Karl-G

There is a very interesting article in the Washington Post Magazine today about same-sex behavior in animals, which seems to be extremely common. More than 1,500 animal species have now been documented engaged in same-sex activity. And it appears to be for a variety of reasons, including pure pleasure. Here is a link to the article, https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/06/30/queer-animals-are-everywhere-science-is-finally-catching/ although I do not know if there is a firewall.

For me, the movie theater experience is superior, because everything is enlarged and very close for you (there are constant close-ups of faces), and the sound on the surround speakers is much clearer and louder than in the opera house. I can understand every word in German or French or Italian, because I can see the lips of the singers close-up and hear the high quality acoustic sound. For example, twice I went to see Renee Fleming live in opera houses, and both times I had seats to the sides, rather than in the center. In both cases I could not hear Renee singing, because she was often facing other directions. I left at the first intermission, terribly disappointed. That is not true in the HD presentation. July 17 Cabaret - 50th Anniversary July 20 Cabaret - 50th Anniversary July 27 Madama Butterfly - Met Opera Aug. 3 La Boheme - Met Opera Beware of the "Cabaret" movie. It is one of my favorites ever, but these days, in order to show it "wide screen," they cut off 16% of the image at the bottom and 16% at the top. You will not see 33% of the images you thought you knew. I tried their anniversary showing of "The King and I," and it was so horrible visually, I left.

As usual, the Met Opera is offering four "encore presentations" of operas this summer, which is nice for us. Two of them are my favorites, and I would like to recommend them. No murders, deaths, violence, vindictiveness, adultery, or lies. Just some good old fashioned sex and lots of fun with toe tapping music. And the singers look believable as their characters, not overweight divas and divos trying to act. On July 13, "The Merry Widow" will be shown with Renee Fleming, Nathan Gunn, and Kelli O'Hara, all of whom are slender and attractive. The production was staged and choreographed by Susan Stroman, who is tops. Renee is totally believable as a middle-aged widow who has learned much about life and her voice is radiant. Nathan Gunn is a great actor/singer from Broadway who brings his gifts to the Met. Kelli O'Hara, also from Broadway, is the best Valenciennes you can find. A gorgeous lyric soprano, excellent actress and dancer. The final scene at Chez Maxim's is so delightful and well done, I would like to see it over and over. Stroman's choreography for the grisettes is the best I have ever seen. I want to follow the girls as they dance down the street. Then on August 10, they are doing Donizetti's "Le Fille du Regiment," in what must be the best production ever. I can remember seeing Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti try to do it years ago, and being very disappointed. I cannot suspend my disbelief that much. Joan stood center stage, looking like the Statue of Liberty, raised her arm (in her only concession to acting) and warbled beautifully and incoherently. Luciano was already overindulging in pasta. But to believe they were young lovers who fell for each other was too much. In this production, the incredible French soprano Natalie Dessay sings Marie and Juan Diego Flores sings her boyfriend. They are totally believable. Natalie, unlike Joan, believes in articulation, and in the theater you can understand clearly every French syllable she sings. She called herself an actress who sang, and in amazing feats she sings incredibly while vertical, horizontal, or upside down. Her physical acting and comedy are better than Lucille Ball. (Here the diva wears a sleeveless undershirt on stage. I tried to imagine Joan trying that.) And Juan Diego is handsome and charming, and when he sings the 10 high C's, you just want to call out "ENCORE!" It looks and sounds so easy, you would think any singer could do it. The other characters are also excellent and enunciate clearly, whether the Duchess or the Sergeant. It's a wonderful production. If you want to find a list of all four productions and theaters near you, look up "Fathom Events."

Every four years, the Cliburn Competition for pianists takes place in Fort Worth. It is one of the most important piano competitions in the world. It takes place over two weeks and ended last Saturday night with the announcement of the winners. The first prize went to an 18 year old boy from South Korea, Yunchan Lim, who was quite exceptional. Other competitors ranged in age up to their early 30s. There were six rounds to the competition, ending with six finalists playing two piano concertos each with the Fort Worth Symphony. Originally there were 30 contestants. All performances were live-streamed by Facebook, Youtube, Medici.tv, and several other sites. They have left the performances of the finalists on-line for the present, so you can enjoy them again. So, if you enjoy piano music, you should try listening to some of the programs of Yunchan Lim. Whether it is in the preliminary round, where he performs a very exciting Chopin "Variations on 'La Ci darem la mano'" to his final performance of the Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concerto, which is extraordinary, all of the programs are very enjoyable. It does not seem possible to play as fast as he does; you cannot see individual fingers, just a blur.

The recent history of the Gouverneur Hotel in Montreal is a little puzzling. In November 2020, because of lack of business, the hotel was turned into a homeless center by the city. Each room was given two beds and a temporary partition was erected down the center of each room to make two living units. 380 homeless people resided there between November 2020 and June 30, 2021. Then they were evicted. This information with photos is from the CBC. (I have also been told it served as overflow Covid hospital at times.) What happened next and who bought it and when and how is not clear. Currently, you can find the hotel listed under three different names. There is a website for the "Hotel Place Dupuis" at 1415 St. Hubert, and another website for the "Hyatt Place Montreal Downtown" at 1415 St. Hubert, and finally a website for "Zen Hotels" with an address of 1415 St. Hubert. On the sites it is sometimes called a Hyatt hotel, sometimes a Zen hotel, and sometimes an Ascend hotel. (Maybe it is all the same?) If someone stays there, it would be nice to hear a first hand account of what it is today. It was a major supplier of rooms for clients and their guests from the clubs for many years.

Hyatt Downtown / Gouverneur The website today says they are accepting reservations for after July 1. Rooms start at $319. (I'm an old fogey and remember when the Gouverneur cost $88 for any room, included breakfast, and you got the 14th night free. I also remember friendly Sebastien and Isabelle at the front desk. I also remember sitting in the lobby in the morning near the elevators and watching fifteen dancers I knew from the clubs get out of the elevators and leave the hotel after overnights. It was a very friendly, active place. I met a couple of members from this board at breakfast, and we became friends and enjoyed the clubs together. The gay waiter, whose name I do not recall, knew all the gay men and introduced those interested. But time moves on. )

We still have no forum for Dance. There is a very interesting article in the NYTimes by dancer Russell Janzen, of NYCB. He writes beautifully. He is a principal dancer and long time member. He dances with all the principal women dancers. He writes about a topic I have never considered: how he feels as a gay man partnering women in romantic hetero classical ballets. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/04/arts/dance/gender-roles-ballet-russell-janzen

There were two splendid concerts this week. On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Orchestra performed the world premier of Mason Bates' new "Piano Concerto" with soloist Daniil Trifonov. No one else could have performed it like Daniil. It was a combination of the traditional and very contemporary. It was excellent, and I am sure it will become a part of the standard repertoire. The discussion with Mason and Daniil was very helpful. The program concluded with Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazad." The Philadelphia sound is marvelous. Then today Sunday, the Berlin Philharmonic performed the annual Europaconzert in the Great Amber Concert Hall in Liepaja, Latvia. The concert had been planned for Ukraine, but had to be moved. The Liebaja concert hall is a new circular building with outstanding acoustics. The soloist was Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca. She sang a group of folk songs in almost a dozen languages, including Azerbeijani. To make the message clear, she was dressed in a stunning floor length coat-dress, with dress of deep sea blue and coat of canary yellow satin, with very large gold earrings and necklace. Her voice was superb. The two opening pieces were dirges and elegies, and you could hear the war raging. The composer of the first was in the audience. They were extremely powerful. The last piece was Sibelius' "Finlandia," which the audience appreciated very much. Both concerts were on the internet and watched around the world.

A new show opens today in New York presenting 200 of Basquiat's works as well as many objects from his home and studio. It is organized by his two sisters and includes a great deal of never before seen material. It is in the Starrett-Lehigh Building and admission is $45. The NYTimes has a lengthy article about it today and finds it a valuable resource for better understanding Basquiat. Of the paintings and drawings, 177 have never been seen publicly before.

The NYTimes has a long article and many pictures showing the "Dinah Shore Weekend" in Palm Springs last weekend. It is the major lesbian party of the year, and an annual event of grand renown and large crowds. It appears that all had a good time. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/09/style/dinah-shore-weekend.html

Great concert, beautifully presented. Yannick Nezet-Seguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra show American culture at its best. Yuja Wang is a delightful and extremely gifted pianist. Her tattoo of "CH" (for Carnegie Hall) was a nice touch. The stage at Carnegie Hall is a gorgeous backdrop for any photo. The audience was in tuxes, floor length dresses, masks, and all presented vaccination cards. The program was very carefully chosen: two brand new contemporary pieces by minority composers who were in the audience; a major Beethoven symphony to show tradition and the classics; Shostakovich's 2nd piano concerto showing 20th century contrast and "avant garde;" and Bernstein for a great American composer. I enjoyed it very much; I hope you did also.

Carnegie Hall, the premier concert hall in the U.S., has been closed for 18 months. It will re-open tomorrow night with a grand gala featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra, Yuja Wang, and Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Tickets start at $1,000 apiece. But amazingly, they will also stream the event live free for the rest of us. Just go to the Carnegie Hall page, and follow the simple instructions. Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 7:00 p.m. It will also be broadcast on WQXR, the classical radio station in NYC, available as a free app on any iphone.

Jonas Kaufmann will give a recital this Saturday evening, Oct. 9, at Carnegie Hall. Tickets are still available ranging from $41.50 - $175, but mostly in the top balcony.

Out of curiosity, did you find your great discoveries on-line (ads or dating apps), at the clubs, or dancers you saw and met - if this is not revealing highly classified information? 🙂

It sounds like you had an enjoyable time. Thanks for the reports.

I guess I would start by going to their website. Yes, you are eligible. https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/application-demande-eng.html

VIDEO OF DEDICATION OF PARC DE L'ESPOIR

I don't know how these things work; I just use them. I watch on the large monitor I have with my desktop pc and good speakers; it's like being in a theater. My neighbor gets the internet on his i-phone and has some App he has downloaded which then shows everything on his large living room tv. I don't know any details. Among other things, I don't know what a tv streaming hub is. But I'm sorry it does not work for you to watch medici.tv. I just watched a concert with the Berlin Philharmonic and Janine Jansen. Excellent.

(Not sure really which forum this fits in.) As I was watching the walking video of Montreal from Aug. 9, I noticed a street partially blocked off and with colored paving stones. I noted it and asked if anyone knew what it was. I just found the answer. The Parc de l'Espoir is a space devoted to the memory of those who have died of AIDS. There was a small memorial and seats on a corner lot here since 1995, and they were not much noticed. There was a piano on the site for quite a while, and people would come and play on it. The city redoes parks every 25 years, and it decided it was the time for this park. So they have been working on it for two years, involving gay men of the area. Over 250 people attended the dedication by the mayor of Montreal today. The park is now more than twice the size of the original and has indeed grown out over the street. A number of trees and planters with flowers have been placed where the street was, and the pavement is now a colorful pattern of tiles, I think based on the AIDS red ribbon. There are a number of seats and a plaque and flags. Names of some of those who have died of AIDS from the Village are inscribed on plaques. A number of the men who created the original park and helped design the new enlargement were present and commented on how they liked the new park. From pictures, it is spacious, lots of trees, clean and airy, and lots of places to sit and talk with friends and remember. You can watch the video on Youtube and see pictures of the park on its website. It is adjacent to the wig shop. Its address is 1294 Rue Panet, and that is about two blocks further NE on Ste Catherine, from the Beaudry Metro Station.

The best single source for streaming operas, ballets, and classical concerts is medici.tv. Their headquarters are in Paris. They have hundreds of operas available from all the major theaters in the world and all the greatest singers of today and yester years. There are also interviews with singers, musicians, and conductors. Their ballet offerings go from vintage but good videos of Fonteyn and Nureyev to this year's marvelous gala from La Scala - "I Grandi Momenti" featuring nearly all their top stars; and the "Grand Defile" at the Paris Opera Ballet showing every single dancer. They have Matthew Bourne Ballets as well as Jiri Kylian, Hans Manen, Maurice Bejart, Roland Petit, and many other important contemporary choreographers. Karl Paquette and Dorothee Gilbert dance a marvelous "Don Quixote." etc. Their music section is enormous. They have current concerts by the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and other major European orchestras. They regularly have series of concerts from music festivals in Europe. I have especially enjoyed the Verbier Festival and the Upper Rhine Festival. There have been wonderful series of live performances from the Fondation Singer-Polignac in Paris. There are concerts from Versailles, Florence, Madrid, London, various churches on special occasions, etc. There is a subscription price for a year, which is a tremendous bargain. You can be the Count Esterhazy of your town, enjoying private performances of the best operas, ballets, and concerts, in your home every day of the year, at a time convenient to you. And there is also Wigmore Hall in London, which offers free classical concerts regularly, several times a week and often daily, by the most famous musicians in the world. They ask for donations, which I send gladly and regularly. Igor Levit has been playing all the Beethoven sonatas live; the Schubert Octet just played his Octet. Andras Schiff just gave a series of concerts.

Thank you both.

Perhaps I am missing something obvious. But when I am reading a post and come to the end and would like to post a reply, I have to go all the way to the top of the page to find the REPLY BUTTON. The old system had the word REPLY at the bottom of each post. Currently, the word QUOTE is at the bottom of every post, so it is not impossible to do so. It would be much easier, faster, and logical to have a REPLY button at the bottom of each post. I don't see a PREVIEW option. I had no problem today going back and redoing some sentences from the finished post, so I can still do it. But I did like the preview option.

I checked. A developer named Emporis is going to build a 14 story residential tower on the site. No other details. From photos of other buildings they have designed, it will not be distinguished or special, but it will fill up the block. It will be midway between Expose and Taboo, which may be an asset. Apparently the Papineau Metro Station has been closed several times because of construction, and traffic on the Green Line blocked/halted at times. The building is almost on top of the line and station. Will they be connected underground? "You can walk directly from your apartment into the spacious and convenient Papineau Green Line Metro Station, without ever going outdoors on a wintry day. It's almost like being at Berri-Uqam."

All of the street vendors and their tents were new to me. I wonder which street they have closed: Alexander de Seve, Dalcourt, or Plessis? Dalcourt is the smallest, but has houses all along both sides, I think. De Seve has that large park on the East, so that might work better.

Sorry, problems with the new system. The walking tour of The Village from Aug. 9 was very interesting, IMO. I never realized there were some extensive roof gardens on top of the buildings along Ste Catherine. Nice. Without the pink balls, the street is much less festive or special; they really were a superb addition for years in many ways. The West End of the Village, near former Hotel des Gouverneurs, is really deserted. That area has gone through many changes over the years, but does not look good now. It has had several terraces in the recent past, but none seemed to survive this summer. In general, tall new buildings along the street make it seem tighter and closer and less friendly. They are all right up against the sidewalk. The large planters this year do not seem to have worked; they look like they have a few tall weeds each, not the nice flowers of previous years. The paving on Ste Catherine really needs redoing, especially for a street that is hailed as a pedestrian mall. La Piazzetta has two terraces, which is new to me, although it may have had them recently. The "Art Park" across from Mado and Stock seems to attract photographers, although it has never done much for me. I don't know the restaurants well enough to tell which ones have survived and which have changed. Some of the terraces looked extra large this year. The terrace which belong to the Skye Complex, or whatever it is called, now seems to extend for half a block and be well occupied. Although I may not have seen that clearly. The cross street towards the East End which has been completely blocked, paved over with colored stones and planters and trees installed looks very interesting. They were beginning work on that a couple of years ago when I was there. I wonder if that is unique or whether a test of further pedestrian areas/small urban parks? The Bourbon Complex is not a bad look building, although I do not know how high class it is. From the sheet draped windows, it did not look very upper scale. And to me it makes the street much narrower and less inviting. No outdoor life there. EXPOSE looks seedier and tackier than ever; it was was OK for what it was. The biggest shocker for me was the almost entirely leveled block east of the Papineau station. Anyone know what this is going to be? That once was a thriving gas station and theater/revivalist church, and donut shop until late hours. All gone. The Village really must go up to Taboo, IMO.