Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1

My earliest memory of Bruch's Violin Concerto is of my friend performing it beautifully and virtuosically with the Clear Lake Symphony Orchestra.  I was eleven at the time; she was ten.  I remember getting lost in the melodies (and wishing I could play as well as she), and then walking away with the very colorful third movement stuck in my head for days.  Later at home, I would listen to the CD over and over -- it was a David Oistrakh recording, and to this day, that's still my favorite rendition.  I suppose we're all more or less influenced by, if not partial to, the first recording of a song we hear.  Keep in mind this was before the days of YouTube and even Napster; it wasn't nearly as easy to find different recordings and compare and contrast before forming a view!

Bruch composed three violin concertos, or four if you count Scottish Fantasy, which I also love, but his other two concertos are rarely performed and never reached the same level of popularity as the first (hence people often just refer to Bruch's first violin concerto as the Bruch violin concerto).  The first movement is dramatic, passionate, and emotional, yet it is probably the most easily forgotten movement and is sometimes described as a long prelude into the second.  I'm not sure I agree with that statement though, as the piece has its own distinct character and has darker undertones than the second or third movements.  The second movement is actually a rondo and the heart of the concerto; the melody is beautifully sung and becomes more spirited, uplifting, and powerful as the piece progresses, before quieting down again at the end.  The third movement is an energetic dance, and perhaps the most impressive (and memorable) with all its double stops and fireworks ending.

Anyway, why am I talking about all of this now?  Because the New York Philharmonic will be performing this from October 27 - November 1, with concertmaster Frank Huang as the soloist.  So obviously I have to go 1) relive some good memories (I've actually never heard Bruch's violin concerto performed live after my 10-year-old friend's amazing concert), 2) support my fellow Houstonian (no, I don't know Frank Huang, but less than 6 degrees of separation...a few of my other music friends either studied violin with his mom or are friends with his younger sister), and 3) just enjoy one of my favorite violin pieces.

*UPDATE: Glowing review from NY Times here.


Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 (David Oistrakh, of course...that EMI Studio CD cover is the exact CD I had!):

Movement 1:

Movement 2:

Movement 3:

Butler

I was excited to check out this cute Williamsburg neighborhood bakery, but I didn't find it outstanding enough for me to go out of my way to return.

I tried a special open-faced egg sandwich on foccacia, which was very tasty.  The egg was perfectly runny.  The dark chocolate brownie was very rich; the concord grapes were an interesting touch, but I would've appreciated more black sesame (the flavor didn't really come through for me and was overpowered by the brownie itself).  It was a bit hard and dry on the outside, but the inside was still moist.  Other pastries and sweets looked good and very tempting, but I didn't get to try today.

    

Ali Wong

For anyone who hasn't seen Ali Wong's stand-up comedy show Baby Cobra, you should watch it (available on Netflix).  For everyone who has, she needs no further introduction.

I think Ali Wong has left such a lasting impression on so many of us for a number of reasons.  For starters, obviously her performance was solid -- the material was hilarious, the delivery was on point, and her facial expressions (and graphic mimes) were the perfect complement to every joke.  But a good, funny show is just the prerequisite; I've certainly watched and laughed my way through a number of comedy shows (both live and recorded), yet unfortunately I can't name most of those comedians, nor can I remember what they said that was so funny at the time.  Ali was (is) different though.  Whether it's "right" or not, her identity alone was (is) a statement in and of itself.  She's Asian, female, and at the time of Baby Cobra, pregnant.  Asian comic?  Rare.  Female comic?  Also relatively rare.  Pregnant?  Even rarer.  Asian, female, and pregnant?  Ali Wong.

Now, having a unique identity can be a double-edged sword.  Had she delivered a less than stellar show, it's quite likely the story would have been "Asians aren't that funny," or "she was trying too hard."  Thankfully, that's not the case though, and she came out with pretty powerful (and also sensitive) content that was raw and real, touching on everything from cultural stereotypes (e.g., fancy Asian vs. jungle Asian) to women in the workplace (e.g., "lean in" vs. lie down) to poop (c'mon, just admit it...poop is funny...why else would there be a poop emoji?).  As a result, what I hear is "Ali Wong (Baby Cobra) is amazing!  I hope she comes out with more stuff.  I hope she's not a one hit wonder."  But why the last comment if we all agree with the first two?  Is it because we lack faith in her because she's Asian, female, and a new mother?  Or is it because we want her to succeed so badly that we're nervous for her, the way we might be anxious when rooting for a favorite sports team?

Regardless, I'm thrilled our wish has come true -- she's going on tour and is getting such a great reception.  And yes, of course I got my New York tickets already.  Originally there was only one NY show, and all tickets sold out during the presale, then she added a second show and sold out again, and now she's added a third.  Good for her!  Go buy tickets soon before the third show sells out too!

Sadelle's

Delicious, fresh fish platters, unlimited bagels. Pastries are also spot on.

--Salmon: house salmon is more of a gravlax, lighter than the smoked Scottish. Both are good.
--Whitefish salad: yum
--Latke royale: so good we ordered a second one (it's small)
--Bagels: not the best bagel in the city, but pretty good and fresh and not overwhelmingly large. I always get everything bagels wherever I go, and Sadelle's has an Everything 2.0 bagel, which is a normal everything bagel + fennel and caraway seeds
--French toast: best French toast every, probably because it's deep fried; crispy on the outside, chewy and gooey on the inside
--Babka: fluffy and chocolatey, and topped with more chocolate
--Sticky bun: as good as everyone says; even better when slightly heated
--Steak tartare: mediocre
--Curry lobster: good, but not that special or worth the price
--Matzoh ball soup: a bit salty

      

Avocado Toast Recipe

Ingredients

2 avocados
1/4 pound feta, crumbled
4 slices thick cut (multigrain) toast
juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil, salt, pepper to taste
red pepper flakes
pumpkin seeds, optional

Instructions

Dice and mash avocados to desired consistency (I prefer a little bit chunkier; not as smooth as guacamole).  Mix in feta and lemon juice.  Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste.  Spread over toasted slices of bread.  Top with red pepper flakes and pumpkin seeds.

You can also get creative with this dish and top with a fried egg or other toppings of your choice.

TsuRuTonTan

There are already so many ramen restaurants in NYC, so I'm glad there's an exciting new udon place now...I've always preferred the thicker, chewier udon noodle and lighter broths to ramen.

I've ordered the sukiyaki and uni udons, and my husband's tried the TsuRuTonTan Deluxe and nabeyaki.  The sukiyaki was exactly how I imagined it; the broth was slightly sweet, and it was overall very flavorful.  The uni was a bit disappointing; there was barely any uni.  My husband enjoyed the deluxe, and the nabeyaki was light (I liked it, but he thought it was a bit bland).  I also had a spoonful of the curry from a friend's dish, and that was flavorful...I would be interested in ordering that for myself as we head into winter.

I like how you can pick thin or thick noodles (I think thin makes sense for cold noodles or saucy noodles, and thick for heartier broths).  Regular and large-sized portions are also the same size, which is good news for big eaters, but I thought the regular size was plenty.

Appetizers are okay, but you're going for the udon.

sukiyaki

nabeyaki

uni

deluxe

      

Chinese Calligraphy

Writing is a form of art; it's an expression of who we are, beyond the words we use.  Even in this digitized age, I can still recognize my best friends' handwriting, just like how I can recognize their voices.  I'll also bet that most of us make judgments on a person based on his or her handwriting -- bubbly "girly" handwriting or messy "doctor's" writing, to give a couple of stereotypical examples.  There's an art to typefaces as well.  The font I use for my resume is certainly different from what I chose for our wedding invitations.  Corporations pay millions of dollars to develop their branding and "visual identity" -- my former employer used to mandate Trebuchet font, and my eyes were so well trained that I actually freaked out once when one of my client presentations came out from the printing room in Arial; my OCD self almost had all the presentation books reprinted but was assured by a manager that it would only be worth the effort if it came out in Wingdings.

Beautiful writing has always drawn me in, whether it's good handwriting or a pretty typeface, whether it's English or Chinese.  Calligraphy in either language is no easy feat to master, but I recently decided to give Chinese calligraphy another go.  I had (very briefly) tried to learn Chinese calligraphy and brush painting as a child but did not have the patience at the time to make much of it, but I'm hoping this time will be different.  It first (re-)piqued my interest last fall when I was visiting my parents, and my mom was sharing the background and meaning of some of the scrolls on the living room wall (I'm sure she's done that many, many times, but I guess there's a time and place for everything, and this time it stuck with me).  It was the first time that I saw the scrolls as something more than random art and decoration; the beauty of it was not in the words alone or the calligraphy itself, but how the style of the calligraphy (and calligrapher) expresses the message.

Today, there are five major styles of calligraphy: seal script, clerical, standard (kai shu), semi-cursive, and cursive.

Chinese character for horse, from top right to left: seal script, clerical, standard, semi-cursive, cursive

Seal script (篆書, zhuan shu) was the formal script of the Qin (秦) Dynasty.  While there were other more ancient scripts, this was the first that was widely practiced.  Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇, literally translated "first emperor of Qin"), the first sovereign ruler of a unified China, had a bad rep as an extremely strict and ruthless ruler (how else does one conquer and unite all those independent kingdoms?), but he was the one who unified China economically and culturally -- he standardized Chinese units of measurements such as currency and weights, and he unified the language and Chinese script.

Clerical script is believed to have developed during the Han (漢) Dynasty.  It looks more rectangular and less hieroglyphic than seal script.

The most easily and widely recognized "standard" style today is kai shu (楷書), which developed between the Han (漢) Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period and matured in the Tang (唐) Dynasty.  It emerged from a neatly written, early period semi-cursive form of clerical script.

Semi-cursive script is also known as "running" script (行書, xing shu).  As the English name suggests, the cursive nature allows strokes between characters to run into one another, and it approximates normal handwriting with rounder, less angular characters.

Finally, the cursive script (草書, caoshu, literally translated "grass script") has a more abstract appearance.  There's more simplification of the characters, and not all characters are easily legible to the average person.

As a beginner, obviously I'm starting with kai shu standard script, roughly 3"x 3" size characters.  The larger the characters, the harder it is -- a calligrapher needs more control of a bigger brush but begins to use more of his/her arm and less of the wrist to write.  On the flip side, the smaller the characters, the harder it is too -- no margin for error yet ink bleeds!  All I can say is, I've had one class to practice three basic strokes, and I walked away with maybe one good stroke out of two pages of practice.  My teacher says having those good accidents means there's hope.  He also says he can usually tell within the first half hour which students will come back and which will quit.  I wonder which camp he thinks I'm in.