Tito Munoz Conducts Beethoven 6, Sibelius & Buxtehude

Whenever Augustin Hadelich comes to town to perform with the Utah Symphony I always make a point of being in attendance because I think he is absolutely brilliant (go here and here).  I am certainly not alone in my admiration because there was a sizable crowd at Abravanel Hall last night to hear him perform the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius.  Before the Sibelius, the orchestra began with Chaconne in E Minor by Dietrich Buxtehude with an arrangement by Carlos Chavez.  As explained by guest conductor Tito Munoz, this piece was originally written by Buxtehude for the organ during the German Baroque period.  Several hundred years later Chavez orchestrated it for the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional emphasizing more modern instruments.  I had never heard this piece before (Munoz further explained that it is not performed in the United States very often) but I absolutely loved it!  I loved the opening fanfare by a solo trumpet and horn along with the timpani and I also loved how the same progression of notes seems to be repeated again and again with more and more intensity.  It was very powerful!  Next came the Violin Concerto with Hadelich.  Sibelius is one of my favorite composers (I discovered him on a trip to Finland) and this piece is widely considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces.  It calls to mind a dark wintry night and I particularly enjoyed the first movement because the solo violin plays a haunting melody that is beautifully echoed by a clarinet.  I also liked the final movement because the speed with which Hadelich moved his fingers was absolutely mind-blowing.  He gave an incredibly passionate performance and the audience leapt to its feet immediately for a thunderous ovation.  After the intermission, the orchestra concluded with Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" by Ludwig van Beethoven and it was amazing.  This piece is meant to evoke feelings about nature and I especially liked a motif played by the strings mimicking the sound of moving water in the second movement and the sound of a thunderstorm created by the cellos, basses, and timpani in the fourth movement.  I loved every minute of this concert and it just might be my favorite this season (which is no mean feat because it has been a season full of wonderful music).  I highly recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance featuring the same program (go here).

Journey at the Vivint Arena

Last night I saw my first concert of 2022 and I certainly picked a good one to begin with!  Journey is a nostalgic favorite of mine and I have seen them in concert many times (including an epic show featuring Journey and Foreigner at Red Rocks in Denver with my friend Tony).  I haven't listened to their music for quite some time but, as they played all of their hits one after the other, I somehow remembered every single word of every song!  All the band had to do was play one or two opening notes to a song and the crowd would go crazy!  It was so much fun!  Normally I try to control myself because I realize that the people sitting around me didn't pay money to hear me sing but everyone in the arena was singing at the top of their lungs (sometimes Arnel Pineda would stop singing and hold his microphone out to the crowd, as lead singers are wont to do, and there would be no difference in volume).  The girl sitting next to me was probably about 15 or 16 and even she knew the words to every song which I thought was really cool.  As I mentioned, they played the hits for almost two hours starting with "Only the Young" and then continuing with "Stone in Love," "Lights," "Send Her My Love," "Who's Crying Now," "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," "Faithfully," "Open Arms," "Wheel in the Sky," "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)," "Be Good to Yourself," and, finally, "Any Way You Want It."  There is always one song, usually a more obscure track, that I always hope the band will play and in this case it was "Girl Can't Help It" but I wasn't too disappointed when they didn't play it because they played my favorite song, "Don't Stop Believin'," really early in the evening!  Arnel Pineda, who has been with the band since 2007, is a great frontman because he sounds a lot like Steve Perry but he has been able to make the songs his own and he is so energetic.  He was running all over the stage and jumping off the speakers all night and I thought he was really fun to watch.  I had such a good time at this concert and, even though it got out really late, I'm so glad I was able to go!

Note:  The opening band was Toto.  I am not as familiar with their discography as I am with Journey but I recognized "Hold the Line," "I Won't Hold You Back, and "Rosanna."  Of course they ended their set with their most popular song "Africa" which got the crowd on their feet singing every word.  I enjoyed them, as well.

The Lost City

I had the chance to see an early access screening of The Lost City last night and, even though I am not a big fan of romantic comedies (for some reason I really dislike the abbreviation often used for this genre), I really enjoyed it!  Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) is a romance novelist who is still grieving the death of her husband.  She has become a recluse but Beth (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), her publicist, needs her to promote her latest book, The Lost City of D, which features a recurring character named Dash McMahon who is searching for a valuable artifact.  Beth invites Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum), the model who has portrayed Dash on all of Loretta's covers, to join her on the book tour but Loretta dismisses him as superficial.  An eccentric billionaire named Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) kidnaps Loretta because he believes the artifact in her novel is real and wants her to help him find it.  Alan, wanting to prove to Loretta that he is more than just a dimwitted model, attempts to rescue her and chaos ensues as both Loretta and Alan are ill-equipped to deal with the jungle.  The physical comedy is absolutely hilarious, especially since Loretta is wearing a purple sequin jumpsuit and high heels, and I laughed out loud multiple times (as did the audience).  Bullock and Tatum are incredibly charming and their chemistry is off the charts!  I also really enjoyed Radcliffe as a petulant villain and Brad Pitt just about steals the show as a former Navy SEAL (I laughed so hard when he flips his hair).  This doesn't reinvent the wheel but, in my opinion, it doesn't need to because it is so much fun.  I had a great time watching this movie and you can be sure that if I liked it fans of the genre are sure to love it!

The Outfit

Since I was out of town last weekend, I missed several new releases that are on my list.  I decided to see one of them, The Outfit, last night and I really enjoyed it.  Leonard Burling (Mark Rylance) is a meticulous and fastidious cutter (not just a tailor) who learned his trade on Savile Row in London and now makes suits for members of the mob, the only clientele who can afford his services, in Chicago during the 1950s.  There is more to Burling than meets the eye because it is implied that he left London under mysterious circumstances.  He keeps to himself as the members of the Boyle crime family, the boss Roy (Simon Russell Beale), his son Richie (Dylan O'Brien), and their enforcer Francis (Johnny Flynn), use his shop as a drop but his receptionist Mable (Zoey Deutch) notices everything.  Over the course of one evening, Richie is shot and he and Francis take refuge in Burling's shop in order to elude a rival crime family.  Eventually, Roy and his henchman (Alan Mehdizadeh) show up looking for them and for evidence of a rat who has been informing on them to the FBI.  Burling and Mable are coerced into helping them but who is double-crossing whom?  This is definitely a slow burn (there is an extended sequence in which Burling demonstrates the entire process of creating a suit, including making the pattern, transferring it to the cloth, cutting it, and sewing the pieces together) but I found it very compelling.  The tension builds and builds with lots of unexpected twists and turns and, just when I thought I had everything figured out, there was a new revelation that made me rethink everything I thought I knew!  All of the action takes place in a single setting, almost as if it is a stage play, but Burling's shop provides many opportunities for misdirection with all of its nooks and crannies and I loved the production design.  Rylance is always at his best when portraying an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances and he is absolutely mesmerizing, even when he doesn’t say a word.  This is a very well-crafted crime thriller that will keep you guessing and I highly recommend it!

Spring Camping Trip

For the past three days I have been at my favorite KOA in Fillmore relaxing!  I needed a little getaway and I couldn't think of anything better than sitting on the front porch of a cabin and reading all day.  I really like this KOA because it is in the middle of nowhere so it is very quiet and peaceful and it is close enough that it doesn't require a lot of travel time (it is about two hours south of where I live) but far enough away to feel like a real getaway.  I have been coming here for years (by myself and with various members of my family) and the former owners knew me by name.  There are new owners now but they are very kind and welcoming and I had to laugh when they offered to show me the way to my cabin because I've stayed in this exact one several times (as well as others).  I didn't take any day trips this time because I just wanted to relax but there are quite a few things to do within driving distance.  The weather was a bit too cold to stay outside for long periods (it even snowed on Sunday) so I spent most of the day inside the cabin reading under a blanket (the cabin has a heater) which was wonderful.  I spent the evening watching movies on my laptop before falling asleep to the sound of rain hitting the roof.  It was perfect!  My sisters and I are caring for our Mom full-time now and I really appreciate the fact that they were willing to pick up the slack so I could have a weekend away!  It was exactly what I needed!