Disney Hall Weekend

On Saturday, Colleen and I met her local sisters and family at the Disney Hall for a Festival of Carols by the L.A. Master Chorale.  The venue was decorated with Poinsettia flowers and the 67 member Chorale were formally dressed.  They were led by conductor Grant Gershon and accompanied on some songs by Lisa Edwards and Shawn Kirchner on the piano and John West on the giant pipe organ.  Shawn arranged many of the songs.

My favorites were "One Sweet Little Baby" by Glenn McClure and arranged by Kirchner, "Glory, Glory, Glory to the Newborn King" by Moses Hogan with a solo by Caroline McKenzie, and "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" arranged by Kirchner with Doug Masek on the saxophone.  The last one reminded me of my high school chorus days under the direction of our teacher, Ruth Rickards, who had to corral us wild teens.

We returned on Sunday to celebrate Zubin Mehta's 50th anniversary as the conductor of the L.A. Phil.  In 1962.  In November of that year, Mehta conducted his first program as Music Director of the L.A. Phil and that concert was repeated this weekend.  He remained in that position until 1978.

The program was Mozart's Overture to Don Giovanni, Hindemith's Symphony Mathis der Maler, and Dvorak's Symphony No. 7 in D minor.  The orchestra started small with the Mozart and grew.  The full orchestra performed the 40 minute Dvorak Symphony which included important parts by Ariana Ghetz, the oboe player, the horns, and of course all the strings.  In the middle there was a lively waltz to sway back and forth.

Thank you Zubin Mehta.  We last enjoyed his leadership in a 2004 Beethoven's 9th (Ode to Joy) will all the trimmings.  Twas a great weekend of music.  How great it is to be in L.A.!

Returning to LACMA on a Tuesday

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has a seemingly infinite collection of delights that I find a new each time I roam in the doors.  Today, I stumbled into the modern paintings from the 20th Century.  I went to visit my favorite George Braque's " Boats on the Beach," 1906.  It is from the Fauvism era meaning in the style of les Fauves (French for 'the wild beasts').  The movement was led by Henri Matisse and Andre Derain.  The paintings of the Fauves were characterized by wild brush work and strident colors.  I love the explosion of color of the Fauves and especially this painting by Braque.  He went on to work closely with Pablo Picasso in the development of Cubism.

Georges Braque, France, 1882-1963 "Boats on the Beach," 1906

I found this great Richard Diebenkorn painting "Freeway and Aqueduct," 1957.  He painted this while living in the Bay Area in the 1960's and a part of the Bay Area Figuration which was conceived as a reaction against abstract expressionism.  The painters used a representative style in order to experiment with shape, color and texture.  Diebenkorn later moved to the Ocean Park neighborhood of  Santa Monica where he painted shapes based on aerial landscapes as seen near his studio for 20 years.

John Baldessari, born in 1931, painted this "Double Bill (Part2):...and Grosz," 2012.

"Portrait of Sebastian Juner Vidal," 1903 by Pablo Picasso, Spain, 1881-1973
This painting was done during Picasso's Blue Period (1901-04) and shows his loneliness and sadness.

"

Henri Matisse, France 1869-1954, "Tea" 1919
The garden scene depicts Matisse's model and his daughter and dog outside his home near Paris shows his interaction of  pattern and color.

I wanted to call this my portrait, but it was painted in 1631 by Jan Lievens from the Netherlands, 1607-1674 entitled
"A Philosopher"
Lievens uses a strong shaft of light to focus on the elder scholar seated at his desk behind a stack of books.  The style of painting suggests the influence of the Dutch followers of Caravaggio who had recently returned to Utrecht from Rome.

George Segal, 1924-2000 U.S. "Old Woman at the Window," 1965
In the background is John Mason's "Red X," 1966.  John was born in 1927 in the U.S.  It is made of clay with a bright red glaze.

 A wonderful docent talked about this painting and all the activity on the beach in the Netherlands in 1646.  The painting is entitled "View of the Beach" by Simon de Vlieger, Netherlands, 1600-1653

Claes Oldenbury, Sweden, born 1929, active in the U.S. "Giant Pool Balls," 1967
Robert Gober's "Single Basin Sink,"1985.  Robert was born in the U.S. in 1954.
John McLauglin's "#26," painting 1961 .  John lived in the U.S from 1898 to 1976

Friend Family at the Sacramento Marathon

Colleen and I traveled to Sacramento to cheer her family members who ran in the Sacramento Marathon last weekend.  Of course it rained cats and dogs...but they all finished...and raised money for the Noreen Fraser Foundation for cancer research. 

The night before in their Noreen Fraser Foundation Shirts

After:  The Wet and Happy Runners with their medals.
Bill and Billy Friend, Michael LaRocca, Noreen Friend Fraser, Patrick Friend, Cooper Friend Tighe, Danny Hutchison