A Tiny Drop of Fame

Just a tiny one, my friends. For the second time in the past few months my review (of the Meyerhoff Requiem night) made it to the Bachtrack June newsletter – this time, instead of just "click here", it was "for an insight into Verdi’s Requiem have a look at Raisa’s review of the Washington Chorus’ performance" + the link.

Ah, the teeny tiny drops of fame...

Happy Friday, everyone!

FCS: My Tribute to A Real Mensch

It is with a lot of sadness and pain in my heart that I report that today, the world lost one of its best teachers (and people), Leonid Milgram, my school principal from ages 7 -17 (elementary, middle and high school). ( In Russia elementary, middle and high school are in the same building and run by the same principal).

He was far more than a school principal. He was an education visionary and a Teacher in the biggest sense of the word. He believed that education would make a difference and turn the world into a better place. At no charge his nation-wide famous School 45 gave its graduates education fit for the second college year.

He was the strictest critic and the most loving fan of his students. No one scolded harder when things went wrong, and no one praised more when things were looking up.

He loved us all, and I mean it - all- like his own kids.

He sent us on free trips and school exchanges all around the world, exposing us to different cultures.

And  – he never missed a plane!

Every time his students left for or came back from a trip, day or night he was right there, at the airport departure or arrival gate to give his blessing and wish good luck, or be the first one to see a bunch of smiling faces.

He was strict but we loved him unconditionally, because we knew: he wished us well. He was very fair and very honest. He taught us to put our hearts into work, just like he did literally every minute of his life.

 I still remember him saying: to us:  It’s not good enough for me to see you grow up to be a person. I want to see you grow up into a Mensch!

And I dare say, many of his students did.

He was passionate about life and knew how to enjoy it.  He was no health-freak: he smoked and loved strong black coffee. He lived doing things, and was exactly what he wanted us to be : a real Mensch.

I obviously won't have a chance to bid him my last farewell by going to his funeral. The least I can do is to write this as a tribute to the greatest Teacher of my life.

My Worksheet

Ever since I began writing reviews for Bachtrack, my programs started looking very peculiar. Check out this one!

Yes, every time I am at a concert or an opera I arm myself with a pen and turn my program into a worksheet. Some of the ideas don't make it to the review, others do. However, whatever happens, it's very important to make notes right there and then, because if you don't, once the show is over, the little details will slip away, and sometimes it's them that matter most.

Oh, and before I forget, unless something else unexpectedly comes up, the Summer Break is here.

(Mind you, no exclamation mark at the end of the sentence).

Discovering Verdi's Requiem - Together!

No sooner had I discovered Mozart’s Requiem in DC than Verdi’s Requiem was calling for me at the Meyerhoff. Yet another discovery to be made!
All right, I hear you all say: Isn’t the opera season over? I did say that earlier, didn’t I? The opera season is, but the Requiem season isn’t.
Fine, I’ll admit it. I’d known for a while I would be going to the Meyerhoff to see Verdi’s Requiem. And yes, I have intentionally kept it a secret. Just felt it wouldn’t hurt to surprise you all with a little encore and show up on my blog stage once more before I officially called it “Summer Break”.

Left to right: Angela Meade, Eve Gigliotti, Marin Alsop

Certain names are a guarantee of a great performance: Marin Alsop is definitely one of them, and Angela Meade is another. The girl has a voice of a truly impossible vocal range. I mean seriously, she goes all the way from full lyric soprano to contra-alto like it’s no big deal. No wonder she will star in two or three Met productions in the coming season, and that, my friends, is only the beginning. Her star is rapidly rising over the world stages!

My review is available to read on http://www.bachtrack.com/ (Reviews Section) and since I can’t post a link to it here, I’d like to motivate you to go for all the trouble of finding it on the said website, and shed some light on its pretty unusual composition. You know how sometimes a movie starts with a scene from the past shot in sepia, and then switches to modern times, thus making us wonder if and how those seemingly unrelated people and events are connected, and what unknown truth is waiting to get out once the ends of the broken string are drawn back together…

There. That’s what format I chose for my review: Past-Present-Past (Verdi – Concert at the Meyerhoff – Verdi). The Verdi parts are two short scenes from his life that magically connect to the main part of the review – the concert.
In a way, this kind of composition was my experiment, considering it was a bit more than just a review of the concert, and I dare say it came out pretty decent, since I got a very flattering e-mail from the director of Bachtrack, that said:
Great review thank you! I really enjoyed reading it.
Feel free to do some more choral. You do it in a way that’s very accessible to a wide audience.
As I was sitting in my super-wonderful orchestra seat, which allowed me as much as to watch the face expressions of the choristers (several of them bearing a striking resemblance with older Verdi), I was thinking: This is great! I’ve got to take Troy to see it!
So what if he would not understand what a requiem is??? First of all, it’s a lot of beautiful music – that he is sure to understand.

I got the tix first thing the following morning for the only matinee available, Sunday June 12th.
So yesterday my mom and I took Troy, at the age of 2 years and 4 months to see Verdi’s Requiem, the most significant and grandiose of the composer’s work.
Let me just say one thing first: I know you are not going to believe it. Therefore, I am asking you please do – because unreal as it sounds, it’s true.

Not only Troy behaved perfectly (and he is a pretty loud kid most of the time), but he loved every minute of it! Before the show he was identifying and naming every instrument in the orchestra: tuba, trumpet, violin and drum. But as the show started he listened with so much focus and attention, following the instruments with his fingers and hands, pretending to play them. He particularly liked Dies irae with the trumpets playing on and off the stage, creating a surround sound illusion. He was ‘conducting’ too, and very much in sync with the music. (After the performance he got a lot of praise for his conducting from audience members sitting behind us, who came up to him to greet him and shake his hand with respect and admiration).
I was not sure how he would take the louder choral parts, like Dies irae. Guess what? They happened to be his favorite.
He absolutely loved “theater”(the Meyerhoff). The boxes, the tiers, the orchestra, the conductor, the choir –all his favorite stuff.

A requiem is usually performed without an intermission and you are not supposed to applaud until it’s over.
That supposedly makes things harder with a toddler, since his chances of letting his emotions out in a round of applause are limited. Yet, Troy was determined to keep very quiet and was proud to be able to do so! Even when he was thirsty, he threw the most expressive look at my mom’s purse and pressed his hand to his mouth.

But, when it was time for ovation – no one in the whole house was more excited than Troy. I held him up as high as I could, so he could see numerous people around him, clapping and cheering for the artists. He clapped and screamed Bravo (so far he is not familiar with the -a/-i variations) and kept turning around to see the whole symphony hall on their feet and clapping. He was delighted. Truly and most sincerely delighted.

Then we went up to the stage for quick pics and the orchestra members greeted Troy, wanted to meet him, praised and thanked him for coming.

He was neither exhausted nor overwhelmed. He was just happy.

So after a thunderstorm (we’ve been having one of those almost every day here in Baltimore), we went for a walk in our area, and Troy kept recalling “theater”, and saying that he likes theater and wants to go again. Then he asked me to sing Req ( his name for Requiem) and I managed to pull off a couple of lines from Dies irae. He immediately started singing it with me and asked to sing again and again.

I can’t tell you how proud I am of Troy for loving music so passionately and unconditionally and for being able to enjoy Verdi’s Requiem with all his heart.

He still talks about it today. Mama, theater, let’s go theatre…
How special is it that we made the discovery of this musical masterpiece together: me at 37 and Troy at 2y and 4mo old?

Diamonds ( not opera-related!)

Some people take a really good picture.

I don’t.
Except for my wedding pictures, taken by a super-wonderful professional photographer, I hardly have a couple in which I look my best.
What can I tell you, my friends… life is not a fair thing.
Most photographers just push the button, and for some people it works just fine.
I, however, probably need a little more personal approach to take a good picture. In other words, I need more photographer’s work, thought and inspiration. And maybe more time...
And who would know me better and be willing to work with me on an individual basis and as long as need be and free of charge?
No one but…me?
So, how about this one to start with, called Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend?
Can you guess where all the diamonds are coming from???!!!

FCS: Theater and Travels

Troy loves theater.

He seems to be seeing a bit of theater wherever he goes. But - there is always a good association involved. He does not really need much to pretend he is in a theater: trees above his head serve as a theater dome, his own crib is his podium. He just declares: Theater! and starts "conducting", singing or humming.

He loves pictures of theater interiors. He never passes on the opportunity to examine a picture with tiers and boxes, imagining and talking about who is sitting where.

He loves to watch the conductor go up the podium. He loves overtures because he can watch the orchestra play without interruption. He loves curtain calls. First he cheers for the artists, claps and screams Bravo, and then he takes bows, as if he were an artist too.

If you asked Troy to name three things he likes, he would probably say: music, trains, mountains. In that particular order. So in any way I can, I try to make sure that he has plenty of those three in his life.

On Memorial Day weekend we took Troy on a trip to Western Maryland, which, as many of you know, is a beautiful mountainous area.



At the train station

Cumberland, the town that we stayed at, is beautiful and quite European-looking. It is literally surrounded by mountains. Wherever you look you see a cathedral, or a castle, a café (the prices are way better than in Baltimore!!!  When was the last time you had Miso Soup for $2.00?!  Really?) or a cute little shop. However, the real gem of the place is an old historical railroad, with real pitch-black steamies running train excursions through the mountains.

Located just minutes away from the train station, our hotel allowed a beautiful view of the mountains and the tracks. Thus, Troy could watch the trains pass by, scream “Thomaaaas!” to them and wave his hand.

He just couldn’t wait to go on that excursion. Because it was supposed to take place the morning after we arrived, he went to bed talking about Thomas. At 2 a.m. we heard a train coming, whistling and all. Instantly Troy had his eyes wide open and called out: "Thomas! Thomas , the blue train. Thomas is here!”



On the train: happy, alert, excited!

 How lucky was Troy to be staying at a hotel where he could watch and hear “Thomas” coming?

The train ride was beautiful and without a doubt Troy enjoyed every minute of it. As we were walking back to our car, Troy saw a standard multi-level parking garage, pointed to it and said: “Theater! Theater!”

I thought he had a pretty good reason to say that. Don’t you?Look: tiers, boxes, and as it gets dark, it has lights too. Never mind that it actually looks like it’s inside out. Who cares about those little things anyway?