You need to go alone
Plus, an exciting appointment in the world of classical music.
I was on the 7 train, an unusual line for me, headed to Baryshnikov Arts when I allowed myself, finally, to cry. Just a few stray tears, nothing to cause a scene, but enough to provide a bit of necessary release, exhaling the things that have been weighing on me—continued grief for my cat, among other pains—and looking forward to the way I’d spend the next hour or so. A few days before, in a late-night frenzy spurred by a quick read-through of the New Yorker’s Goings On, I’d secured tickets to a number of different shows, which would blissfully fill my evenings and give me the opportunity to exist for a moment outside of myself. That night, I was going to see “Ex Machina,” a collaboration between the pianist Clara Yang and the visual artist Xuan.
It was my first time going to Baryshnikov Arts, which is practically nestled up to the Westside Highway. When I got into the theater, I shared a moment of bemusement with my fellow concertgoers—where on the fold-out bench-chairs, were the seat numbers, anyhow? (Answer: almost imperceptibly on the back). “I guess we are sharing a seat,” an older gentleman to my left said, as he pulled down the oblong bench that comprised seats 4 and 5.
I’ve attended plenty of classical concerts wherein the only thing I have to look at is the musician or musicians onstage, but this was perfectly oriented for the state in which I found myself. As Yang played her way through compositions by Reena Esmail and Lee Weisert, eventually a piece she composed herself, and Philip Glass’s “Etude No. 11”—the only work in the program I could identify—the visualizations by Xuan metamorphosed behind her. I was reminded of ye olde iTunes visualizer (compliment). I allowed my face to relax and followed what happened; it was mostly abstract, though at a few sparse moments, text appeared calling up themes such as loneliness and the impossibility of artificial intelligence to feel (such is contemporary life).
I like to go to performances alone because they are an opportunity to forget myself as much as I can, and sit as closely as possible to another person’s creation. As with meditation, there are instances in which the insistence of your brain is too powerful, and thoughts of yourself rise to the surface, in which case you can be grateful for your setting: it is dark, and should you need to wipe some tears away, anyone who notices will simply assume that you are moved.
Plenty of people through the years have told me that they want to go to the ballet, opera, etc. but they don’t because they are afraid to go alone. I can understand the self consciousness that arises from finding yourself in an unfamiliar location, unsure of the local conventions and worried about standing out. In New York, I have grown perhaps too comfortable in the theaters I frequent—I recall a recent time I wore jeans to the ballet because Lincoln Center is quite literally my third space, only to find myself surrounded by others in gowns, dressed for the young patrons gala after the performance (I also heard many of these people asking where the bathroom was—a signal that this was, very likely, their first time at venue. For many, the special occasion is an understandable draw). But all this is to say that I’ve occasionally felt shy on my solo travels to Europe, stepping into an unknown opera house for the first time and navigating to my seat. I can understand the mindset.
But what people miss is that, as wonderful as it is to share a show with friends—people with whom you can discuss what you’ve seen or heard during intermission and afterwards—it can also be a veritable respite for you alone. No one at the show is paying attention to you (unless you are on your phone, in which case I am fixing an evil eye on you that could have consequences for your entire bloodline).
I can understand the fear to go to a birthday party where you know no one but the birthday-haver alone (but I also think that doing this is good for your health and socialization). Still, just as there are stakes for not going to a party (you could have met the love of your life—?!) there too are stakes for missing a performance out of fear of going alone. For never again will it be performed exactly as it was that night—maybe never even performed again at all—and the only people who will have experienced as it was, right then, are the people in the room. When you go, then, you aren’t really alone, after all. And how wonderful to find that solitude in community: that you can be by yourself but plucked out of the mires of your psyche and cast into a tide that carries you, and everyone else, all the way to a new shore.
“Hell no, I won’t go!” is basically the gist of what Peter Gelb, 72, told the New York Times regarding a comment he previously made to the Associated Press about retiring when his contract with the Met Opera ends in 2030. Should the board have him, he’ll stay on as general manager. “Some people have egos that are so satisfied that they don’t need work. I need work. My life would be empty without work,” he said, a statement that sounds tiring to me until I remember that I have made a career of giving myself homework and spend my weekends typing.
The Met is not having an easy time of things. Sure, it had a big, sold-out production of Tristan und Isolde and a buzzy run of the Finnish school-shooting opera Innocence (which I thought was excellent), but also, its potential deal with Saudi Arabia, which would have given it a serious lifeline in terms of cash while also bringing it into politically contentious waters, fell through. Gelb told the NYT that the Met ideally needs a check of $1 billion for its endowment. I think this is an incredibly opportunity for all the OpenAI employees who are about to become ridiculously rich post-IPO to purchase their way into having cultural cachet. (Lest we forget Jensen Huang made a multi-year commitment of $5 million to the San Francisco Opera. That amount may be peanuts for the founder of Nvidia, but it is transformational for the opera house).
Maybe there’s also a billionaire who wants to try their hand at conducting—after all, they’re already buying their way into leading the symphony. We’ll see if anyone shells out the cash to say that they own the Chagall murals in the lobby, too.
The Met does have cool things in the works. Although El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego didn’t get great reviews, I love that Isabel Leonard, who plays Frida Kahlo, did a bit of guerilla marketing for the show, performing in Green-Wood Cemetery and a posh Mexican restaurant. Yuval Sharon, who directed Tristan, is also working on his much-anticipated production of the Ring cycle. We will see what else comes next!
Annabell Selldorf just keeps winning. Her firm, Selldorf Architects, was selected along with Studios Architecture Paris, to design the Louvre’s very expensive and very necessary renovation project, which will create a new entrance for the museum and give the Mona Lisa its own space. You may recall that Selldorf’s firm is also behind the Frick’s recent renovation, as well as that of London’s National Gallery.
The Venice Biennale is well underway, and not without some controversy. More than 70 artists have withdrawn from consideration for this year’s awards, which, in the absence of a jury—which resigned amid controversy, as it expressed that Israel and Russia would not be considered for awards because of their leader’s charge of war crimes by the ICC—are basically the people’s choice awards, selected by attendees.
The Art Not Genocide Alliance also staged what they say is the largest demonstration in the history of the Biennale, as it brought together thousands of demonstrators who protested Israel’s participation and the violence in Gaza. Many national pavilions, including those of France, Ukraine, Great Britain, Turkey, Korea, Poland, and Ecuador, shut down either fully or partially for coordinated 24-hour strike, ArtNews reported.
You have two last opportunities to see Tiler Peck’s new ballet, “Symphonie Espagnole,” which has a staggering cast of 40 dancers. This is her biggest commission to date. You can see it at Lincoln Center on Wednesday or Thursday.
The San Francisco Symphony has selected its next maestro. Elim Chan, 39, will become the first woman to lead the orchestra as its music director, replacing Esa-Pekka Salonen, who left last year. This is also the first time, the San Francisco Examiner notes, that the SF Symphony, the San Francisco Opera, and the San Francisco Ballet are all led artistically by women (with Carrie-Ann Matheson at the SFO and Tamara Rojo at SFB).
Will Chan have better luck than Gelb when it comes to fundraising? Maybe if she can win over the tech elite (surely Jensen has another $5 million a year to spare). By all accounts, people seem excited about her, and she has big goals: “I want to make us cool,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle. She officially starts with the 2027-2028 season, though she is in New York this week conducting the New York Philharmonic, playing Prokofiev’s “Cinderella.” I may try to rush…unless any sweeties at the Phil can hook me up?
Anyway…we still don’t know what’s going on with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Nicole Kidman definintely helped Christie’s make a record-breaking sale of a Brancusi sculpture, Danaïde, for $107.6 million. It is the second-most valuable sculpture ever sold at auction. A week before the sale, Christie’s released a video of Kidman dancing around the sculpture. We come to this place for magic etc. The auction house also sold a Pollock for $181.2 million—the most expensive work by the artist, The Times reported.
If you want to see the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum it’s going to cost you £33 for peak times. Tickets go on sale July 1.
Restitution reaches Spain as the Prado Museum has begun giving back 166 identified artworks from its collection, which were looted under Franco’s rule during the Spanish Civil War, the Art Newspaper reported.
Megan Fairchild, who just retired from New York City Ballet after 24 years, has the best plan for what’s next: moving to France with her European husband and her three kids. She’ll be working with the George Balanchine Trust to help stage Balanchine’s work in the country, the Financial Times reports. ▲