iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Bows at the end of Cosí fan tutte at the Met Opera. A night of beautiful singing

Singers, skills ensemble, and chorus on stage for bows. The background is dark but with stars, there are set pieces of an amusement park and everyone is in colorful costumes

070

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I rather like Forest Hills Stadium! Here for Geese

021

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

It's time to try a bit of Mahler again, lured in by the WP opener by Tania León. Hilarious to have a 12-minute piece then an intermission

Tilted and bent program page.

New York Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, Conductor
September 24-27 & 29, 2026 17,376th-17,380th Concerts

Tania LEÓN (b. 1943)
Imágenes Mestizas (2026; World Premiere-New York Philharmonic commission)

Intermission

MAHLER (1860-1911)

Symphony No. 5 (1901-02)

PART I
Funeral March: With measured step. Strict. Like a cortège
Stormily, with greatest vehemence

PART II
Vigorously, not too fast

PART III
Adagietto: Very slow
Rondo-Finale: Allegro giocoso

Black text on white page.

151

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Distracting and confusing Volta and Figment so Ritzy can get a birthday treat

Person standing in a kitchen holding two cats in their hands, one grey and white with legs hanging almost out of frame, face pushed forward towards the picture taker. The cat on our left is a brown tabby with a lot of white underbelly showing. She is significantly smaller and looks very confused. She is doing a blep. There is a stainless steel refrigerator door and tan wood flooring. The human is mostly blocked by the cats, but you can see their red plaid flannel shirt and a bit of their head sticking up, with unkempt hair

190

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I really loved The Surge at the Joyce!

View from a balcony with red chairs. Stage is hidden by a large red curtain

Marquee. Says Joyce in a colorful, unique font.
Below that in red: The Surge an ode to Sinead O'Connor Sep 16 thru 27

020

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I wasn't thrilled by Macbeth at the Met last night, but there was a lot to enjoy

Lincoln Center Plaza, the facade of the Met in the background with a hanging banner that says Macbeth. People sitting on the metal ring around the central fountain, cloudy skies

Stage with the cast, chorus, and dancers assembled on the a set that evokes ruins

140

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I love open window season, and so do the cats

Two cats sit in front of an open window. They are on a clear plastic table, the long-haired gray and white cat on the left is laying front paws in the windowsill. The medium hair brown tabby on the right is in a crouch. Outside is green with some bushes and a bird feeder. There is a small sparrow on top of one of the bushes

010

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Heard the crows outside and there was so much commotion. Turns out they were chasing a fox off

A red fox trots at the edge of a street in front of a house with brick and shingles. There is a patch of grass below and branches of green trees above

Fox is in front of the same house, but a little further, close to a yellow and silver fire hydrant.

120

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Storm clouds are making their presence known! Just got some lightning

The sky is full of clouds, some giving dark shades of blue. Large white baffles that look like fun sculptures and the high overhang of the roof

150

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

My first time at Santa Fe Opera! Tonight is Lili Elbe

Poster for the opera Lili Elbe is rather unclear with the reflection on the plastic. Behind this display there is a sign that says The Crosby T(heater) on a large adobe building.

2130

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Santa Fe has corvids, too! Woodhouse Scrub Jay on the fence right outside my door

Small blue and white bird perches on a rustic fence made of cut tree juniper (?) trunks (thin). There is also part of a red sun umbrella in the foreground. It is day

040

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Bigfoot Ripped My Dog in Half I Saw It is one of my highlights of Fringe

Two clowns in patched costumes on a mostly bare stage. An upside down Stop sign between them has parts of what might be a Sasquatch covering it, with additional pieces at the base.

040

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Beethoven & Ortiz at Usher Hall! My last EIF concert

Dimly lit Hall looks blue. There are several rows of seats then a stage with a lot of chairs and some people warming up their instruments. Beyond that is more seating.

Program page in front of seats. Text reads

BEETHOVEN 7 & ORTIZ

Fri 14 Aug
USHER HALL

This performance 1 hour 45 minutes

Beethoven Symphony No.7 in A, Op.92 (1812)
1. Poco sostenuto - Vivace
II. Allegretto
III. Presto
IV. Allegro con brio
(Approx. 41 minutes)

Interval (20 minutes)

Gabriela Ortiz Revolución diamantina* (2023) (Approx. 42 minutes)
*Sung in Spanish with English surtitles

SCOTTISH PREMIERE

Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel Conductor

Women of the Los Angeles Master Chorale

050

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Beth Taylor in recital with Hamish Brown

Hildegard von Bingen 0 Ignee Spiritus (Antiphon) (circa mid-12th century)

(Approx. 3 minutes)

Holmès 20 Mélodies No.15 (circa 1880s)

XV. Pareil à la mer profonde

(Approx. 3 minutes)

Holmès Les Sept Ivresses No.2 (circa 1880s)

II. Le Vin

(Approx. 3 minutes)

L Boulanger Reflets (1911)

(Approx. 3 minutes)

Cameron Biles-Liddell The Breakers (2024)

1. The Storm

II. Twilight

(Approx. 12 minutes)

Traditional Orkney folksong, arr. Cameron Biles-Liddell The Grey Selkie o' Sule Sker

(1934)

(Approx. 5 minutes)

Smyth Three Moods of the Sea (1913)

I.

Requies

II. Before the Squall

III. After Sunset

(Approx. 12 minutes)

Interval (20 minutes)

Hensel Schwanenlied No.1, Op.1 (1837)

(Approx. 4 minutes)

Converse Cassandra Cycle (circa 1950s)

I. Cassandra's Entrance

II. Under a Lullaby

III. Vanity of Vanities

(Approx. 9 minutes)

C Schumann Lorelei (1843)

(Approx. 3 minutes)

Tailleferre Pancarte pour une Porte d'entrée (1959)

II. Désinvolture

IV. Cours

VI. Sainte Nitouche

X. Le Serpent

(Approx. 6 minutes)

Stuart MacRae Medusa (2026)

1. Children

II. Statuette

III. As I am

IV. Dichotomy

V. Serpents

(Approx. 16 minutes)

240

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

This paragraph from a preview article from the Guardian really tells it: www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...

Screenshot from article. Black text on a white background:
Is there self-censorship in the opera world? Do writers hold back from tunes, bold stories and jokes for fear of not giving the opera hierarchy what they think it wants? Mazzoli thinks the answer is simpler.

"During all my time in the American development system, no one ever told me that my job as a composer was to be a dramatist.”

030

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

The Galloping Cure by Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek premieres tonight

Tall yellow poster with blue/purple bars in a window. Says Edinburgh International Festival at top and The Galloping Cure at bottom.

4100

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

First pic I took in Scotland: Eurasian Magpies

Three Eurasian Magpies together and another one across the green. These black and white birds are on a grass lawn in front of an old brick building

340

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I was so close to hitting grind

Coffee grinder on a marble counter next to a digital scale. The grinder is missing the cup the ground beans would be collected in. There is a window with a shade in the background. It almost appears to be in black and white.

100

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

I loved that shrine at the end of Rheingold

Bows at the end of an opera. Several rows of spectators are in the foreground, in white seats with red cushions. On stage is a long row of people holding hands. Behind them are tall columns and a human-sized shrine, gilded and ornate.

020

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Not an ornithologist but I've also been seeing crows with open beaks

100

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Black Swan! New dance musical by Dave Molloy, book by Jen Silverman, direction and choreography by Sonya Tayeh

Banner on the corner of a building that says Black Swan in all caps with a black feather

040

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

The program does say they're using the Haas. A land of contrasts!

View of the stage in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. It is packed with chairs and already has an orchestra's worth of players warning up. There is elaborate wainscoting (I think) and three harps.

110

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Anton Bruckner under Semyon Bychov

Program page. Text reads

New York Philharmonic
Semyon Bychkov, Conductor

BRUCKNER (1824-96)
Symphony No. 8 in C minor (1887, rev. 1889-90; ed. Nowak, 1955)

Allegro moderato
Scherzo: Allegro moderato -
Trio. Langsam (Slow). Scherzo da capo
Adagio. Feierlich langsam, doch nicht schleppend (Solemnly slow, but not dragging)
Finale: Feierlich, nicht schnell (Solemn, not fast)

THIS CONCERT WILL BE PERFORMED WITHOUT AN INTERMISSION.

030

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

I picked the right restaurant for brunch before today's matinee of Frida y Diego

Dark blue wallpaper with flowers and repeated portraits of Frida Kahlo blowing a pink bubble with gum

040

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Elim Chan conducts the NYPhil. Great to have a chance to hear Carter Brey as the soloist in the Saint-Saëns concerto before he retires at the end of the season.

Program page held with an elevated view of the blurry stage in the background.

New York Philharmonic
May 27-30, 2026
Elim Chan, Conductor
Carter Brey, Cello

Noriko KOIDE (b. 1982)
Swaddling Silk and Gossamer Rain (2022; New York Premiere)

SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33 (1872)
Allegro non troppo
Allegretto con moto
Tempo primo
(played without pause)

CARTER BREY

Intermission

PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
Selections from Zolushka (Cinderella), Opp. 87 and 107 (1940-44)

081

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

While I stood on the driveway the crow flew to the front of the garage, then to the diagonal wire to the house essentially directly over me, then to the garden bed wall where I left treats. Actually picked up the bag but didn't get very far with it

Black corvid on a power wire with blue sky and light clouds above

Ziploc bag of peanuts on the edge of an asphalt driveway, the crow a bit beyond looking away

010

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Yesterday the crow was sitting on the bird feeder so I knew it was empty but was uninterested in the feeder after I filled it or any peanuts, etc. Then today it was negotiating with two blue jays in the cherry blossom tree

Black corvid (Fish crow?) rests on the cast iron shepherds hook that holds up an empty bird feeder

210

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Last year I was getting a murder of up to 5 crows. Recently it's been just one bird that is not intimidated by me at all

Black corvid standing on a brick wall of a raised garden bed. Some sort of evergreen spills around and in the background is green trimmed grass and a brick walkway. The bird is focused on a Ziploc bag of peanuts which sets next to a soup takeout container holding diced meat.

Black corvid perched on the shepherd's hook holding up a 2/3 full bird feeder. In the background there are bushes. This view is out a window; inside a large grey and white cat is beside himself worked up about the large bird

230

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Really thought this was a very good dog

Train tracks with industrial trappings, in a station. There is a yellow concrete pillar in the foreground and another item sticking up in the background which might be metal plumbing pipes? The object of interest is a dark brown barrel with four metal legs. A crow is resting on the corner and there is a plastic hose that appears to be behind it. At first glance it may appear to be a large, ahem, barrel-chested dog such as a Rottweiler.

050

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

To be clear, she is alive and having the best time

Medium hair tabby cat flopped out in the sun. She is on her back laying over part of a folding chair, legs and belly floof sticking out wherever, mouth slightly open showing off two fangs

171

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Cast, conductor, and chorus director, with chorus and dancers

Line of singers in colorful costumes on a flat stage surrounded by blue curtains. Four characters are dressed as Frida Kahlo, one each for Diego Rivera, Catrina/Keeper of the dead, Greta Garbo/drag queen in a huge teal dress, and several villagers

140

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Composer and librettist on stage after El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego

Gabriela Lena Frank and Nilo Cruz getting a huge ovation in front of the cast and production team

1182

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego opens at the Met Opera tomorrow!

Art piece in red and blue. The blue suggests (is, I guess?) a bedframe. The red is in the middle but also spreading out from the top and bottom. It looks like a tree with growing roots and thick branches out the top, but this blood red color suggests arteries. The background shows blue curtains on the walls; there is also an exit and the edge of a large Diego Rivera painting. There is also another person, taking a picture from the opposite side, though they are mostly hidden.

020

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Oh shit, ballets can be to great music MacGregor - Dyad 1929 to Steve Reich's Double Sextet De Keersmaeker’s - Quartet to Béla Bartók’s 4th SQ

Pic of a TV screen. In the middle is a dancer in a half black half white costume, left arm and leg up getting ready for a dance spin. Both the floor and the wall behind have dots in a large grid. The scene is lit yellow and there's yellow tube lights in a line almost out of frame.

Four ballet dancers in all black including very comfortable looking leather boots are in a line going a dance spin. Behind them in the dark sits a string quartet.

270

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

For once Ritzy did not hiss and run off when Volta climbed up

Human in jeans, a grey sweater, and a sandal on a foot prominent in front, sitting on a blue squared soft chair. A tortoiseshell cat is lying on a white pillow against them, and a brown and white tabby is laying on their lap. It is bright, inside, with a wood floor and off white walls. There is a hydroponic plant rack behind them.

1100

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

I have somehow never seen Ariadne auf Naxos live

Stage, currently dimly lit blue. Some of a chamber orchestra is on stage warning. There is also a small table with two chairs and a small rock with a very small tree

Front cover of program. Bronx Opera presents Ariadne auf Naxos with a drawing that could be Greek ruins. There is also a paper that reads Orchestra Ticket.

170

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

The Art Institute of Chicago has Leda and Golden Bird (not pictured); I was there two and a half years ago. Maybe I looked up more Brâncuși after seeing those?

Marble sculpture abstracting a swan with two connected pieces/sections, a body and a neck. This is on a pedestal. It is natural/gray/off-white

120

John Fenster @mountmccabe.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Similarly confused by the Brâncuși sculptures but I can't remember where I've seen this (or another). It feels like it was this year but I don't know how

Marble sculpture on a concrete pedestal. It's not quite as big as a surfboard and the shape is a little more like a handmade stone knife. Title: Fish

120