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?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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”
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...]