What I did this weekend...
I had a great time this weekend – the Frida Kahlo exhibition was really good and I learned some things about the artist and her work. To me, her art was a kind of catharsis – a way of dealing with the pain in her life to which she was seemingly subjected on a near-constant basis. As a girl, the bus Kahlo was riding in collided with a streetcar, causing a metal handrail to impale her through her back and abdomen. One self-portrait (The Broken Column) shows her torso split open, revealing a broken column where the spine should be. Metal bands encircle her – symbolizing the metal corset she was wearing in an attempt to keep her shattered body together. Unlike the other artworks I saw, Kahlo paints a more sensual figure than in her other self portraits, possibly to suggest a yearning for beauty despite the desolation in the background, and the deterioration in the foreground.
Another source of pain was her troubled relationship with muralist Diego Rivera. Rivera for his part told Kahlo that he would not be faithful to her, however Kahlo did expect that he would be loyal to her. As a result, Kahlo turned a blind eye to Rivera’s many affairs after they’d married, until Rivera started one with her sister Cristina. Kahlo then started having affairs of her own, most notably with Leon Trotsky, who had come to Mexico for asylum. Kahlo’s and Rivera’s relationship deteriorated to where they divorced, only to remarry a year later. Kahlo splits herself in two in the self-portrait The Two Fridas – the one on the right, dressed in Mexican peasant garb is the Frida that Diego loves – a strong woman, who holds a small portrait of Rivera. A network of arteries extends from the small portrait up through the exposed heart of the loved Frida. It crosses the canvas to the unloved Frida, down through her broken heart, and ends with a suture where the unloved Frida is unsuccessfully trying to stop the flow of blood onto her white dress.
Afterwards we went to Nodding Head brewpub for some lighter fare and liquid refreshments. I ordered a sampler flight of their beers (six in all) and was given tumblers full of each. The assembled group could’ve tasted everything based on that size, but as it was I finished the lot. My favorite was the saison, followed by the ale and chocolate stout. A charcuterie platter (sausage, green apples, cheese, bread) provided the sustenance to absorb the alcohol.
Dinner was at Roy’s – and though it is a chain restaurant, you’d never know it from appearances. Comments were made about how well they used the space of the former bank building the restaurant occupies. I had the winter prix fixe menu ($35) and chose a sushi roll appetizer and curried tiger shrimp for the main course, and the chocolate soufflé for desert. (We also shared a plate of kung pao calamari which was roundly declared delicious.) The menu notes that the soufflé takes at least 20 minutes to prepare, but it was well worth it. Imagine a small cocoa colored tower, with a ring of raspberry filling around the edge of the plate. Cutting into the tower reveals it is made of hot dark chocolate, that layers itself over the fork and out onto the plate. This makes it convenient to move the fork along the plate, through the raspberry ring and up to the mouth. Yes, it tasted as sinful as it looked, with a consistency of mousse, and endless waves of dark chocolaty goodness.
Fast forwarding past some Harry Potter films, the next day saw dinner at a Thai restaurant, where my cousin and I shared a plate of ginger shrimp, and she opted for a fish dinner whose name escapes me for the moment. I had salmon stuffed with crabmeat, with a flavorful brown sauce accented by coconut.
The symphony following dinner was really good – works by Stravinsky, Mozart and Rachmaninov were heard, though I wish I could’ve heard the Rachmaninov (Symphony No. 1) beforehand so as to familiarize myself with the ins and outs of the piece. The program led off with the Stravinsky works (Dumbarton Oaks in a chamber arrangement, and a Capriccio concerto for piano and orchestra). I liked the Capriccio better, even though the Dumbarton Oaks was supposedly the more popular of the two. Peter Serkin, the piano soloist in the Capriccio did an excellent job in keeping things moving, as did the conductor Robert Spano. The Mozart piece was a Rondo (K. 382 I think) that he (Mozart) usually kept in his concerts due to its popularity. I can see why – it’s a readily hummable melody with some interesting variations. I just wished for a bit more oomph in the playing of it. After intermission, the Rachmaninov Symphony No. 1 was the second half of the program. It seemed a bit scattered with its ideas, but was definitely a contrast from the first half, and was an opportunity for the whole orchestra to let loose. And they did.
That is pretty much it for the weekend in terms of interesting details. The rest was just the normal stuff in between the museum and concert going.
I had a great time this weekend – the Frida Kahlo exhibition was really good and I learned some things about the artist and her work. To me, her art was a kind of catharsis – a way of dealing with the pain in her life to which she was seemingly subjected on a near-constant basis. As a girl, the bus Kahlo was riding in collided with a streetcar, causing a metal handrail to impale her through her back and abdomen. One self-portrait (The Broken Column) shows her torso split open, revealing a broken column where the spine should be. Metal bands encircle her – symbolizing the metal corset she was wearing in an attempt to keep her shattered body together. Unlike the other artworks I saw, Kahlo paints a more sensual figure than in her other self portraits, possibly to suggest a yearning for beauty despite the desolation in the background, and the deterioration in the foreground.
Another source of pain was her troubled relationship with muralist Diego Rivera. Rivera for his part told Kahlo that he would not be faithful to her, however Kahlo did expect that he would be loyal to her. As a result, Kahlo turned a blind eye to Rivera’s many affairs after they’d married, until Rivera started one with her sister Cristina. Kahlo then started having affairs of her own, most notably with Leon Trotsky, who had come to Mexico for asylum. Kahlo’s and Rivera’s relationship deteriorated to where they divorced, only to remarry a year later. Kahlo splits herself in two in the self-portrait The Two Fridas – the one on the right, dressed in Mexican peasant garb is the Frida that Diego loves – a strong woman, who holds a small portrait of Rivera. A network of arteries extends from the small portrait up through the exposed heart of the loved Frida. It crosses the canvas to the unloved Frida, down through her broken heart, and ends with a suture where the unloved Frida is unsuccessfully trying to stop the flow of blood onto her white dress.
Afterwards we went to Nodding Head brewpub for some lighter fare and liquid refreshments. I ordered a sampler flight of their beers (six in all) and was given tumblers full of each. The assembled group could’ve tasted everything based on that size, but as it was I finished the lot. My favorite was the saison, followed by the ale and chocolate stout. A charcuterie platter (sausage, green apples, cheese, bread) provided the sustenance to absorb the alcohol.
Dinner was at Roy’s – and though it is a chain restaurant, you’d never know it from appearances. Comments were made about how well they used the space of the former bank building the restaurant occupies. I had the winter prix fixe menu ($35) and chose a sushi roll appetizer and curried tiger shrimp for the main course, and the chocolate soufflé for desert. (We also shared a plate of kung pao calamari which was roundly declared delicious.) The menu notes that the soufflé takes at least 20 minutes to prepare, but it was well worth it. Imagine a small cocoa colored tower, with a ring of raspberry filling around the edge of the plate. Cutting into the tower reveals it is made of hot dark chocolate, that layers itself over the fork and out onto the plate. This makes it convenient to move the fork along the plate, through the raspberry ring and up to the mouth. Yes, it tasted as sinful as it looked, with a consistency of mousse, and endless waves of dark chocolaty goodness.
Fast forwarding past some Harry Potter films, the next day saw dinner at a Thai restaurant, where my cousin and I shared a plate of ginger shrimp, and she opted for a fish dinner whose name escapes me for the moment. I had salmon stuffed with crabmeat, with a flavorful brown sauce accented by coconut.
The symphony following dinner was really good – works by Stravinsky, Mozart and Rachmaninov were heard, though I wish I could’ve heard the Rachmaninov (Symphony No. 1) beforehand so as to familiarize myself with the ins and outs of the piece. The program led off with the Stravinsky works (Dumbarton Oaks in a chamber arrangement, and a Capriccio concerto for piano and orchestra). I liked the Capriccio better, even though the Dumbarton Oaks was supposedly the more popular of the two. Peter Serkin, the piano soloist in the Capriccio did an excellent job in keeping things moving, as did the conductor Robert Spano. The Mozart piece was a Rondo (K. 382 I think) that he (Mozart) usually kept in his concerts due to its popularity. I can see why – it’s a readily hummable melody with some interesting variations. I just wished for a bit more oomph in the playing of it. After intermission, the Rachmaninov Symphony No. 1 was the second half of the program. It seemed a bit scattered with its ideas, but was definitely a contrast from the first half, and was an opportunity for the whole orchestra to let loose. And they did.
That is pretty much it for the weekend in terms of interesting details. The rest was just the normal stuff in between the museum and concert going.
take care!