Resurrrection...

                                                                    

The bottom half of ASO's season ending performance on Saturday, Gutav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, demonstrated the length, breadth and depth of growth our small town symphony has seen under the deft baton of Maestro Kimbo Ishi-Eto.

While the performances of guest artists Jeanine Thames, soprano and Marietta Simpson, mezzo-soprano, were most probably quite able, Ms. Thames looked more the frumpy housewife out for a night of karaoke than a guest artist and Ms. Simpson's mouth looked as if she had a bad taste in it she couldn't wait to spit out.  The evening for me would have been no less appealing had they stayed home.

The preparation and performance of the Amarillo Master Chorale and the West Texas A&M University Choirs was up to their ususal standard of excellence.

Maestro Kimbo's careful grooming of our ASO musicians becomes more evident with each succeeding concert. I would have been just as happy had there not been the vocalists or choirs.  His conduction and the orchestra's performance of the Mahler piece was the "pi'ece de re'sistance" of a wonderful 86th season.

No matter what some elitist, metroplex snob might have to stay about our band of players, their fearless leader and our grand hall, remember his is one man's opinion and it's the local patrons you are aiming to please. From the reaction of those in attendance on this Saturday past, you are doing a right fine job. Keep up the good works.

I'm looking forward to an even more exciting 2011-2012 season. We can depend on the Maestro to bring to us guest artists playing a variety of unusual instruments (at least in the symphony context-- think erhu) delivering scintillating performances with our ASO players as the cherry on top.

See you at the symphony! aio

  

fastest fingers in the west....

last night we took in the last amarillo symphony orchestra concert of the 2010-2011 season. guest artist for the top half of the program was the very gifted, davide cabassi, (a winner of the van cliburn competition in 2005) performing beethoven's piano concerto no. 1 in c major, opus 15.

                                                                            
           

i'm not sure what your image of a concert pianist is, but in my mind he would be whippet thin with very long, spidery fingers. cabassi is anything but, however, don't let his appearance fool you, the man can play. he made his entrance on stage dressed in something less than a conventional tuxedo, the jacket down to his knees and squared off at the bottom.  his beard was trimmed to a pencil thin line along his jaw. cabassi's fingers flew masterfully through the piece, however the opus being some 36 minutes long, and somewhat repetitious, my mind wandered.

in reverie I pictured cabassi in an 1880's saloon, seated at an old upright piano, hair pulled back behind his ears. a black string tie dangled away from his starched white shirt as he leaned into the piece.  clenched in his mouth a long, black cheroot, the blue smoke from it rising lazily to the ceiling.  playing as though his life depended on it, beethoven's concerto no. 1 oozed tinnily into the haze at the top of the room. 

cowhands gathered on this saturday night to ease the pain of riding the range called a steady chorus of boos in his direction.  "play buffalo gal", yelled from the far corner; a beer  bottle hurtled in the direction of the pianist's head. cabassi leaned to the side, not missing a note as the bottle crashed into the piano at the spot the player's head had been a moment before.  beer ran down the piano's face and onto the keys. cabassi played on, ignoring the boos.

back in the now, there were no boos for cabassi in this place, on this night. when at last the piece ended, the symphony crowd stood (imagine that), showering cabassi with a well deserved  ovation and a robust round of bravos.

i cannot name the encore piece cabassi played but i can say the notes from the grand piano and cabassi's magic fingers came to me at warp speed, his playing faster than would seem humanly possible. in a word, astounding.

in all, a very entertaining evening from the man with the fastest fingers in the west, no matter which hall you happen to be sitting in.

davide cabassi, you rock. aio

what sound, through open window comes...

                                                                       

what is that sound, so vaguely familiar, hinting of soemthing heard in distant past.  through window open to cooling breezes, can it be?  from darkening skies, can it be rain i smell, thunder i hear?

why, yes. as witnessed on nooa.gov, what has been long absent is approaching from the north and west. and now the sound of raindrops, heavy with promise reach my hungry ears.

quench this land, it's thirst so great, it's need unslaked.

bless this wanting land and it's people. for this gift we give thanks mother wind, mother earth you are good.

tis the season...

                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                        last night, local weather guru "doppler dave" and his merry band of weather men presented their annual, hour long, severe weather program.  this year's edition, "ahead of the storm."   always informative and entertaining, this one was no exception.

what we need is rain.  this wild fire season has had it's moments and without some significant rainfall, it has the potential to get worse.  "dave" reminded us that it was on april 20th of last year that we saw the first tornado of the 2010 season.

the 2011 season is just ahead.  i'd be a fool to wish for one but i wouldn't mind a bit of stormy weather if it meant the dry grasses of the surrounding ranch lands would get a good soaking. 

tornadoes are to be respected. so too, are the springtime winds around these parts.  like those recorded this past weekend-- sustained at 40 and gusting to 60 mph, fire crews stand little chance of wild fire containment under those conditions.

so listen up, mother nature.  if tornado season is what it takes to get some rain, bring it on.  severe weather or no, we need it and i'll take it on most any terms. aio

dreams really do come true...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
i had a call from the very excited  captain of the krewe du couer maudit today relating that his application to the city of austin for a parade permit for the 2011 spectacle has been approved.  exciting stuff,  i say!  there is not much telling where the very fertile mind of said captain will go with his imagining for this upcoming halloween and only time will tell us how big this event may grow to be.

this event is tailor made for austin, or vice versa.  the potential is there for it to grow into a destination event ala mardi gras. who knows?  only time will tell.  this i do know.  i plan to be there to witness this newest edition of the spectacle that is the krewe du couer maudit march/parade come halloween 2011.

it's not too soon for you to begin planning to be there to witness, take part in, this one of a kind event for yourself.  hope to see you there. 

                                             
can't be there, but want to help?  krewe dcm is accepting donations via paypal at their site-- www.krewedcm.com  and on that note. io
                             

                                                                   

brrrr....

spring is here at last, at least on the calendar, it arrived on march 20th.  someone must have forgot to tell old man winter his work was done for 2011. as i sit here the furnace is blasting away in it's efforts to keep the chill in the house at bay.

it's high noon and the temp outside is a damp, not quite balmy, 34 degrees. figure in the wind chill and it feels like 23. enough already! 

                                                                                                                                        this front will pass but there may be others on it's tail. it never fails, the weather finally warms toward summer temps as winter slips into a distant memory. still, you can bet there is at least one more cool snap in our future.  after all the snow balls have yet to bloom.  until that day, you can never be sure that cold is done for, until fall that is. 

at least, that's what the little woman would tell you and i've not seen the weather prove her wrong yet.

 
so, snow balls, get to bloomin'. let's get this cold weather thing over and done with already. i'm ready for summer. aio                                                                

important hair events...

our middle son is still on the downside of his thirties.  he lives, works and plays in austin, the self proclaimed "live music capitol of the world". over the years, in his quest for rock stardom, he has carefully cultivated, consciously or not, an image congruent with that scene. put in plain english, he has grown his hair without cutting it, save maybe an occasional trimming of the dead ends, since he quit shaving his head, many years ago now. 

in his defence, as his hair grew longer, he defended the decision by voicing his intention to make a donation to "Locks of Love".  i believe in order to donate one's hair must be at least 10 inches long. 

recently, he announced that at last he was ready to back up his words.  i truly admire his unselfish giving to a cancer victim in need.

the picture above, was taken of him and his honey, at the local 2010 Renaissance Festival. as you can see his hair is quite long. it goes well with the lascivious look for the maid he would have as his own.

blame it on his mom, but i e-mailed him requesting he be sure to get before and after pictures for us. that prompted a query from him.  ""what, are you afraid you might not recognize me?' to which i replied, "maybe!"

in what was meant as a gentle jibe, i reminded him of what i think are the three most significant hair events in his lifetime.  the first would have to be his first big boy haircut at around age one.  cutting off his soft blond curls was a moment which brought tears all around.

ranking second, or third, i'll let you decide, is a toss-up between the time when after a trip to the family stylist, not liking the results of that cut, he emerged from the bathroom with a completely shaved head.  i've always wondered why he couldn't have taken that leap BEFORE i'd paid good money for the cut.  as i remember he didn't ask permission beforehand, nor give any hint that he was thinking of shaving his head, he just did it.  a subscriber to the theory "it's easier to beg forgiveness after the fact that to gain approval before" it would seem.  at least he has a nicely shaped head.

also in the toss up round is the unselfish act of donating 11 inches of hair to a good cause. this gets my vote for number two, i think.  at least this time losing his hair will do some good and not end up in the bathroom waste basket.

hair, or no hair, no matter--he will remain our baby boy, and near and dear to our hearts, always. aio