Bravo! Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's 'Scheherazades'

Sani ol-Molk (1814-1866), Scheherazade and the Sultan, 1849-1856/Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org


Bravo!  Bravo!

That was the response from the sold-out, standing audience at the conclusion of two Scheherazades played by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Music Center at Strathmore.

Listeners were spellbound by Scheherazade.2 by John Adams (b. 1947) and Scheherazade by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908).
 
Mr. Adams wrote Scheherazade.2 for his longtime friend and collaborator, Leila Josefowicz, the BSO guest artist who was Scheherazade at the concert.

Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra


Like Rimsky-Korsakov's composition, Scheherazade.2 was thrilling and captivating, almost as if the audience became peeping people, witnessing private, dangerous events.

Fortunately, although contemporary, Mr. Adams's Scheherazade.2 lacked harsh clashes and stifling pauses which afflict many modern works.  

Both Scheherazades are poignant masterpieces, played with large orchestras, using almost the same instruments with the addition of Mr. Adams's celesta and cimbalom.

An Arabic manuscript of the 1001 Nights by Unknown/Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org

In both performances, the cello and bass captured the tensions and fears caused by the sultan, evident throughout the music which contained agonizing combinations, as the imaginary, ruthless dictator practices torture, but gradually succumbs to the magic of Scheherazade.  

Ferdinand Keller (1842-1922), Scheherazade and Sultan Schariar, 1880/Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org 

Wearing a sleeveless, colorful tunic, Ms. Josefowicz played her violin with gusto, occasionally stomping her foot, standing in the shape of a Z, mostly perpendicular to the audience and adjacent to BSO's conductor, Marin Alsop, who complimented Ms. Josefowicz's ability to perform without notes.

Sometimes the violinist threw back her back as if to taunt her invisible captor, the 15th century sultan.
 
According to legend, Scheherazade (also called Shirazad, Shahrazad, and Shahrzad) was the name of the last bride of the murderous sultan who, over 1001 nights, killed 1001 women, one by one on their wedding nights, fearing their unfaithfulness.

That is, until the last bride, Scheherazade, who regaled the sultan night after night with stories and endings she left until the next night and the next and the next...for 1001 nights.  By then, the sultan was enraptured and made Scheherazade his queen to live forever in the pages of 1001 Nights.

At evening's end, Conductor Alsop recognized the principal musicians, the soloists in the Rimsey-Korsakov, the first violinist and concertmaster, Jonathan Carney who played like it was his last concert, and cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski, another evening star among many.

Indeed, Rimsey-Korsakov brought my friend and me to tears, emotionally wrought by his compelling Scheherazade.

For both composers, their creations began with art.

Mr. Adams visited the Monde Arabe (the Arab World Institute) in Paris where he saw renditions of cruelty and  brutality inflicted upon women beginning with illustrations from the 15th century. (Additions from the 21st century: Trump, R. Kelly, Harvey Weinstein, Bob Kraft, Bill O'Reilly, Matt Lauer, Mark Halperin, Tucker Carlson)

On International Women's Day weekend, Conductor Alsop called Mr. Adams "probably the biggest feminist I know."

Wikipedia says Rimsey-Korsakov had an interest in the Orient and the pictures from 1001 Nights helped drive him to his greatest composition.

Although Rimsey-Korsakov's version ends happily with Scheherazade able to prolong and save her life through her marvelous story telling, Conductor Alsop said Mr. Adams's composition leaves it up to the listener to decide the outcome.

In which case, (thank you, Mr. Adams) with her bow, Scheherazade pierces the throat of the cruel dictator whose streams of blood turn into coral snakes which the heroine rides to the torture chambers. There, snake-strangled guards loosen their grips on chamber keys which our heroine scoops up and unlocks prison doors, freeing all captives. 

Together, the former prisoners and Scheherazade leave the Earth to ride on, ride on the snakes in majesty up to the heavens where they alight from the rocket snakes to step upon starry skies and to this day, wink at us nightly from their pedestals in the universe.

Meanwhile, continuing their journeys, the corals speed through the universe to their temporary residency on the planet Mars, which to this day is known as the Red Planet.
   
Sometimes, as it were, these kind beasts are yet called upon to awake from hibernation and be born again, to render aid to those on Earth, and descend upon legislators in Annapolis, Maryland who disavow the Bravo Symphony Orchestra's financial needs.  

On Earth, the rocket snakes embrace the people's representatives whose skin turns coral red as they become servants in the kingdom of Daniel Sultan, a worse destiny, not yet known.
    
So ends the tale of a thousand and one nights of pleasure with the Bravo/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.  

You see what music and art can do! The beat goes on. 

Next up for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra:  

Appalachian Spring March 14 at Strathmore, March 15 and 16 at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore, and  

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix March 22 and 24 at the Meyerhoff, and March 23 at Strathmore.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Where have all the flowers gone, Philadelphia?

At the Hall A entrance at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show, orange and yellow streamers hang from the ceiling looking like dried piece of mud and sand with apples and oranges strapped to them, a dreary introduction for adults who shell out a $42 weekend rate to attend/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This year's flower show in Philadelphia, ending March 10 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, is a tired and sad remnant of past years' displays.

The title, "Flower Power" left me wanting.

Really? I grew up in the 60s and "flower power" today lacks appeal and finesse. 

An infrequent garden landscape at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

It must be peace at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie


My expectations were not exceeded in 2019 in the City of Brotherly Love.

I found no magic or allure.  

Nothing climbs to the ceiling or sent me soaring.

But they came.  The flower show says 250,000 people come annually.

These narcissi ("Sir Winston Churchill" Double Daffodils) won our First Prize for Best Fragrance in the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This host of golden daffodils were all that we found. Usually boxes of them are laid out in competition, but we missed them at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie



The international show this year (and it truly is international since it's the first FTD World Cup competition hosted in the U.S. since 1985) is rather tame and boring (have I said that?) without any huge, mammoth splashes of color or vibrancy to make your mouth drop and the words, "Do you believe that?" tumble out.

Compared to years past, the flowers and exhibitions this year have lots of concrete space to take up room for missing displays. (See links below to compare with previous shows.)

Was it just me who was disappointed?  Nyet. Another veteran and a newcomer on the Smithsonian Associates' bus tour agreed it was not the best day trip. No one on the return trip "oohed" and "awed" or even talked about the show, save the Smithsonian guide, Bill Ulman, who did a splendid job (assisted by Marilyn Jacanin).

After spending two hours at the show, the newcomer said she got bored and went across the street to the Reading Terminal Market.

This was one of the "miniatures" which had a theme this year of gardens in books. This title is The Magician's Garden by Chris van Allsburg which won a second prize for "Team Amanda" at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show. The white dots are reflections of ceiling lights in the protective glass/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Another miniature, this one, Escape to Bag End by J.R.R. Tolkien won a second prize for "Northview Crew" at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This miniature, The Garden of Stubborn Cats by Italo Calvino won first prize for Deb and Jim Mackie at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A miniature for The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett won a third prize for "Jenkintown Mini-Makers" at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show. The judges might have liked it more had they not had to bend over to see it in the window/Photo by Patricia Leslie.

Rudyard Kipling's changing colors The Glory of the Garden by John Jayne and Jayne Price won second prize at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This industrial setting, Return of the Restless Railway by Peter Brown won first place for Marlene Goeke and Michelle Blockwell at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Bay leaves, rosemary, corn kernels and husks, mustard and caraway seeds, and almonds are some of the components of this first prize winner, a hair ornament, by Tyler R. Hetherston. Judges labeled it "exquisite, feminine and flawless" at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show. The white dots are reflections of ceiling lights in the glass/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The judges criticized this beautiful ring by Sarah Carlson and Fran Gerdes awarding it only a third prize because its colors were not "bold and pop arty."  Good grief!  It is much nicer than the first place winner, whatever below, at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

First place (?) jewelry at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Great favs, the blue earring "challenges functionality," wrote the judges who granted a second prize for Georgette Sturam and the Garden Club of Trenton at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

One of the international World Cup competitors, Tamas Mezoffy from Hungary created this array on display at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Another international competitor which rather looks like artificial flowers stuck on cotton.  Sorry! At the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Looking up at the ceiling entrance, what would you guess? My tie-dye hair in the morning (had I this much!), hidden bee hives (whoops!  That's the holding screen), a still of a ceiling explosion of thistledown, or a skirt worn by an angry giant at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

I believe, another international competitor at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

An entry in "Entryways" by the Norristown Garden Club won a second prize at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Whatever is prettier and more soothing to the eye than a combination of white and green?  At the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

When it's "flower power," Jimi Hendrix is always nearby, maybe hiding in the bushes at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Tulips at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Hyacinths and more tulips whose colors seem a bit faded, now that the end is nigh for the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie


Dear Flower Show:  Can't you give us something pretty?  Like song titles, France, Italy, painters (please exclude harsh contemporaries), beaches, South America, cities, greens, planets, gems (imagine!), and animals? (Well, some of them are.)

Exclude reptiles from animals?  But I recall the life-sized one, standing I think, with skin of green flowers and red eyes which blinked!  I am still talking about him, for the third time this week!  Now, that's a memory, and the only memory I have of your 2019 show is...disappointment.

Philadelphia, I'll admit I am still fuming about Bryce Harper. You can have him, but please, ...bring back the flowers. Thank you. 

To compare 2019 with other shows, please check the following links for pictures from 2016, from 2015, and 2013.



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At the think tanks: the Russian Ambassador to the United States

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov at the Stimson Center, March 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

He came not to brandish a sword but to bring peace and understanding.

He came not to praise so much as to complain.

"We are in crisis," said Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov at the President's Forum at the Stimson Center Monday afternoon, speaking of arms control and nuclear disarmament.  

They were his favorite topics of the day (and the subject of his dissertation), but the moderator and the audience had other ideas.

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov at the Stimson Center, March 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

(What's this new chapter in U.S-Russia relations? Have the Russians decided that talk is better than social media?)

We are waiting, waiting, waiting on the U.S. to make decisions, Ambassador Antonov, age 64, said.

Can't we just talk? He invited discussion.  He wants discussion. 
  
The ambassador said talking can achieve much progress between the U.S. and the Russian Federation (calling it always, the "Russian Federation" and the U.S., the "United States").

His message was a constant refrain: "Please, I just want to talk this through" and stop this lover's quarrel between my nation and yours.  Can't we advance cultural understanding?

Talking with help soothe frayed nerves, he seemed to say, and simplify the task of getting things like visas.

Russian artists, academicians, "our sportsmen"... "cannot come" to the U.S. because they can't get visas, he moaned. Can't you do something about it? 

"What is more important than just only dialogue between the United States and Russia?" I ask you! And urge you to "relax the tension," at least, in this sphere which can help solve problems in other areas.

Rather than the bullying personality he receives at Wikipedia, Mr. Antonov was personable and inviting (part of his negotiating skills), willing to sit down and iron out arms control, a subject he strove to accentuate the entire hour, but Stimson president and moderator Brian Finlay and audience members would have little of it.

Early in the session Mr. Finlay tried to steer the ambassador's history lesson on post-World War II and the U.N. Security Council back to the future, but, the ambassador would not give up his quest.  

He said he was "very upset when the United States decided to withdraw" from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the "Iran deal." Iran has followed all the rules and regulations required in the agreement, he said. 

Mr. Antonov quoted a Japanese proverb: "It's very easy to destroy a castle but it will need three years to erect a new one," and he hopes the U.S. will reconsider. (The U.S. Department of State's website has not been updated for more than three years (!), failing to show Trump's withdrawal from the deal, perhaps because no one is left at the State Department to change it.  Go to Wikipedia for current information.)


Maps?  if anyone needed map clarification, the ambassador  brought colored ones made by a Russian Federation defense agency (where he went to school) to show how much of Europe (all of it) and Russia would be susceptible to missiles shot from...the U.S.?

When pushed obliquely to criticize the "Hanoi Summit," all Mr. Antonov would say was "North Korea is our neighbor," and "we are in favor of peaceful solutions for all problems we face today in that region," but "that's not so easy." 

He mentioned Trump's name only twice without criticism. Or praise. (My count of "Putin" utterances was four; nothing worth writing home about.) 

The ambassador complained about the Russian prisoner Konstantin Yaroshenko held in a "Kentucky" (sounds like Connecticut) prison for eight years (he said nine), badly needing medical treatment.  

Help! I've lost my teeth, and I cannot eat, the ambassador quoted the convicted.  I am not asking that he get out of jail free, the ambassador said (paraphrasing), but can't you people please get this man some medical treatment? Some medicine? Can't you reach out to the authorities and request aid? In the name of human decency (like what's practiced in the Motherland), I call on human rights activists to provide medical assistance!  

(Obviously, the ambassador is not familiar with U.S. medical treatment. This is not Russia, Mr. Ambassador, where a doctor comes to your house on the first day you report a cold. For teeth, the waiting period in the U.S. is eight plus years!)

(Mr. Yaroshenko is serving a 20-year sentence in a Connecticut prison, not CONtucky which Ambassador Antonov said twice, actually pronouncing it correctly.  However, he may know something we don't know, and may have revealed a top state secret.

Mr. Yaroshenko was caught in a drug bust in Africa in 2010. Wave if you've heard this one:  His arrest was "set-up.") 
 
The two nations do agree on one topic, the ambassador said:  Syria (with little discussion).


After about 45 minutes of ambassadorial talk, Mr. Finlay invited questions from the audience which came from reporters from ABC News, the Guardian, and the Washington Post.

The ABC News reporter asked if the "Kentucky prisoner" could be a possible swap or "gotchas" with Americans presently held in Russian prisons: businessman Michael Calvey and former marine, Paul Whelan.

The ambassador said there was really no comparison since Mr. Whelan's case was still being investigated, and his innocence or guilt has not been determined, so, no, a trade or swap is out of the question. (Maria Butina's name never came up.)

At the end of the talk, Mr. Finlay asked Mr. Antonov to please identify missing topics from the afternoon discussion, and the ambassador said simply: "Afghanistan" (without elaboration).

He offered to visit any group and answer any questions.  
He smiled often and seemed quite at ease, making the audience laugh on several occasions.

 Ambassador Antonov said he had been "lazy" and visited the University Club near the Russian D.C. residence where he was surprised, during the World Cup, to find Americans watching the competition and supporting the Russians. (During the afternoon, our Washington Capitals championship hockey team, many whose stars are imported Russians, never came up, possibly because the Washington Post's coverage of them is quite lame, and the ambassador might be unaware of Russian heroes in the District of Columbia.)

Mr. Antonov said it appeared the audience was all journalists (there were several empty seats), save one woman shaking her head and waving an object (a white feather?) in the air, but she was not called upon for a question.
  
Neither was I who wanted to ask him to name, please, the Russian preferred U.S. presidential candidate(s) for 2020.

He said Russians have recently blocked three million U.S. attempts to hack into its I.P. addresses, but do we hear about those? 

Can't say that we do!  Welcome, Mr. Ambassador, to global exchange and trade!

For video and precise language of the session, see C Span.

P.S. My first draft of this carried a Tass link on Mr. Yaroshenko, but my computer went haywire after a while, flashing messages of concern, and the security system required immediate attention, so I deleted the Tass connection, thinking that might be the cause, and inserted instead (now that my computer likely has a "Russian virus"), a link to Mr. Yaroshenko from ABC News. Things have settled down.  It's almost like getting a new set of teeth.
  
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