize racial inequality. A character can suddenly break off and tell you what he remembers 20 or 50 years ago.

2006.1.22. 2pm. Seattle Opera "Die Fledermaus". It was fun. They even put some Seattle jokes into the lines. Good stage design. Great acting. They should have used girls with more slender legs to play the dancing roles.

2006.1.21. Frye Art Museum, opening of Candida Hofer's photographic exhibition. A curator talk at 2pm. Not very interesting.

2006.1.19. Seattle Symphony's first concert celebrating Mozart's 250 birthday.
Vladimir Feltsman, conductor/piano.

Mozart: Divertimento in B-flat major, K.125b

Mozart: Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K.173dB

Mozart: Rondo for Piano in D major, K.382

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat major, K.595

I think Feltsman made a mistake in Rondo (I could well be wrong). He's too busy trying to conduct and play the piano at the same time. The first two pieces were written when Mozart was 16 and 17 respectively. Can be a pretty company to a dinner, nothing more. I like the Rondo better than the rest, the 2nd movement of the last piece is nice.

2005.1.16. Seattle Asian Art Museum reopening member's reception. Two sections: Chinese paintings from University of Michigan Museum of Art, and calligraphy by Ch'ung-ho Chang 张冲和. They did a good job in presentation and translation.

2005.1.14-15
Promotion talks by Rick Steves: slide shows about European travel. Many of his tour guides were there. They also prepared some country-specific snacks and wine after each talk. Some talks are fun, some (those that he conducted) are just sales pitch.

2006.1.5. Restoration Comedy at Seattle Rep. A combination of two plays: John Vanbrugh’s The Relapse and Colley Cibber’s Love’s Last Shift. It's funny, but trite.