Monotonous Forest

Exalted melon

It's been far too long since I've posted a cocktail recipe here, so just in the nick of time, I've discovered what is fast becoming one of my favorite summer drinks. The watermelon-cucumber axis has been around for a few years (thanks to Dorothy Pfeiffer for introducing me to it) but only in the last few weeks have I been experimenting, thanks to this blog. Follow the easy recipe for Watermelon-Cucumber-Mint Juice, which as one friend said, is quite delicious on its own without any alcohol at all.

The result combines perfectly with Martin Miller's gin (another recent discovery) which has a slight cucumber overtone. But the fragrant watermelon mix marries quite harmoniously with tequila:

• 2 oz. blanco tequila (lately I've been using El Mayor)
• 4 oz. Watermelon-Cucumber-Mint juice
• 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
• 1/2 oz. triple sec (e.g., Patron's Citronge)

Shake all the ingredients together and pour over ice in a tall glass. Garnish with slices of watermelon, cucumber and lime.

[Thanks to Marcia Simmons and Jonas Halpern, authors of DIY Cocktails: A Simple Guide to Creating Your Own Signature Drinks, and Jeannine, of Mybitsandbleeps.]

In Philadelphia, a choir among choirs

On Sunday afternoon at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, the Philadelphia-based The Crossing presents the final concert in its Month of Moderns series. Donald Nally's renowned group will do a world premiere by Ēriks Ešenvalds, plus works by Maija Einfelde, Gabriel Jackson and Tarik O'Regan.

 
 
Meanwhile, the group has an impressive new recording out, It is Time (Navona Records NV5845), with works by David Shapiro, Kile Smith, Paul Fowler, Frank Havrøy, Erhard Karkoschka and Kirsten Broberg. This superb program, most of which uses texts by Paul Celan (except for Fowler's gorgeous Breath, by Philip Levine), shows off the group's impeccable tuning, rhythmic accuracy and shimmering texture. Shapiro's title piece makes a blazing opening, but the album is almost worth getting just for the arresting final chord of Broberg's Breathturn that ends it all. The immaculate sound is by Paul Vazquez of Digital Mission Online, who regularly records the ensemble in the Chestnut Hill church's pristine acoustic.

A magnificent new instrument from Pascal Quoirin

The Manton Memorial Organ at Church of the Ascension. Seen and Heard International, June 22, 2011

Janáček, meet Alan Gilbert, the NYPO—and Doug Fitch

In what promises to be one of the highlights of the year, Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic conclude their season this week with four performances of Leoš Janáček's opera, The Cunning Little Vixen (1922-23). This would be news all by itself, but the production will be staged, directed and costumed by Doug Fitch and Giants Are Small, whose work on Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre last year was nothing short of extraordinary.

Steve Smith has more intriguing details here.

[Photo: Doug Fitch's scenic design for The Cunning Little Vixen, courtesy New York Philharmonic Orchestra]

A Coney Island of the mind (music version)

On Tuesday, Make Music New York presents over 1,000 free concerts in all five boroughs, temporarily transforming the city into even more of a sonic hotbed than it is normally. Some of the big events are (deservedly) getting lots of press, such as MATA's SWELTER (3:30 and 5:00PM) on the Central Park Lake, a reprise of John Luther Adams's Inuksuit in Morningside Park (5:00PM) and the Hungry March Band in a New Orleans-style Second Line parade on the High Line (6:00PM).

But looking at the massive schedule more closely, some quirkier events come into view. On Cornelia Street, Red Light New Music will perform Mauricio Kagel's Eine Brise for 111 bicyclists. At the New York Stock Exchange, Yarn/Wire tackles Louis Andriessen's Hoketus, using one group of musicians on the NYSE balconies and another on the street. Meanwhile, instrumentalists of all sorts - including those inclined toward bagpipes - are encouraged to join Mass Appeal, with 17 different concerts scattered around town.

If none of this strikes your fancy, Sing for Hope has 88 pianos scattered around the city, which can be reserved for one-hour time slots. Or, if you run across a piano that's free, just dive in and let people in the neighborhood know you think Stockhausen's Klavierstück IX is a great piece.

[Photo by Juan Giraldo: Mass Appeal Glockenspiels from MMNY 2009]

A "Pierrot" for the ages with Lucy Shelton

The Da Capo Chamber Players at Merkin Concert Hall. Seen and Heard International, June 17, 2011

One piano, two violins

Frederic Chiu joins Angela and Jennifer Chun at Tenri Cultural Institute. Seen and Heard International, June 16, 2011

The "super-virtuoso" strikes again

Marc-André Hamelin at New York's Zankel Hall. Seen and Heard International, June 7, 2011

A new take on "The Rake's Progress"

New York's MATA Festival 2011, "A Burst of Blinding Clarity." Seen and Heard International, June 7, 2011