Loud, Proud and Uncowed

Some Words on Gay Pride.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

OK, they're not really there but they look cool. Rainbow flags over Lincoln Center.
Photo alteration by the author.

For the last week, the blog has been fairly quiet (except for previews and roundups and suchlike) but that's what happens in late June--the season is basically over and we're all taking a deep breath before jumping into the summer festival season both here in New York and in its environs.

Today is also the 45th anniversary of Heritage of Pride, the parade that marches down Fifth Avenue, turns right at the Washington Square Arch and moves down Washington Street, Waverly and Christopher past the Stonewall Inn, site of the 1969 police raid and riot that essentially sparked the gay pride movement in these United States.

Concert Review: The Crimes of a Century

The Los Angeles Philharmonic returns to Lincoln Center.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Speaks with his hands: Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel.
Photo by Luis Cobelo © 2014 Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Group.

The return of conductor Gustavo Dudamel to New York is always a momentous occasion. Sunday's concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall featured two heavy-weight symphonies that stand one century apart: the Symphony No. 1 of New York composer John Corigliano and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5., a perennial audience favorite. Outside, a small group of protestors congregated to remind concert-goers of the dangerous conditions in Mr. Dudamel's native Venezuela.

Inside, the conductor and his orchestra had other concerns.

Le Nozze di...Tutti

DOMA, Prop 8 annihilated by Supreme Court.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

"You need to figure out if you are living in a comedy or a tragedy. A tragedy means you die at the end. In a comedy, you get married." --Dr. Jules Hilbert, Stranger Than Fiction

Wotan (John Tomlinson, right) finds himself celebrating equality in the Magic Fire Scene
from Act III of Die Walküre. Original image © 1988 Bayreuth Festspiele, photoshop by the author.

Here at Superconductor, it is a happy day.

This post is to spread the good word: the Supreme Court has struck down the repellend Defense of Marriage Act in a 5-4 decision. The majority opinion was delivered by Justice Anthony Kennedy with dissent from Justices Roberts, Scalia and Alito. 

Forty-five minutes later, the SCOTUS ruled against Proposition 8, stating that the California statute had "no standing." 

Like I said, it's been a good day.