Rene Pape and the Bronx Zoo too...

I flew to NYC on Thursday 23 APR 09 for Das Rheingold at the Met. I took the Broadway 104 bus down from 95th Street where I found myself to have achieved elderly status: 2 kind folks on a crowded Manhattan bus offered me their seat :~). I found the opera a little plodding (Maestro Levine was ill, perhaps that was why) and the frog aka Alberich a highlight. Rene Pape played Fasolt, one of the giants, and was in wonderful voice. When he sang about his love for Freia, his emotion and passion carried right up to the balcony. Others have conjectured about Pape's recent hiatus/illness, I'll posit that perhaps he quit smoking? When I quit, I gained an octave or so and discovered what I think they call falsetto. I tried the new restaurant at65 in the front of Alice Tully Hall for dinner. It was just right for price and ambiance for someone looking for a reasonable and unpretentious place around Lincoln Center. Unfortunately the food was very average and the service abysmal. The pretty young waitperson must have concurred, charging me only for my dessert. Perhaps they'll get the kinks out in time.



On Friday, I found my way to Madison Avenue via the 96th Street crosstown bus. I walked up to about 99th for the Express BxM11 bus to the Bronx Zoo. I had my 2.50 in quarters all set, but it's 5.00 before 10 even for Seniors, so I blew all my quarters on the trip up and scrounged for more while I was at the zoo. Five dollars for an express ride to Bronx from Manhattan is a bargain though. I enjoyed the zoo - my first trip there. The grounds and buildings are beautiful. Daffodils were in bloom, and forsythia, and the trees were just beginning their frothy greening. The animals are in natural settings and it's oftentimes difficult to make them out. The Creatures of the Night exhibit was one of the best - all the bats you might ever hope to see in the darkened exhibit. I pretty well did the whole zoo. On foot. After bussing back to Manhattan, I went to the Pain Quotidian at Broadway and 91st for an excellent vegetable quiche and glass of sparkling raspberry (rhubarb?) tea which was delicious. I wandered back to the Hotel Newton and crawled into bed around 9 PM. I did not wake or dream till 6 AM.





On Saturday, I awoke and went down to the reliable Key West diner for pancakes and bacon. After, I took the 96th Street crosstown bus to Fifth Avenue and the M1 or so down to 88th for the Met Museum. I was still exhausted from the zoo, so I just wandered around a bit, looked at the ancient artifacts on the first floor. There is a breathtaking small bronze of an Arabian dancer - at least she looked Arabian in all her veils. I perused the giftshop and added to my mug collection. I went back to my room and rested, showered, dressed, rode the 104 bus down to 57th Street and walked over to Carnegie Hall. I planned to hit the Carnegie Deli, but it was crowded (not surprisingly) and they stuck my by the kitchen door, so I left and walked over to whatever is cattycorner to Carnegie Hall, something Euro I believe, and had great quiche and tea but a horrible restroom! Then I went to Carnegie Hall where I discovered the elevator (thank God) and rode up to the Dress Circle for a so so seat to hear Herr Pape's leider recital.



Pape amazes me. He's like a YoYo Ma or Jacqueline Dupree with the extraordinary control he has over his voice. But rather than carrying around a prized cello, he carries his own Stradivarius within. I'm blessed/cursed with a pretty good ear and I swear the man hit every note of every song with breathtaking precision - well ok, a couple just a hair sharp but...
Being new to voice groupiness, I was unfamiliar with his songs for the evening. It goes without saying that they were all beautiful, and they generously provided us with English translations of all the lyrics, which, while beautiful, certainly dwell among the more morose of poetic expressions. Must be the bass repertoire. I was happily surprised with the extraordinary virtuosity of Brian Seger at the piano. The recital ended far too early, and after much (but not tumultuous) applause from a respectably full (but not SRO) house, we were rewarded with 2 (I thought 3 but other reviews say 2) encores,the last of which was -- Some Enchanted Evening. On which note, Rene sent us home, humming AND enchanted.

On the way home to the Hotel Newton via the 104 bus, I absently read the inserts in the recital program. Rats! Roaches! The man was providing autographs and a Meet and Greet after the recital and - I missed it!!!!


KICK SELF IN BUTT...I MISSED IT!