A Fantastic Weekend in New York City

In general, New York City is always challenging. The crowds in the city are daunting and the congestion makes getting around a pain in the butt. That having been said, when things fall right, there is no place like New York -- especially if you like good art, good music and good food.

We had one of those magical visits last weekend -- a quick 36 hour trip that packed in all the types of things we just love. It started, as all our good trips to NYC always do, with a pleasant train ride from Union Station to Penn Station. Nothing is really more fun than 3 hours alone on the train to read, or think, or chat.

After dropping our bags at the hotel (the Empire, right across the street from Lincoln Center) we went for a nice walk on the crisp day, across Central Park. Our first stop on the Saturday afternoon was the Frick Museum at 7oth & 5th. They had a wonderful special exhibit of Renoir's full length portraits. This one, "The Promenade" is in their permanent collection and always makes me think of our daughter-in-law and her two girls. The others, including several fantastic pieces we'd never seen before like "Umbrellas," really brought home how special Renoir's painting is. After a suitably extended visit with this small exhibit (just 10 paintings all told) we still had time for a wander through the rest of our Frick to see some old friends -- JMW Turner, Vermeer, Rembrandt. It is always a special pleasure to return someplace you've been before and refresh your memories.

After a nice rest and a nap at the hotel, it was time for our concert at the New York Philharmonic. We've been going for years and the music is always quite fine, but this concert was truly special. We were treated to two of Beethoven's symphonies, No. 2 and No. 7. We'd never heard #2 live before, but of course #7 is quite familiar. And yet these were different. The conductor, David Zinman, has spent the past few years reconstructing the original scoring from when the works were first performed. He has stripped away much of the romantic encrustations that have become so familiar. The result is like hearing these for the first time -- spare, dynamic, and powerful. The musicianship of the players and their sheer joy in playing really made the pieces come alive in new ways The opening phrases of the No. 7 Allegretto were some of the most gentle music we've ever heard and haunting. Throw in Peter Serkin on the piano playing a Stravinsky Capriccio and the music was pure magic.

We capped the day off with dinner at Picholine an very pleasant French restaurant just a couple of blocks away. It was a fine meal (Katy had the lamb; Paul the bass) with a nice French wine that just mellowed the day to an end. We finally rolled into bed around Midnight.

After sleeeping in the next morning, we had a quick breakast at a near by Le Pain Quotidien and then headed over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The only problem with the visit is we didn't have nearly enough time!!! We began with a small exhibit of Rembrandt and Degas self-portraits. Apparently Degas copied Rembrandt's style and seeing the two together was a revelation.

Then we took a trip back in time to the Renaissance and saw a great exhibit on portraits in Italy from Donatello to Bellini. Watching the style develop was fascinating, as was coming to recognize the idea that individual portraits were "new" at the time. The Donatello bust of a saint which opened the exhibit was truly a sight to behold.

Our third stop was "The Steins Collect." The Stein family (including Gertrude) spent the early 20th century in Paris. Leo Stein had a good eye and a sound business sense and they wound up collecting a number of Matisse and Picasso paintings (as well as several other artists) for absurd prices. One Matisse went for 500 francs (or just $100). Their salon was filled with great impressionist art. What a dream.

Finally, we went to see the work of Fu Baoshi. He was an artist who painted in the "old" Chinese style and lived through the revolution of Sun Yat Sen and then Chaing Kaishek and then Mao. His pictures were quite a joy to look at and something we'd never seen before. Made us want to study Asian art a bit.

And so, tired by happy, we took our seats on the train home and headed back to Washington, after a great weekend in New York.