Exporatorium

Today I re-visited the Exploratorium, an interactive science museum in San Francisco. I say “revisit” because it was some 16 years ago that I visited as a high school senior.

First of all, I was intending to go to an art museum. I fool-heartedly went to the so-called Palace of Fine Arts thinking that was the art museum in S.F., and that of course, yes, the Exploratorium was adjacent. The experience was of course a let down when I found that in fact there was no museum for art, and that the “palace” was outdoors. That’s fine, except that it’s all under construction at the moment and it’s fenced off.

Some man asked me where the “Palace” was. I said, “Around the corner,” thinking it must be there. He too was interested in finding the art museum.

Of course, you can see some of the columns and grandeur, and there were plenty of Gangsta-Latinos there posing in front of the edifice on their wedding day. In fact, there seemed to be a theme: young girls in wedding dresses, not white (in this case, yellow and pink), with bridesmaids and best men who were dressed in silly costumes. My only guess was that they were currently pregnant, due to their age(s), and their Catholic parents insisted they marry.

There wasn’t a pretty person walking around that “Palace” of fine arts. So, since I was there, I paid $14 to visit the hands-on museum.

First stop, the toilets. Whoa. Here’s my potential draft letter to the museum. They operate with funds in the millions, so I know what I suggest is possible.

Dear Exploratorium,

Today I visited your museum, and before I even paid to get in, I used your facilities for men. It was filthy. Really disgusting. In fact, it was so bad that I contemplated not paying admission, and simply leaving. The stall I visited had a latch that wasn’t very reliable. Whomever visited the stall earlier took it upon themselves to urinate everywhere: it looked like rain water was on the seat. Disgusting. Getting out, there’s a urinal right on top of the two sinks that dispensed a sad amount of soap. You literally have one hand in someone’s rear end if you’re using the sink. Another man joked that the urinal was part of a hands-on exhibit for those using the sinks. Please consider cleaning up the facilities, and spending some of your revenue on making the Exploratorium a cleaner place.

So, after going inside, I was disappointed to find that so many of the exhibits (thanks to my wonderful memory) were the same. Yes, that’s okay to have good exhibits, but come on… I was there sixteen years ago. You’d think they’d have something new.

The place still has potential, however. It’s a great place to bring kids. Just.. bring a lot of hand sanitizer. They could use some pumping stations all around. And someone, please, make it clear at the Palace of Fine Arts isn’t an art museum, but just an interactive science museum.

Carbonelli: Sonatas for Violin

I recently acquired a new recording by Helene Schmitt of music by Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli. The composer was born at the end of the 17th century, and his style tells you he indeed studied with Corelli.

Unlike other Italian late-baroque composers (among them Tartini and Locatelli), Carbonelli was likely heard as an old-fashioned composer. His sonatas retain the warm, simple chord progressions found in Corelli’s works, yet go beyond the master’s art with (at times) more interesting melodic phrases and atypical jumps in line.

This recording is well done, but does suffer a bit. The continuo section is ripe with organ, harpsichord, cello, and plucked bass. Yet, there’s a lot of “open, reverberant” noise in the recording, especially evident when everyone stops playing and you can still hear the air being pumped into the organ. It’s really not bothersome, and you’ll only likely notice it when everyone stops playing, or through playback with headphones.

Carbonelli is somewhat like another composer I just reviewed – Gaspard le Roux. They spoke very different languages, but they similar in being “minor” composers, writing in styles aligned with those today we’d term “masters,” carving out their own paths. Their music maintains a certain flavor within their tradition, but they carve out new sounds. Sometimes the exploration is very successful, other times, it’s simply curious.

This recording of Carbonelli sonatas will round-out your collection of mid- and late-baroque Italian violin sonatas. The recording benefits from the warm, full-bodied sound of Schmitt’s violin, with her sensitivity to Baroque affect. If you’re a fan of Corelli and his violin school, I’d highly recommend this recording.

Le Roux: Pièces de Clavecin

Christophe Rousset, Pièces de clavecin, Gaspard le Roux (Decca L’Oiseau-Lyre).

What would happen if you took some of the more complex sonorities of Bach’s keyboard works, mixed that with a heavy dose of Couperin, and a relish of Rameau? You’d get the solo keyboard works of Gaspard le Roux. I recall vaguely the Gramophone (or was it elsewhere) review of this recording in the 1990s. I searched for it at every CD shop I could find myself in. I saw it once in a store in Shaker Square in Cleveland (Shaker Heights) some years ago, but I let it go “for next time.” Well, some ten years later, I applaud folks like those at Decca who have re-released their catalog via Amazon and iTunes. Finally, I can get to hear what the reviewers painted back then as a very rich offering from star French harpsichordist Christophe Rousset.

Rousset and Hantaï are among my favorite harpsichordists, and this CD is a real delight. The sound of the instrument is superb, but even beyond that, are these gems of suites by le Roux. Having already owned some le Roux in the form of a Harmonia Mundi release with Mitzi Meyerson and Lisa Crawford, I wasn’t ever so satisfied as with this release.

Already owning the livres of Couperin, his pieces can lose their character after you listen to too many in one sitting. Le Roux’s works, on the other hand, are more flavorful bites. I might equate the differences as “10 ways to present and cook trout” and “a cook’s tasting menu in 10 courses.” Le Roux may not have been as prolific as Couperin, but his musical ideas, perhaps more unusual, will find a welcome home in your catalog of French baroque harpsichord works.

As zesty as French claveniste repertoire may get!

Bach – IGA

Wow! BWV 1063 is a piece for three keyboards. I also have one or more versions for three violins, which works… here’s a stand-out peformance (again) from Il Giardino Armonico.

Telemann – Il giardino Armonico

Does it ever get any better than this?

This is my favorite movement of all of Telemann’s Paris Quartets, and this is preformed superbly! Great find on YouTube.

Ignazio Albertini: Sonates

I recently picked up the recording by Hélène Schmitt of Ignacio Albertini’s sonatas for violin and continuo (Alpha). Both the composer and performer here were new to me.

I had received a recommendation for this recording some time ago from a fellow baroque enthusiast. It just became available via Amazon MP3.

I was shocked, frankly, at first listen: the style and motifs are very Biber-esque. It’s as if this was Biber, or better (because the sonatas are probably one notch less interesting), rip-offs of Biber. This is not to say it’s bad music. The opposite, really. One can hear the influence of Schmelzer and Biber on Albertini’s style.

Schmitt and Company do a good job at the works. A varied continuo is used (favorites, are theorbo and organ) and Schmitt has a delicious, fat tone. There’s drive and panache in her style. While she does ornament, it’s never over-done, and intonation is satisfyingly good.

The recording includes 10 sonatas for violin and continuo, not to mention several solos by other composers for single continuo instruments. Altogether, a very nice recording. Acoustic and sound quality is also very agreeable.

Dress

I’m very pleased with many outcomes from the November 4th election.

But I must agree, the dress Mrs. Obama wore Tuesday night wasn’t great.

I don’t like it on the model, and I don’t like it any better on Mrs. Obama.

Of course, the Obamas may not have been paying anyone consulting fees on their dress, either.

Beach Ball of Death

Did you know the so-called “Beach Ball of Death” on Macs is actually a killer vegetable?