Eroica

Saturday night. Tickets to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. A chance to hear guest conductor Markus Stenz, conductor of many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the London Sinfonietta, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Vienna Symphony, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. An opportunity to be entranced by the unmistakable talent of premier violinist, Kolja Blacher, playing Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto in D minor to a rapt audience. I held the symphony tickets, and asked Laura Van Scoyoc, my good friend and fellow board member of the nonprofit Friends group for a globally rare ecosystem near my home (http://home.comcast.net/~soldiersdelight), to accompany me.

Laura and I arrived at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in downtown Baltimore in plenty of time to enjoy a glass of wine before taking our seats. Besides Schumann’s concerto, remarkable for its lucidity in light of the composer’s rapid decline into psychosis during that period, Laura and I also enjoyed Ludwig Von Beethoven’s famous Eroica, written to pay tribute to a "great man", whom some speculate was Napoleon Bonaparte, others say the Trojan prince Hector in Homer’s Iliad, or perhaps the mythical Prometheus, or maybe even Beethoven himself. No matter. We both enjoyed the intensity of the music.

All that melodious passion left us hungry, so when the concert concluded, Laura and I made our way to the Hampden section of Baltimore, where we dined on wild boar and pumpkin ravioli at the remarkable Food Market restaurant (www.thefoodmarketbaltimore.com).

I chose a simple black dress by Vicki Vaughn for the evening, a hand-me-down from my best friend, Kari, several years ago, while Laura wore a sleeveless crocheted shift by Jones New York. I cinched my waist with a wide black belt from Target, while Laura wrapped a skinny belt around hers. I slipped on my favorite black patent platform heels by Call It Spring from JCPenney, and Laura wore pointy-toed kitten heels by Bozzazie from Lord & Taylor. For jewelry I chose a mixed-metal pendant on a black cord that I bought in Ireland in July, some vintage mixed-metal earrings I've owned for years and a black bead and pearl bracelet from Fire & Ice Jewelers of Baltimore (www.fireandice.com). Laura adorned her ears with gorgeous gold arrings in a grape and leaf motif which she purchased at a shop on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy.

To finish, I tucked my lipstick into a black satin evening bag with mixed-metal detailing at the latch, the pocketbook a treasure tucked into a box of gently used clothing from Kari's mom, Joyce.  This little purse has quickly become my go-to favorite for the symphony, since it expands to hold everything from opera glasses to reading glasses without losing its charm. 

The concert was lovely, our après-symphony dinner outstanding, and the evening a resounding pleasure.

Cheers,

Lynell