Mad-is-son I
The first two states of my trip to Madison were pretty uneventful. Northern Indiana corn is way behind Ohio corn, short and stressed (IL and WI corn are of course beautiful). There really isn't much else to look at on the turnpike, besides The Other Field Crop (soybeans). And I was taking it easy to avoid interactions with The Other White Meat.
IL, OTOH, was a different story. If Mapquest ever sends you to WI via I90, don't do it! Don't go anywhere near Chicago unless you have business there (or like the place). Between construction and the incessant tolls, it was a very poky trip. I counted myself lucky because I missed most of rush hour, having forgotten about the time change (my watch is still in B flat, reads an hour higher than actual time.) Not even WFMT could salve that journey, though where else would you hear a transcription of the Shostakovich 15th for string trio and 3 percussionists? I've never spent time in Chicago, and might actually like the place, given time enough and public transportation. But I found myself looking at some nice boarded-up apartment buildings and thinking, "Politicians love to spend money; why don't they buy these up and put windows and curtains in the sides facing the Dan Ryan? It worked for Potemkin." So...a trip billed at almost 9 hours by Mapquest took just under 12, with minimal meal breaks.
Madison is a lovely place, in spite of that steepled dome east of here, and its denizens (Why is Congressional architecture quasi-religious?) It's in-your-face green, with bicycle paths everywhere, and has quite a healthy nightlife. I walked to the Willy Street Co-op. Another warning: when you don't know distances in a new town, maybe a car is a better idea at first. The hippie district is on the other side of the Capitol from campus (there's a meaning in there somewhere); I walked for miles. The entertainment district is much closer...and the lake...
Nothing happening here yet; Festival check-in is at noon, breakfast at 7, and its before 7 EDT, which is why I didn't have to fight anyone for this computer.
Comments
Posted by: jeffrey smith
Posted on: July 7, 2007 09:04 PM
Of course Indiana corn is stressed. It's in the same state as rightwingprof.... :)
I think I've seen that Shostakovich recording. It was of course released for The Centennial. As a companion recording (going by what I remember of the labels) there's also an orchestration of the violin and viola sonatas.
A true reach would probably be transcribing the Leningrad symphony for medieval instruments :)
Posted by: rightwingprof
Posted on: July 8, 2007 11:19 AM
"Of course Indiana corn is stressed. It's in the same state as rightwingprof.... :)"
Used to be. I'm in Pennsylvania now. And they don't grow much corn in the part of Indiana I'm from. Way too hilly.
I-90 is always a mess. We used to have season tickets at the Lyric, so we went to Chicago frequently. It was much quicker to get off I-90 and take Lake Shore Drive downtown, through the south side. Course, we kept our doors locked.
Posted by: Jeffrey Quick
Posted on: July 8, 2007 08:29 PM
The Leningrad? I can hear the famous theme on shawms very easily.
Posted by: jeffrey smith
Posted on: July 8, 2007 08:40 PM
Found, inter alia, the CD I was talking about. The soloist is Gidon Kremer. The violin sonata is orchestrated for stings and percussion, and the viola concerto is orchestrated for strings only.
Posted by: Jeffrey Quick
Posted on: July 10, 2007 07:29 PM
Kremer was violinist in the DSch 15 broadcast too, from the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival.