Today was the "Live in HD" broadcast of the Met Opera's Götterdämmerung. This is easily one of the most emotionally taxing (and yet emotionally rewarding) pieces ever written. It lost some of its visceral power in the theater; the flicker of the screen and the canned sound don't really do the artwork justice. That said, I really like this production; it's much better than the "light saber" production I saw last time. There aren't many good recordings of the complete Ring; there are a few decent audio-only recordings, but very few that attempt to capture the stage. Of the ones I'm aware of (and I've done my research), this will easily be the best when it is released commercially.

The prior installments of the cycle deal with topics like the limitations of the rule of law, the difference between mental and physical maturity, the corrupting nature of power, and the conflicting responsibilities of family. Wagner apparently decided he'd taken it easy in the first three, and holds back nothing in the last opera. It takes on humanism vs. deism, the difficulty of ascertaining guilt, the friction between romantic and fraternal love, the mutually exclusive responsibilities of duty and passion, and plenty more.

These universal themes are important reasons why the Ring cycle continues to be so powerful. In no way can one boil down any part of the operas to a simple moral or lesson. But, there are a number of rather obvious points on the surface of Götterdämmerung. First, love doesn't guarantee anything, but it can help keep life in perspective and bearable. Second, nothing is certain: neither Wotan's spear nor Alberich's ring are infallible, and even the powerless can overcome them in the right situation. Third, there are no easy answers, but sometimes knowing what is coming causes despair and submission when continuing to muddle through could make all the difference.

Just as true today as in 1876.

Well, this was an eventful weekend. On Saturday, Katy and I travelled to Cincinnati to visit with my parents and make dinner for them. Like always, not everything turned out as I had planned, but most items were edible.

Sunday, all four of us made our way back to Columbus, where we were joined by Katy's family. In the evening, Blood Sweat & Brass had its second performance, this time on campus. The show had a very different feel, but it was still a real success. The students and I had a good time, but more importantly, I think we all learned something in the process.

In other great news, my friend Doug Rosenthal won the Utah Symphony job. He has a trial with the orchestra coming up later this year!

Last night was the first performance for Blood Sweat & Brass. We played at Brothers Drake Meadery, a trendy winery/bar in the short north, and I was surprised how many people (that I didn't know) were there. We played a good show, and the crowd really got into it. I love it when my ideas work, and I can create a really great learning experience for my students that also has artistic value in its own right!

Our next gig is on campus at Woody's on Sunday Feb 5 at 6pm. I just discovered that we've double booked ourselves with the Superbowl, but fear not. Woody's is a sports bar with plenty of TVs. We'll have the game playing (muted) from kickoff at 6:30 til we finish our set around 7:30, and then we'll turn on the big screen and the sound. Perhaps we should advertise this as a Superbowl party that we're opening for?

The past couple of days have been fantastic for me, educationally. First, since I'm going to be spending a lot more time at the computer researching and writing for the next few months, I decided I needed a more efficient work space than sitting on the couch with my little 13" laptop. The library on campus did not provide the isolation or equipment I needed, and the midi lab had limited hours and desk space. I needed an office.

We've been using the 2nd bedroom of our apartment primarily for storage, so last night I consolidated some of those boxes, cleaned off the desk, and moved my midi keyboard in there. The only other thing I really required to make the space usable was a bigger screen for my computer, so I went on Craigslist to see what I could find. It was my lucky day, and there was a guy selling a reasonable 20" flatscreen, and he got it to me that evening. Then, just below that ad, I found a guy who repairs and resells old computers who was looking for broken MacBooks that he could scavenge for parts. I still have my old water-damaged MacBook laying around - I'd kept it in case I needed any of the parts from it. The guy from Craigslist wants to buy it, so tomorrow I'll have effectively exchanged a broken old piece of junk that was doing nothing but taking up space for a beautiful new office setup.

This afternoon, after spending most of the day working from home in my new environment, I went in to campus for the first rehearsal for my recital (March 4, 8pm, Weigel Hall). I've assembled almost all the graduate students from the school of music, 3 of the best undergrads, and a couple of ringers to play in a brass choir on the second half of the program. As the leader of the ensemble, Jeff Shellhammer has agreed to conduct. It is the best brass section I have played in since I was in Cedar Rapids. The first rehearsal, despite a couple of individual problems, went remarkably well. I think we're going to have a great performance.

I just sent this via the contact form on united.com. We'll see what, if anything, they have to say to me.

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This past weekend, I traveled from Columbus OH to Lubbock TX on 1/13/12 for an academic conference, and then returned on 1/15/12. My flight from Columbus to Houston was fine, but my flight from Houston to Lubbock was delayed over 3 hours. The aircraft that I was scheduled to ride had mechanical problems on its prior flight to Baton Rouge, but it was not adequately dealt with, because I after I boarded, it still had problems. According to the captain, the "number two engine [was] pouring out smoke." If an aircraft experiences major equipment failures of this sort on two consecutive flights, I wonder if it might be wiser (or perhaps safer?) to change to a different aircraft while the faulty equipment is being serviced. I was offered a seat on an alternative flight from Houston to Lubbock, but that flight was also delayed 3 hours for reasons I am unaware of. By the time I arrived in Lubbock, I had missed the beginning of my conference by several hours.

On my return from Lubbock to Houston, the plane had cabin pressure issues, and we were delayed approximately four hours. Everyone on the plane missed their connecting flights, and I was forced to stay the night in Houston. I missed a meeting I had scheduled for early Monday afternoon, because the first flight from Houston to Columbus did not arrive until 2pm.

In total, I spent approximately 8 hours in the air, 4 hours in scheduled layovers, and 18 hours waiting for delays.

This ratio is not just unacceptable, but downright embarrassing for United Airlines. Furthermore, the consistency of mechanical failures makes me feel unsafe flying United, and almost 15 years of exclusive patronage do not shake my thought that United has changed from a company that prided itself on providing the best service to one that will save a dollar any way it can, even at the expense of the safety of its customers and crew.

Because of the extreme delays on my flights in both directions, I missed important events on both Friday and Monday. I do not ask you to compensate me for the time I spent waiting for equipment failures to be resolved, and I do not ask you to in any way address the value of the engagements I missed because of the delays. However, because United Airlines did not provide the service I purchased (that is, getting me to my destination in time for my scheduled events), I do ask to be reimbursed for the price of my tickets.

Sincerely,
Benjamin Coy