One Miss, And Two Hits

Unfortunately, I missed Friday night's San Francisco Symphony performance, under Semyon Bychkov, of Dutilleux's Metaboles, two substituted works by Ravel, and Sibelius's Symphony #5. Here is a link to the program notes to the Dutilleux and Sibelius works on the program. I did find a recording of the Dutilleux work in my collection, and was able to listen to it. It was still a quite strong work. Excellent review in the San Francisco Chronicle. I am sorry that I will miss the upcoming radio broadcast of this exciting concert.

I did see the public opening of Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown November 14, 2009 — June 6, 2010
at the de Young Museum of Fine Arts:

"This exhibition features approximately 48 full-size and crib quilts dating from the 1880s to the 1940s. Quilts made by girls and women of various Amish communities in Pennsylvania and the Midwest are visual distillations of their way of life. The Amish faith embodies the principles of simplicity, humility, discipline, and community, but their quilts are anything but humble. Using a rich color palette and bold patterns, these quilts are truly a unique contribution to American textile history. The quilts highlight the beauty and complexity of the abstract patterns."

I am also currently engrossed in Afred Brendel's "Me of All People", a memoire in interview form, published by Cornell University Press a few years back. For me of all people, at least, it is a real page turner.

Header photo credit: Amish quilt. (c) North Carolina Community College System. 2004. Copyright controlled.