Travel Journal: The Berkshires, Part 1

[kenjari]

We got up bright and early yesterday morning and drove out to the other end of Massachusetts to begin our vacation week with four days in the Berkshires. Well, actually, we started oour vacation over the border, in Salisbury, CT, which is Other Kenjari's hometown. First stop was Harney's tea shop, which has a cafe and tasting room. we ate lunch at the cafe, which was pretty elegant; the food was good and our waiter was quite cute. I was able to taste quite a few teas, which clarified a couple of my purchasing decisions. Then I bought an embarrassing amount of tea.
Next, we headed into "downtown" Salisbury to attend Other Kenjari's brother Michael's reading and book signing at the local coffee shop. I got a nice preview of Gentlemen, which I will be starting soon. The event was pretty well attended, even if most of the people there were relatives or family friends of some sort. We got to talk with Michael and Ron, and to visit Other Kenjari's mother's grave. I always forget how nice a spot it's in. Michael also gave us some pictures of Other Kenjari as a child and teenager (adorable!).
We then headed back into MA to check into our motel, grab some dinner, and head out to Tanglewood for the first concert of our weekend. Along the way, we also did some exploring of the area. It's fairly rural, with plenty of quaintness, culture, and mansions.
We made it onto the grounds of Tanglewood with plenty of time to spare. It's a nice complex: well laid out, good facilities, and plenty of amenities. The Shed is a good structure, too. It has all the protection of being indoors while still being outdoors. On the lawn, we saw many people who clearly took the whole lawn experience very seriously. There were lots of groups with tables and chairs, elegant dishes, tablecloths, and even candelabras. And they had classy ffod, topo: winde, cheese, fruit, salad, roast chicken, etc.
The concert was amazing. I'd not heard Prokofiev's Classical Symphony before, and I'm glad that has been fixed. it's very charming. Prokofiev used Haydn as a model, but, I think, vastly improved on his predecessor. I have never been able to truly enjoy Haydn - he invariably irritates me after about five minutes. Prokofiev's symphony, however, was delightful. It was as if he had been able to distill everything that is good about Haydn and then put it to his own purposes.
The concert concluded with Orff's Carmina Burana, a piece I have always loved. Despite Orff's German nationality, i have always felt that Carmina Buranahas a very Slavic/Eastern European sound. The BSO and Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC) gave a wonderful performance. It was crisp and rollicking; everything shone and crackled. The timbres were clear, the contrasts were sharp. Burgos, the conductor, took some of the quicker tempi at a rather fast pace, but it worked. The TFC was terrific: not only are they great singers, but they have amazing diction. Seriously, if this had been the diction Olympics, they would have gotten the gold. There were a few times that I wished the soloists had had a bit more volume and power, but I'm not sure if that was a performance problem or an effect of the open air acoustics. Seated behind us was a father and his surly middle-school aged son. I hope the kid liked Carmina Burana, because it is surely one of the best introductions to the more contemporary side of classical music, and this was a top-notch performance.