A little birding drama this evening...

There were not as many birds to look at in Central Park (NYC) this week as one might usually expect to find during the 2nd week of May--the height of spring migration. (There were strong eastern winds and fog last Friday night into Saturday and that tropical storm down in the Carolinas seems to have the birds bunched up there still.) Yesterday and today began to pick up again, though.  After the dayjob today, I walked up to the park and had seven warblers within a half-hour (Magnolia, Amer. Redstart, Black & White, Yellowrump, Common Yellowthroat, Chestnut-sided and Blackpoll) and heard another two (Black-throated Blue and Ovenbird), as well as seeing a Great White Egret and a Green Heron.  I continued to the section of the Ramble called "The Point," as I'd been told there was a Canada there, but didn't find it.  

I did find my first-of-season Swainson's Thrush... (The farther bird--the closer one is a European House Sparrow.)

I found a Robin preening after taking a bath... (giving me the stink-eye, as I was interrupting!)

And a giant, threatening cloudbank was moving in and making the light awful, so I started to head out, stopping at the Oven to look for the singing Baltimore Oriole I was hearing.

I got distracted by a Northern Cardinal, who was too interested in eating seeds to worry about me standing a few feet from him...

Although then I heard a ruckus coming from The Point--I heard a Red-tailed Hawk screeching and Bluejays and Grackles, and then saw the latter chasing the former!

The Red-tailed sat in a tree screeching at the top of his lungs, while the Bluejays and Grackles were also screeching and hopping about and harassing the hawk.  He finally decided he had enough and took off toward The Point and flew over it, with the smaller birds still in pursuit!

(I'm pretty sure from how white this bird is, that this is "Pale Male"...)

So I thought that was an exciting end to the day, and it would be time to leave, but then I heard a scolding "chick, chick."  I looked up and saw red bird fly out from the tree where the hawk had been so briefly and thought, "Oh, another Cardinal..." but part of my brain thought the sound was different than the little scolding noise than that of a Cardinal.  (It seemed a bit slower and lower.)  I looked again and realized that it was a very upset Scarlet Tanager, who had probably witnessed the hawk and the harassing thereof first hand and up close!!  He only landed for a moment before flying off (in the other direction of the hawk!!), so my only photo of him is him taking off again.

(He's right above the bushiest part of the tree--here's a close-up.)

Then I decided that the sun was getting low and it was going to take a lot to top that, so I went home.  

Verdi Requiem at the NYPhilharmonic

Verdi Requiem at the NYPhil – everyone gets to indulge me while I RAVE for a review, and this is long-winded, even for me!

First off, last September I looked through flyers of what was going to be performed where and when this season and I had a lot of “ooh, I want to hear that” reactions, and then got busy and didn’t have any expendable cash anyway, so didn’t buy any tickets.  I then totally forgot that this work was being performed this month until yesterday when one of my attorneys at my dayjob got a computer call at work from the Phil, letting him know that the scheduled tenor, Brandon Jovanovich, was indisposed and that Russell Thomas would sing instead.   (The computer continued not to be late—there was going to be no intermission and only one late seating half way through.)  I took the message and said to myself, "Oh, oh! I hope there are tickets left!" I looked online and then stopped at the box office on my way home yesterday to get a ticket for today’s show. (I thought when things started being all computerized, it was supposed to =save= people money, not charge them more!!!)

As a further preface, this is one of my favorite pieces and something I’ve studied and have been champing at the bit to sing for several years.  All I’ve gotten to do so far is the Libera me in an audition, although I =did= get a callback and compliments on my floaty high b-flat, and I’m sounding even better now, so, Universe, I make you a deal: I will learn the bits I don’t know in the next couple of months and you get me a gig. There…now it’s out there.  All this said? I’ve never heard it performed live, and neither have I sung it as a chorister, so this was truly my first exposure to it all in person.

As I’m still on the crutches for the broken toe, I chose the farthest seat house left in the last row of the orchestra, sort of under where the overhangs on the left side of the house and over the back of the house meet. (Also the seat I could afford, LOL!) Every once in a while when things were very loud, I got a buzzing sound in only my right ear, which I’m going to attribute to the acoustics of that section – I’ve not experienced it anywhere else I’ve sat in the house. (Strange…)  You could tell the audience was very excited—the fellow next to me was telling his companion that it hasn’t been performed in NYC since 2006 (disclaimer: I have not verified this, so don’t know the accuracy.)  He also exclaimed, while reading the program and seeing a picture of Verdi therein, “Verdi, what a force!! Look at that picture…”  (I had to bite my lip not to laugh out loud.)  Another person heading to their seat said to someone with him, “Have you ever seen the place so full so early?!”

As the work started, I was reminded that I am always amazed that the string sections of this orchestra are able to produce such a gorgeous, barely audible pianissimo.  The New York Choral Artists matched that quality admirably.  The soloists then presented themselves, so I’ll also take this moment to say that this is my first time hearing any of them live in the house. I’ve heard Angela Meade and Eric Owens on broadcasts, but not live.  Angela was just plain glorious throughout. Beautiful sound, fabulous high floaty stuff, very exciting to hear.  Eric Owens I felt needed a few phrases to warm up, but then sounded awesome.  The solo part of the Tuba mirum was absolutely gorgeous.  When Russell Thomas started, it sounded a very mouthy-produced sound (I much prefer a very ringy sound), and he had a piano note which he pulled the sound way back on and I was a tad disappointed, but when he got to his solo “Ingemisco,” it was suddenly like an entirely diff’t person was singing and was gorgeous!! I don’t know if he was tired and needed all that earlier stuff to warm up and find himself, or what, but from thereon out, it was a pleasure to hear him. (He gets major kudos, though, for stepping in on what I suspect is very short notice , especially if the notice for the substitution only went out yesterday!!)  The Finnish mezzo, Lilli Paasikivi, was just Amazing. A-Ma-Zing.  She has a rich, plummy sound, and I could hear every note, even the low, cut right through and over the orchestra.  And I honestly don’t think I’ve ever before heard a mezzo do the “high floaty thing” that one usually thinks of coming out of sopranos. At one point I thought, “how have I never heard her before?! I could listen to this voice sing all day long!”  When she and Eric Owens started the Lacrymosa section, the two of them made me get all teary, the first of 2 times that happened tonight.

Because it’s been used in movies and commercials, everyone knows the Dies Irae, and I think everyone looks forward to it.  The orchestra and chorus completely rocked it and I laughed because my arms and legs were completely covered in goosebumps.  (This happened about 5-6 times tonight… I honestly don’t remember the last time I had that reaction from a live performance. I could probably go through the score and point out all the sections, but each time it made me go, “OOOOH!!!” inside, LOL!) At one point in the first movement, I wished that I hadn’t put my program in my bag and my pen in my pocket because I wanted to make notes to share with you, but I don’t think I’d have taken the time to stop and write anything because it was too thrilling. Oh! And there’s one section of the Dies irae which has antiphonal trumpets, and the trumpets were in the 2^nd Tier on either side (and possibly above me, too, couldn’t see as I was under the overhang). That was a very cool effect and their fanfare was very well done.  At some point, all the strings were furiously playing descending scales and I laughed delightedly to myself, thinking, wow, they probably don’t get to play Verdi very often—that must be fun for them!  Also, later in the piece (I forget which part) there was a Wonderful section where all the low brass got to play a really complicated (and loud!) section, and that was fun to listen to as well.

The chorus sang well throughout, but really showed their stuff in the allegro section of the Sanctus.  The only word I can think to describe it is “sparkling.”  They had a great tone and took off at a galloping tempo and it was absolutely wonderful, and the double chorus was just fabulous with the orchestra just matching them in the sparkling energy.  They got to the end of it, and I really wanted to jump to my feet and yell, “Yay!!!” and applaud furiously.  Of course I didn’t because the very next thing is possibly the hardest bit – the soprano and mezzo doing the Agnus Dei a capella, an octave apart.  They =nailed= it.  It was absolutely superb.  And then the craziest thing happened… in the middle of it, 2 people walked out. And when the Agnus Dei ended, about another dozen people left. I sat there completely bemused, thinking, “How can you POSSIBLY leave NOW?!??!?!” I was shocked.  (I was also shocked at the number of people who arrived late, and as they were taking their seats, I leaned over and told the guy next to me that I’d be really mad if I’d been late and missed all that wonderful stuff—the late arrivers missed all of the Dies Irae!!!! :shakes head:…(he laughed!))

The three lower voices did a great job with the Lux aeterna (again, this mezzo was outstanding!!), but I am a complete soprano and by this point I was thinking “Libera me!!  Libera me!! Get to the Libera me!!”  OMG, Angela Meade sang it SO WELL! (LOL--Have I gotten across yet that I really enjoyed the performance?!)  I had several moments throughout the work where I just wanted to say to someone, anyone, “Verdi is SO AWESOME!” or something like that… well, they got past the lovely soft part (she nailed the floaty b-flat), and the altos started the fugue and the whole thing just moved me to tears it was so gorgeous and exciting.  The very last bit before the soft end, where the chorus and orchestra have the tutta forza “Domine, Domine, Domine, etc” and the soprano does the ascending scale to the high c is pretty much my favorite line in the whole work, and I don’t think they could have done it more perfectly for my taste-- everything in me wanted to grab the guy next to me, shake him and yell, “OMG, this is the Most F***ing Awesome Thing EVER!!!” (and you may imagine that in all-caps, and no—no worries, I did not act on that instinct!!!!  But boy, I wanted to, LOL!!)  When it ended, pretty much everyone jumped to their feet and started screaming along with clapping.  It was truly exciting.  (And I wanted to jump up and down and yell, AGAIN!!!!  Yeah, LOL…)

So there.  I’ve gushed too long… if you are in NYC and you have any money for a ticket and if there are any left, I highly, highly, highly recommend trying to go see it tomorrow night (Saturday).