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Paul Levy measures the Angles

How Brilliant Are My Friends, After All?

November 27, 2019 by Paul Levy Leave a Comment

A scene from My Brilliant Friend Part 1, image by Marc Brenner As I’ve relished all four volumes of the identity-mysterious Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, I was more than willing to sit through the four/five hour double-bill of the National Theatre’s production of My Brilliant Friend Parts One and Two – and today I’ve got the sore bum to prove I finished the drama marathon. I love … [Read more...]

La guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu, Or did it ever do anyway?

November 22, 2019 by Paul Levy Leave a Comment

Jean Giraudoux’ 1935 play’s title in English claims “The Trojan War Will Not Take Place,” but his tragedy’s use of the future tense is actually a denial of Cassandra’s prophecy – in the face of all the evidence that an even worse war was to begin shortly. For the sharp-witted French playwright the Homeric/Virgilian parallels were with the foibles, follies and bad faith of the intellectuals and … [Read more...]

Not Such A Little List

November 3, 2019 by Paul Levy 1 Comment

ENO revives Jonathan Miller's 1986 Mikado Sir John Tomlinson as the Mikado photo by Genivieve Girling Despite some newsworthy casting, there don’t seem to have been many reviews of the current revival of Sir Jonathan Miller’s bankable production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado at the English National Opera. Which is a little odd, because the title part of the emperor of Japan is … [Read more...]

Come to the cabaret aux Crazy Coqs

October 25, 2019 by Paul Levy 1 Comment

Anita Gillette photograph: Brasserie Zédel How often do we go to cabaret or a jazz club in London? In truth, not often, as the schlepp is the same as going to the theatre or opera. But I’ve been twice in the last year, to catch an autobiographical musical gig by the veteran movie, tv and stage star, Anita Gillette. The first occasion was her Irving Berlin tribute, and the second was called … [Read more...]

Mommie Dearest

September 28, 2019 by Paul Levy Leave a Comment

Agrippina, Royal Opera House Joyce DiDonato as Agrippina and Franco Fagioli as Nerone - (C) ROH 2019. Photo by Bill Cooper By Paul Levy Among my regrets is that I am old enough to have seen and heard Maria Callas perform at Covent Garden, but young enough at the time to feel I could not afford the tickets. It goes some way to make up for this lapse that I have … [Read more...]

Iris would have been 100 last month

August 12, 2019 by Paul Levy 1 Comment

Photograph of John Bayley and Iris Murdoch by Derry Moore, 29 September 1992 It’s difficult to remember when I first met Iris and John – in my experience, they were inseparable. I am certain we met in the late summer of 1968 at the Oxford house in Charlbury Road of Lord and Lady David Cecil– though it’s just possible that we had met earlier, in 1963, with a gaggle of Oxford philosophers at a … [Read more...]

30th anniversary treats at Garsington Opera

July 29, 2019 by Paul Levy Leave a Comment

We opera lovers are blessed by having two world-class rural opera companies in easy driving distance of Oxford and the Cotswolds. I’ve missed Longborough this year, and the first instalment of the new Ring cycle they are creating, but hope to catch up, if I’m spared, in 2020.          Thanks to the thoughtful and kind efforts of Clare Adams, the outgoing … [Read more...]

Hot Nights at the Barbican

July 1, 2019 by Paul Levy Leave a Comment

The hottest tickets in London last Saturday coincided with the hottest day in London for at least forty years. Both events were at the Barbican Arts Centre, which now has some claims to being one of the world’s best and most lively arts venues.  Despite the spectacular traffic, the  near-impossibility of navigating that area of London to find the sole entrance to the vast Barbican car … [Read more...]

Let’s Twist Again: partying with the Don and the Donald

June 10, 2019 by Paul Levy 1 Comment

The first two new productions in Garsington Opera’s 30th anniversary season both feature wild parties with lots of on-stage dancing. Smetana’s The Bartered Bride somehow combines1950s dancing, from the era when partners gestured at each other separately (and sexily, we innocently thought then), more often than they actually held one another, with Czech folk-dance. But it’s the title, not the … [Read more...]

Ducking Donald, The Aftermath: “NHS on the Table”

June 8, 2019 by Paul Levy 4 Comments

During his State Visit, President Trump said yesterday that, when it comes to the “phenomenal” trade deal that he wants to do with the UK, “everything is on the table.” This includes our National Health Service. My own recent experience makes me hope fervently that we will not agree to privatise or sell off any of our NHS.          I have the good luck … [Read more...]

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Paul Levy

is almost a citizen of the world, carrying the passports of the USA and the UK/EU. He wrote about the arts in general for the now-defunct Wall Street Journal Europe. [Read More]

Plain English

An Anglo-American look at what's happening here and there, where English is spoken and more or less understood -- in letters, the visual and performing arts, and, occasionally, in the kitchen or dining room. … [Read More...]

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Recent Comments

  • Frances Cornford on John Cornford, the tragedy of a faithful communist: “Dear Paul You state in your review, when mentioning James Cornford, 'that the Cornfords took him into their family and…” Nov 10, 23:17
  • MWnyc on Not Such A Little List: “I would guess that most of the newspapers have skipped covering this Mikado partly because of the production's age and…” Nov 5, 07:49
  • Anita Gillette on Come to the cabaret aux Crazy Coqs: “Merci beaucoup!” Oct 25, 19:27
  • Neva Keres on Who is the greatest living publisher of cookery books? Read on: “"What an elegant woman," was always my recollection, after meeting her when my husband Ronald Fair and I visited her…” Sep 24, 21:25
  • Paul Levy on Iris would have been 100 last month: “My memoir of Iris Murdoch originally appeared in "Iris Murdoch: A Centenary Celebration," ed. Miles Leeson, 2019” Aug 13, 11:28
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An ArtsJournal Blog

Recent Posts

  • How Brilliant Are My Friends, After All?
  • La guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu, Or did it ever do anyway?
  • Not Such A Little List
  • Come to the cabaret aux Crazy Coqs
  • Mommie Dearest

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