spacey

fall still doesn't feel right.

last night a group of us went to see charlie neidich play the brahms clarinet quintet with the juilliard string quartet near lincoln center. the concert was briefly interrupted for a false fire alarm (they restarted the shapey quintet, which was a little abstract and abstruse, even posthumously). also on the program was elliott carter's second string quartet. a great piece, but as nick gallas wisely interpreted, is too dense to really understand at first hearing. it takes a good study to approach it. i read him for fischer's class at the sorbonne, i'm quite enthusiastic about the way he conceptualizes music, but then somehow his music makes me come up empty.

the most impressive part of the performance was the instrument neidich played on. he had it modeled after mühfield's, the clarinetist brahms heard play in meiningen. he even had it cut from the same vintage wood. the idea was to best recreate the quintet sound brahms must have heard at the end of his life. amazing, actually. the juilliard quartet is a great vintage ensemble. i especially liked the second violinist.

we had our first brookshire midterm (blech), long and moderately painful. bridget, susan and i are going to see STOMP on broadway tonight, taking the train and transferring to union square. derek recommended a great indian restaurant nearby called raj mahal (the east village is his 'hood).

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