Summer Reading: Lilac Girls

The final selection (how did the summer go by so quickly?) on my summer reading list was Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. I found this novel to be so compelling that I read almost all night because I just had to know how it ended. The story of Ravensbruck, a concentration camp for women during World War II where medical experiments were conducted on young Polish political prisoners, is told from the perspectives of three very different women. Caroline Ferriday is a New York socialite and former Broadway actress involved in many charities during the war. To mend her broken heart after a doomed love affair with a married man, she turns all of her attention to charity work and, after discovering the "Rabbits of Ravensbruck," she does everything she can to help them. Kasia Kuzmerick is a young Polish girl who is arrested for activities in the Resistance and is sent to Ravensbruck with her sister, mother, and best friend. She feels incredibly responsible for the fate of her loved ones and the anger she feels, as well as the physical disabilities resulting from the horrific experiments in the camp, make it difficult for her to adjust to life after the war. Herta Oberheuser is a trained doctor in Germany but, because she is a woman, she cannot find a position as a surgeon until she is hired at Ravensbruck. Initially, she has qualms about what she is asked to do but then rationalizes that these experiments might be saving lives of German soldiers. The lives of these three women converge to tell a remarkable story about adversity, resilience, and forgiveness. I found Caroline to be a fascinating character and I loved that she used her family's wealth and social position to help those affected by the war (she is a real-life hero of the war). I found Kasia to be a bit unsympathetic, especially in the second act, but I understood her despair and pain and that made her redemption all the more affecting. Herta was a difficult character for me (another real-life person) because she is portrayed very sympathetically at first and I wondered if Kelly was trying to absolve her for her part in the experiments. However, I came to understand her importance in the narrative in the final resolution. This novel, like most about World War II, is sometimes difficult to read but it is so well-written with a compelling story about characters that come to life off of the page. I highly recommend it!

Note:  Have you read Lilac Girls or any of the books on my summer reading list?  What did you think?

The Fremont String Quartet at St. Mary's Church

During the summer the Utah Symphony leaves Abravanel Hall, its more regular home, to perform in other venues, most notably the Deer Valley Mountain Resort and St. Mary's Church in Park City as part of the Deer Valley Music Festival.  I always try to see at least one concert at Deer Valley every summer but I have never been to one of the more intimate concerts at St. Mary's.  In the spirit of trying to fit in as much fun as possible before I have to go back to school, I decided to get a ticket to the final concert of the summer.  St. Mary's is a beautiful church in the mountains and the perfect setting for a symphony concert.  This concert featured the Fremont String Quartet which is composed of the string principals of the Utah Symphony: Madeline Adkins, violin, Claude Halter, violin, Brant Bayless, viola, and Rainer Eudeikis, cello.  They joked that this was their first official performance as a group and, based on their performance last night, it won't be their last!  They played String Quartet No. 2 by Beethoven, Three Pieces for String Quartet by Stravinsky, and String Quartet No. 1 by Brahms and I enjoyed these pieces immensely,  However, my favorite piece of the evening was definitely Fratres for String Quartet by Arvo Part.  I had never heard of this composer before but after tonight I may have to seek out more of his work!  It was contemplative, atmospheric, and just a little bit mournful (it brought a tear to my eye and I was not alone).  I especially loved the cello because it sounded like the tolling of a bell.  It was particularly appropriate in such a beautiful church.  This was a lovely concert and I definitely plan on seeing more concerts in this venue next summer.

Note:  I-80 W (the main freeway from Park City to SLC) was closed after the concert so it was a lot of fun getting home!  I had to go over an hour out of my way but I loved the concert so much it was worth the aggravation!

The Royal Ballet's Swan Lake

Showing live theater, opera, and ballet productions from world-renowned companies, such as the National Theatre, the Bolshoi Ballet, and the Metropolitan Opera, on the big screen has become very popular.  As someone who loves the arts, I have been intrigued by this but I've never had the opportunity to see anything.  When I saw that my favorite ballet, Swan Lake, was going to be screened at a movie theater near me I decided to get a ticket.  It is a brand new production by the Royal Ballet using Tchaikovsky's magnificent score with choreography by Liam Scarlett and sets and costumes by John Macfarlane and it is simply stunning!  In the Prologue, the Princess Odette has been turned into a swan by the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart.  In Act I, Prince Siegfried is celebrating his birthday with his tutor and friends when his mother, the queen, appears and condemns his carefree lifestyle.  She demands that he pick a bride at the ball the following night but he is weary of the responsibilities at court and escapes into the woods to go hunting.  In Act II, Siegfried ends up at a lake and sees a group of swans.  One of them, Odette, turns into a beautiful woman and Siegfried falls in love with her.  Rothbart tries to separate them and she tells Siegfried that she has been cursed and that it will be broken if someone promises to love her.  In Act III, assorted princesses from various lands come to Siegfried's ball and perform for him hoping to become his bride.  Rothbart has disguised his daughter Odile to look like Odette and she beguiles Siegfried into declaring his love to her.  In Act IV, Siegfried finds Odette at the lake and apologizes but the curse cannot be undone.  She chooses to die rather than remain a swan forever.  Siegfried retrieves her lifeless body from the lake in despair.  One change from versions that I have seen that really worked for me was having Rothbart be a member of the court because it gives a bit more motivation for his actions.  A change that I didn’t like as well was having Siegfried survive at the end because I think having him die with Odette is more dramatic.  Marianela Nunez is brilliant in the lead roles.  She is beautiful, graceful, and demure as Odette and sly, seductive, and playful as Odile.  The Pas de Deux with Vadim Muntagirov, a passionate Siegfried, in Act II is hauntingly beautiful as they fall in love and the one in Act IV effectively portrays her heartbreak and his remorse with the choreography.  I loved the set design, especially the opulent palace during Act III.  I felt like I was the Queen sitting in the royal box because the views of the stage were incredible.  I could see every facial expression and that added so much to my enjoyment of the story.  I loved seeing Swan Lake on the big screen and I will definitely be checking out more of these productions in the future.

Note:  I had the chance to see Swan Lake at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.  This was almost as good!

Across the Universe

As a huge Beatles fan I jumped at the chance to see Across the Universe on the big screen again!  To say that I love this movie would be an understatement!  The narrative is informed by the lyrics of Beatles songs and tells the love story of Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood).  With a little help from their friends Max (Joe Anderson), Sadie (Dana Fuchs), Jo-Jo (Martin Luther McCoy), and Prudence (T.V. Carpio), they navigate the turbulent 1960s to discover that all you need is love.  I think the screenplay is extremely clever with lots of references to the Beatles (I find more every time I watch it).  I love every single Beatles song used but I especially love the staging of "I've Just Seen a Face," "If I Fell" "Let It Be" (which makes me cry), "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," "Something," "Revolution," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Hey Jude," and "All You Need Is Love."  However, I'll be honest and say that I wait for the whole first half of the movie for Bono, who plays Dr. Robert, to sing "I Am the Walrus."  That whole sequence with the psychedelic bus is just so awesome and when he says, "You're either on the bus or off the bus," it just about kills me.  Words to live by!  The first time I saw this on the big screen I developed quite the crush on Jim Sturgess because he reminded me so much of a young Paul McCartney.  Seeing it again yesterday may have revived that crush because I couldn't take my eyes off him whenever he was on the screen.  I had so much fun watching this again and I had to stop myself from singing along.  I recommend that all Beatles fans take the opportunity to see this movie musical on the big screen as it was meant to be seen (go here for more information about screenings).  A splendid time is guaranteed for all!

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

I am a huge fan of the Mission: Impossible franchise and it seems like I have been waiting all summer for the latest installment, Mission: Impossible - Fallout.  It was worth the wait because it is an adrenaline rush from beginning to end and, in my opinion, it is the best movie in the bunch.  Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team have a mission to intercept some plutonium bound for a terrorist group made up of members of the former Syndicate.  However, the mission fails when Hunt chooses the life of a team member over the plutonium.  When Hunt gets a tip that an arms broker named the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) is brokering a deal for the plutonium, he and August Walker (Henry Cavill), a CIA agent assigned to shadow him by Erica Sloane (Angela Bassett) who doesn't trust him, infiltrate her organization and learn that the price of the plutonium is the release of Hunt's arch-nemesis Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).  As they attempt Lane's release, they encounter Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) who has her own reasons for wanting Lane.  There are moves, counter-moves, and betrayals which keep you on the edge of your seat and no one, even possibly Hunt, is who he or she appears to be.  The action sequences are intense and unrelenting, including the much hyped HALO jump (which is spectacular), multiple car and motorcycle chases through Paris, a foot race across the roof of the Tate Modern, and an aerial helicopter chase through the mountains of Kashmir.  It goes without saying that Cruise, who performs the majority of his stunts, is absolutely amazing in the action sequences but he also gives Hunt some vulnerability as he deals with the consequences of his actions in both the present and in his past.  I saw this movie in IMAX and I recommend that you do the same!  It is an absolute blast!