And the morning and the afternoon are the beginning of the first day, here on the northeast slopes of the Lagoon Mountains, atop Los Robles Hill, at about 200 feet, this new blog continuing from markalburger2017.blogspot.com.
The revels continue from New Year's Eve, at the appointed time, viewing the three-hours-before-local NY drop -- the only California coverage being a worthy Spanish Los Angeles offering.
Soon it's over to another New York institution, the Metropolitan Opera, but as for Jacques Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman and many productions of the recent past...
"this is repertory-wise one of the dullest Met seasons in memory...
...if it wants to thrive, rather than merely survive, it must also look to the future of the art form: the relevance of its theatricality, the rejuvenation of its repertory, the cultivation of new work.
...the company’s promotional materials crow that 'no other art form so unabashedly celebrates the power of the human voice. But opera is also a vehicle for creative expression for conductors, orchestra musicians, directors, designers and choreographers.'
Composers are left off the list, depressingly. The voice must be heard, sure, but what are they singing?" [Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times, 9/28/17]
... Harriet and I begin to have other ideas, and eventually there's time as well to begin this new tome...
Much later in the morning,
seems auspicious to head out for a walk, hopefully capturing a decent picture for the annual first-day-of-the-year portrait (the one at top will have to do) --
first via financial errands,
then making our way to the
west of town,
exploring various
potential accesses,
going for the
Los
Robles
Trailhead,
southeast
against oaks
and
ever-increasing
vistas
to a
highpoint with views
north to the
Vaca Mountains and English Hills.
Retracing
steps,
it's
back
to the car
and
circling
around
for a first-day's celebration at Tahoe Joe's,
then home to continue work on new edition of Symphony No. 1 ("It Wasn't Classical…"), Op. 61 (1998): I. Allegro con brio -- another big push with pages 41-51 --
over various videos,
on this first day of Spring 2018, high up 6 to 66...
