17 Jul 2008
Concert
A
friend bought some tickets to a concert this past Monday evening and invited me
to go with him - a concert starting at 9 P.M.! What culture!
Culture, indeed. It was the "Newport Debut of World
Renowned Russian Trumpeter Sergei Nakariakov" with a Belgian
Pianist named Maria Meerovitch. It was held at the
Breakers, a "gilded age summer cottage."
Let
that sink in. Lots of big words in there. "Gilded age
summer cottage." That is to say, a freakin'
mansion. Beautiful! To learn more about the Gilded Age, clickity click on these words that
I'm writing right now.
Newport, Rhode Island is famous for its mansions, and many a cruise boat make
stops at its port to visit the facilities. Who wouldn't want to visit this
place? Take a look at the map. Link to map.
Newport
is also home to Salve Regina, or, Hail, Queen. This is a university. Imagine
this conversation:
"Which
college did you go to?"
"Me?
Oh. Hail, Queen."
"Hail,
Queen?"
"Yeah. It's a Gilded Age
thing. I majored in gilding."
"And
what do you do now?"
"I'm
in marketing."
I
imagine that conversation happening quite often in New England.
Anyway,
I digress. The concert.
Alas,
we got a late start due various thisses and thatses. And finding one's way to Newport is never easy,
either (did you even look at the map???). So we arrived stylishly late by about
20 minutes.
The
concert was fantastic, but I wanna chat about the myriad
(two) opportunities to lie, cheat, and steal.
Opportunity
#1: My friend bought the tickets in advance. But we were late arriving, and we
hadn't picked up the tickets, yet. Yet we walked right into the concert without
tickets. Just imagine if we hadn't even purchased them! Staff at the concert
expressed surprise that we got in without tickets when we inquired about
acquiring the stubs.
Opportunity
#2: The concert was a delight. Take a look at Nakariakov
playing Carnival of
Venice. (This is not footage of the concert on Monday.) The setting
was so intimate that afterwards, in an anteroom, Sergei and Maria met concert
goers, freely chatting. What do you say to such experts? Well, everyone,
including me, said something to the effect of, "You played marvelously." Witty,
I know. Luckily my friend added something original, something to the effect of,
"It was quite a pleasure to see you in person rather than on YouTube!" But as
we were wandering around the anteroom piano, I noticed the actual sheet music
they used on stage. Oh how I pondered nabbing it! (I didn't. All I'm saying is
that I really enjoy the trust people share with each other. :))
So
concert = good. Culture = good. Not stealing = good.
I suggest you go out and get some culture for yourself soon!