Pop Stand

Where in the world is JoAnn Falletta? We like to play this game from time to time, track the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's music director, JoAnn Falletta, and see where she is and what she is up to.

As Joe Williams used to sing: "Baby, I want to know where you're going, what you're doing, and who are you doing it with." Well, not quite. But any excuse to quote Joe Williams.

While looking forward to JoAnn's next appearance with the BPO -- which happens 7 p.m. July 28, at Artpark -- one might well wonder where she is right now. She has been out of town for a while. And, it turns out, there is a good reason for that.

Because JoAnn Falletta, The Buffalo News has learned, is in ....

Here is a hint.

She is in Chile!!

Or at least she was just a few days ago.

Not only that but she is talking about us.

A South American publication features JoAnn talking about Buffalo. The headline reads: "Mi Barrio Favorito: Buffalo Centro, N.Y."

There is mention of "El Oliver's" and "El Cole's." JoAnn is talking about restaurants she loves!

Spot Coffee and Studio Hart also get a mention.

A picture captioned "Parque Japones de Delaware" gives a very flattering glimpse of Delaware Park.

And JoAnn says this about Kleinhans Music Hall: "Tiene una acstica espectacular
y es una de las salas de conciertos más famosas y aclamadas en todo Estados Unidos." I do not speak Spanish but, well, maybe I do. I think I understand what she is saying. She is saying it is one of the most famous and acclaimed concert halls in the entire United States and its acoustics are spectacular. Someone, correct me if I am wrong!

JoAnn has been in Chile conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile in Santiago at the Teatro Universidad de Chile. Jacek Muzyk, the BPO's Principal Horn Player, was there too, soloing in Kenneth Fuchs' "Canticle to the Sun." That is a picture of Falletta and Fuchs at the top of this post.

The composer's Web site has a clip of them rehearsing it. And there is also a review.

Donde el mundo es JoAnn Falletta?

Ya sabes!*

-- Mary Kunz Goldman 

*That is "Where in the world is JoAnn Falletta? Now you know!" in Spanish, according to a translating page I found on the 'Net. Please pardon that I do not know how to do the upside-down question mark. Gracias!

Props to Kim. Kim Kardashian, that is.

She called it. She said a long while ago the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial would be "shocking" and to many people she was right.

What's helpful to remember about Kardashian is that the reality show "star" famous mostly for her vacuity and her derriere is that she was, as I said in a TV column last Friday, the daughter of Bob Kardashian, the lawyer and friend of the most scandalous (and famous) murder defendant of modern times, O.J. Simpson.

Kardashian, you may remember, was entrusted to read O. J.'s "suicide note" during the White Bronco Chase. He's also the one whose dropped jaw and shocked, befuddled look the moment O. J. was pronounced "not guilty" told all of us everything we'd ever need to know about whether or not the ex-Bill was, in fact, guilty.

If there's anyone who understood the "shocking" distance between a murder trial jury verdict and a televised murder defendant's public unpopularity, it was the late Bob Kardashian. Presumably he passed a lot bit of that wisdom on to a daughter or two.

None of the "expertise" journalists and even lawyers might claim seem to have exceeded that of the daughter of an intimate friend of a famous -- and infamous -- murder defendant.

In this instance, it seems to me that the verdict, unlike the Simpson verdict, showed the American legal system at its best, not its celebrity-driven worst.

The prosecution never made a precise case. It could never say exactly how poor little 2-year-old Caylee Anthony died or even where -- not to mention who might have been responsible.

Reasonable doubt lives in this case crowed the defense. It was hard to argue with that, no matter how ridiculous the defense's alternative theory of events was. All they really had to do was point out that the prosecution was guessing what happened, just as they were. Guesswork isn't exactly a great basis for putting someone to death -- or putting them away for life either.

Casey Anthony may be one of the least popular human beings in America at this very moment. But that doesn't mean she needed to go up the river for crimes no one could even enumerate precisely, let alone prove her agency in.

I doubt whether she'll ever show up on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." But who knows? Some day, maybe she'll be able to pay a jailhouse visit to O.J. Simpson.

Now there are two people, it seems to me, with a lot to talk about.

--Jeff Simon

In the department of Where Do You Begin To Ask Questions, the wildly popular Dutch violinist and bandleader Andre Rieu is touring with a waltz by Anthony Hopkins. There they are pictured together at left. The waltz is reportedly front and center on Rieu's new CD.

I did not know Anthony Hopkins was a composer! But he was -- and is, it seems. Rieu discusses him on his Web site. He writes: "We were all inspired by Sir Hopkins' beautiful music."

Having not heard Rieu's new CD -- and Rieu is not coming to Buffalo until Nov. 21  -- I looked high and low trying to get a sneak preview of this waltz. Darn, I could not.

But I did find this YouTube interview, which took place in April, in which Hopkins talks about how he used to compose a lot of music. He is a big Andre Rieu fan and had "this vision, this dream" that Rieu could perform some of his music. So he wrote and orchestrated a waltz. Rieu, he says, "embellished" it.

The interviewer asks how it sounds. "Fantastic!" Hopkins exclaims. "It's a beautiful arrangement, a beautiful sound," he adds, graciously giving all the credit to Rieu.

What a charmer! You cannot beat Hopkins as he talks modestly about how he plays the piano, "but I'm not a concert pianist." He says he plays the piano every day. He describes his waltz as "rather Viennese, central European. ... I wrote a lot of music, 40 years ago, 50 years ago."

Might he write more music in the future? 

Hopkins says, "I have several more waltzes I'm going to send him when I go back to Los Angeles this week."

"So we can expect a whole album of your music by Andre Rieu?" the interviewer kids.

"You never know. I hope so! It'd be lovely."

-- Mary Kunz Goldman

Still wondering what to do on Independence Day? Well, for starters you can declare your independence from the stove (or the grill, which can get pretty hot and sticky when you're the one doing the grilling).

Why not leave that grilling to somebody else? Like Gerhardt Yaskow, the owner of Gene McCarthy's Tavern, in the old First Ward? (Above is a picture of Gerhardt's sister, Suzette, tending bar).

This announcement just came in from Gerhardt and naturally we halted our work to study it:

On July 4th, we will be open only during the evening hours starting at 5:00.  I will be cooking free hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill again (like last year, and yes, all mirco-craft drafts will be only $2 during the evening), plus drink specials on domestic beers.  So if you want to grab a chair and watch the fireworks from an Old First Ward institution, then RSVP or just stop down and visit us throughout the night.  

Free hot dogs! Free hamburgers! Sounds good to us!

Gene McCarthy's Tavern is at 73 Hamburg St. The phone number is 855-8948.

-- Mary Kunz Goldman