1:00 a.m. is hard when you're 57!

I didn't get out of bed until about 9:30 this morning. Fortunately (and I don't know how I managed this) I don't have a hangover, just a slight "blah" feeling.

But it was well worth it. The nicest party I've been to in quite a while.

The evening began with a Newberry Consort concert, with the New York City viola consort Parthenia, at the University of Chicago's Bond Chapel. (Gory, you'd love it - here's a description of the outside from the Divinity School's website: " On the outside, chiefly along the sides and the back, are monochrome gray stone sculptures of hideous and noxious creatures: imps, demons, dragons, lions, griffons, and grotesques. They cling precariously to the cornices. They jut from the corners. They slide down the waterspouts.") I wish I could find a good photo of the interior, which has wonderful polychrome angels on the beamed ceiling, each with a different musical instrument. And the acoustics are splendid.

The program consisted of music of (mostly) English musicians who traveled to the Continent in the Elizabethan and Stuart periods, some for reasons of religion, others just because. Lots of Dowland, selections from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, theatre music, etc. Ellen Hargis' glorious soprano. The usual intelligent and interesting pre-concert lecture from Mary Springfels, this time accompanied by equally intelligent and interesting comments from Parthenia's Rosamund Morley. I was very intrigued by the fact that these travelers picked up play plots in Europe, brought them back to England where folks like Shakespeare and Marlowe turned them into the great dramas we know and love, and then the travelers brought those back to the Continent. For instance, the Consort played some music from a German play Von der schoenen Phoenicia, which may have formed the basis of Much Ado About Nothing. I think it would be rather fun to have a theatre program that alternated the "original" with the Shakespeare. Favorite quotation from the program notes: "[John Bull] was described as having 'more music than honesty and is as famous for marring of virginity as he is for fingering of organs and virginals.'"

Now, this is the first year that the Consort has had events in Hyde Park, and naturally they are reaching out to the community (and succeeding quite well - Bond Chapel was full). So my friend Jim, who is on their board, and his partner hosted a reception following the concert. They invited a lot of folks who don't normally attend the Consort series but who live in Hyde Park to the concert and reception, and I think there will some new attendees, judging from the comments people were making.

As always, Jim and Kevin provided an excellent spread, and copious amounts of wine. But it was such fun to talk to some new people, as well as old friends. Chatting with the Consort's manager and with Springfels, it seems they are very happy with the U of C connection. They are going to try to do at least one concert each season at Bond Chapel, rather than Fulton Recital Hall (it's more space, but it also costs $$ so they can't do the whole series there).

I discovered that one of the Parthenia members went to my college, so we had a grand time talking about what's still in the neighborhood and what's gone, why we're glad the school hasn't gone co-ed, and other things only fellow alumnae care about. She is a lawyer "to pay the bills", so we had that in common, too.

Brokeback Mountain got favorable, though not rave, reviews from a couple of people there. Interesting side note - Proulx' short story was translated into Macedonian a few years ago by the film director Milcho Manchevski. He called my friend Victor for help with the term "clear slick". ;-)) V. gave him help with Macedonian dialect as well.

Lots of fun.

And I drank a bit too much of that wine.

1:00 a.m. is hard when you're 57!

I didn't get out of bed until about 9:30 this morning. Fortunately (and I don't know how I managed this) I don't have a hangover, just a slight "blah" feeling.

But it was well worth it. The nicest party I've been to in quite a while.

The evening began with a Newberry Consort concert, with the New York City viola consort Parthenia, at the University of Chicago's Bond Chapel. (Gory, you'd love it - here's a description of the outside from the Divinity School's website: " On the outside, chiefly along the sides and the back, are monochrome gray stone sculptures of hideous and noxious creatures: imps, demons, dragons, lions, griffons, and grotesques. They cling precariously to the cornices. They jut from the corners. They slide down the waterspouts.") I wish I could find a good photo of the interior, which has wonderful polychrome angels on the beamed ceiling, each with a different musical instrument. And the acoustics are splendid.

The program consisted of music of (mostly) English musicians who traveled to the Continent in the Elizabethan and Stuart periods, some for reasons of religion, others just because. Lots of Dowland, selections from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, theatre music, etc. Ellen Hargis' glorious soprano. The usual intelligent and interesting pre-concert lecture from Mary Springfels, this time accompanied by equally intelligent and interesting comments from Parthenia's Rosamund Morley. I was very intrigued by the fact that these travelers picked up play plots in Europe, brought them back to England where folks like Shakespeare and Marlowe turned them into the great dramas we know and love, and then the travelers brought those back to the Continent. For instance, the Consort played some music from a German play Von der schoenen Phoenicia, which may have formed the basis of Much Ado About Nothing. I think it would be rather fun to have a theatre program that alternated the "original" with the Shakespeare. Favorite quotation from the program notes: "[John Bull] was described as having 'more music than honesty and is as famous for marring of virginity as he is for fingering of organs and virginals.'"

Now, this is the first year that the Consort has had events in Hyde Park, and naturally they are reaching out to the community (and succeeding quite well - Bond Chapel was full). So my friend Jim, who is on their board, and his partner hosted a reception following the concert. They invited a lot of folks who don't normally attend the Consort series but who live in Hyde Park to the concert and reception, and I think there will some new attendees, judging from the comments people were making.

As always, Jim and Kevin provided an excellent spread, and copious amounts of wine. But it was such fun to talk to some new people, as well as old friends. Chatting with the Consort's manager and with Springfels, it seems they are very happy with the U of C connection. They are going to try to do at least one concert each season at Bond Chapel, rather than Fulton Recital Hall (it's more space, but it also costs $$ so they can't do the whole series there).

I discovered that one of the Parthenia members went to my college, so we had a grand time talking about what's still in the neighborhood and what's gone, why we're glad the school hasn't gone co-ed, and other things only fellow alumnae care about. She is a lawyer "to pay the bills", so we had that in common, too.

Brokeback Mountain got favorable, though not rave, reviews from a couple of people there. Interesting side note - Proulx' short story was translated into Macedonian a few years ago by the film director Milcho Manchevski. He called my friend Victor for help with the term "clear slick". ;-)) V. gave him help with Macedonian dialect as well.

Lots of fun.

And I drank a bit too much of that wine.