For a lot of people, yesterday was Academy Awards Sunday: An excuse to ogle designer dresses, speculate on stars' plastic surgery and order in moo shoo pork. But for a certain sector of New Yorkers, February 23 marked a very different event -- the reopening of Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall after a 22-month renovation by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. While the fashion on display was more Eileen Fisher (well, this is the Upper West Side) than Dior, the musical performances involved nary a snatch of Mamma Mia! nor a single top hat.
The night's eclectic program, which ranged from 15th century Sephardic music to a 1999 Osvaldo Golijov piece, kept things livelier than a passel of Bollywood dancers. The crowd went wild for Leon Fleisher's performance of Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue (he's the great pianist who fell victim to a rare neurological disorder, lost the use of his left hand for four decades, and made an astonishing comeback just two years ago).We loved the soaring, glass-enclosed lobby-cum-cafe; the auditorium's terrific acoustics, the firm yet comfy seats and the LED-illuminated wood "skin" inside the hall that imparts a rosy glow.
In short, it made us proud to be New Yorkers. And we were even home in time to see Barbara Walters try to out Hugh Jackman.
See our fashion editors' favorite Oscar looks HERE
Photos by Richard Termine, courtesy of Lincoln Center
