28 March 2010

Reviews from Victor's Winter-To-Do-List - Post 8

welcome back!

MetroParks Winter Hike Series: I failed out loud on this one. I did go to the hike @ Sharon Woods which was pretty solid. There was a fair amount of snow on the ground, which made the hike difficult, but it was very satisfying. The hike was a decent length (roughly 4mi) and moderately challenging. A few hills broke up the flat surfaces and the addition of the unpacked snow helped to increase the difficulty rating on the route.

The end of the hike found us rewarded with a white chicken chili. Nice spice content to it & the warmth from it helped immensely considering the cool weather. My only complaint was that they ran out of hot chocolate :-(

Carmina Burana: My date to the show described it as "80% tribal dance & 20% orgy". This piece was not as evocative of my opinions of 'classical ballet' as I had anticipated. The costumes & movements were designed to show off the strength, musculature, & athleticism of the dancers. Dance moves consisted of a lot of intricately choreographed movements & work on the ground and far less leaps & throws that I think of in relation to ballet. Unfortunately, the work was performed to a recording of Orff's classical work and not with a live corps of musicians. As I understand it, BalletMET had some funding issues this year - but is looking to see sufficient increases in their funding to hire on 2 more full time dancers & bring musicians (many from the CSO) in to perform live.

The other piece of this performance was entertaining & more in line with what I expected from a ballet. Overall, both pieces were enjoyable & I found myself baffled by the incredible display of athleticism and the stunningly muscular / athletic builds on the performers. As a huge fan of this work by Carl Orff, I hope he would've been proud of this very primal, athletic & intense performance to his most amazing piece.

Columbus Symphony - Violin Concerto: I've been to a few CSO performances already this year, but I'd like to write on this one in particular. First, the conductor was stunning. Ms. Alondra de la Parra (Alondra's Website) was absolutely amazing & legitimately looked exhausted following the Mahler Symphony. She was incredibly expressive & exuded a passion and intensity I've seen in very few conductors.

The guest violinist - James Ehnes - who won a Grammy in 2008, played sublimely in the Barber Violin Concerto & treated the audience to one of Paganini's Caprices - which was both stunning to watch and musically complex. In all, it was a beautiful show & the entirety of the CSO played delightfully.

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