New York public library

 Before listening to the Bach Magnificat, I was chatting with my neighbour who recommended visiting the New York public library building. The Stephen A. Schwarzman building is the New York public library’s iconic flagship location. It was only a few blocks walk from where I was staying. It is an amazing building that was originally built in about 1905. Here are a few pictures.

Magnificat

I love the serendipitous things that happen when you are traveling. Having met a professional double base player on the Metro. She informed me that there was a concert at the holy Trinity Church, actually Saint Paul’s Chapel on Wall Street so at 1 o’clock on Wednesday, I was treated to a stunning performance of Bach’s Magnificat conducted by Avi Stein. He is the organist and choral master at Trinity Church and is on the faculty of the Julliard school where he teaches continuo accompaniment, vocal repertoire and chamber music. In the Orchestra was a violinist called Aisslinn Nosky. She comes from Vancouver Island and I heard her do two concerts in Victoria a few months ago. Anyhow, Saint Paul’s Chapel is located very close to where the twin Towers stood and remarkably it was not affected by the demolition of the twin Towers on 9/11.

A tale of woe

 When travelling through Calgary Airport I mistakenly left my iPad in the security clearance area, where we had to clear US Customs. I have to claim that I was under stress I’d had to get up at 3:30 AM to catch the original flight and then there was a delay and I thought I was going to miss my connection to New York when I discovered that it was missing.  I was already on board the flight to New York and it was going to be leaving in 10 minutes. They told me I could get off the plane and go and get it but then I didn’t know when I would get another flight and I knew I had a booking for an opera the next day. So I didn’t want to take that chance of missing out. Any how fortunately, it was found by the Calgary airport’s very efficient system and has been sent by FedEx to home. This does mean that I have to do all my blog on my iPhone. I’m learning this as a dictate rather than type the blog, however the editing is a bit laborious and downloading pictures isn’t so easy.The IPad and its keyboard were delivered home in Victoria by FedEx on October 3 rd! Phew!

McNeal by Ayad Akhtar

 I saw the play MacNeal at the Lincoln Center Theatre at the Vivian Beaumont. The play is about a character played by Robert Downey Junior, who uses AI to write books. The plot starts with him seeing his physician who chastise him for his drinking alcohol while he is prescribed Cortisone. It is a very complex play but very well acted with extraordinary visual effects mimicking how ChatGPT works in writing responses. Much enjoyed.

Les Contes d’Hoffman

 For me, it’s a special experience to attend a live opera at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. It is said that attending a live concert is an experience. Family members like to go to things like the Dave Matthews band and other bands and also Taylor Swift concerts but for me attending a live opera is a great experience. Les Contes d’Hoffman or better said the Tales of Hoffman is a very complex opera with in three acts and it lasts over three hours. For me, the best aria was in act one where Olympia the puppet sung by Erin Morley was spectacular. I’ve never heard a Soprano aria sung so well. The aria for me is even better than the queen of the night aria in the marriage of Figaro. One great thing at the Met opera is there are no surtitles but each seat has its own little screen which can be played in several different languages. One could discuss many aspects about this opera. It is really about three separate fantasies that Hoffman has. There are  a familiar number of arias and tunes throughout this opera composed by Offenbach but I really enjoyed the overall performance. On the way back in the subway, I met a classical musician who trained at the Juilliard school in New York City and now lives in Australia. She is a classical double bass player and she said there’s a concert tomorrow afternoon at a church on Wall Street in which they will sing the Bach Magnificat. 

The High Line Park

 I took the number seven New York subway to Hudson Bay yards. The Highline Park has become a major New York City tourist attraction. It all started in 1999 when a group of residents decided to get support for creating a park along this old elevated railway line that was going to be demolished. It’s 2.33 km long . I walked the whole length. Then I stopped for a snack then I walked back again and did a circle route to get me back to the number seven line back to Grand Central Station. I must have hiked about 5KM. Then it was time for a nap. I was carrying my new walking poles and I didn’t see one other person with walking poles. By the time I finished the hike ( about noon) it was getting quite crowded. Here are some pictures and also of Grand Central Station. More photos to follow.

Arriving in New York

  I arrived in New York at about 4 PM in the afternoon. The quickest way to get into Grand Central Station, which is very close to where I was staying at the Yale club is to take the Air Train and then the LIRR - the Long Island Rail Road. The Yale Club is located close to Grand Central Station. It’s just across the road. It’s a magnificent club that has 12,000 members. The building was completed in 1915 and is 24 stories high. It’s a very convenient place to stay and the service is wonderful. The first evening I treated myself to some halibut and although I don’t normally drink alcohol, I had a glass, of my favourite white wine.