In Tune With June! Mourning ‘Six Feet Under’

What do Joanne Fedor, massage therapist extraordinaire, Andy Robert, my wonderful son, and I have in common? The three of us are television addicts, addicted to the death-obsessed HBO program “Six Feet Under.” Each week we discussed the previous Sunday night’s episode trying to guess what was going to happen next. Then we learned it was the last season. How would the writers say good-bye to a show that’s all about good-bye? How would they lay the funeral home to rest?

From the beginning the writing style on “Six Feet Under” has been unlike any other on television: dark, comic, Freudian, mythological, often all at once. Who would imagine that the main character, Nate, would die? And who would guess that each of the wonderful cast of characters would fall apart? The brilliant HBO writers created a show about what it is like to remain in a relationship, about what it is like to remain alive while other people die. Their answer is: You stick it out!

So-o what do we do now that “Six Feet Under” has ended? Ah-ha, a light at the end of the tunnel! We’re going on to another HBO series, aptly titled “Entourage.” Four childhood pals led by a fictional movie star deem that he is the next best thing. This series lampoons showbiz vanity. I think we’re going to enjoy its absurd humor. It’s time to laugh a little.

* * * * Have you had this experience? You go with a friend to see a film and have opposite reactions. When I saw “Junebug,” my friend thought it amateurish. He found it frustrating not to know important info about its characters. The North Carolina homestead that is visited by the main character and his new wife looks expensive. The house is beautiful, but we’re told nothing about what the father did. He’s retired, but what did he retire from? We know nothing about the professional life of the Southern golden boy who has flown the family coop to live in Chicago. All of this bothered my friend.

I, on the other hand, watched the same film, “Junebug,” and found it interesting and beautifully acted. What came to mind was that old truism, “You can’t go home again” (thank you Thomas Wolfe!).

And here’s a silly aside, I was attracted to the movie’s title. I’ve always felt grateful to my folks for picking my name. In early grade school, when the sixth month came around, I felt as if the teacher was writing my name on the blackboard. Don’t ask me why that made me feel special, but it did! In addition it does rhyme easily: moon, spoon, and, most importantly, in tune!

* * * * I’m going to confess: Every Saturday night when I’m home I enjoy listening to the “Lawrence Welk Show” on channel 21. Notice, I didn’t say “watching” the television program. It’s the music that I enjoy because the Lawrence Welk program presents the pre-rock American songbook. Happily, those songs are enjoying a new popularity. As I’m writing this I’m playing a new CD called “Moonlight Serenade” and the singer is Carly Simon (you might remember her “You’re So Vain”). Her most recent collection is all popular standards and it’s stress-free listening. I’m sick of the bratty, tough-girl shouting that stands for female pop singing today. Carly Simon’s vocals are likeable and non-athletic. Her selection of songs are not only easy listening, but they are fine for ballroom dancing. (I’m glad to note that ballroom dancing is also enjoying new popularity.) Ms. Simon looks back to the big band era and demonstrates the durability of the Kern-Berlin-Gershwin-Porter-Rodgers standards. It’s not “old people” music – it’s classic standards that endure.

A surprise recording star, a sex symbol of 70s rock, a performer I didn’t like to look at, has awakened to the soothing standards. Rod Stewart has left his rock roots and switched, and wisely so, to making albums of standards. He’s been so successful that a fourth volume is to be released soon. Stewart’s approach is relaxing and enjoyable listening. Both Carly Simon and Rod Stewart are now in their early 60s and they have recorded some of the same songs. And, guess what, the Bayonne Senior Orchestra has also added to its repertoire some of those songs including “I Only Have Eyes For You.” It’s all very hopeful.

* * * * It was a striking odd couple at the Museum of Modern Art: “Pioneering Modern Painting: Cézanne and Pissaro 1865-1885.” The show demonstrates what Paul Cézanne did, how it works and why it’s classical. Camille Pissaro, a delightful artist, is not considered in the same league. Most art critics consider Cézanne great and Pissaro just very good.

The exhibition at MoMA was organized by Joachim Pissarro, a great-grandson of Camille (pardon my familiarity). Not being an art historian, just an art appreciator, I admire and enjoy them both. They were workaholic rebels with high causes. The creative couple were both ambitious and unorthodox in the days of state-sponsored salons.

The center of the show at the Modern is a gallery of landscape paintings by each one. Paintings of woodland scenes line one wall, with alternating pictures by each artist. Two sets of eyes assert their individuality.

Both painters put idea over ego, experiment over truth. See for yourself, I don’t have a favorite. I’m just glad that MoMA has coupled this innovative odd couple. The exhibition remains through Sept. 12.

* * * * Renée Fleming sounds better and definitely looks better than most sopranos. She is beautiful and so is her voice.

I was lucky to be at Lincoln Center’s “Mostly Mozart” opening night. The dynamic French conductor, Louis Langrée, directed the festival orchestra and the program featured the starry soprano, Renée Fleming. The performance was telecast live on PBS stations as part of the series “Live From Lincoln Center.” As a result, I tuned in and was able to double my enjoyment on the following Sunday. Ms. Fleming was in exquisite voice and she was lovely to listen to and to look at in her flowing gown.

The other big news was the reconfiguration of Avery Fisher Hall. The festival has extended the stage 30 feet into the audience and added seats on the sides and behind – a sort of theater-in-the-round. It made the hall smaller and more intimate. As for the sound, I didn’t notice any negative effect – but then again I’m not a purist. The hope is that the reconfiguration will bring a revitalization to the “Mostly Mozart” festival, now in its 39th season. It’s an event I look forward to every summer.