Ok, there probably wasn’t a real Bohemian within 10 blocks of this amazing venue. But “La Boheme” was indeed being performed inside.
Mighty lavish surroundings for a tragic tale of starving students and prostitutes. That’s the Italians for you. That’s opera for you.
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The modest wooden door in the high garden wall opens into El Rio y La Paloma No. 2 in the distant and dusty San Miguel outpost of Los Frailes. Stepping through the portal feels a bit like Dorothy stepping out of Auntie Em’s farmhouse into Oz.
Behind this wall is indeed another world so unexpected and beautiful as to momentarily throw you off balance.
The path before you leads to a distinguished columned building in the Greek Revival style — now to become an opera house. To the left is a fountain with a sculpture of Hercules riding the back of a dolphin. In the distance, another fountain celebrates Dionysius. To the right is an Italian villa and beside it is a weighty and somber stone Medieval tower.
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Malcolm Halliday’s dream is about to come true.
The head of Chorale San Miguel has longed for a musical instrument that could equal and enhance the vocal power of his troupe of singers. A pipe organ was his instrument of choice and in November, San Miguelians will be able to share with Halliday and the chorus the realization of that dream.
San Miguel resident Alfredo Lanier tells the story of this pipe organ and the challenges met in getting it refurbished, shipped in pieces to San Miguel, reconstructed and, soon, to be a centerpiece in the classical musical universe of San Miguel.
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The Janáček Quartet continued the celebration of its 75th anniversary by performing exhilarating compositions from its namesake Leoš Janáček, as well as Antonin Dvořák and Béla Bartók, at Casa Europa in Centro on Wednesday night.
“Of course, we are the second generation,” said Milos Vacek, first violinist, with a sly grin.
That explains the youthful vitality, seasoned with the wisdom of veteran performers and the intuitive interplay of long-time partners.
Their performance was transportive, to say the least. At times it felt cinematic, film noir cinematic. Deeply cerebral, psychologically probing, introspective. A crisp roller-coaster of a conversation between melody and dissonance.
The finale, Dvořák’s “American Suite” was a low-elevation drone flight across the continent (the continent of 1895), inferencing the vast Western expanses and hustle of bustling cities, masted ships in harbor and prairie schooners in search of new lands.
The musicians are (from left) Miloš Vacek, first violin; Vítězslav Zavadilík, 2nd violin; Břetislav Vybíra, cello; and Jan Řezníček, viola.
All photographs taken on walks around San Miguel de Allende, the Magic City.
Lurking in the dark corner of the far left tabs
on my computer, for two weeks now,
Concerto for flute, no. 1 in G-Major, K. 313 (1778)
By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed
By the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
I imagine that Mozart and the ISO have
Survived so much. An Iceland orchestra must Continue reading
Musings, Magic, San Miguel and More 