Pendants designed and gifted by Marta Liwska, Wroclaw, Poland
Marta Liwska, LC Krakow Event 2010
I first met Marta Liwska at the Leonard Cohen 2010 Event in Krakow. Marta was wearing a "Book of Longing" pendant which was very striking. I learned this glass encased pendant was designed by her and crafted by an artisan. After admiring it, Marta said she would gift it to me when the Event was over. And she did.
Marta's kindness was typical of the many generous and caring Polish FRIENDS I met at the Krakow Event.
I wear her BOL pendant very proudly and received several compliments, including one by Hattie Webb (of the sublime Webb Sisters).
Marta and I have kept up our long distance friendship via email and Facebook since the 2010 Event.
Earlier this month, a surpise package arrived from Poland in my mailbox. Not only another beautifully crafted pendant "Keep Calm..", but the reverse side held an extra special surprise, my name
Reverse side, (L) BOL (R) Keep Calm...
Because I am going to both concerts in Austin - October 31 and November 1 - I will wear a different pendant on each evening.
My afternoon delight in Santa Monica (Los Angeles) Oct 9, 2011
When I put my ticket in my handbag, I noticed for the first time that the ticket bore the shortened name of "Portals." I thought at first this might be a printing limitation. However, the printed theatre program confirmed this was indeed the title. The original press release and early promos listed this event as "Glass Portals". Hence the title of this post.
When I arrived at the wonderful, intimate Broad Theater, I was able to park my car very close to the Stage Door. I had brought with a paper copy of the Book Of Longing Poster (original is framed) from the Philip Glass/Leonard Cohen collaboration in which Tim Fain played violin and was inspired by LC. I asked the Stage Door man if I could leave it there for an autograph. He agreed. So, the afternoon was off to a good start.
I met Rike for the first time in person after lots of correspondence and we hugged as planned. Rike introduced me to her lovely husband.
Judy Scott (jazz4111) was also at the concert and it was great seeing her again, an original stalwart of our SoCal gatherings.
The first thing I did was check the program to see if Leonard Cohen was given sufficient credit. Some of the early ad promos and videos mentioned LC in passing or not at all. To my delight, the name Leonard Cohen was very prominent in the program. (red highlight mine)
The concert piece was made up of several good parts, superb violinist, great music, interesting choreography and split frame film photography.
But the sum of all the parts just did not work for me.
Tim Fain is indeed superb. As previously reported, he is a hunk to look at and what an exceptionally talented young man. He deserves all the accolades he receives as an acclaimed violinist and rising star
I enjoyed the music very much. However, I was disappointed with the audience. They applauded between movements and sometimes started to applaud in the wrong place. I found that distracting. Tim Fain handled this very well. I have seen other artists get annoyed when this happened. He just smiled sweetly and carried on.
This performance had been promoted with descriptions such as "interwoven" and "multi-media". But, for me it felt like "multi-tasking", work.
I couldn't make sense of the film sequences and the connection with the music or the spoken text. It was not a piece I could just let float over me and absorb.
Now for the best part: the spoken words of Leonard Cohen.
The piece opened with a prologue and it was spoken text by Leonard Cohen. Now, how good is that!
The Los Angeles Times reviewheredescribes the text reader very well.
[Fred] Childs reads Cohen’s characterful lines like the genial radio host he is, grit-free. Cohen is not that man. And Fain, as violinist, amplified (expertly) and attached to the prerecorded business behind him, becomes like bird on an interpretive wire.
It was a 90 minute concert (no intermission) and spoken words of Leonard Cohen interspersed during the production totaled 13 minutes.
Delightful.
These 13 minutes (four segments) can be heard here. (The audio is satisfactory given the "circumstances")
After the concert, when everyone was dashing to the parking lot, Judy and I bumped into Robert Kory+fedora and his wife Phyllis. They were both very gracious, stopped for a moment to say hello and agreed to have a photo taken. (Yes, I am wearing my 'I love Leonard Cohen' button.
Then, the Stage Door man appeared in the theatre lobby and handed me my autographed poster copy. Such a kind man to do that. And so very kind of Tim Fain to autograph it for me.
As I said at the top, it was an afternoon delight.
Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen - a book review by Alix
September 30, 2011
Cohen, Leonard. Book of Longing. New York: Harper Collins, 2006. Print.
Book of Longing is a collection of poems by Canadian poet, novelist, and singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen.There are a total of 167 poems that had never been seen before, most of them being written during his time as a monk on Mount Baldy or from his stay in India. Some of the poems that are in the book have been turned into lyrics for the albums Ten New Songs (2001) and Dear Heather (2004).Even though Cohen does not follow a certain form and his style varies quite often, his poems were all very similar in small ways. He doesn’t stay strictly with short poems (some being only two lines) and has long ones as well (some being two pages). The topics that his poems deal with are slightly controversial, some dealing with sex and drugs, but there are some which are amusing (Butter Dish).
I would give Book of Longing a rating of five stars out of five. It is an excellent collection of poetry; it’s very well written and contains humor as well as more serious matter. It won’t be hard to pick at least one poem out of the 167 that is interesting in one way or another.
The mp3 of the full interview, from a teen's perspective is quite charming.
Host: How did you encounter Leonard Cohen?
Alix: I was really little, my mom actually listened to a lot of his songs which are amazing and I just stuck with him
Portals: A Multi-Media Exploration of Longing in the Digital Age
"Fain's tone is dark yet athletic; he plays a mean violin...a performer with a burgeoning career" -The New York Times
It's a rare treat to experience a Philip Glass premiere, especially as performed by rising star violinist Tim Fain. This multi-media evening features Glass's new Partita for Solo Violin, pianist Nicholas Britell, a film choreographed and directed by Black Swan's Benjamin Millepied, the music of Pulitzer Prize winners Aaron Jay Kernis and William Bolcom, celebrated composers Nico Muhly, Kevin Puts, and Lev Zhurbin, and the genre-bending Laura Karpman, all interwoven with films by Kate Hackett and the words of Leonard Cohen.
An Interview with Tim Fain, Violinist from Black Swan UNTAPPED NEW YORK Feb 10, 2011 by Michelle Young (in part: asking about Philip Glass)
Michelle: Do you have any good stories from your tours with Philip?
Tim: He loves telling stories about the old days—Einstein on the beach, driving a cab in New York City…he’s a lot of fun. A few years ago we worked together on this project called “Book of Longing,” which was a song cycle that Philip had written to the poetry of Leonard Cohen. We were on the road and had just played a concert in Stanford. I got off the bus at the hotel and there was Leonard standing right there. He’d just gotten off the bus himself and he offered to take my violin for me so I could grab my suitcase. So it was Leonard Cohen, carrying my violin for me—I just couldn’t believe it. He’d always been such an inspiration, and I was quite touched. Such a kind, unassuming soul with such a deep artistic vision
----------------------------------------- For my background post about "Philip Glass new composition based on Leonard Cohen's Book Of Longing for Violinist Tim Fain", click here
Leonard Cohen and Philip Glass in conversation with John L Walters prior to the UK premiere of 'The Book of Longing' at London's Barbican Hall on October 20, 2007.
Philip Glass - new composition -Suite for Solo Violin - based on Leonard Cohen's Book of Longing was commissioned by violinist Tim Fain, who appeared in "Black Swan" as the violinist opposite Natalie Portman in a rehearsal scene.
Tim Fain and Philip Glass will perform the new composition together in Glass Portals, a multimedia event featuring video choreography by Benjamin Millepied, the dance visionary behind the Oscar-winning film "Black Swan".
European Premieres of Glass Portals
May 2011 - The Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, and Spain
as part of a Duo Tour performing with Philip Glass on piano
May 14 8pm, Zeeuwse Concertzaal, Middleburg, The Netherlands
May 15 8pm, Zeeuwse Concertzaal, Middleburg, The Netherlands
May 17 7:30pm, Tonhalle, Zurich, Switzerland
May 21 8pm Teatro Jofre, Ferrol, Spain
May 24 7pm, Upsalla, Sweden
May 27 8pm, Victoria, Spain
May 28 8pm, Valladolid, Spain
May 29 8pm, Teatro Auditorio de Ciudad de Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain
US Premieres of Glass Portals:
Fall 2011 - Symphony Space, New York City, NY
in a joint commission with The Kaneko Foundation, Omaha, NE
A press release listed one performance of Glass Portals at the BROAD STAGE in Santa Monica, CA on Sunday, October 9, 2011
I've commissioned a new work from American Composer Philip Glass--It's called Partita for Solo Violin, in seven movements. The piece is almost completed and so far, I think it's really some of his best writing--so dark, lyrical, and melodic. The piece will have its US premiere in New York City at Symphony Space as part of Glass Portals.
Glass Portals
A full length, multi-media evening featuring the premiere of "Partita for Solo Violin," by Philip Glass - based on Book of Longing. In an onstage dialogue that interweaves video, electronics and dance with music, Glass Portals is an exploration of the human longing for connection in the digital age, guiding us through the failures and triumphs of new portals of relationship, our corporeal and electronic present and future. The new work for Fain is the evening's centerpiece, embraced by existing pieces by Aaron Jay Kernis, Nico Muhly and Kevin Puts, and includes spoken word - the poetry of Leonard Cohen and other contemporary American writers - and choreography by Benjamin Millepied.
A little History
A few years back, I worked with Philip in a show called Book of Longing which was a song cycle he composed to the poetry of canadian singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen. There was this moment where the violin took center stage and I played this really fast and crazy little movement, which only lasted a couple of minutes, but made a big impression on me. Before this, Philip hadnt really even written much for violin, and here was this totally intense 2 minute piece that sounded like J.S. Bach played backwards! I kept coming off stage thinking 'that was so cool.....but I want a whole piece!'
"Composing is really a two part process," he once told me. "First I write down all of the notes,"--often he'll send me a score by email--and then what follows, the second stage, as composer and performer meet to perfect and fine tune the score: we'll often meet down at his studio and work phrase by phrase until we're both happy, and the music is in its final completed form.
There's a real intensity and urgency about everything Philip does--It's staggering how much music he writes--he's probably one of the most prolific composers I know. He told me once that he really doesnt sleep all that much....I wonder if that has something to do with it!
This is one of the drawings in the exhibition (with LC's signature) reproduced on the tote bag that is on sale as part of the tour merch. I bought a tote bag in San Diego and will have it framed – it’s the closest I will get to owning a signed drawing by Leonard Cohen.
It is said that anticipation heightens realization. So, I scheduled a visit to Leonard's Art exhibition at Claremont College, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, prior to attending his two concerts in San Diego (April 7) and Los Angeles (April 10) next week. Now, here I am writing this posting while listening to the CBC Radio 2 broadcast of the London Live CD. Gosh, life is good.I was lucky to be the only one at the exhibition and could take my time to enjoy each individual drawing. To me, Leonard’s art is funny, poignant, erotic and spiritual.
My particular favorite was the one of himself reading poems to Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, who I feel was the greatest PM Canada ever had. The drawing included an excerpt from the “Book of Longing”. At a friend's rooftop gathering, Trudeau asked Leonard to read a poem and when he finished, to read another poem and another. As a transplanted Canadian now living in L.A., I found the drawing of Canada’s two greatest National treasures very moving.
Leonard Cohen's drawings are awesome.
* * *
This exhibition was held in conjunction with the Philip Glass production of "Book Of Longing" at Claremont College, California. The drawing on the promotion poster, which I was lucky to get, is titled, Paris Again.
Enlarged lower left image of: Leonard Cohen & Philip Glass
