The Two Amigos Ride Again- A 15,000 mile vacation of a lifetime
- Thread starter Steve williams
- Start date
Good morning Bruce and can't thank you enough
There is so much more to come. I never know which way these photos will load. I was going to do it all at the end but I appreciate the help while I slept
I will do my best today
There is so much more to come. I never know which way these photos will load. I was going to do it all at the end but I appreciate the help while I slept
I will do my best today
Day 5 Trip To Peterhof Palace, Hydrofoil Ride and Faberge Museum (June 25)
It's a 2 hour drive to Peterhof Palace but today we took a hydrofoil on a 40 minute ride across the Gulf of Finland tp Peterhoff which is the former royal residence of Russian tsars and is located on the bank of the Gulf of Finland. If you have ever been to the Palais de Versailles you will easily notice the beautiful Versailles inspired Lower Park lavishly adorned with numerous fountains and gilded statues.
Lunch was once again at a local restaurant. Following such another bus ride back to the famous Faberge museum which houses the world's largest collection of works by Carl faberge including 9 Easter Eggs commissioned by the Russian Royal Family
It's a 2 hour drive to Peterhof Palace but today we took a hydrofoil on a 40 minute ride across the Gulf of Finland tp Peterhoff which is the former royal residence of Russian tsars and is located on the bank of the Gulf of Finland. If you have ever been to the Palais de Versailles you will easily notice the beautiful Versailles inspired Lower Park lavishly adorned with numerous fountains and gilded statues.
Lunch was once again at a local restaurant. Following such another bus ride back to the famous Faberge museum which houses the world's largest collection of works by Carl faberge including 9 Easter Eggs commissioned by the Russian Royal Family
Since it appears Steve is towards the end of the Russia segment, I’d like to comment on attending the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, which was a highlight of the trip for me. The St. Petersburg Philharmonic is a storied orchestra and Russia’s oldest (1882), and anyone who is anybody in the classical music world has likely played there in the past century or so.
http://www.philharmonia.spb.ru/en/about/orchestra/zkrasof/about/
The Chief conductor is the internationally famous Yuri Temirkanov however the night we were there, his Deputy, Nikolay Alexeev did the honors and he was superb. I loved the programming, which was unconventional by American standards. It was an all-Russian program that began with Tchaikovsky’s Serenade #3, followed by Rachmaninoff’s music for Romeo and Juliet scored for piano and orchestra, and concluded with Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstasy (op 54). In all my years of attending concerts in the US, I have never heard any of these pieces performed as they are off the beaten path. But they were each beautiful and awesome.
It is said that no orchestra plays Tchaikovsky like a Russian orchestra, and this performance made me a believer. Everyone knows Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, but I had never heard this version by Rachmaninoff. The Rachmaninoff featured the 27 y/o pianist Philip Kopachevsky, a winner of multiple international competitions and whose performance brought the house down. There were time he almost levitated out of his chair and when he finally stood up at the end, I confirmed he only had two hands and not three, since that’s what it sounded like at times.
The sound of the hall was spectacular. It is a classical “shoe-box”, as are many of the best sounding halls in the world, but it was warm, intimate, reverberant, and just fantastic. Each section could be distinctly heard although the seating arrangement was a bit unusual as the stage is not very deep but is very wide as the photo shows. While away, I sent my VTL 7.5 III preamp back for some rolling line changes and when I told Bea Lam I attended this concert, she told me it was one of her favorite halls as well. I can see why.
Ticket prices were very reasonable at about $95 for 12th row dead center obtained months in advance. But that wasn’t as good as the Stanford students seated immediately in front of us who got in for free as part of their exchange program! It was a fantastic evening, capped off by walking back to the hotel around 11 pm while the city was bathed in twilight.
http://www.philharmonia.spb.ru/en/about/orchestra/zkrasof/about/
The Chief conductor is the internationally famous Yuri Temirkanov however the night we were there, his Deputy, Nikolay Alexeev did the honors and he was superb. I loved the programming, which was unconventional by American standards. It was an all-Russian program that began with Tchaikovsky’s Serenade #3, followed by Rachmaninoff’s music for Romeo and Juliet scored for piano and orchestra, and concluded with Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstasy (op 54). In all my years of attending concerts in the US, I have never heard any of these pieces performed as they are off the beaten path. But they were each beautiful and awesome.
It is said that no orchestra plays Tchaikovsky like a Russian orchestra, and this performance made me a believer. Everyone knows Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, but I had never heard this version by Rachmaninoff. The Rachmaninoff featured the 27 y/o pianist Philip Kopachevsky, a winner of multiple international competitions and whose performance brought the house down. There were time he almost levitated out of his chair and when he finally stood up at the end, I confirmed he only had two hands and not three, since that’s what it sounded like at times.
The sound of the hall was spectacular. It is a classical “shoe-box”, as are many of the best sounding halls in the world, but it was warm, intimate, reverberant, and just fantastic. Each section could be distinctly heard although the seating arrangement was a bit unusual as the stage is not very deep but is very wide as the photo shows. While away, I sent my VTL 7.5 III preamp back for some rolling line changes and when I told Bea Lam I attended this concert, she told me it was one of her favorite halls as well. I can see why.
Ticket prices were very reasonable at about $95 for 12th row dead center obtained months in advance. But that wasn’t as good as the Stanford students seated immediately in front of us who got in for free as part of their exchange program! It was a fantastic evening, capped off by walking back to the hotel around 11 pm while the city was bathed in twilight.
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