Monday, February 16, 2009

Ice Skating/Academy of St Martin-in-the-fields

I apologize for the sketchy title.

Those two activities have little or no relation with one another, with the exception that it took place on the same day, and at the end, I felt that both activities went really well and were really fun in their own ways. A huge credit goes to the company, with good company, regardless of any unexpected hiccups or misadventures, things will still turn out well, and it did.

I say so because I totally dislike ice skating. Seriously, I just don't get the notion of threading around in ice, with really uncomfortable shoes that gives you really bad foot aches and blisters, and with little kids romping pass u making u look like a total idiot. Yeah, that' sums up the experience - my first ice skating endeavor.

But the company was great. Anthony like me, played the fool. Well, Jennifer and her sister, they were real good! And they were pretty good teachers as well, except I was a really slow learner who just could not get my footing right. The whole time, I was just so afraid to fall on Kristen, shes barely up to my shoulders and I know the consequences would be disastrous if I fell on her.

Well then to the second event of the day, this time it is a concert featuring the Academy of St Martin-in-the-fields, held at the grand old Orpheum Theater. It is literally the grand old dame of the cultural scene her in Vancouver, and the facade of the buildings says it all. The rich lush steps, adorned with overarching walls, with mirrors decked along the sidewalks reflecting the majesty of concert evenings, where fine ladies and gentleman throng through the hallways in their full regalia, exhibiting all the pomp and circumstance of the occasion.

The academy dished out a repertoire of Baroque pieces, namely Bach's Violin Concerto No. 1 and 2. I'm no music expert, but in my humble opinion, it is definitely one of the better interpretations of Bach out there. The form is majestically maintained, with little exuberance, in full deference to the composers' work. The performance on the whole was very disciplined and the piece well articulated.

It was great to have Serene there, I mean she's the most avid armchair critic u can find. When the music is good, she listens with a nod of satisfaction and when it was beyond everyone's understanding, she just folded her arms in anticipation(I think it is more wtf, I paid 40 bucks for this?).

Yeah for some reason, the last piece was just mind baffling. With little or no form or structure, a theme invariably present in today's contemporary classical compositions. William Walton's Sonata for Strings, as Serene so tacitly pointed out said one thing - a rejection of the status quo and I guess the Academy being what it stood for, did not just coincidentally arranged the Walton piece as an after thought to Mozart and Bach, two of the cornerstones of the Classical Music tradition. Well, if indeed it was supposed to be a statement, what a statement it was, because people started leaving after the Second Movement. However, some in the audience saw the point, stayed on and gave the academy a rousing standing ovation.

Haha, but it is THE Academy of St-Martin-In-the-Fields, of course you applaud them.But as a whole, I throughly enjoyed the experience and the company most of all, haha.

So with all that, that is my eventful day, I hope yours went well too.

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