[Last Wednesday] we went to hear some traditional Chinese music. It was actually part of a much larger tour that included the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and Qianmen, but something told me that a tour from 8am until 9pm was much too long. Although, after B. yelled at the tour guide who took us to the Great Wall and the Summer Palace (the school has been arranging some trips given the delayed start to the school year), I guess there was a new tour guide who was much less annoying. (I can tell a story with no point... but this woman made every single one of my drunken tales appear coherent and concise.)
I asked D. if it was cool to just go to the concert, and she (amazing woman she is) made it happen.
D., Smashing, and I left from school to take the subway over, and Smashing was already haranguing D. about his working conditions and such like. D. looked rather uncomfortable. The un-air-conditioned ride on the subway calmed him down a bit.
We arrived and Smashing immediately started looking for beer. Fortunately, in your absence, I was able to direct him to the concession stand. We ordered 5 glasses of white wine (which in this venue turned out to be a bottle) and chugged them in the 15 minutes we had before the show (he had 3, I had 2), and then I stepped nervously into the theater.
It was NOT a repeat of the 12 Girls. I was confronted by a proper orchestra (smaller than a symphony, but good sized) and a proper conductor. They played actual music. It was really quite lovely. There were a few Western instruments (cello, bass, tympani), but it was mostly Chinese instruments (which I will name by their Western counterparts since I don't their Chinese names). There were the two-stringed violins, the mandolins, the banjos, some vibraphones, flutes, and some clarinet/trumpet looking things (I think they had reeds, making them woodwinds). There were also these crazy-looking horns that looked like portable pipe organs and I think sounded very French horn-like, so I'm calling them soprano, alto, tenor, and bass French horns.
We chugged a couple more glasses of wine during intermission (which was only 15 minutes long which is not long enough) and then had a very short second act. We all took the tour bus back to school. Fini.
I did wear a very nice hat and dress that I purchased over the summer. The girls who had spent all day on the tour (and thus had no ability to change) were rather jealous of my garb. What can I say? One must dress for the NCPA.
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