yk

As I'm sitting on the top deck of the MegaBus on my way back to Boston from NYC, I might as well start typing the report away. Chances are, I should be done way before I'm back in Boston!

For those of you who don't "know" me, I go to NYC a few times a year and stay at my friends' apt in Manhattan. I have done many of the touristy things in the past, so most of my NYC trips in recent years are focused on art exhibitions at museums and opera performances.

Who?
Just by myself. I'm mid-30s, enjoy art, architecture, classical music (esp opera)

Why?
The main impetus of this trip was to attend opening night of the opera Simon Boccanegra at the Metropolitan Opera this past Monday evening. This was Placido Domingo's US debut as a baritone (he has never sung a baritone role until last fall, at age 68).

How long?
3 full days; 2 half days (Sat thru Wed)

Transportation
Getting there and back
I took BoltBus down to NYC and am now on MegaBus back to Boston. My total cost for these 2 bus rides? $3. Yes, I'm one of those few lucky ones who snatched the $1 fare advertised by these bus companies. And no, these $1 fares are not urban legends. They do exist, but AFAIK, there is only one $1 seat per bus. Anyway, my cost is $3 instead of $2 because each bus company charges a $0.50 reservation fee.

I'll add a BoltBus vs MegaBus comparison at the end of the report.

Getting around Manhattan
Even though I was only here for 5 days, I went ahead and got the $27 7-day unlimited Metrocard pass. I took about 2 dozen trips in 5 days (not counting free transfers), so I definitely got my money's worth. Among all these trips, I only used the subway once. Since my friends' apt is near Queens Midtown tunnel, it's more convenient for me to take the bus than subway.

LowCountryIslander

yk...

Looking forward to your report. I'm going back to NYC at the end of March (yes, another theater packed weekend for me!) and look forward to reading any great nuggets of information in your report. It was another one of your reports last year that tipped me off to the Lower East Side Tenement musuem!

yk

Museums
Neue Galerie
http://www.neuegalerie.org/

If I have to pick my favorite museum in all of NYC, I will pick Neue Galerie. I love Vienna and love Jugendstil. Even though the collection there is miniscule in comparison to MAK and Leopold Museum in Vienna, it's a place for me to get my "fix" without flying thousands of miles to Vienna.

Anyway, I wanted to see the current exhibition: From Klimt to Klee, which closes in a few weeks. The second floor has paintings and drawings by Klimt & Schiele & Kokoschka, as well as furniture/decorative art objects by Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser. I was in heaven.

Third floor mostly exhibits German artists - Die Brücke artists and German Expressionists.

After browsing the galleries on my own, I joined the free docent tour. I love docent tours as there is always so much to learn from them.

Museum of the City of New York
http://www.mcny.org/

This is my first visit there. I was attracted there by its current exhibition on the architect, Eero Saarinen. The show closes end of Jan. http://www.mcny.org/exhibitions/curr...-saarinen.html

I really enjoyed it. I'm no good at "reviewing" shows, so here's a link to a review article in WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...256592530.html
I encourage those of you who are interested in mid-modern architecture to see this show before it closes. The exhibit is a good reminder that I *need* to stop by the Kresge auditorium and chapel @ MIT, both designed by Saarinen, plus a few buildings at Brandeis University in Waltham MA.

Apart from the Saarinen exhibit, I also saw the rest of the museum. Another show - wilderness photos of NYC by Joel Meyerowitz is eye-opening; to see so much nature amid this concrete city.

yk

Museums (continued)
Museum of Art and Design (MAD)
http://www.madmuseum.org/

I kept meaning to visit this new building @ Columbus Circle since it opened in 2008; I finally did on this trip.

There are 4 floors of galleries, but only one floor has permanent collection on view right now. To me, the collection is more Arts & Craft than Art & Design. [The museum used to be called American Craft Museum.] Anyway, I find it hard to "get" the museum's identity on my visit. That's not to say I don't enjoy the works on display.

While I didn't find the permanent collection too stimulating, the 2 special exhibitions on right now are quite extraordinary.

The first one is Madeleine Albright's Pin collection. http://collections.madmuseum.org/htm...tions/498.html
There are over 200 pins on display. While not all of them exquisite pieces of artwork, Albright picked her pins to convey messages, esp when she was Secretary of State. It was fun to see why she wore this or that pin when meeting with other foreign dignitaries.

This closes end of Jan.

The second exhibition is called Slash: Paper under the Knife. http://collections.madmuseum.org/htm...tions/485.html
Every piece of work is made with paper, but many in extremely imaginative ways. I find many of them just brilliant. Since this show is on until April, I probably will come back for a second, more detailed visit next month when I'm back in NYC.

yk

Museums (continued)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://www.metmuseum.org/

I visit the Met every time I'm in NYC because I can get in for free with my reciprocal museum membership. As a result, each time I just focus on a few sections/exhibitions, rather than do the see-everything-in-one-setting marathon.

On this trip, I went to the Met twice, each time for about 90 minutes or so.

The first day, I spent the entire time in the new American Wing. Since my last visit to the American Wing a few years ago, I have learned more about 2 (mostly sculpture) artists: Daniel Chester French and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Therefore, I took time to admire their sculptures in the courtyard. I find these 2 memorial carvings by French most moving:
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/modl/ho_15.75.htm
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/modl/ho_26.120.htm

The period rooms in the American Wing are fabulous. And there were very few visitors in those period rooms. I like the new interactive display screens - much superior than the old-fashioned placards.

On my second day, I checked out multiple exhibitions, including:
American Stories - which I enjoyed more than I expected http://www.metmuseum.org/special/americanstories/
Velazquez Rediscovered - it's amazing how much nicer a painting looks after cleaning http://www.metmuseum.org/special/vel...vered/more.asp
Vienna Porcelain of Du Paquier (rival of Meissen)
Highlights from Modern Design Collection 1900-present
and
Masterpieces of French Art Deco - with lots of works by Rene Lalique, and most impressively, the huge glass panels by Jean Dupas on board the Normandie luxury cruise liner. [Another set of these panels can be seen at the Forbes Gallery: http://www.forbesgalleries.com/toyboats.html ]

SueNYC

So far so great! Isn't the Myerowitz a great green escape in the middle of the City. When you think that his last major photo project was documenting the recovery effort at the World Trade Center Site, this was quite a change.

I also thank you for letting us know about your Lincoln Center line experiences. I may test the system on FRIDAY!

yk

LCI & SueNYC, thanks for your comments! And good luck to you on Friday, SueNYC, and please report back about the Lincoln Center discount booth!

ellenem

Great information already and you're still on the bus!

MademoiselleFifi

Now you have me torn-- that Albright pin collection sounds really tempting, but, having adored the original building that was butchered up, I had vowed never to go to enter that museum.

MademoiselleFifi

Did you go to Demel? I had Esterhazy torte and a melange at the other one yesterday.

rncheryl

Anxious to hear how the Tenor did as a baritone, and to see your review of South Pacific.

yk

Food
Eating at Museum Cafes

I didn't eat at any fancy 5* places on this trip, but I would like to share my lunch experiences at 3 museum cafes. Since I have to eat anyway, I prefer to spend my $ at museum cafes.

Cafe Sabarsky @ Neue Galerie
http://www.neuegalerie.org/cafes/sabarsky

I love this place. However, admittedly when I had lunch there on Sunday, it was really noisy which took away some of its charming ambiance. Anyway, being at Cafe Sabarsky momentarily transports me back to Vienna: with its dark wood paneling, Thonet bentwood chairs, and silver trays on which coffees are served; every detail was not overlooked.

For lunch, I ordered their spätzle (with wild mushrooms, peas,
sweet corn & tarragon) which was absolutely delicious. The sauce was just right; not too heavy but not too light. Of course I saved room for dessert, which I chose the Topfentorte (Quark cheese cake), plus a cup of Weiner melange.

Robert NYC @ MAD
http://www.robertatmad.com/

Robert is located on the 9th floor of MAD. The restaurant is L-shaped. One arm of the L overlooks Columbus Circle and Central Park; the other arm overlooks B'way.

I ordered the Swiss chard & Sheeps milk ricotta tortelloni; in a slowed cooked tomato sauce. Again, the food is wonderful. The tomato sauce was heavenly; definitely not one that I could ever make at home. The dessert menu didn't appeal to me, so I had an espresso only, which was okay.

The staff at Robert is worth a mention. Every one there was very nice - genuinely nice instead of the "fake" nice; and I encountered not one remote sense of snootiness. It was a wonderful experience from beginning to end.

Petrie Court Cafe @ the Met
http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/dining/

I have eaten here a few times, as I like the airy atmosphere of this space, with high ceiling and looks into Central Park.

I ordered 2 appetizers for lunch:
Pureed celeriac soup with oven-dried shiitake mushrooms; and
Roasted beets and Dandelion Greens salad

Like the other lunchs I had, this was fantastic. The soup is particularly nice. I think I will try to replicate this at home.

yk

MFifi, I'm waiting for you to join me at Demel in Feb!

ellenem, since I can't read on the bus (motion sickness), this is a great way for me to pass the time!

rncheryl, I already wrote a bit about the 2 shows on different threads, but I'll summarize them here too.

Aduchamp1

Nice Report. Do not forget to get off the bus.

yk

Shows
Originally, I had hoped to see 3 shows during my stay. I only have a ticket to the opera in advance; the other 2 (South Pacific and NYC Ballet) I was relying on the "$20 for 20 days" deal at the newly-opened Lincoln Center ticket discount booth. Details about this can be found in this thread: http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...jan-7-2010.cfm

In the end, I was only able to get a $20 ticket to South Pacific and no NYC Ballet.

Simon Boccanegra at Metropolitan Opera
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metope....aspx?id=10502
I'm not a die-hard fan of Domingo, but since this is quite a "historic" performance, I wanted to be there. Plus, who knows how many more years will he be singing (he's 69)?

Overall, I thought he was great. I think some critics thought he sounded like a tenor singing a baritone role with the tenor timbre, but honestly, I'm no expert and that didn't bother me at all. All the notes in lower register were loud and clear.

His first entrance in the Prologue caught many by surprise - he had brown hair and brown beard - thanks to the makeup and wig departments. I couldn't really tell if that was really him through my opera glasses! [There is a 25 year gap between Prologue and Act I, so he reverted back to his grey hair/beard after the Prologue.]

I liked the rest of the cast too, with Marcello Giordani as Gabriele Adorno (the role that was sung by Domingo previously), Adrianne Pieczonka, Patrick Carfizzi as Paolo, and James Morris as Fiesco. The star of the evening though, IMHO, was maestro James Levine. He brought out all the beauty in Verdi's music.

Domingo received about 5 minutes of applause at the end of the opera. This is in contrast to his debut in Berlin last Fall where he received 20 minutes of applause on opening night of Simon Boccanegra.

For those of you who want to see this production but can't fly to NYC, this will be shown Live in HD in theatres around the world on Feb 6, 2010.


South Pacific
http://www.lct.org/showMain.htm?id=174
I don't attend musicals regularly, but I wanted to see this because of all the raves & Tony awards. Unlike operas which I usually "study" for weeks ahead of time, I didn't do any preparation for South Pacific. In fact, I only read the synopsis from wiki right before departing for the show.

I'm probably one of the few people who has never heard any of the music in South Pacific before. But it certainly made an impression on me, because I was humming "an Enchanted Evening" as I left. Overall, it is engaging and engrossing, as I was never bored for a single second during the long show (2hr40mins). I like the 2 singers portraying Emile & Nellie most; I'm lukewarm about Cable.

My personal preference is still opera; but South Pacific was great entertainment @ $20. [If I had to pay close to full price for SP, honestly, I would use the money to buy a ticket for Stiffelio @ the Met instead.]

yk

BoltBus vs MegaBus
https://www.boltbus.com/
http://www.megabus.com/us/

Based on my experiences on this trip, BoltBus wins.

BoltBus
- slightly more legroom
- better wifi network on board. There was some spotty service in parts of CT & NY, but they were short-lived. On my trip back on MegaBus, we lost wifi after Hartford and it never came back on (hence I couldn't finish posting the TR)
- better boarding practice: there are groups A/B/C. A is for frequent travelers; B&C is for the regular folks, depending on when you bought your ticket. MegaBus has just one line for boarding: first come first serve
- 110V electric outlet for every seat (except first row). The outlet is at the seatback. MegaBus has one outlet for every 2 seats (outlet is along the wall).
- BoltBus uses South Station bus station in Boston; so you aren't out in the elements lining up for the bus. MegaBus uses BackBay station but the boarding area is out in the open. Both companies board from the streets in NYC.

EVEN
- Both buses made a pit stop about half way. BoltBus stopped at an Arby's in an exit off I-91. MegaBus stopped at a rest area (no dining establishments, just rest room facilities)
- Both have professional drivers

MegaBus
- The staff loads and unloads luggage for you. For BoltBus, you have to DIY. So, if you arrive early and your suitcase gets shoved all the way deep in the BoltBus belly, you may need to climb into the cargo hold area to retrieve it.

Aduchamp1

We have gone to the Philharmonic for many years but not the opera. While NY may be one of the most liberal cities in the country the people who file into Linclon Center are very conservative in their classical music tastes.

yk

I guess that's about all I have to say about this trip. Thanks for reading.

I will be back in NYC in exactly one month from today - for 3 operas on 3 consecutive nights. I can't wait.

I haven't decided on which museums I'll visit in Feb... I will have to check what new exhibitions will be on then.

eetaylor

yk- thanks for your report. It was nice "seeing" new york through your experiences. Enjoy February's Trip and report back to us.

Rhea58

Great read yk!

Did you happen to see the article in Sunday's N T Times magazine about TINO SEHGAL at the Guggenheim? Exhibition is
January 29–March 10, 2010.

Interesting chap!!!