A very nice man named Brian was my Uber driver by about lunch time, and he drove me to the only ATM in town where, with the help of the fraud department of my bank, I was able to withdraw cash so that I could at least buy food for the next few days and not be stranded in Massachusetts for four days without any money or food. (Bear in mind, I don't know anyone for hundreds of miles.) It was a horrible, horrible, horrible way to begin the first real day of my vacation.
When I returned to the hotel, I was walking toward The Mount (the Seven Hills Inn is on The Mount's estate, so I only have to walk for about 2 minutes to get to the actual house) when I saw the most adorable little dog. He was a white and grey shih tzu, and I had to pet him. I knelt down and offered my hand to him, which he sniffed before letting me pat his head. I then leaned down and said, "Mr. Puppy, I've had a rough day; I need a cuddle." As if the dog heard me, he put his front paws on my knees, got on his hind legs, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. He nuzzled his cuddly little head next to my cheek for a moment before hopping down, rubbing his head next to my hand, then trotting off. It felt so good to cuddle this sweet little dog, and for a moment, I did think about stealing him. I mean, his tags did not have his name or where to return him.... Common sense took over, though, and I just decided to continue to The Mount--albeit with an extra spring in my step thanks to that sweet little puppy.
There are some changes to The Mount since I last visited in 2016. For one, they have definitely expanded their programming. There is now a sculpture display all around the estate that includes statues and some odd spider web-esque doylies. (I'll have pictures for today's post later tonight.)
Out of curiosity, I took the guided tour of the house, and that is one of the not-so-great changes. I had a different tour guide from last time, and the woman yesterday clearly did not know what she was talking about. My guess is she memorized a script but had nothing to add. She misled the audience a number of times with either incorrect or insufficient information, and I thought she painted a false picture of who Edith Wharton really was and what her life was like. It took everything I had, but I reached deep within myself to keep my mouth shut. I hate inaccuracy, especially about someone I can objectively say I know a lot about, but I tried to remain quiet.
The one time I did feel compelled to speak was when the tour guide said Wharton inherited $2.6 million upon the death of her father. There was a woman who was shocked by that amount of money, and thankfully the tour guide eventually admitted that that figure was in TODAY's money, not 1881 money. The woman was still shocked, so I felt compelled to speak up. (We were transitioning into another room, so I felt that I was not technically stealing the guide's spotlight.) I explained that the inheritance was not divided that way. Wharton's oldest brother, Frederick, inherited the bulk of the fortune, her other brother inherited a massive amount of the remaining fortune, and then the paltry remainder was divided into thirds, and Edith inherited one-third of the remaining money. For the most part, she made her money through writing. The woman was shocked and kept asking why the family would do that to her. When I said it was because she was female in 1881 and had two older brothers, she still did not understand. It made me feel like I was teaching again and dealing with an 18 year old with no understanding of history.
The guide failed to discuss Walter Berry, Wharton's contentious relationship with her mother, her novel Summer, which is set in Massachusetts, and so much more. The silly woman from earlier also did not understand why Wharton sold her house after her divorce if she loved it so much. (She claimed to have read The Age of Innocence, but I had to fight the nerve to ask if she actually read the book or just Wikipedia, since, you know, Countess Olenska becomes an outcast simply for considering divorce.)
The guide did not explain this well, only saying it was because Teddy Wharton (Wharton's ex-husband) was still living in Lenox. She left out that little detail about Wharton's class being unmerciful toward divorced women. In truth, Wharton was shut off from many parts of the old New York society simply for seeking a divorce. The guide also failed to mention the impetus for the divorce: After having affairs with women all over Europe, Teddy embezzled $50,000 from Edith (and that's in 1910 money!) in order to set up his mistress in a swanky Parisian townhouse. When he confessed, that was the final straw for Edith. Although he did pay her back eventually, the humiliation and betrayal was too much. Why the guide left this out is beyond me--unless she just didn't know what she was talking about.
There were so many glaring errors and so much misleading information, but it would take me several blog posts to enumerate them all. Suffice it to say, I was extremely disappointed in the tour.
The house is utterly gorgeous, though! I was here last in May of 2016; coming in the summer is glorious. Just look at these grounds:
When I was last here, they had only planted some tulips in the fountain garden. Look at all of those flowers! It was utterly beautiful.
The interior of the house is beautiful, too, although I took far fewer pictures of the inside. Back in 2016, I took so many pictures that my camera died! I have enough between the two visits to relive this trip (ahem--the GOOD parts) for a long time to come. Here are a few shots of the inside:
So beautiful!
I stayed at The Mount until about 4:00, when I returned to my hotel room to prepare for the second great event of the day: the Hilary Hahn concert!
I started playing violin when I was 10 years old, and I will always remember my dad's enthusiasm. He came home from work that day at the end of fourth grade when I decided to play violin (a departure in my family, since everyone did marching band), and brought me a gift of two CD's: Isaac Stern's performance of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto in D major and Mendelssohn's violin concerto in E minor (one of my favorites); and Sarah Chang's debut album. I'm about to cry writing this, but I remember most affectionately how my dad sat down with me, giving me the CD's, and telling me how proud he was that I chose violin, and that playing violin was something I could do for the rest of my life. Today, when I go to rehearsal for the Lake Murray Symphony Orchestra back home, I think back to that conversation.
I've been a Hilary Hahn fan for quite some time. I've had her second album, from 2000, since, well, 2000! The church music director, Frank, when I was growing up, gave me that album (I was 15). He said, "Laura, she's a young girl like you and playing the violin. You should look into her."
Well, ya'll, I got to tell Hilary that story last night!
She performed at the Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood. The concert began at 8:00 pm, but the grounds opened at 6:30. I was there at 6:25.
Look at how beautiful the grounds are! This place is the only one that rivals Scotland for being the most beautiful place I've ever been.
The concert hall itself was gorgeous as well. Might I add, I was seated on the FRONT ROW of the balcony overlooking the stage. Unfortunately, we were prohibited from taking pictures during the performance, but these shots should give you an idea of how well I could see her:
It was a packed house, for sure! And the concert was magnificent. I sat with my mouth open for most of the time. I doubt I'll ever have the opportunity to see such a true master of her art up close like that. Here is the program:
The Sonata in A minor was beautiful and probably my favorite; it's hard to choose, though, given she was spectacular each time. The Grave movement in the first sonata was so beautiful it made me cry. She stopped after the second movement, though, ending it with her bow in the air as she does when she's reached the end of a piece. Everyone clapped, a little confused, then she got the audience quiet enough to say, with her hands cupped around her mouth, "I'm having a makeup issue. I'll be right back." She ran to the back stage, and everyone clapped.
As a woman, I am floored she was able to play so faultlessly and beautifully...with makeup in her eyes! To put it in perspective, here is a clip of that movement from her CD:
She didn't even squint! Instead, she played with just as much passion and precision as she gave to the rest of her performance. She's not just a master of the violin; she's a frickin' bad ass.
The rest of the concert was majestic. The stars came out, so all of us got to watch this lovely, talented woman play solo Bach as the sun went down--no orchestra, no accompanist. Just Hilary, her violin, and Bach.
She had a standing ovation--and I don't think the Tanglewood crowd does that for everyone. And she earned it. I usually dislike standing ovations, but this was one of the only times in my life in which I stood because I wanted to, not because of pressure from everyone around me. She had several curtain calls, then came out and played an encore. The only bad thing about the concert, truly, was that it had to end.
I sat next to two lovely women. One lady was probably in her 50's, and she brought her first violin teacher with her! They were so sweet and were just as amazed as I about Hilary's persevering through the makeup snafu--to say nothing of being overwhelmed by her talent.
When the concert ended, I stood in line to meet her, and it was worth it! I stood next to a couple who had retired recently and enjoyed going to as much cultural stuff as possible. The man told me he had every one of Hilary's CD's. They were from a town in Massachusetts I can't remember the name of, and they said they like to spend three weeks each summer in Hilton Head. They were lovely--and they even drove me back to my hotel so I wouldn't have to worry about Uber! So kind!
We were at the tail end of the line, but it only took about 40 minutes for us to go through. Hilary sat at a table wearing a chic sparkly black cloak as she signed CD's. She said she didn't do pictures, and I completely understood. She looked exhausted.
Nevertheless, I talked to her for a moment; she was lovely and warm. When I told her the story about the CD, she said, "You've had it all this time? Wow!" I shook her hand and told her that it had been an honor to hear her play and that I loved the concert. She thanked me graciously, then it was the next person's turn.
I will keep this forever:
Whew! That was a long post! Truly, though, yesterday felt like three days in one, and talk about extreme emotions all day. Good God!
I do think yesterday serves as a strong reminder that good things come out of bad things, and that, as long as you have a loving family, you have all the riches in the world.
I planned this trip as a way to cheer myself up over my dad's death, and despite the debit card debacle, this trip has been most rewarding. I look forward to seeing what the day brings!
Peace,
Laura
