Sport

Catching up with the Vancouver Olympics online (no commercials, no Costas) and the skating events. Great rivalry between Evan Lysacek (US) and Evgeni Plushenko (Russia) and the later making important points about the point merits of the quad in an athletic competion. But Lysacek making an equally strong argument about the whole technical skate.

It was scratch spin close. Maybe a draw. Lysacek technical difficulty to make up for the quad was impressive, but often at the sacrifice of polished lines. In the short program was, to quote Madame in Waterloo Bridge (1940, Vivien Leigh) “your port de bra was positively epileptic!”

Much better in the long program, but Plushenko was often much cleaner in the air (perfect vertical, speed and outflow). Plushenko’s technical merits are probably the best, but his cold efficiency of execution often does not fuse with his artistic expression. New scoring system or not, the difference comes down to judging tastes.

Completely underscored was gay skater Johnny Weir, criticized that his program lacked difficult elements. The fact that he didn’t crowd his choreography and carved out clean, consistent lines, is a technical plus. His port de bra was fab, completely undervalued in the scoring. He would have been 4th not 6th if I were placing.

Actually I think Daisuke Takahashi of Japan was also underscored, even without the quad. He not only had great carriage, but had diamond centered spins, terrific extension and his aerials were lyrical and huge, more than makes up for it.

remaining in World of Music

Tea with Tan Dun in Philly

Composer Tan Dun stands in the pit in the Academy of Music for a special dress rehearsal for Philadelphia school students this week lucky enough to see a run-through of the East Coast premiere of his opera Tea.

Dun’s music is familiar to moviegoers for his Oscar winning score to the international hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and a new generation of classical fans saw him conduct the YouTube Symphony Orchestra in the premiere of his Internet Symphony “Eroica” at Carnegie Hall.

At the Academy, Dun is a completely at ease in a blue t and black trousers, instructing the tech crew, giving the orchestra members a new page of music and otherwise smiling and joking with the audience.

He repeatedly tries to sync the curtain drop with an orchestral cue. Tea’s special sound effects uses various natural elements including a woman who is playing splashing sounds over a bowl. It also features an array of array of authentic Chinese and Japanese percussion instruments, and other classicism as the musical spine of Tea.

Dun writes unexpected vocal components, like hissing, but other modulations that sound like universal seed sounds in tantric chanting. Most evident in the ariatic dialogues and majestic crescendos with eerie fades. Even in the concert hall his symphonic vistas that are cinematic.

He looks for a moment like he stares at the baton then stabs into the air for an earsplitting fortissimo that makes the audience jump and laugh. Tea is the story of a Princess and intrigue that swirls around her betrothal and the secrets of that mystical book of tea. A woman in a red silk sari comes out of the floor ala Martha Graham, a story high mandala cube opens up into a staircase with masked court jesters and the priests conjure palace intrigue.