Another culture filled day on Saturday, as I went to the to see the Renoir Landscapes exhibition. It featured many of his early works with a just a coda of three late works for contrast. I always enjoy the major exhibitions when they come to Philadelphia, since Philly knows how to run the show pretty well. Still, it was pretty crowded, but with a bit of patience and good will, I got to see everything. And there was much to view - each room took a different subject to illustrate points of Renoir's style. One for example was cityscapes - scenes he'd painted while living in Paris, which stood in marked contrast to those which he painted while traveling - St. Mark's in Venice, and some botanical gardens in Algiers. Also included were everyday scenes of people, relaxing, exercising, going about their day. While impressionism doesn't generally well... make an impression on me, I couldn't help but see what a mastery of light and shadow Renoir displayed. All this was supported by an excellent audio tour - certain paintings had a small symbol with a number by them - you punched in the number on the file player they provide you with and you hear the curator's description of the painting and some interesting facts about it. Not only that they have a "Family Tour" version too which, to be honest, is far more entertaining as they have the "artist" speaking to you about the artwork. Some paintings had both symbols, some one or the other and some had none at all, but all had a placard which gave more information. From these I actually did learn a lot - I didn't realize Renoir painted with Cezanne and Monet from time to time. It kind of explains two paintings from the first room of the exhibition. One features two artists, one standing behind the other who is working at an easel. The second self-deprecatingly shows two artists sound asleep at the beach. It's these human moments I found fascinating in his work, along as I said, with his tonal palette.
After the exhibition and accompanying gift shop, I found out there was to be a Music in the Galleries presentation, but after looking around for Gallery 206, I was kind of stumped as to where it might be. Fortunately, I saw a girl carrying a cello case, so I figured this was my best bet yet, and I followed her. When she was joined by the violist and violinist, I was sure I was on the right track. Gallery 206 is in the medieval section of the museum, hung with tapestries and religious triptychs. It was in this setting the trio played excerpts from Handel's trio sonatas. All were students at Curtis and they all played quite well - it was very enjoyable. (Curtis Institute is a great music school in Philadelphia, training young musicians, many of whom have been accepted into the Philadelphia Orchestra and the like.)
As a side note, I got to see out the front of the museum where they had this gigantic tree. I wish I had a camera because it looked awesome against the backdrop of the Ben Franklin Parkway (and of course the "Rocky" steps leading up to it).
A cab ride across the city brought me to where I had an excellent lunch of beef pie, with red cabbage and a very fine George Washington Porter (brewed for them by Yards Brewing Co, also a fine Philadelphia business). I've talked about it before, but City Tavern is one of my all time favorite restaurants - not only because of the window dressing (staff dresses in period costume, and they periodically have actors playing famous people of the period in their lounge, with whom you can talk about the events of the day - the "day" being the 1770's, and when I was there it was General Washington) but because the food is historically authentic, and flat out fantastic. I've yet to have a bad meal there - also, the portions have always been just right. I also got up the gumption to purchase the cook book, which, if they actually do cook their meals this way, explains why it's so good. It's definitely not for those short on time, but for those who love being in the kitchen it's well worth it. I'll talk more about it once I start making the recipes.
After the City Tavern, I walked back on up to the Kimmel Center, where there was apparently a Christmas choral concert going on in Verizon Hall. They broadcast the music out into the Kimmel Center, so it was nice to relax and hear the choristers do their thing. After that, they had a group of 6 or so French horns playing carols in the Center, between Verizon Hall and the Perelman Theater. A nice meal of chicken salad and a large cup of minestrone hit the spot, and I looked about the hall until the pre-concert conversation (given by a lecturer at Penn).
The work we were to hear was - a large scale oratorio that isn't performed that often. It tells the story of a Peri a being born of a mortal and a fallen angel and her attempts to get into heaven. The doors to heaven would open if she brought the gift that heaven wanted most. As these things go, it takes three tries before she succeeds. The work which inspired it, Thomas' Lalla Rookh was rooted in Persian mytholgy, but apparently the story's crossed boundaries, as I listened to what I gathered was a Jewish couple discussing the finer points of the version they heard, agreeing it the same basic story.
It was a very good performance, though the soprano that sang the Peri was somewhat inaudible at times due to the orchestra/chorus. This is a bit unusual in that Schumann scored the work for orchestra, chorus, a vocal quartet and two soloists. To my ears, this enables him to shift from full choral passages to chamber passages to solo passages without as much differentiation in texture or volume. The libretto reflects the fad for orientalism then present at the time in Europe. Judging from the place names used, that term is given a very wide berth - as just about anything east of Europe - so Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, India and a few other far flung places get mentioned. Sir Simon Rattle was the conductor and apparently had enough clout that he could pick his own music. I don't see this displacing Handel's Messiah any time soon (nor even Mendelssohn's oratorios Saul and Elijah, which influenced it) but it does have its moments to be sure. I'm glad I picked up a recording of it and hope to get to know the work better.
I got out of the city quickly, and thankfully because just as I was getting home (I live about 2.5 hours away) there was enough snow on the ground to be cautious. Still, a great day, even with the freezing temperatures.
