“Fashioned by Sargent” explores the artist’s complex relationship with
his often-affluent clients and their clothes. The exhibition reveals
Sargent’s power over his sitters’ images by considering the liberties he
took with sartorial choices to express distinctive personalities,
social positions, professions, gender identities, and nationalities. About 50 paintings by Sargent, over a dozen period garments and accessories shed new light on the relationship between fashion and this beloved artist’s creative practice.
There is music every afternoon starting at 15:00 continuing on into the evening. On the weekends there is a trio. As I entered today, the pianist was playing Meditation from Massenet's opera Thaïs, one of my favorite compositions. However, I am accustomed to hearing it as a violin solo as it is in the opera.
Lobby flowers everywhere
Philharmonie de Paris--Riccardo Muti, conductor, Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a program of Wagner, Hindemith and Dvorák's glorious Symphonie No. 9
Again at the Philharmonie de Paris--Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Philippe Jordan, conductor, Nicholas Angelich, piano, in an all Beethoven program. The audience was wildly enthusiastic especially for Concerto pour Piano No. 4. The weekend is a celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth.
Philharmonie de Paris--Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Philippe Jordan, conductor, Nicholas Angelich, piano, in magnificent renditions of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Mass in C Major, Fantaisie pour Piano Op.77, Fantaisie chorale pour piano, choeur (60 members plus 6 soloists), et orchestre. I was ecstatic as was the entire audience!
The outside of the contemporary, futuristic Philharmonie de Paris
Pièce de résistance! JONAS KAUFMANN, tenor, PKF (Prague Philharmonia), Jochen Rieder, conductor, Rachel Willis-Sorensen, guest soprano, in a program entitled My Vienna, arias and Viennese melodies--at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. This is a memory I will always treasure!
Jonas Kaufmann at the Théâtre de-Champs-Elysées
Jonas Kaufmann sings Dein ist mein ganzes Herz.
Voilà! C'est moi! A ride around Paris in a vintage French Citroën--Between the strikes and the protests the traffic was horrendous! But it would not be Paris if the French did not have their beloved "manifestations"!
Le George at the Four Seasons Hotel George V
Complimentary dessert trolley at Le Cinq at the George V
Le Jardin de L'Espadon at the recently renovated Ritz on the Place Vendome
High Tea in the Jardin d'Hiver at the recently renovated de Crillon on the Place de la Concorde
Paris-February 2020
Me
voici! at the Philharmonie de Paris again! The catalyst for this visit
was to attend a performance of KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI (Georgia), dramatic,
provocative, exuberant, highly accomplished pianist. Ms Buniatishvili
did not disappoint!
NHK Symphony Orchestra (Japan)
Paavo Järvi (Estonia) conductor
Beethoven Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestraa
Intermission
Bruckner Symphony No. 7
Khatia Buniastishvili and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2
I
am quite sure Anna Wintour was in the dining room for lunch at Le
Jardin de L'Espadon (Ritz Hotel)! Her "look" and mannerisms are so
distinctive that you cannot miss her! O-la-la! Even her
speech/accent/voice are distinctive/studied! It is after all Paris
Fashion Week!
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Andris Nelsons (Latvia, currently director of the BSO) conductor
Beethoven Symphony No. 4 in B flat, op.60
Intermission
Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 67
Beethoven's Fifth thunders into life with four notes that absolutely everyone can recognize!
I remember when the Vienna Philharmonic was ALL male! It is still a predominately male orchestra.
Andris Nelsons in lobby signing autographs after the performance
Lunch
at Sur Mesure at the Mandarin Oriental....This is an exquisite
experience in every way: all white decor, unusual, creative, absolutely
delicious cuisine, lots of delightful extras, attentive service, but not
intrusive.
The indoor garden/lounge with birds chirping adjacent to Sur Mesure is enchanting.
Lunch
at L'Oiseau Blanc at the Peninsula Hotel--This was a pleasant
experience. They tout a roof-top view, but at lunch time the view is
only other roof-tops and the Tour Eiffel in the distance. At night I
would assume that the view of the Tour Eiffel with its sparkling lights
would be spectacular, but that is available from many other less
expensive venues or from one of the many bridges that span the Seine!
Lunch at L'Avenue on the corner of avenue Montaigne at No. 41--This is a restaurant where one goes to see and be seen. It has a regular clientele of fashion designers, stylish Parisians and trendy visitors. The food is surprisingly good but expensive but still affordable!
Mon Dieu! C'est incroyable! At 4:30 PM I received an email stating that the opening night 7:30 PM performance of Massenet's Manon
at the Opéra Bastille was cancelled because of a national and
interprofessional strike! Then the next day, Sunday, March 1st, at
11:00 AM I received another email that the 2:30 PM all-Balanchine ballet
performance at the Opéra Bastille was cancelled due to "industrial
action by certain members of the Opera's staff in connection with the
pension reform project." Apparently, employees have the right to declare
industrial action right up until the scheduled performance time!
These
cancellations had nothing to do with the impending Covid-19 pandemic.
Little did we realize that the virus had been circulating and within 2
weeks everything, absolutely everything (except essential services)
would be in lockdown.
I enjoyed easy-listening jazz in the Galerie at the George V. On this evening they played Que Rest-t-il de Nos Amours, a beautiful ballad by Charles Trenet. Indeed, they played it twice for me!
Charles Trenet sings Que Rest-t-il de Nos Amours
Fondation
Louis Vuitton, designed by architect Frank Gehry, started in 2006 and
opened in 2014, is a museum and cultural center. Its auditorium
offers exceptional acoustics and innovative equipment.
I flew home business class. Perhaps this saved me from the extremely infectious Covid-19 virus.
Caldera, to New Orleans--October 8 to October 27, 2019 Crystal Symphony
Because there is no direct non-stop flight from Boston to San José, Costa Rica, I flew Jet Blue to Fort Lauderdale on October 8 and stayed overnight. The next day I took a late morning flight to San José, and I arrived early afternoon refreshed. I stayed 2 nights in Heredia, suburb of San José, at the Hacienda Belen, a Marriott property. It is a beautiful hotel with a stunning long driveway, entrance and grounds. On the 2nd day through the hotel I booked a private tour to all the surrounding areas--from the huts/shacks of San José to the beauty of Alajuela, Escazú, Belen, Santa Ana, Heredia. My private transfer of about 90 minutes from the hotel to the port of Caldera, a rather undistinguished or even ugly port, was through beautiful countryside. Our cruise was along the west coast of Costa Rica with ports of call in Quepos, Golfito, Panama City, through the Panama Canal (my 3rd or 4th time), Catagena (Columbia), Puerto Limón on the east coast of Costa Rica, cruising the Caribbean, Cozumel (Mexico), finally docking in New Orleans on October 25th. I stayed for 2 nights at the Windsor Court, an exquisite hotel with impeccable amenities and service. I loved New Orleans: music everywhere, the cuisine, the culture (I was addressed as Miss Mary). And, of course, no trip to New Orleans is complete without a visit to the famous Café du Monde and sampling their beignets and coffee!
View from my room at the Heredia Hacienda Belen Hotel
Formal night on board Crystal Symphony
Curtis Collins and Beverly Durand performed an Argentine Tango that would rival any professional performance that I attended in Buenos Aires.
The exhibition explores the celebrity culture of Lautrec’s time and the artist’s fascination with its stars, both the roles that they played and their personal lives. With expressive lines and brazen colors, the artist captured the spectacle of the fin de siècle in evocative posters, prints, and paintings. “Toulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris” is organized in partnership with the Boston Public Library
There were around 70-plus paintings, sculptures,
photographs, artifacts by Lautrec contemporaries (e.g., Degas, Picasso,
Mary Cassatt, etc.) alongside 100-plus Lautrec works to compare how
artists portrayed turn-of-the-century Paris.
MFA--Toulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris: Click Boston Magazine: Click
I enjoy my family, music, concerts, theatre, MFA, BSO, foreign films, dancing, fine dining, stimulating conversation, laughter, travel, foreign cultures, social interaction, brisk walking, quiet times at home.
