I am on my laptop. Kitten is playing hunt-the-fly. Better him than me.

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/330220.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

419. Benjamin Britten to Peter Pears

...It is such heaven to hear your voice, even over the telephone. But doesn't it seem ages since last Sunday!--and now we still have to wait until Friday. Still, it's not so bad; think of all the other married couples who are separated for everso much longer!!...

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/329934.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Somewhat thought-provoking post from 538 about Protestants, Catholics and Jews on the Supreme Court. Religious census type things always interest me.

As the title of the post suggests, there has never been anyone Greek Orthodox or any other kind of Orthodox on the court. Not surprising given that the denomination represents something like 0.6% of the American population but the lowness of that number always surprises me in itself.

Some debate in comments about whether Episcopalians/Anglicans count as Protestants. In this context I don't think there's any doubt that they do, but...

Viewing religious adherence through the lens of Protestant-Catholic-Jew seems very 1950s America. (Indeed that's when the book of the same title was published.) Unfortunately it's hard to find another simplified schema that works better. One could, I suppose, make a case in an American context for Christian-non Christian-non believer, but it would obviously obscure the original topic of the post.

Hmmmm.

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/328208.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Every once in a while you get less than you paid for, and realize that you would actually have got better value for money if you paid more. Such was my life lesson yesterday.

I arrived in London at around 11.30 and did my usual stroll across Mayfair and Soho, stopping en route for shopping on Regent Street. Arrived in Soho Square just as the bells of St Patrick's were ringing for mid-day Mass, as was my intention. To some extent I confess that this visit was motivated by fiction-writing research purposes but my church-visiting keenness is independent of that. It is interesting to think of all the parishes at worship while the life of London swirls around them and most of the passerby hardly even notice.

Next came the main purpose of my visit, a trip to see Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. There was such an air of excitement around the theatre as I approached half an hour early. Tour buses pulling up and all the pavements thronged with people eagerly getting out their tickets. It's such a big place--holding over three thousand people--that getting everyone into the theatre in time seems to present the same logistical challenges as loading a Boeing 747. This is particularly true if you're seated in the Balcony, which is up umpteen flights of stairs and was, for the Wednesday matinee, filled with school groups.

I paid £20 for quite possibly the worst seat in the house. Serves me right for booking at the last minute. I was in the second row of the balcony on the far right side, which meant that my view was obstructed by 1) the corner of the balcony itself, 2) the railing at the corner which is there to guard against people tripping as they come down the stairs and 3) the person in front of me. The edge of the balcony is high enough even without the railing so the natural tendency of people in the front row is to lean forward in order to get a better view. In this case they were children from the school group so they leaned even more than usual. In some cases while resting their arms on the railing. I kept tapping the shoulder of the girl in front of me and asking her to move back or at the least to keep her hands down, but only to limited success. It was not easy to lose myself in the grandeur of the storyline while I could only see two-thirds of the stage at any given time.

So based on the parts that I could see and hear...

The staging was fantastic. The sets had depth and colour and atmosphere and there was always something moving and changing in ways that I wasn't expecting. They gave a tremendous impression of Victorian London and I'm sure there were many details that I missed. Even the skies were lovely.

One thing I had failed to realize fully before I went was that the parts of both Oliver and Nancy were cast via the BBC reality show I'd Do Anything. So the audience were very familiar with both actors, not to mention with Rowan Atkinson as Fagin. Their levels of enthusiasm were commensurate, which was refreshing. It made the experience really feel like An Event although I know that more hardened theatregoers than myself have complained about the presence of People Who Don't Usually Go To The Theatre. Which includes me I suppose, so I shouldn't talk.

Some of the reviews that I've seen were down on Jodie Prenger as Nancy but I thought she was really excellent. I enjoyed her interpretation more than the versions in either the London or New York original cast recordings. It's a shame that we never got to hear Alma Cogan in the role, which was written for her.

And Rowan Atkinson as Fagin... was Rowan Atkinson. Which was exactly what the audience wanted to see and he played up to them with gusto. His singing voice is, as I expected, not all that great but he covered for himself well. Sadly he couldn't compare with the original Fagin, Ron Moody, who inhabited the role from the very beginning. For me, Atkinson's version, while show-stealing, was lacking in Faginesque qualities. It was as if he was partly playing himself and partly (given the profusion of camp innuendos) perhaps playing Lionel Bart. Fagin's Jewishness was very much played down... possibly a good thing given the chequered history of the story, but it meant that "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two" lacked some of the verve of the Moody version.

On the whole... Lionel Bart masterpiece, great staging, enthusiastic audience, blah blah, how could anyone fail to enjoy it? Well, part of me would like to return to see the new Fagin and maybe even--gasp--pay for better seats.

After the show I met up with aedh and aster_dw for dinner in Chinatown. From there aedh and I went to Foyle's and had just got our browsing together when we were turfed out by their 9pm closing. We ended the evening sitting outside Costa Coffee on Old Compton Street and thus in some small part taking part in the nightlife. I walked back to Marble Arch after that because... I don't know why. I guess I wanted to see London at night but it meant that, after seeing Cowley Road at night, I didn't get to bed until after 1am. I just had time to think wow, I'm falling asleep very quickly before I fell asleep.

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/328177.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

In case you're following my Flickr account and wondering what's up... I've been uploading some of my best older photos, just so as to have them all collected in one place. So that explains the sudden appearance of Italy, New England and Liverpool as subjects.

Here are some of my more recent Oxford-and-environs photos:



( Read more... )

Alan Bennett has written a play about Britten's friendship with WH Auden.

Some historical background here.

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/327506.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

aedh and I have a recurring conversation about realism in fantasy and realism generally. Some food for thought from M. John Harrison in what it might be like to live in viriconium:

the moment you begin to ask (or rather to answer) questions like, “Yes, but what did Sauron look like?”; or, “Just how might an Orc regiment organise itself?”; the moment you concern yourself with the economic geography of pseudo-feudal societies, with the real way to use swords, with the politics of courts, you have diluted the poetic power of Tolkien’s images. You have brought them under control. You have tamed, colonised and put your own cultural mark on them.

My own instinct is always towards greater realism but it's good to be reminded that there's a time and a place.

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/326633.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Chili and garlic chips from the Red Star Noodle Bar: fusion cuisine for the masses?

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/326359.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Just booked tickets to go and see Oliver! on the 15th. Rowan Atkinson is ending his run as Fagin on the 18th (I think) and there weren't all that many seats left, or at least available online. So I'm pleased that I got around to it before it was too late.

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/326036.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Just back from a concert round the corner at the Regal, formerly cinema and bingo hall and now usually given over to hosting cut-rate club nights. This evening, or possibly late afternoon, it played host to the East Oxford Orchestra. It's an interesting venue, with a teeny low stage that just about fit the percussion and half of the brass, leaving the rest of the orchestra on the floor of the hall, their folding chairs blended into the folding chairs that were meant for the audience. At the back of the hall there was a bar (open), and at the sides there were low couches and little tables, as you would expect at the edges of a dance floor. I perched myself at one of the latter with a gin and tonic in hand (why not?) and prepared to enjoy the show.

Opening for the orchestra was the Cheney Ukulele Orchestra and choir. All I can say is that you haven't lived until you've heard Sandy Thom's "I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker" performed by children and ukuleles as an opener to a classical concert. Really. I was charmed to note that one of the girls was playing a violin instead of a ukulele.

Jacqueline Johnson was the soloist for the evening, playing the Lalo cello concerto. Very good. I've never played it but I found myself getting very wrapped up in the music. Until at one point the baton did a backflip out of the conductor's hand and rolled under a chair... then I admit I snickered into my own hand until the end of the movement while the conductor did without. Even this was not enough to dampen the overall effect, which was impressive.

After the interval we had Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, which is a piece for soprano and eight cellos. Count them. When I was a teenager I did this with a group at my music school. We had to do a lot of cello choir pieces because we had an overabundance of talented cellists and not very many violinists. Anyway. It's a beautiful, lush piece with gorgeous chords. The first movement was excellent. The second movement, the cellos launched into it like a shot and the singer (sadly I didn't get her name) was, I felt, hard pressed to keep up. She kept shooting these looks at the section leader along the lines of dear god, what are you doing, slow down. It was a bit ragged all the way through to the end--and her voice gave out on a few notes--but still very pleasant to listen to.

Finally the 1812 Overture which you really can't not like. (Sadly I've only played the PDQ Bach parody, which is entertaining in its own way.) It was good rousing fun and I watched as the numerous small children in the audience, who until then had been fidgeting and occasionally being carried out by their parents, were stunned into appreciative silence. Go Tchaikovsky.

On the whole not perfect, but the soloists were very good and the orchestra was credible. It was an enjoyable, intimate, local and affordable concert and I'm glad that I went.

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/325666.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Still pondering classical music... and I have the sneaking suspicion that I'm about to sound like a music snob despite the fact that really all I know about it is how to play the cello part. So don't say I didn't warn you.

Just discovered that the Yo-Yo Ma/Itzhak Perlman/et al performance at Obama's inauguration was pre-recorded rather than played live. In a sense I'm not surprised. My mother and I were wondering how they were able to deal with the cold. Still... what's the point? I mean, really? It sounds as if they might have been planning to do it live if the weather was better but it still seems peculiar.

I also found an interesting post on the common perception of classical music as "soothing" and "relaxing." There's a lot of discussion in the comments about how listeners get the idea of classical as essentially high-class background music and how they can be moved past the "Classical Relaxation" compilation album level of music appreciation. Honestly I'm not a particularly well-informed listener myself, and as a performer I didn't pick most of what I played. Maybe it's my own tastes that I'm working on developing, though I do at least have a clue what I like. And I don't find it relaxing at all!

Am I the only one who boggles at the utter predictability of the City of Oxford Orchestra programmes? I've always noticed this when I come across their posters around town. Their next concert includes Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Pachelbel's Canon. The one after that has Handel's Water Music in pride of place. Nothing wrong with any of these pieces; I'm sure I'd enjoy hearing them played, with the possible exception of the Pachelbel. It's good that the orchestra exists, given that there are several other orchestras in Oxford with significantly more adventurous programming.

Later this afternoon I'm going to the Regal to hear the East Oxford Orchestra perform. Small and local, but I bet they're not too bad. Most interested in hearing Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, which I once performed in. They're also doing the Lalo cello concerto and the 1812 Overture.

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/325623.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Listening to Britten's first cello suite (YouTube link). Oh my, oh my.

(Thank you, oddcellist!)

Really remarkable pieces, some of which exploit the potential of the instrument in a way that I've never heard before. Sure, I knew that you could get those sounds out of the cello but not that you could do anything so substantive with them. Britten wrote a surprising number of pieces for cello. If he'd fallen in love with a cellist we might not have gotten anything else.

If only I had gotten to do more modern music as a teenager I would have been far happier. My favorite piece I ever played was the first movement (YouTube link) of Martinu's first cello sonata. Loved it dearly and still do. The recording to which I've linked is not particularly good (I'd like to think I played it better than that, who knows), but you get the idea.

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/324825.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Just sitting here waiting for the weather to break. Further bulletins as events warrant.

In the mean time, if there's one Star Trek fic that you ought to read, it's The First Time by bravecows. I'm getting this rec secondhand from thefourthvine, but it's just so good that I don't care. It's a story that expands the Star Trek universe... in a way that ought to have been done a long time ago. And I am filing it mentally in my Novels (And Short Stories) I Think Are Canon category, right alongside all the Diane Duane. (Even if I may only want to accept that it's canon in the AOS universe.)

(Incidentally bravecows is a wonderful writer and I highly recommend her original fic too.)

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/324459.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

To the GA for silverdragon's post-viva celebration, taking many pictures en route. elleblue and I happily compared my recent efforts with hers, and then did our usual thing of taking pictures of the same thing to see how they came out. So don't blame us if her POTD and mine end up looking somewhat similar.

They always have really good background music at the GA. I think I'm more sensitive to such things than some people because I'm forever cocking my head to one side and then saying quizzically, when someone asks me what's up, something along the lines of "I think this is a cover..."

Tonight at one point I may have burst into song with "before I die I have one final dream, for my own life I don't care anything." If I didn't, I should have. And I didn't even think I liked that song much!

As usual I was composing this post while sitting there. I took a certain pleasure in thinking inscrutably to myself, "people won't know what I'm thinking now until later this evening."

This entry was originally posted at http://naraht.dreamwidth.org/324117.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

So I've been reading up on Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, thus just about achieving six degrees of separation from Beatles fandom. (If not quite.) Britten was one of the most renowned English composers of the twentieth century, and Pears one of the most renowned tenors, and previously I knew nothing whatsoever about them save Britten's name. A gap which I have now managed to fill. Interesting story.

They met in 1937 and together left for America on the verge of the outbreak of World War II. It was in America that their relationship began. They were both conscientious objectors (like John Pritchard and like Michael Tippett, another renowned contemporary composer), but didn't gain the status officially until they returned to the UK in 1942. While in America Britten stayed for a while with WH Auden (with whom he had collaborated on the film version of Night Mail), although apparently Britten and Pears were rather straightlaced and found the Auden household too bohemian for their tastes.

Britten, Aaron Copeland and Pears in America:


( Read more... )