There is usually something unsatisfactory about productions of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. The story is just plain weird: a ditsy, tiny young woman is found on the banks of a pond in the forest by a “giant” man. The next thing you know they are married, living in his ancestral castle presided over by his grandfather, the bride rapidly falls in love with her husband’s younger … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2017
Dick Smith: Fly a Kite, Make Art History
At Flowers Gallery, 21 Cork Street in London until 15 July is a stunning show, Work of Five Decades, of “paintings” by an old friend, Richard Smith (1931-2016). The scare quotes are there to note that several of the works have sculptural qualities and ambitions. Some are mobiles, and some extend and stretch the canvas in ways that make the picture plane three dimensional – a practice … [Read more...]
Tristan and Isolde: Perfection in a Former Hen House
Here we are, in an enormous converted hen-house, sitting in plush red velvet seats. They are a tiny bit too small for 21st century bums, and they are numbered with gold-coloured tabs – a dead giveaway that they have been salvaged from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The man in the pit, Anthony Negus, is the UK’s most eminent Wagnerian. We are about to witness a performance of … [Read more...]
Sublime: Country House Opera in Real Time
photo by Mark Douet Our more or less local country house summer opera season has started with a pair of pieces at Garsington Opera at the gorgeous Getty estate, Wormsley. There’s something magic about the location, with its long, long drive to the ever more comfortable “temporary” auditorium, and the view from it over the landscaped pond. This is an area we know well. Here Paul Getty tried, and … [Read more...]
Remembering Jaime Parladé, the Marquess who Made Marbella Chic
Reading the news I learned that our former MP and PM, David Cameron, and his wife, Sam, had been holidaying at one of the resorts designed by Jaime Parladé. And that reminded me that the obituary of him I wrote for one of the British national newspapers, the Telegraph, was never published. I knew Jaime slightly, and liked him, and it is sad that this fascinating man's life has not been remembered … [Read more...]