Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

Monday, June 17, 2013

Sexteto Mayor - La passion règne.




Did you have a nice weekend?


So this is what I went to see on Saturday at the ND theatre, here in Buenos Aires. It was a one-time show to celebrate the group's 40 years! the amazing thing is, that two of it's original members* are still part of the group. They both play the violin. It was a beautiful show, I feel so lucky to have seen them! After the show I wanted to learn more about this sextet (which left me speechless) and here is what I found:


The Sexteto Mayor is a tango music ensemble founded in April 23, 1973 by Luis Stazo and José Libertella.  Since it's early days, the sextet has conducted tours around the world. This has led them to become the most famous Argentinian tango sextet in the world. Sexteto Mayor has received numerous awards including the Latin American Grammy in 2003.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Vacations in the dark




Hi! did you have a nice weekend?

So, if you're in town and have a minimum understanding of the Spanish language, here's a fun play to go watch at the theatre. It's about relationships. A couple that has been in one for a long time decides to take DANCING lessons to get out of the routine.

One of the first things that came to my mind after wathing the play is that relationships are complicated, of course, we all know THAT. But, with all the complications and hardships, misunderstandings and trivial (non-happening) things that uhhmm... happen in a SOLID relationship, it IS good to be in a relationship. Don't you think?

The play touches the subject of monogamy and one of the characters says something like "it can make people crazy" but, in my opinion it can make people crazier to NOT be in a monogomous relationship. For example, at one point, one of the characters says how much "we need space" when we are in a long-term relationship. This character is talking to another person who has never been in a serious, long-lasting relationship. This person (the one who has never been in a relationship)says "really?? you need space?? and continues... "all I've ever known in my life is SPACE. It must be cool to NEED SPACE". Although the play is mostly funny, it does have sad parts like that. It also talks about blindness (therefore, the name "vacations in the dark"). When we are blinded by love. How we sometimes CHOOSE to be blind. And perhaps, more importantly, WHY we sometimes "decide" to look the other way.
I don't intend to tell you the whole story, but, I do recommend you see the play, cause it does make you laugh and think.

Enjoy!
Love,
M

Where? Paseo La Plaza, Buenos Aires.


Monday, April 16, 2012

I'll feed you love




"They loved eachother with tenderness, passion and faithfulness. They tried to always be together and when they had to separate for whatever reason, they thought about eachother so much that their time apart was also a way of being together, more subtle, prudent and avid"

Silvina Ocampo,
Los dias de la noche

Friday, March 30, 2012

BJöRJ






























Welcome to Buenos Aires, Björk!

The artist will be presenting her interdisciplinary project "Biophilia Residency" in two intimate shows, previous to her presentation in Personal Pop Festival.
CENTRO MUNICIPAL DE EXPOSICIONES. Eduardo J. Couture, Recoleta
April 6, 9, 12, 15

Get your tickets here

Monday, October 24, 2011

Buenos Aires Jazz














Jazz is to Americans what tango is to Argentinians (uhm… or some say its country music?)

Jazz was born in New Orleans (that’s right, not Chicago, not NYC) just as tango was born on the banks of the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires. Like tango, Jazz is also a product of diversity. New Orleans was French, then it was Spanish, then it went back to being French until it finally became American (although, you know what they say in Nola: “third world and proud of it”). Anyone who has been there, has probably noticed how different NOLA is from the rest of the US. In many ways, it's more like Argentina.

New Orleans Jazz was created by immigrants from Africa who met to sing religious hymns, but in the process, their voices started to merge generating different harmonies. Thus, variations on these melodies came to life.

While European music requires careful listening and who interprets it must remain faithful to the score - even in the execution of the expression, in jazz, there is a kind of game. Musicians follow certain rules, but mostly improvise and put their own vibe into the music.

To those who are eager to expose their ears to the sharpness of this genre and also those who simply want to enjoy the pleasure of hearing this music without much thinking, we invite you to the Fourth Edition of the Festival de Jazz de Buenos Aires. Advance ticket sale starts today, while concerts start the following week.

Enjoy!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

closed doors and open hearts


















Almacén Secreto



A few years ago closed- door restaurants began to open in Buenos Aires.

Young chefs began to open the doors of their houses with the idea of treating guests with a delicious home-made meal, sharing nice conversation and allowing people to interact with people they don’t know. Sometimes, guests can also enjoy wine tasting, acoustic music shows and art exhibitions before, during or after dinner.

The first one we went to is Casa Saltshaker. We enjoyed a delicious dinner in a relaxed and intimate atmosphere. There were just two or three tables, so it was a nice opportunity to meet and chat with strangers from other places. We shared a table with a couple from Chicago and had a very nice time chatting with them.

These closed door restaurants are accessed by recommendation, naturally.

The proposals are varied. Some open weekends only and others on weekdays. Reservations are required.

If you have not been to one these closed- door restaurants yet, here is a list we put together.

Treinta Sillas
Freire y F. Lacroze, Belgrano.
15-4492-7046

Diego Felix. They like to experiment with exotic flavors, spices and Latin-American scents.
4555-1882

La Cocina Discreta
4772-3803
15-6571-1002

Casa SaltShaker

Almacen Secreto. North West, Argentina cuisine.
Aguirre 1242, Villa Crespo.
4854-9131

Caracoles para Da Vinci
Hidalgo 878, Villa Crespo
15-5526-6918

Casa Coupage. Haute Argentinian Cuisine
Soler 5518, Colegiales.
4777-9295



Enjoy!! xo

Thursday, September 29, 2011

it's complicated



















Argentine singer, Andrés Calamaro, wrote this song called "One can't live just from love"


I bought this great book by Walter Riso "A Guide to Avoid Dying from Love. Ten Principles of Emotional Survival". I found it tough yet excellent. A short and perhaps interesting read for those who say you can work out relationship- related problems on your own and that getting psychological help has never crossed your mind.

I may be wrong, but I checked and did not find a version of this book in English, so I’m quoting some interesting points I found. I hope it helps those who are looking for a relationship, those who are already in one and all you love birds who may be thinking of ways of making your love life even better.

"Feelings do not cover everything in a relationship. Specialists say that 'Love isn't enough' and they may be right. Our choice of a couple should be more thought out and less visceral: "I like a lot of things in you, I want you, but I am still not sure weather you fit in my life or not, even though my body and my being push me towards you in a confusing way'. I am sorry for love fans but for people who live in an earthly world and have not transcended yet, love isn't usually that unconditional (the amount of deserters in the subject gets bigger every day) nor it moves mountains, if you don't pay enough attention to it, if you don't know how to handle it, it crushes you, it overwhelms you.

You should put your enthusiasm aside for a moment, before making a blind decision and connect to a more controlled processing system (I am saying you can stop being so hippomaniac or in love for a few moments, you can try to relax voluntarily). Once you have arrived back on earth, you should consider the advantages and disadvantages, pros, cons and expectations and try to see reality as it is (not blinded by love). This, will allow you to, in the future, be able to integrate feelings, reality and emotions and to realize when one is missing or excessively present.

Functional and healthy couples love freely (they are able to use their own time however they please), in a non possessive way (no one belongs to the other) and without the need for the other to be present at all times (they can be on their own, do their own thing). If you are capable of deciding about your own timing, if you don't feel you are 'owned' by someone and at the same time you feel you can walk through life on your own, you have entered the grounds of mature love.

A good relationship requires at least three factors to work at the same time: desire / attraction; friendship and tenderness. If your relationship is lacking one of those components, it could be going down hill. Analyze them and make your own decisions.

The following, is a phrase by Stendahl that has always caused a great impact on me because of its beauty and realism: 'Love is a very beautiful flower but you have to have the courage to go look for it at the edge of an abyss.'

In love you sweat, you fight, you make up, you create day by day. If you are a very romantic person, you will have a minimal resistance to the hardships love brings.

Some think that love causes suffering, others are naïf enough to believe in the ingenuity of romantic love. Realistic love, however, may be half way between those two poles. Love, in a relationship, isn't always a fairy tale though some insist on calling it that. It brings good and bad times, you will have to learn to deal with.

If behaviors and negative attitudes go over the limit, you will have to jump; if there is respect within what is acceptable and feelings are sponsored by solid love, you go on in your relationship. Love grows and develops.




Post by: Valeria Méndez Cañas

Friday, September 9, 2011

Emerging Talent

XI Biennale Youth Contest.


In 1991, Shell and "Festivales Musicales" decided to organize a Biennale Contest for Young Talents, with the objective of promoting the artistic development of new generations.

During every uneven year, an international jury judges the pre-selection, elimination round, semifinals and finals of the contestants for singing, piano and chamber music. Winners are awarded with first and second place prizes.

During the following year, first price winners give recitals in the most important theaters of Buenos Aires and in various provinces of Argentina.

This way, the objective of promoting emerging talents is achieved.

For many, the Biennale Youth Contests means the beginning of promissory artistic careers and a way towards international recognition.

This year's edition will take place on September 22 at Museo de Arte Decorativo. If you would like to hear these emerging talents perform, you can get free tickets by calling Festivales Musicales at 4382-4870. Tickets will go fast, so hurry.

Happy weekend!




post by: Valeria Mendez Cañas

Monday, August 1, 2011

Gustavo

















Gustavo Santaolalla


"No city is like Buenos Aires" is the expression Gustavo Santaolalla uses to refer to our hometown.

I didn't know much about Gustavo Santaolalla until he won his first Oscar for "Original Soundtrack" for the film Brokeback Mountain. It was then that I became more curious and started to look into his work. We are from different generations and although Santaolalla has repeatedly said that he has two loves - Rock 'n' Roll and Latin Culture, his music was at first very influenced by Argentine "folk". Perhaps that explains why I was never going to listen to it... because as a teenager, I found it was "uncool".

His electrotango band "Bajo Fondo" however, got me interested in the way he had integrated his "loves" into his music introducing technology to make tango sound different, to bring it closer to other generations. I thought his was a unique idea.

Today, I read that he was from a neighborhood called "Ciudad Jardín". A very small and humble town in the Western section of the greater Buenos Aires area. And, though I still don't know that much about him, this article made me think about his dreams. There is a long way between Ciudad Jardin and Hollywood, California, to name a place he made it to. I can assure you this cause I know how far Ciudad Jardín is, even from Buenos Aires city.

He mentioned in this article that the streets in his hometown were made out of dirt and that services were very limited. He remembers coming to the city was a great, long, and exciting trip and that a common expression in his neighborhood was "I am going to the capital", meaning the city of Buenos Aires. The distance he had to travel and the means of transportation he used to get to town were, at that time, far from convenient and it was a long trip indeed, but he remembers that every time that he arrived he thought: "this is everything they say about a great city, so many avenues! so many different people!"

I see his trip to the city as a metaphor for his later achievements. The trip was probably a little complicated and long, yes, but, in his head he knew the way and in his heart he had passion. He knew, also, how to let himself be surprised and how to surprise others with the ingenuity (the same ingenuity with which he discovered the city) that of the child that lives inside of him.

For your music and talent, thank you Mr. Santaolalla!

Photo:7dias
Post by: Valeria Mendez Cañas

Friday, July 29, 2011

Happy Firday!

Tonight at 7:00pm there is a new edition of Gallery Nights, this time, in the neighborhoods of Barrio Norte, Retiro and Recoleta. Art galleries, antique shops, museums, vintage boutiques and cultural centers open their doors to share art and design with visitors. It's a fun event and there's always live music and shows. Also, you can make a stop at any of these bars (all within tonight's circuit) to have a cocktail and see more art. TGIF!

Don't miss Cosecha Prendas Vintage. A creative space with focus on the revaluation of handicrafts. The result is soft, romantic pieces with retro inspiration, a combination of antique details with new materials.

Photos: Cosecha Prendas Vintage





























































































Don't you love these girly dresses?

Gallery Nights organized by Arte al Dia was born in 2001 with the objective of bringing art close to the public. The event takes place in different areas of Buenos Aires from April to December and in Punta del Este, Uruguay during January.


You can see details on today's Circuit here.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Cosmópolis






















Photo: Horacio Coppola

You've probably heard of Borges

Perhaps you've read some of his works and liked what you read. Maybe you've been to Buenos Aires before, and while you were here, you were curious to learn more about the author. Maybe you sat at the cafés he frequented (Tortoni, La Biela, etc), visited the National Library he once directed, went to Plaza San Martin where he took long walks or walked through Palermo, the neighborhood where he grew up. Maybe you did all of this without even knowing about Borges and how this all relates to him. To my surprise, I've had two or three clients very interested in Borges, his work and his life in Buenos Aires. It is thanks to one of these clients (a couple actually) that a few years ago, I had the pleasure of following the author's "footsteps" - this time consciously * and in the company of someone from AD who actually knows a respectable bit about the author and his life, unlike me.

This year, in the frame of Buenos Aires as Book Capital of the World, there have been many interesting events which I've been sharing with you. Today, it's about a new exhibition organized by the Ministry of Culture of the city of Buenos Aires.

“Cosmópolis, Borges y Buenos Aires” is an audiovisual exhibition, that explores the connection between the Argentinian writer and the city of Buenos Aires.

Created by Juan Insúa, “Cosmópolis" is an adaptation of the same exhibition that was presented at the Contemporary Cultural Center of Barcelona in 2002. This new version explores in a more profound manner this particular bond between Jorge Luis Borges and the city of Buenos Aires.

Through images and audiovisual material, “Cosmópolis, Borges y Buenos Aires” invites us to explore the evolution of Borges' literature with special attention to the way the author passes from a precise stage (Buenos Aires) to a universal city.

The exhibition is divided into seven sections that follow the work of the author in chronological order as well as a thematic manner:

-FUNDACIÓN MÍTICA (Mythic Foundation)
-FERVOR DE BUENOS AIRES (Passion of Buenos Aires)
-EL SUR METAFÍSICO (Metaphysic South)
-LA CIUDAD TRANSFIGURADA (Transfigured city)
-LA BIBLIOTECA INFINITA (Infinite library)
-EL HERESIARCA CANONIZADO
-COSMÓPOLIS


About 150 photos from photographers such as Horacio Coppola, Grete Stern, Humberto Rivas, Pepe Fernández y Facundo Zuviría help us situate ourselves in the city of Buenos Aires in different time periods, along with seven audiovisual pieces including “Fundación mítica de Buenos Aires” - corresponding to a poem that traces the poetic process of the foundation of Buenos Aires; “Fervor de Buenos Aires” which explores the Buenos Aires of the 1920's through moving images of that time period, allowing us to feel the city at the start of the century; and “El Tango” which elaborates a reflection on the origins and evolution of Tango, among others.


Where? Casa de la Cultura del Gobierno Porteño: Avenida de Mayo 575, Buenos Aires.
When? Tuesdays to Sundays from 14:00 to a 20:00hs. Til December 2011.


*meaning that this time I was doing it in order to understand a little more about Borges and not by coincidence.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Kabinett






















































































Kabinett is a new, gorgeous little store in Palermo Soho . I saw a mix of retro and modern items, fringe jackets, vinyl records, artworks, funky chairs and books. The address is Gurruchaga 1744.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Ludmila Plagiero



















Photo by Raul Bolivar Seguel, Chilean photographer based in Paris.


Argentinian ballet dancer, Ludmila Plagiero is an example of a dream
well achieved.

If you are stuck in Buenos Aires like thousands of other people, unable
to get on a plane and fly cause the airports are a mess due to volcanic
ash activity, we suggest you get someone to drive you down to La Plata's
National Theater to see Ludmila star in the ballet "Sleeping Beauty".

Like many well known Argentinian ballet stars, Ludmila studied ballet
at the Institute of Arts of the Colon Theater. She had only taken six
months of ballet classes when she auditioned. She says luck had a
lot to do with her success, but we think she underestimates her
talent. When she finished her studies at the Institute of Arts, she
moved to Santiago de Chile to continue with Ballet there.

From Chile she started making choices. She won a contest that was the
ticket to an audition in the American Ballet Theater, where she was hired
for a year, but her true dream was to work in Europe. A friend of hers called
to invite her to audition in L'Ópera de Paris which generally gives starring
roles to ballerinas that have attended their school since childhood and have
dealt with it's bureaucracy . Many people told Ludmila that chances were little
of her making it in Paris, and that she should stick to the more "realistic"
options.

Ludmila figured she had nothing to loose, nobody new her in Paris and she already had a job. She figured she just had to keep calm while she was auditioning and give the best she had to give. Ludmila broke her own expectations and became a principal figure in L'Ópera de Paris. She knew her choice was risky (or so everyone told her) but it didn't matter to her because she was following her dream. Ludmila says all of her decisions "came from her heart" and that her key is "to work hard and to never stop dreaming".

We hope you can make it to Sleeping Beauty! we are sure you will be delighted by her performance tonight or on Friday. Enjoy! xx

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Horacio Lavandera




















Argentinian pianist, Horacio Lavandera is performing with the Chamber Orchestra of Chile, tomorrow at 8:30 pm at Teatro Colon. Although the event has not had a lot of press, tickets are almost sold out. They will playing Beethoven's Overture "Prometheus", Emperor Concerto,"Eroica" Symphony.

If you have a chance, go, it's the type of experience one never forgets.

Horacio Lavandera is pure talent and he has put a lot of work into developing it. He was taught music by his father in early childhood. At the age of seven, he started taking piano lessons. He is currently 27 years old. He was a prodigy while growing up, has won innumerable prizes and has performed all over the world.

Many traits make Horacio Lavandera unique, starting from his passion and the enthusiasm he puts into his work as well as his ability to dominate any technically difficult score and to handle the piano keyboard with such detail that he can achieve any dynamic expression written in the score brilliantly.

The biggest difference between Horacio Lavandera and other pianists, we believe, is that when he plays, he really shows you his work, he chooses works that are long and complex and displays the dedication he has put into every piece. Others, perhaps leave you feeling they should have played more.

Again, if you can, go to the performance with an open heart. Horacio Lavandera, will get to your soul.

If this is too short of a notice for you, on June 23rd, you can see him at Teatro Coliseo. If you can't make either performance, do yourself a favor and buy one of his records.

Hope to see you there tomorrow!



Photo: revista Ñ

Monday, May 9, 2011

Music and Nature






















Photographed: Maria Andreeva (Russia)


Children and Adolescents Choirs and Orchestras Festival 2011
(Second Edition).

If you love music and nature, an unforgettable experience awaits in the Province of Misiones, Argentina. The reasons are many: this is an ideal time to visit the Iguazú falls: the weather will be glorious, the place, unbelievable; the purpose: magical.

From May 23 to 28, the Ministry of Culture, Education, Science and Technology of the Province of Misiones, will be offering a one of a kind cultural event: the Second Edition of Children and Adolescents Choirs and Orquestras Festival. Organized by Andrea Merenzon.

A total of 700 children and adolescents will be meeting to talk in one single language: the language of music, their passion, their love. They will be coming from 18 countries as different as Germany, Peru, China, Australia, South Africa, Brazil and Russia amongst others. Daily rehearsals will take place under the direction of world- famous directors. The children will perform classical and traditional music from their countries of origin.

Individual and group performances will take place in various prestigious hotels in the area (in both sides of the falls, Argentinian and Brazilian).

In the individual performances, you will have the pleasure of enjoying not only the music but the virtuosity of the young musicians. In the group performances you will be able to evaluate the amount of work, effort and coordination put together by all of the participants. No tickets are required, you are free to attend any performance you please.

Music will bring everyone together at the closing of the Festival which will take place at the gardens of the Sheraton Hotel where the beauty of symphonic music will meet the beauty of the stage: Iguazu Falls.

Post by: Vale

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

tango reborn


















Photo: Aldo Sessa


Tango has been defined by Enrique Santos Discepolo - one of it's greatest poets - as "a sad thought that is danced".

No one can really tell for sure how tango started out. It is said that the word tango was originated in Argentina and Uruguay by the African slaves that arrived in the beginning of the 1800's. It is very likely that it is was the result of mixing a Portuguese word meaning "tambo" (drumming) with an Argentinian word.

The slaves lived by the river (Rio de la Plata), in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, in very rudimentary and basic housing called "conventillos". These consisted of a house with various rooms in which many families lived. One family per room. In Spanish, the word "conventillo" also means "crowded" or "mess". There is a very popular expression: "Esto es un conventillo" meaning "this is a mess".

At first, tango was a dance meant only for the slaves. They met and danced to forget the hardships they went through and to have a good time. Tango was created in the beginning as a dance. There was no music. That came later, musicians improvised trying to adapt their music to the choreographies they saw in a 2 x 4 music compass.

Tango started to sprout in dance houses, in "conventillos" in the southern area of Bs. As., in dating houses, and dance academies with the use of a particular language and very tight codes. In the 1880's it was brought to theaters. Actors began including the dance in their performances.

Slowly, tango started shifting from the outskirts of the city and moving into it. Men began dancing in the streets and hiring women to dance with them in dance academies.

Tango was considered an unacceptable dance by the Argentinian middle and higher classes. In the issue of the magazine "Club de tango" dating from 1922 there is an article called "What do you think about tango", where there is a testimony: "My boyfriend is a good man and never lies. He has said to me that I shouldn't dance tango because in doing it one risks it's own purity and dignity. When he says "I love you", I believe him, now I must believe him as well, that is why I don't like that dance."

It's interesting to see and understand why through time, tango went from being a low street dance repelled by the majority of middle and high class "porteños" (people from Buenos Aires) to a very prestigious and internationally recognized dance.

Tango was introduced in Paris in the early years of the 20th century, when dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires, travelled to Europe. Tango became very popular in France, where it began to shine around the time of the First World War. The dance later became popular in Berlin and London. It was a hit. In France a new era was born for tango: intellectuals, orchestras and musicians very much embraced tango and contributed to the improvement of the music and the lyrics. It was after this European love for tango that Argentina opened it's arms to it. The thought that prevailed at the time was: "Tango is embraced with passion in Europe, we're missing something."

But, why does tango continue to attract so many people? I don't know if you have ever tried it. It takes some practice and coordination and requires a partner. But once you have it all down and are in the dance floor with your partner, there is a mystic to it you simply can not stop wanting more of. You feel sensual and feminine. It helps if you understand the lyrics of the songs. They are so incredibly sad.

They are mostly about frustrated love relationships, but also about horse racing, drinking, prostitution, cheating, growing up in Buenos Aires, the nostalgia one feels when one is away from Bs. As., etc.

Many talk about loss. They are very melancholic. I have translated one of my
favorites for you and included a link were you can hear it.


The burr

by Jesus Fernandez Blanco (1926)
Translation: Valeria Mendez Cañas

"I burr has stuck on me. Inside of my heart, I have sorrow,
Why did you leave home so ungratefully? Why did you make my
peaceful life, painful?
I will never be able to take off my chest that painful burr.
My soul is agonizing, I'm faithless,
I have lost my home and my love
because of all the sorrow you've caused me.

I don't know why you went away from me
If I adored you with such intense passion
I don't know why you were keeping something from me
without letting your lack of interest show....

Your love made me a very happy man,
I never thought your passion would turn
into a dagger that would cause my
heart such a wound.
I want you to know that I am moving sadly and alone
along the paths of life. The memories I keep have grown on
me like burrs in a pasture land...
I hope we stumble into each other some day
so that I can see if you have finally found everything
you have unconsciously dreamed of.
And maybe then the two of us can start again!

Here is the music and lyrics


In the early nineties a lot of young people started to learn tango, along with many
foreigners and people in-the-know. Before, it was considered a marginal or an old people's dance. It was danced in middle to low class neighborhood clubs called "milongas" (a milonga is a variety of tango).

Imagine the environment: an indoor court, cheap lighting, cheap drinks, tango music. Back in the old days, in the 1950's tango orchestras played live, that is how: Gardel, Goyeneche, Sosa, Pugliese, Piazolla and Salgan, to name a very recognized few, became famous.

Some things have changed, but the spirit is the same.

If you would like to learn more about tango, see a tango show or dance at a milonga, feel free to ask us for information.

Co-post: Vale and Mich


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Teatro Colón



















If you have been to Buenos Aires, you must have noticed the incapacity
some Argentinians have when it comes to following rules. If you speak a little Spanish and have ever tried to understand the lyrics of at least, one tango song, you might have understood that the main character in the song has either gotten away with something or has beaten his opponent.He has done this by disrespecting rules, sometimes rules of honor, by cheating.

Tango songs and bad driving are typical of our culture. Take one second,
stand in any avenue corner, preferably by a policeman and observe how drivers
run yellow and red lights, drive on biking paths, or speed up when a pedestrian
is trying to cross the street.
Take note of the policeman, probably too busy texting messages on his cell phone or smoking a cigarette to catch drivers breaking the law.

While driving around town looking at the beautiful European architecture
the city is famed for, you will be intrigued by the magnificence of a
building that stands on Av. Cerrito and Viamonte: Teatro Colon, a jewel, not
only for its architecture but also for the art that is produced inside. The
theater reopened on 2010 after years of restoration work.

Unfortunately, it's not working at its fullest capacity because, just as
anything Argentinian, the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, that operates it, and a great number of members of its orchestra (grouped as a union) cannot
reach an agreement regarding working conditions. As a result, the opera that
was to open the theater's season: György Ligetis "Le Grand Macabre" was
put on stage under the direction of Baldur Bröinniman in a non orchestral version consisting of two pianos and percussion.

If you have stayed long enough in Buenos Aires, you must have realized another
thing about us: the ability to get by with what's available. You must
have heard a very popular phrase: "Es lo que hay" meaning: "This is what there is." So for example, although Plácido Domingo was recently scheduled to perform at the Colón, due to a series of events, he was unable to do so, and performed at the Obelisk instead. It was still a wonderful experience enjoyed by everyone and people were extremely happy, and he was too. It was a most memorable event.

There are some issues with the theater, yes, but next time you visit Buenos Aires (or if you're here now), do try to go to the Teatro Colón. It's an experience you don't want to miss. There are many ways to get a good feel for it. I suggest that you try them all:
1) book a guided tour: this will give you a good feel of all the details that must come together to put on a performance. You will walk by rehearsal rooms, you will see the way costumes are made for every show, etc.
2) buy tickets to a performance, the best ones are on a program called
"Abono del Bicentenario" (it only occurs once a month).
3) buy seats on higher floors.

If you book ahead of time, you will get good seats that will combine the possibility of seeing and hearing the performance, otherwise you will be missing the view.

The acoustics, the architecture, and the art you will encounter will make you walk out of there having had a very nice time. If something goes wrong, as it did with Ligeti's opera, you still will have had an experience in itself. After all, this is Argentina (and there is what there is).

For performances and guided tours visit www.teatrocolon.org.ar


Guest post by Valeria Mendez Cañas.

Friday, September 3, 2010

California!!




































































































































































































































First of all... can I just say, I LOOOOOOVVVEEEE CALIFORNIA.

Notes

- If you're going to do a road trip, get yourself a nice convertible, put some sunscreen on, good music, sunglasses, and enjoy the landscapes and beauty on your way to each place. Lift your hands up in the air (like a child on a roller coaster) when you're feeling really happy, which will be most of the time.

- Don't waste your time shopping if you're in the US at the end of August. At least not if you're from Argentina (or any South American country) All you'll see is winter clothes! no thanks. I've had enough cold... I'm so ready for the summer. That being said, I did love the Prada knits, a Burberry jacket, a pair of black Balenciaga boots, Balmain's golden pieces, among other things for next winter. 

- Be receptive and embrace the California kindness. I cannot tell you how many amazing people we met during our adventure. I'm so thankful to them.

- Do at least one tour. You'll appreciate getting some local insight. It's a great thing to learn when you travel. If you're curious and love connection with a place, do more than one tour. It's a rewarding experience.

- Early morning wine tastings, driving, flying, going out a lot, the sun... you could get a headache or two, body pain, etc. So go to a nice spa.

- Stay at good hotels or apartments! even if you spend little time in them, it makes all the difference in the world to arrive at a nice and comfy place, like one is used to. To travel should be a pleasure, not a torture. A good view and nice pool are a +.

- Surfing: leave that for the Southern California part of your trip, or take the next flight to Hawaii. Conditions in Northern California are not the best.

- Honey-bunny withdrawals (this space is great for both of you!! enjoy) soon you'll be together again and it will be magical.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

A splendid book store

















El Ateneo was selected the most beautiful book store in Latin America. How could it not be?
J.L. Borges used to say that he always thought that paradise would be some type of library or bookstore. This place is indeed heavenly!