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Posts by John Fenster

Large boxy garbage bin (commercial size) filled with plants including many white to pink orchid blooms

Large boxy garbage bin (commercial size) filled with plants including many white to pink orchid blooms

Jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) with claw-shaped turquoise flowers in a large cluster (not an orchid)

Jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) with claw-shaped turquoise flowers in a large cluster (not an orchid)

Light lemony yellow orchid flowers against a background of green plants

Light lemony yellow orchid flowers against a background of green plants

Flowers in an outdoor bed, an island in the paved path. There are many small yellow flowers with black centers, along with other planted flowers in white and shades of purple. There is also a pillar with a sculpture on top. Behind the island of flowers stands a person; their outfit matching the flowers surprisingly well. They have yellow and black checkerboard pants, a lavender shirt with a white shield, and a black hat with white and grey lettering. It is a misty, cool day.

Flowers in an outdoor bed, an island in the paved path. There are many small yellow flowers with black centers, along with other planted flowers in white and shades of purple. There is also a pillar with a sculpture on top. Behind the island of flowers stands a person; their outfit matching the flowers surprisingly well. They have yellow and black checkerboard pants, a lavender shirt with a white shield, and a black hat with white and grey lettering. It is a misty, cool day.

1 day ago 5 0 2 0
Oncidium sphacelatum, "Sunbeam", large plant with small yellow flowers with maroon spots

Oncidium sphacelatum, "Sunbeam", large plant with small yellow flowers with maroon spots

Orchid with large dark fuchsia flowers, with a yellow center and white lines and spots on the lower half of each

Orchid with large dark fuchsia flowers, with a yellow center and white lines and spots on the lower half of each

White orchid flowers with pink veins

White orchid flowers with pink veins

More orchids

More orchids

My tour of NYC botanic gardens (not a real thing) takes me to the Bronx for the orchid show at NYBG

1 day ago 6 0 1 0
Blurry photo of a five piece band on stage. The lighting makes everything look a little pink but several of the players are really wearing pink

Blurry photo of a five piece band on stage. The lighting makes everything look a little pink but several of the players are really wearing pink

Damn that was fun! Heavenly was a great follow-up to the FLDS opera. Thanks for hanging out!

2 days ago 1 0 1 0

I'm at an opera at Manhattan School of Music... but I do think I could make it before then, even staying for act two

2 days ago 1 0 1 0

How did I not know about this show lol

2 days ago 1 0 1 0
Stage set with chairs, a bed, a sewing machine, and a background of draped red curtains. There is a central backdrop looking up on a blue sky with fluffy clouds

Stage set with chairs, a bed, a sewing machine, and a background of draped red curtains. There is a central backdrop looking up on a blue sky with fluffy clouds

At the Manhattan School of Music for Dark Sisters by Nico Muhly and Stephan Karam

2 days ago 4 0 0 0

This was Johannes Erath's new production for the Baden-Baden Easter Festival.

I really liked Joanna Mallwitz's conducting, at least as heard on video.

2 days ago 1 0 0 0

Maybe Ortrud is more committed than the others. She's on stage when Lohengrin kills Telramund with magic. She doesn't try to stop the former or check the latter's body, but she does stick around, sad and nursing a lowball. It's a dispassionate sad, like Lohengrin's for Elsa, if a little deeper.

2 days ago 0 0 1 0

So I like that the production sees the opera as a battle between three powerful beings; I didn't expect them to not be committed to their bit but it's an interesting twist.

2 days ago 0 1 1 0

Heinrich's fancy elegant evening wear seems like his (fitting) camouflage with the people of Brabant.

It's like Lohengrin arrived in his suba because he skimmed the brief and made bad assumptions from the keywords (he's in Antwerp dealing with humans, not in Hungary trying to herd sheep).

2 days ago 0 0 1 0
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It also fits with the suggestion that Heinrich does not get the recruits for his war. Ortrud is prominent and shields Gottfried from the collapsed Elsa; I am not sure Heinrich was even on stage still, as if he also got bored and wandered off

2 days ago 0 1 1 0

There are elements of this that I like, and it fits very well with our Heinrich, also noble and stern.

It fits with Lohengrin leaving the stage and not appearing for his final lines

2 days ago 0 0 1 0

He knows he is better than her and he figured this would all be easier but it's not actually going to bother him that much. He would have forgotten her soon anyway. He's wearing the garment under his suba, but he's still the stern shepherd trying to puzzle out these creatures.

2 days ago 1 0 1 0

Our Lohengrin is not at all horny, even with that deep V-neck. He's the one that pulls away when they go on for an early kiss. Instead he's noble and satisfied. And as Elsa probes further he moves to disappointed, as if seeing a wayward sheep.

2 days ago 1 0 1 0

Elsa is so smitten, eyes fluttering, and quietly confident that her scheme will work out and she'll get the fairy tale ending. She feels like she is in control! Then she's about to cry, and when she breaks she breaks hard.

2 days ago 1 0 1 0

Rachel Willis-Sørensen and Piotr Beczała showcase incredible, subtle singing and acting in their time alone in act 3. I don't love this interpretation but they really sell it.

2 days ago 2 0 1 0
A cherry blossom tree covered with pink blossoms, over a trimmed green lawn

A cherry blossom tree covered with pink blossoms, over a trimmed green lawn

Lilac bushes with bright green leaves and clusters of purple buds, not yet opened. It is sunny and they are against the railing of a deck

Lilac bushes with bright green leaves and clusters of purple buds, not yet opened. It is sunny and they are against the railing of a deck

Sour cherry tree relatively thin with small white flowers. It is growing in a dirt patch surrounded by smaller bushes with new green growth. In the background there is a green lawn, a redbud tree pink and radiant, and several larger trees.

Sour cherry tree relatively thin with small white flowers. It is growing in a dirt patch surrounded by smaller bushes with new green growth. In the background there is a green lawn, a redbud tree pink and radiant, and several larger trees.

Spring! Cherry blossom, lilacs not yet open, blossoms on the sour cherry

2 days ago 2 0 0 0

They should invent instructions/directions you don't immediately forget

3 days ago 1 0 0 0

Intended or not, I found season one a compelling story about deconstruction. As someone that grew up fundamentalist his moral dilemmas felt familiar.

Of course fans loved the fundie cult so lol season two and I didn't even finish three

3 days ago 2 0 0 0

If they start taxing second homes worth over $5m they could start taxing third homes, or even fourth homes! When will it stop.

3 days ago 1 0 0 0
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Oh, I agree! It was a fantastic moment, and overall the staging is very striking. I would have loved to have seen it in person.

But yes, as it is I'm watching the video (and still have an act to go)

3 days ago 1 0 0 0

Oh, wow! Thank you

4 days ago 1 0 0 0

Was not expecting horny Friedrich but act two has him (gratefully) being pulled around in his silk pajamas by an Ortrud not even working that hard to control him

4 days ago 1 0 1 0
Piotr Beczała with sculpted 50s hair staring at the white feather he is holding in his right hand, wearing a cream-colored long flowing coat/robe corded and fluffy that I initially called bouclé but that doesn't suggest stands this long? It really does look like a very clean Komondor or Puli (Hungarian sheep dogs, the later likely first brought to the area by the Magyars around the time the opera is set).

Watermark in the top corner says Arte Concert.

Piotr Beczała with sculpted 50s hair staring at the white feather he is holding in his right hand, wearing a cream-colored long flowing coat/robe corded and fluffy that I initially called bouclé but that doesn't suggest stands this long? It really does look like a very clean Komondor or Puli (Hungarian sheep dogs, the later likely first brought to the area by the Magyars around the time the opera is set). Watermark in the top corner says Arte Concert.

Was mostly looking to see if Piotr Beczała got to be horny Lohengrin in Baden-Baden but him showing up dressed like he skinned all the Pulis and Komondors in Hungary is very funny

4 days ago 12 0 3 0

@lisairontongue.bsky.social

It looks like this was new this evening

6 days ago 2 0 1 0
Cast and conductor lined up, holding hands, accepting applause after the performance. The actors are on the set behind the singers, as are the stage crew wearing black gloves. The two-story set has rooms open; the nearly empty room above has a wooden door, fluorescent lighting, and a light wall with (fake) blood midway, dripping down

Cast and conductor lined up, holding hands, accepting applause after the performance. The actors are on the set behind the singers, as are the stage crew wearing black gloves. The two-story set has rooms open; the nearly empty room above has a wooden door, fluorescent lighting, and a light wall with (fake) blood midway, dripping down

Stage crew now came out with the silent actors at the third performance of Innocence at the Met

6 days ago 4 0 3 0

See an opera at the Met and not see an unrelated opera composer challenge: I fail every time

6 days ago 0 0 0 0

"His music not invariably FANTASTIC"

6 days ago 2 0 0 0
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This sounds incredible

6 days ago 1 0 0 0
A grey cat jumps at a rainbow dangle toy, which crosses the entire field of view at an angle. Her exposed belly is cream grey with some spots and her legs are outstretched as she closes in on the toy

A grey cat jumps at a rainbow dangle toy, which crosses the entire field of view at an angle. Her exposed belly is cream grey with some spots and her legs are outstretched as she closes in on the toy

Feeding Momo while her humans are away

1 week ago 3 0 0 0