Les Nations: Couperin the Internationalist, Musica ad Rhenum, St John’s Smith Square, 20 May 2012

What better way to enjoy spring in London than a day at the Lord’s test on the Friday…

England v West Indies, 1st Test, Day Two, Lord’s, 18 May 2012

…then following the test match for the rest of the weekend, then rounding off the weekend with some early music at SJSS?

That was a rhetorical question, people. There is NO better way.

We went to see Musica ad Rhenum under Jed Wentz. I always worry about people named Jed, because I am so regularly having my pseudonym, Ged, mis-spelt as Jed. My life would be easier if these J-people chose not to abbreviate their names to Jed. I don’t think I am asking too much there.

But I digress.

The music was mostly Couperin – see extract from the programme below.

It was part of the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music that year – we just chose the one concert. It was one delightful concert too.

Yes, Janie and I did have a giggle at one of the pieces being named “La toilette de Venus”. Yes we can both be very childish.

For some reason, Jed Wentz and Musica ad Rhenum have put an enormous amount of their Couperin instrumental music into the public domain, so you can listen here:

The closest I can get to a sample of the lovely soprano, Andréanne Paquin, is the following choir piece, which includes her, singing Charpentier/Lully – not a million miles from Couperin:

Anyway, the above is a really lovely short vid. If you don’t like it, you can metaphorically flush it down La Metaphorical Toilette de Venus by not playing it.

England v West Indies, 1st Test, Day Two, Lord’s, 18 May 2012

Our little group for this day of test cricket comprised Charles “Charley The Gent Malloy” Bartlett, Mac Small (who used to look after our cars, Noddy & Nobby, at Ruislip Honda), me and Daisy.

Daisy and I both recall that I was on picnic duty that day, so I no doubt did the smoked salmon bagels thing, plus probably some ham and cheese rolls or something of that ilk.

Everyone brought their wine/beer ration which made for a jolly day in the spring sunshine. Not “o-t ‘ot” but certainly “very very warm for May”. We were either in the Upper Compton or the Upper Edrich – I cannot remember which. Good seats, I do remember.

Here is a link to the scorecard.

Mac hails originally from Barbados. Charley seemed convinced that Mac must be related to the great Gladstone Small. Indeed Chas failed to hide his extreme disappointment when Mac informed him, rather emphatically, that he and Gladstone were not related. Mac and Chas spoke little after that.

In truth, Mac is a fairly quiet chap and seemed to be enjoying his day at Lord’s in a rather Zen style, while Chas and I chatted incessantly about cricket, as usual. Daisy drifted between a quiet state and joining in the conversation.

England were doing rather well, it has to be said. We saw Andrew Strauss score a ton, which was always a bonus for us, especially for Daisy, who single-handedly revived Straussy’s career with a pep talk back in 2008 – a matter to be Ogblogged in the fullness of time.

We vaguely recall that Mac left a little earlier than the rest of us, but not very early. Daisy and I are pretty sure Mac enjoyed his day, as afterwards he often referred to it, in only positive tones.

Here is a vid with some match analysis:

Detroit by Lisa D’Amour, Cottesloe Theatre, 12 May 2012

I remember we were really looking forward to this play/production.

Transfers from the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in the US are usually top notch, as are Cottesloe productions.

In many ways this was top notch; a well written, well-acted, well-directed piece about suburban America. It just didn’t really light up.

Perhaps we had been spoilt too recently by Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park – another mid-west suburban play…

Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, Royal Court Theatre, 4 September 2010

…or the harder-hitting Neil LaBute’s we’d been enjoying the last few years.

We enjoyed our evening but had been (perhaps unfairly) half-expecting to be wowed, which we were not.

Mixed reviews from the critics – click here for a link.

Below is the RNT trailer – not very revealing…

…this Steppenwolf vid explains more:

Big And Small (Gross Und Klein) by Botho Strauss, Barbican Theatre, 28 April 2012

We were really looking forward to this piece but found it disappointing.

It felt to us like a rather inconsequential, silly piece trying to be profound.

Cate Blanchett has never really done the business for me on stage. Strangely, with this piece, my feelings about her undoubted abilities as an actress were enhanced but it would have been a struggle for anyone to wring much out of this play.

Here is a link to a trailer vid from the Sydney Theatre production (presumably filmed before it came to the Barbican).

Here is an interview with Cate Blanchett from this tour:

Cate Blanchett and Benedict Andrews talk a good game.

Mixed reviews – for a link to a search term, click here.

Musical revolutions: Dawn Of The Cantata, Academy Of Ancient Music, Wigmore Hall, 26 April 2012

I got more out of this concert than Janie did, for reasons the following text and vids partially explain.

I have recently written about the dawning of my interest in early music, dating it in 1987 when I “found” the Hilliard Ensemble, Josquin, Byrd and others on the radio – click here or below:

The Day That Early Music Found Me, 31 October 1987

But actually I was brought up with some early Baroque madrigals ringing in my ears – a reel-to-reel recording, made by my father, from the radio, of Monteverdi’s Madrigals of Love and War.

The extraordinary BBC genome Project allows me to find the concert in question so easily it is almost embarrassingly easy – it was broadcast on 4 June 1974 at 21:50 – click here. I wouldn’t have heard the recording on that day – clearly, but dad probably played it to me pretty soon afterwards and I remember listening to it a lot that summer. The concert had originally taken place in October 1973 – a few weeks after I started secondary school.

But I digress…

…except to say that I had never heard any Madrigals of Love and War live and was keen to hear some – hence my particular desire to book this concert.

Thursday evening is not (and in those days certainly was not) Janie’s favourite night to go to a concert. Nor is Monteverdi one of her favourites.

This concert conformed Janie’s view that Monteverdi is not really for her. All too noisy and the male singing is a bit shouty, she claims. I sort-of know what she means, without agreeing with the conclusion.

Janie did enjoy some of the instrumental music, though…

…here is a vid of some other folk playing the opening number we heard that evening – Falconieri’s lovely Ciaconna in G major:

…and Janie did enjoy seeing some of her favourite early music folk, such as Reiko Ichise on the viola da gamba and Janie’s pal, William Carter, on the theorbo.

Here is a vid with a good extract of John Elliot Gardiner and his Monteverdi mob being (in Janie’s terms) noisy and shouty:

…and here is a vid of the Academy of Ancient Music rehearsing L’Orfeo…

…and here is a YouTube in a rock video stylee of the soprano, Anna Prohaska, singing some Monteverdi on her own album…

…don’t ask me to explain the imagery in the above vid – I couldn’t even begin.

Black T-Shirt Collection by Inua Ellams, Cottesloe Theatre, 14 April 2012

I recall Janie and I both really enjoying this short, unusual, imaginative piece, written and performed by Inua Ellams.

I think it pleased us more than it pleased many of the critics, many of whom found the piece lightweight compared with its big themes of globalisation, the fashion industry and anti-gay prejudice in Africa.

Here is a search term that finds the reviews and stuff. 

Below is a link to the trailer:

We found the piece entertaining and thought-provoking. That was enough for us.

Filumena by Eduardo De Filippo, Almeida Theatre, 7 April 2012

I seem to recall that this piece charmed me more than it did Daisy. Eduardo De Filippo is never going to be her type of playwright, even when Tanya Ronder writes a spicy version of this uber-Neapolitan play.

Here is a link to the Almeida resource on this one.

A fine production. Samantha Spiro was excellent as the eponymous lead, along with a good supporting cast.

Below is the trailer:

Also an interesting interview with Michael Attenborough about the play:

…but ultimately the play could only achieve so much – I think most of the critics, like Janie, were underwhelmed by the play but they also – like me – found the production charming and worthwhile – click here for a search term to find the reviews.

 

 

Play House And Definitely the Bahamas by Martin Crimp, Orange Tree Theatre, 31 March 2012

A double bill of Martin Crimp plays, the first brand new, the second an older one.

Part of the Orange Tree’s 40th anniversary celebrations and a nod to one of its bigger achievements; championing Martin Crimp’s work in the early days.

Here is a link to the Orange Tree resource on this double bill.

I recall us liking the first, more recent play more than we liked the older play on this evening.

They were very different and we were pleased to have seen both.

We’re not normally wild about writers directing their own work, but Crimp did a good job with these pieces.

The reviews were good too – click here for a link to them.

David Hockney: A Bigger Picture, Royal Academy, 30 March 2012

Janie and I absolutely loved this exhibition of Hockney’s big landscape works.

It was the day after Uncle Michael’s funeral. We had booked a Friday late slot for this exhibition many weeks before. The exhibition was colourful relief after a sad day.

Here is a link to the exhibition’s resource on-line.

Janie loved it all so much she bought the book and we went off to Yorkshire in search of Hockney’s Wolds the following spring…to be Ogblogged when I get to it.

Hockney says you cannot photograph those Wolds and in a way he is right, but still I did have a go when we visited in 2013:

Below is a video in which curator Marco Livingstone explains the exhibition:

In short, we really loved this exhibition at the Royal Academy.

Eulogy At Uncle Michael’s Funeral, 29 March 2012

Michael “wheeling out” my mum, Brighton, many, many years ago

I have explained the background to my being asked to write and deliver Uncle Michael’s eulogy in my piece describing the preceding evening – click here or below:

A Concert With Cousins Angela & John, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall, 28 March 2012

I have scanned my hand-written cards which contain the entirety of the eulogy, including the crossed out bits that were edited out in the interests of flow and sticking to time. I hope interested folk can read my writing. If not, any half-useful Large Language Model worth its salt should be able to take the images and turn them into clear font text for you to read…well, in any case, you can enlarge the images yourself to scrutinise any bits that look interesting yet hard to read.