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Art and Culture at Yale
January/February 2004
by Ronald P. Schwarz '73

Ronald P. Schwarz was the captain of the Davenport Press bladderball team. He practices gastroenterology in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Need an excuse to visit offspring at Yale? Crave a jolt of culture? Eager to see a rejuvenated Yale campus and experience the spiffy restaurant and shopping scene of revitalized New Haven? These were motivations enough for my wife and me to venture last October on “Art and Culture at Yale,” a Yale Educational Travel program. The Yale community offers a cornucopia of cultural events; the program offers entree to the best of the best, and greatly enriches the experience with discussions by faculty.

A small, congenial group convened at the Omni Hotel on College Street on a Wednesday afternoon, and walked through a beautiful New England autumn day to Sprague Hall. Renovated, as is so much of the campus, Sprague is now high-tech but still cozy, and boasts acoustics as good as or better than before. We sat in on an operatic master class given by Doris Yarick Cross, the head of the graduate opera program, and a soprano and baritone practically blew us off the stage with their astounding voices. Cocktails at Calhoun followed, and a chat with both professor and students.

If your memories of New Haven cuisine consist of Pepe’s and the Old Heidelberg, you cannot imagine the breadth and excellence of the restaurant scene today. Wednesday evening we ate at the Union League Cafe, across the street from Vanderbilt. A Zagat food rating of 27—well deserved, and enough said.

Thursday morning, Professor Greg Dubinsky led us through an analysis of Shostakovitch’s First Symphony, the feature work of Friday’s Yale Philharmonia concert. Even my tone-deaf ears benefited from the instruction. Lunch followed at Zinc, another gem of the Chapel Street scene. During the meal Mark Bly '80 MFA, the dramaturg of the Yale Repertory Theatre, regaled us with behind-the scenes insights into the rehearsal process for that night’s performance: The Black Dahlia, an adaptation of the James Ellroy novel.

But before the play I took my son Jonathan, a Davenport sophomore, to my old watering hole—Rudy's. Even Rudy’s has been upgraded and expanded. The infamous mural is gone, and half a dozen imported beers are available on tap.

On Friday, Professor Alan Plattus gave a slide show on the history of the campus (did you know that a 1919 master plan called for tearing down Durfee to create a central axis?). He then led us on a tour by foot and bus. We marveled at 102 Linsly Chittenden—now a showpiece of stained glass and Victorian decoration—visited buildings both old and new, and ended at the splendid Betts House, a grand doyen of Prospect Street.

Two of the evenings were open for dinner on one’s own, but Friday featured another group meal, this time a tasting menu at Ibiza, a spectacularly good Spanish restaurant. The Yale Philharmonia performed an all-Russian program that evening as part of Yale’s celebration of St. Petersburg’s tercentennial. (I usually sleep through concerts, but had enough invested in this one from the prior day’s lecture to pay attention throughout.)

Saturday brought a demonstration of Dwight Chapel’s organ by University Organist Thomas Murray—a perk that made us feel like vips. During lunch at Mory’s, we were entertained by Harlow Robinson '72, a musicologist who was on campus to participate in the Yale Russian Chorus’s 50th-anniversary gala concert that night.

A leisurely brunch and good-byes were the only agenda for Sunday. As full as the four days were, they never seemed rushed. The aya paid constant attention to our needs, and the program was superbly organized. We plan to return yearly—maybe our son will go to grad school at Yale!

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