Text 19680, 69 rader
Skriven 2012-01-07 13:25:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip conclusion 39
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New Year's Eve

Helen had arranged a little reunion of her favorite quartet
- back before she had become famous and overburdened, we
would meet at ten once a week and play lots of music until
a late lunch. One of the players was always Mary Alyce, at
that time concertmaster of one of the better orchestras in
town (now, retired, she's concertmaster of one of the less
good orchestras in the suburbs); the fourth was a variable
musical-chairs situation, but some of the most satisfying
sessions involved my friend Martha, a mostly amateur who
occasionally did gigs, mathematician by trade, who knew and
probably still knows more about the literature than just
about anyone alive. The three of us would switch off on
viola; unfortunately, with age comes infirmity, and on this
occasion I, being the youngest and least infirm, got/had to
play viola for three of four pieces.

We started with the, shall we say, tart, er, acerbic
Prokofiev 1, a pretty difficult piece in the mid-20th
century mold; I figure it went okay on the whole; then the
Beethoven c# minor, a 40-minute monster of exceeding
strangeness and rare beauty. Then I took over on first for
the big Mozart D major, #8. We did quite well on these, as
we know them backwards and forwards.

Then dinner.

Martha had made a curried squash and carrot soup with legumes
- red beans, peanuts, and some others; though the curriedness
was I thought underdone, the beans were not, so our string
music was not substantially augmented by wind music.

Helen's Tafelspitz came from the recipe of a famous old
Vienna restaurant - this is a 6-8 hour project in which you
simmer a piece of beef, uncovered, in stock enriched with
root vegetables, then serve the sliced meat (normally from
the round, but in this case brisket) accompanied by more
vegetables that have been thrown in for the last hour or two.
Boiled potatoes go with, as well as something new to me -
applesauce with horseradish - an interesting taste.

To accompany dinner, I had provided a couple bottles of
Mionetto sparkling wine. The Prosecco (Treviso) had apple and
citrus notes; it was quite acid but pleasant. In 2009 the Wall
Street Journal named it the best of show among a tasting of
Proseccos some of which were quite a bit more expensive. The
Moscato (Veneto) had a floral nose; apricotty, rather sweet,
quaffable though tasting just a bit soapy to me.

Back to the salt mines for Haydn Op. 54 #2, the one with the
big gypsy-styled solo, which Martha did very nicely. And then,
it being by now 11 or so, our exertions were rewarded with
Egly-Ouriet Vignes de Vrigny (premier cru Champagne); it was way
too neutral for my taste; it promised interest, as the 36 months
sur lie lent a nice golden aspect, so I expected some bready
toasty yeasty notes but didn't get any. The bubbles were nice
and little, though, so it looked classy. I don't understand
why people drink dry wine with dessert - it ruins them both.
I finished my glass before starting on the sweets, of which I
had Lactaid vanilla and chocolate ice creams (made by Hood),
both pretty decent.

Vehement political discussion to finish off the year.


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