Two Concerts

Last week our friends Al and Stew came in from San Miguel de Allende (about four hours away by bus) to spend some time in Mexico City.  They wanted to see a couple of concerts featuring world-famous violinists, Joshua Bell and Gil Shaham.  Both concerts were to be held at Sala Netzahualcoyotl, the music hall on the campus of UNAM (the National University of Mexico).

The Joshua Bell concert was last Thursday. I had never been to Sala Netzahualcoyotl before, and I was very impressed by the building.

It was built in 1976 and is considered one of the most important concert halls in Latin America.

The program consisted of two works... Saint Saens' Cello Concerto in A Minor with soloist Ivan Koulikov, and the Violin Concerto in B Minor with Bell.

The concert was pleasant, but, frankly, I was not really "wowed" by it.  The orchestra was a group called "Camarata Opus 11".  Coming from Cleveland, home of one of the greatest orchestras in the world, I guess I am a bit of a music snob.  The "Camarata" was competent, but it cannot hold a candle to the Cleveland Orchestra.  In spite of his fame, I was not that impressed with Joshua Bell's performance.  Later, I read in a number of places that Bell has a reputation for rudeness, arrogance and inappropriate behavior.

On Saturday night, we returned to the same venue for a concert by the Philharmonic Orchestra of UNAM.  The featured soloist was Gil Shaham in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto.

This concert was much more enjoyable.  The UNAM orchestra is larger and is far superior to the "Camarata".  (OK, it's still not the Cleveland Orchestra, but it is very good.)  Founded in 1936, it is the oldest symphonic group in Mexico.  Gil Shaham's performance was marvelous, He seems like an unpretentious, nice guy.  He had a smile on his face throughout the entire concerto and a good rapport with the orchestra.

I sneaked a photo while Shaham was playing a solo encore.

Al, Stew and Alejandro after the concert

Thanks to Al and Stew.  I would have never known about the concerts if they had not told me about them!

Christmas Portraits

A couple weekends ago, Alejandro and I passed the World Trade Center on the way to supper.  We could see that there was an elaborate Christmas display in the lobby of the exhibition halls.  When we returned we went inside and took some photos with Alejandro's cell phone.

It was a good thing that we took the photos when we did.  The next day, I was surprised to see that the decorations were gone.  Apparently they had been set up for a private holiday party that was being held that night in one of the halls.

However, in another portion of the World Trade Center there were some permanent decorations, and we took some more pictures of ourselves there.

Textile Fair

The weekend before last, a textile fair was held at Los Pinos, the former Presidential compound in Chapultepec Park which is now a cultural center.   More than 100 stands were set up outside with vendors from all over Mexico selling clothing and other products.  It was a colorful display of handiwork. 

There was one small area showcasing the textiles of Guatemala.  Unfortunately, there were no items for sale, but several ladies from that country were working on their backstrap looms.

After browsing through all of the stalls, I made a couple of purchases as Christmas presents.

The Inspiration of a Classic

When I was in high school, almost every eleventh grade student read Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel, "The Scarlet Letter".  My teacher, however, was a young women who was too embarrassed to teach a story which dealt with adultery and a child born out of wedlock in 17th century Puritan Massachusetts.  Instead, we read Hawthorne's other famous novel, "The House of the Seven Gables".

I never did read "The Scarlet Letter", but I recently finished a novel which gives a fictional account of how Hawthorne was inspired to create the protagonist of "The Scarlet Letter", the adulteress, Hester Prynne.  

"Hester", written by Laurie Lico Albanese is set in 19th century Massachusetts. It tells the story of Isobel Gamble, a young Scottish seamstress who comes to America with her much older husband, a pharmacist who is a drunkard and opium addict. They settle in Salem, but her husband soon takes off on a departing ship, accepting a job as a medic.  Isobel is left alone, struggling to support herself through her extraordinary talent for embroidery.  She meets the young, handsome, aspiring writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne.  The two are drawn to each other and begin a secretive affair.

Lico Albanese did meticulous historical research to recreate life in the Salem of that era.  She offers a fictitious but believable explanation of how Hawthorne was inspired to write his most famous work.

 

Prize Winners

After walking through the Yucatan Festival at the Museum of Popular Cultures in Coyoacán, I went inside and looked at one of the museum's temporary exhibits.  Each year, the Secretariat of Culture, FONART (the National Fund for the Promotion of Handicrafts) and  BANAMEX (the National Bank of Mexico) sponsor a contest to award the Grand National Prize of Popular Arts.  This is the fiftieth year for the contest, and all of the winners are on display in the museum.  A total of 129 awards are given in 36 categories and subcategories.  So, the hall was filled with a wide variety of handicrafts... pieces that often go beyond being mere handicrafts and are truly pieces of fine art.  Here are a few of the winners...

Hand-hammered copperware from the state of Michoacán

Crosses carved from stone

Religious figures modeled from bees wax from the city of Salamanca, Guanajuato

Black pottery from Oaxaca

Lacquer-covered gourds from the states of Guerrero and Michoacán

A picture created from feathers from Michaocán

 A design created from gluing yarn onto a board, a specialty of the Huichol people

A guitar and a violin decorated with beadwork, another specialty of the Huichol

Wood-carving from the state of Chiapas

Hand-woven and embroidered clothing from Chiapas

Pottery from Michoacán

Talavera ware from the state of Tlaxcala

A painted plate from Tonalá, a town in the state of Jalisco noted for its pottery

A plate from Tonalá featuring the eagle and serpent, the national emblem of Mexico

A Festival of Yucatán

I had read that there was going to be a festival of handicrafts from the state of Yucatán at the Museum of Popular Cultures in Coyoacán.  Coyoacán is a picturesque district in the southern part of the city.  There really is no easy way to get there.  From the nearest subway stop, it is still a lengthy walk to get to the historic center of the district.  Nevertheless, I set out for the festival last week.

 The festival was not very large.  There were maybe a score of vendors who had set up their stands in the museum's courtyard.  There were stands of colorful clothing.

These guayabera shirts were gorgeous, and I was tempted to buy one.  But I already have at least a half dozen, and I really don't need more.

These gourds intricately carved with Mayan designs were also very tempting, but I passed.

I did buy a couple of things however.  I bought a jar of organic Yucatán honey from this lady.

At the very last stand, I found what I was looking for... the reason why I had made the trek to Coyoacán.  I am not much of a drinker, but I love X'tabentún, a honey liqueur from Yucatán.  Some time ago, Alejandro and I went to a similar bazaar of Yucatecan products.  There we saw a stand selling an artisanal brand of X´tabentún called Yumbab.  We were given a sample, and we liked it even more than the commonly sold brand.  We bought a bottle, and we still have not opened it.  Nevertheless, since it is impossible to find in the liquor stores of Mexico City, I hoped to buy another bottle.  At the last stand, there was the same guy we had seen before, selling Yumbab.  I bought another bottle.

So, my long journey to Coyoacán was not in vain!

 

Christmas - Step by Step

 While people in the U.S. were enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner, I was decorating the condo for Christmas.  

Actually, I started the day before Thanksgiving.  I got the boxes down from the top shelf of the closet.  

The first step was relatively easy.  I set up the Nativity scene on top of the cabinet in the living room.

I've had this set for more than thirty-five years.  I took a group of my teaching colleagues on a trip to Mexico City during Christmas vacation.  This occurred right after a devaluation of the peso, and for those of us bearing dollars, everything was incredibly inexpensive.  I bought this charming Nativity set for the equivalent of only ten U.S. dollars.  Years later, a friend of mine made the structure, which is known as a "portal" in Spanish, out of plaster bricks.

Next I began on the more difficult part... setting up the Christmas tree, and below it preparing the stage for my elaborate Bethlehem scene.

Alejandro gave me the artificial tree when I made the move to Mexico.  I unfolds and is suspended from a central pole.

Fortunately, I had saved from last year the panels of green flannel fabric for the landscaping of the village.  Before proceeding any further with Bethlehem however, I put the lights on the tree.

The first bit of landscaping it did was to create the river and waterfall with blue cellophane and aluminum foil.  

To make it appear more natural, I surrounded the stream with rocks and what is called "heno".  "Heno" is an epiphyte similar to Spanish moss that grows in tropical forests.  It is harvested and sold in the markets at Christmas for Nativity scenes.  I have since read that the harvesting of "heno" is ecologically damaging for the forests.  So, I am glad that I saved the "heno" from last year, and I could simply recycle what I already had instead of buying more.

Before proceeding further with Bethlehem village, I decorated the tree.

Most of the ornaments (known as "esferas" in Spanish) were purchased at markets here in Mexico City.  There are plenty of ornaments that are made in China, but I made a point of buying those made in Mexico.  The towns of Tlalpujahua in the state of Michoacán and Chignahuapan in the state of Puebla are famous for their "esferas".  Because the tree is so skinny, I had to content myself with small ornaments.

Next came the part that is most the most fun and also the most challenging... creating my Bethlehem with scores of houses, people and animals, and making it all look natural with more stones and "heno".  I have been collecting the figures for years, but now that I live here, I am here during the Christmas season when the markets are filled with a wide variety.

 

The only problem is that my Bethlehem is now filled to capacity.  No more trips to the market at Christmas to buy more figures.  😞