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Paul Levy measures the Angles

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 seen … [Read more...]

Iris would have been 100 last month

August 12, 2019 by Paul Levy 1 Comment

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 party at Edith Grove, World’s End, in Chelsea. David and Rachel Cecil considered … [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...]

Chancing upon the Aurora Borealis

April 30, 2019 by Paul Levy Leave a Comment

Are you green with envy at James Lasdun’s long account of chasing and experiencing  the Northern Lights in Norway and Finland in the 29 April 2019 New Yorker?  I could certainly have done with the commission –thirty-five years ago. But I have to allow that it was purely by chance that I saw the Aurora Borealis on the 23rd  or 24th of June 1984. I might even then have been a bit … [Read more...]

John Cornford, the tragedy of a faithful communist

April 15, 2019 by Paul Levy 5 Comments

Understand the Weapon, Understand the Wound: Collected Writings Edited by Jonathan Galassi Fyfield Books, Carcanet, 238pp., $14.99 The Spanish parliament voted in September 2018 to exhume the remains of Francisco Franco, and to remove the remains of the fascist dictator from the site of the giant mausoleum at the Valley of the Fallen, near Madrid, which also contains the bodies of tens of … [Read more...]

Close Cousins to Sculpture? Stephen Buckley’s Work Needs All Three Dimensions

January 10, 2019 by Paul Levy Leave a Comment

   A couple of the essays in the gorgeous book (published by Neuendorf) that accompanies Close Cousins, an exhibition of Stephen Buckley paintings at the smart Mayor Gallery (Cork Street, London, until 8 February), make the point that Buckley is not a household name. Well, he is in our household, where we have whole walls of works on paper by the painter, who now lives in St … [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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  • Laura Hughes on Remembering Jaime Parladé, the Marquess who Made Marbella Chic: “We bought a furnished home remodelled and owned by Jaime in the Lot department in France in 2003. He had…” Jan 2, 13:34
  • Estel on Not Such A Little List: “Sir Jonathan Miller had nothing to do with Private Eye. This production was entirely based around the personality of Eric…” Dec 27, 02:01
  • JohnCook on Remembering Tony Staniland: “I should like to add to something I posted about Tony some time ago. After we were demobbed in 1951…” Aug 20, 21:08
  • Daniel Cooper on John Cornford, the tragedy of a faithful communist: “Hello Frances, I have just read your comment, and sympathise with it very much. Would you be interested in participating…” Apr 7, 14:38
  • Christopher Brown on The Young Rembrandt: not a prodigy: “Glad you enjoyed it, Paul.” Mar 9, 18:39
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