grasshopper ice cream and rachmaninoff

update: I've added some pix at the bottom! enjoyz


okay, so I actually ate green tea ice cream last night, but it made me think that grasshopper ice cream is probably pretty similar.

Marie and I ate at Tokyo Sushi ("in fashionable Royal OakTM") last night -which was awesom-u power!!! as always - and then headed downtown to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to watch André Watts play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2.

Marie hadn't been to the symphony here before, so we entertained ourselves by taking pictures of symphony hall from our seats before the concert began. did I mention the entire place was probably watching us take pix, because we were IN THE FRONT ROW!!!!! (the swag from my job really rocks!) ... I may have felt a leeettle conspicuous. at first. then I felt I had taken my rightful place in the universe. har.

they were good seats for later, but for the piano concerto, they were on the wrong side of the house - that is, the right side. but, because André Watts was SO energetic, his head often bobbed over the top of the music rack for Marie and I to see.

yes, it was quite an experience to watch him play - he really played like an angel while sweating it like the devil himself. I couldn't believe that he had such fantastic control and delicacy in his hands, while the rest of his body was apparently undergoing an epilectic fit. he was kind of like a toddler banging it out on one of those little eight key jobs. I swear, a few times, I thought he was about to pick the piano up, flip it around, and shoot for three up into the boxes!

I kind of wished I could see his fingering, but being so close, and kind of under the piano, turned out to be enjoyable in its own way. first of all, I never realized how industrial a good piano looks from underneath - they're so elegant on top. also, when he would let the strings reverberate during a pause in playing, I could hear the whole instrument hum! he was really awesom-u power.

then we had Tchaikovsky with the orchestra after. I thought the orchestra was kind of phoning it in for the piano concerto, I don't know if they thought everyone was only listening to André, or maybe they were saving it up for the second act. it was Tchaikovsky's Symphony #5, not my fav composer, but a very happy piece of music and fun to listen to. I really loved the clarinet throughout. Jerzy Semcow came to guest conduct and he's super - he really has a great touch.

ps - am I weird or does the lyric melody in the Tchaikovsky finale have more than a passing resemblance to the tune "Farewell, Amanda"..... you know, the one Spencer Tracy sings to Katherine Hepburn in Adam's Rib....?


technorati tags: detroit symphony orchestra, andré watts, rachmaninoff


two wild n' crazy gals.... at the symphony!













the ceiling at Symphony Hall. the whole building is quite lovely.











the boxes, otherwise known as "where I belong."









thanks for the pix, Marie!
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musing for the day - Jerzy is such a great name, isn't it?




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