Strong & Kind

Recently I had the opportunity to try Kind's new(ish) Strong & Kind bars. It's their savory bar, a deviation from their sweet and salty fruit and nut combination, and contains more protein than their traditional bars. This was initially a plus for me, as I think the regular bars are too sweet, particularly if you're eating several of them during an ultimate tournament.

I was only able to try out one flavor (hickory smoked) and found it slightly odd. The smoke flavor was overpowering, as it seemed to contain a lot of liquid smoke (or some related ingredient). The smoke flavor aside, I was a fan of the rest of the bar, which contains almonds, pumpkin and hemp seeds, and pea crisps. Those components gave the bar a nice savory flavor without the excess sweet that sometimes accompanied the bars that contained fruit. Perhaps I should try another variety (and one that doesn't contain "smoke flavor"...

Openness

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Finally, A Memorable Performance

Once again, I'm ridiculously not on-time about writing about the Seattle Symphony performance I attended last Saturday. Initially I had my doubts about this concert, as Hillary Hahn had pulled out of the performance, citing a medical concern at the advice of her physician. In her stead was Philippe Quint, a Leningrad-born violinist who I had previously never head play, whether it be live or on a recording.

Dvořák and the New World
Saturday, October 4, 2014
8:00 PM

Lollapalooza - John Adams

Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 - Erich Korngold
Moderato nobile
Romance
Finale

Philippe Quint, Violin

-Intermission-

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From the New World" - Anton Dvořák
Adagio-Allegro Molto
Largo
Scherzo: Molto vivace
Allegro con fuoco

My aversion to more modern works was not reduced by the performance of Lollapalooza. It seems to me just to be a bunch of noise, with the composer more concerned about following a set of rules than creating something people want to listen to. This was all put to rest with Quint's performance of the Korngold violin concerto. While I'm not a big fan of the particular piece, Quint's mastery of the violin, in both the technical and artistic sense, was phenomenal. It was the first time in recent memory where I couldn't sense any unnecessary nervousness or tension in the music. He was able to fill the auditorium with incredible warmth and his spiccato was both articulate and penetrating. If you get a chance to listen to him play I would take it and not look back. The New World Symphony saw the Seattle Symphony play its characteristic good, but not great style or seeming to play as a group of individuals instead of as one body.

A Slight Redemption, With A Twist

Two Thursdays ago (I know, I'm bad at this updating thing), I went to see a second performance of the Seattle Symphony. However, the adventures began before I even arrived at the concert hall.

I previously detailed my various bus adventures, including someone getting arrested and my poor luck involving the downtown tunnel station. This time both were combined when someone was arrested on the bus heading towards the downtown tunnel station. When the bus arrived, the driver wouldn't let anyone on, citing that the engine was overheating and needed to cool down. After about 10 minutes, we were allowed to board the bus, but the bus wasn't moving. Several minutes later, the police arrived to arrest a rider. Apparently he had been drinking and was verbally threatening other passengers. At this time, the bus driver then spoke to the officers and we disembarked from the bus to catch the next bus to the tunnel station. Needless to say, that bus was pretty packed with two busloads of riders, and I barely made it into the auditorium before the program began.

Tchaikovsky & Dvořák

Thursday, September 18, 2014

7:30 PM

Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Richard Wagner

Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 - Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky

Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito
Andantino semplice – Prestissimo
Allegro con fuoco

Daniil Trifonov, Piano

-Intermission-

Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70
Allegro Maestoso
Poco adagio
Schertzo: Vivace - poco meno moso
Finale: Allegro

This time I had orchestra level seating, which means I had a more "standard" view of the orchestra (sorry no pictures). Overall I felt that the orchestra played more as one cohesive unit, which was a nice improvement over the previous performance. I was pretty excited to see the Tchaikovsky piano concerto performed, though it would be difficult for anyone to match the legendary Van Cliburn. Trifonov is a very technically talented pianist, though he seemed to give off a nervous vibe, hurrying through certain passages; more concerned about finishing without a mistake than being expressive. His movements were a little jerky, and this was most evident when he was walking/bowing/etc. It seemed to reflect some lack of elegance and stage presence, reducing his ability to truly bring music to the audience. Overall the performance was pretty good, but definitely not great. My next date with the symphony is this Saturday, a performance that Hillary Hahn has pulled out of due to medical concerns. We'll see how that goes...