Yesterday's Blog Today: Nearly Perfect

Nearly Perfect It was another nearly perfect day up in the Flathead. The weather has been a little less than ideal, with cloudy skies and early morning rain. But with California in drought and other areas facing flooding, I won’t complain about a bit of wet. It settles the ndust and lets me avoid watering ky lawn. The lawn had begun to prepare itself for the winter that is coming. It has slowed its growing and is changing color. So are the trees. Autumn is in full swing. One of the things that announces the arrival of true Autumn is the return of the Symphony. Today marked the season premiere of our own Glacier Symphony, that organization that constantly surprises me at its ability to pull off really intriguing programs, under the direction of John Zoltek. Today was no different: Zoltek and the marvelous musicians performed Paganini’s First Violin Concerto and Berlioz’ Symphnie Fantastique to the delight of their nearly full house audience. They began with a short overture, a concert arrangement from John Williams’ movie score to “Hook.” Then 18 year old virtuoso Simone Porter took center stage, thin and beautiful and ready, to take on a concerto written by the man who re-defined what the violin can do. She nailed it. I marveled at how the orchestral parts sounded ever so slightly like Rossini but the violin soared to levels of at the time unparalleled brilliance. After the intermission, the orchestra took on the Berlioz, written in 1830 and utterly revolutionizing what an orchestra can do. It was the first symphony to have a program, and the first to bring a single theme, or idée fixe, into every onbe of its five movements. It also was bizarre and daring in orchestration, even depicting an execution by guillotine! And Glacier Symphony nailed it. After the concert, my friend Joop and I went to the Blue Canyon for a drink and dinner. I discovered a microbrew stout that carried solid flavor and experienced a “bucket of burgers” made with Kobe beef. Better still, John Zoltek, his wife, two other lovely ladies associated with the Symphony, and young Miss Porter all showed up at the same tavern. I got to chat with John and his wife at our table, and as we were leaving we stopped at their table, where I got to meet, and thank, Miss Porter, and Joop got the chance to assure her that she was going to be world famous if she played like that. With a deep sense of contentment, I drove Joop to his house and went home. The day would have been perfect, indeed, except that Diane stayed home, feeling exhausted and a bit off. she felt she could not have enjoyed the concert feeling the way she did. She needed a quiet time, and when I got home she told me she had enjoyed the time to herself. So, in a sense, we all got what we needed today, and that is nearly perfect.