Performing and Exposure

There's an article on Ian Bostridge - the tenor - in today's Guardian. It's all worth reading but the last lines struck me:

It's[Britten's Death in Venice] essentially about the loss of dignity of the artist. Aschenbach wants to be a grand person in grand clothes with a grand reputation, but that has cut off the sources of his creativity. What we have to do is essentially and necessarily undignified and exposing. As a performer you are mining bits of yourself in a way that is endlessly potentially humiliating. It's enormously satisfying. But you do tread a fine line."

Art and performing has to possess you (and maybe that an appropriate word in view of Bostridge's PhD), it can't be arm's length.

L'heure d'été

Just back from Olivier Assayas' L'heure d'été:

Tinged with a very French sentimentality with heart-breaking moments an interesting study of what use is art if it isn't experienced and part of everyday life. I even enjoyed the seeming vandalism of the film by the young people in the last scenes. I loved it but I think I was one of the few at the screening - or maybe I sat in the wrong part of the theatre?

Teaser Tuesday - 3 Nov

Teaser Tuesday
The rules are:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title and author of the book that you’re getting your 'teaser' from .. that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

Which part of the house had I come to? I searched for the top of the chestnut under which we had sat that morning, but couldn't see it

From Elizabeth Lowry's The Bellini Madonna - 'convergence of high art and the low skulduggery' when I picked this book up in the library I wasn't aware it was going to be a conjunction of Ireland and Italy again - as with the Last Train from Liguria which I read a few weeks ago.

Silence

Unfortunately, our trip to Luzern in the Summer didn't give us time to see the Kunstmuseum's exhibition on the theme of Silence - there's just about a month left if you find yourself in the area! The exhibition closes on 22nd November.

Silent witness

From Stan's Cafe and Greenbelt comes this moving piece:

Piles of rice of greatly varying sizes represented groups of people throughout the world, one grain for each person. The rice pile for refugees was almost exactly the same size as the pile for millionaires. Imagine if each millionaire funded one refugee (not much money per person). The biggest pile in the whole room was people living with HIV/Aids in sub-Saharan Africa.

Hat tip (and quote from ) Maggi Dawn
.. Of all the people in all the World..

Political committment

Was searching though oldish copies of the Church Times and found this picture The Orator of the Strike by Emilio Longoni (not Lognoni as they have it).
Committed and pointing out you, yes you, to be committed too!

Divisionism, arguably the most significant art movement in late-19th-century Italy, was spurred by a desire to make art an instrument of social change

More on the Divisionists here

Sculpture

Louis Derbré via Paris Daily Photo

Awaiting the art prize

Neat hills
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

For a limited time only we have a 'Tate Modern' exhibit in our back garden. No doubt, tomorrow, it will be flattened and far less interesting!

Ending like this

This picture seems to ring a political bell today!

photo

Apparently Nothing has some rather nice chairs!

St Theresa

St Theresa
Originally uploaded by rajmarshall

And here's the scupture those men in the theatre box were ogling. A wonderful piece but probably not carrying the meaning intended - well I'm sure someone must have intended a spiritual content!

We went!

Bit of a busy week - hence the slowdown of blogging - on Monday I went with BATS (the church book group) to MADS (I see a javascript banner is that a firefox isn't the browser I'm expecting artifice..?)the local amateur dramatic society - to see Alan Ayckbourn's Absurd Person Singular a rather black comedy but an interesting study of 1970's kitchens. I thought the ending was weak but the getting there was enjoyable. Inevitably some of the acting was better than others but the cast carried it well.
Wednesday night was Io non ho paura at the Silk Screen - I was one of(?) the recommenders of this film - so in spite of having a meeting afterwards I thought I'd better turn up. I saw this back in 2004 at the cornerhouse (www.iononhopaura.it appears to have gone now)-
seeing it again, I though some bits were slow but once it got to the combine harvesters and the rush to the climax I was absorbed and moved. Half the fun earlier was waiting to see the audience jump when the kidnapee first appears...
Then Thursday night was 'Waiting for Godot' at the Library Theatre in Manchester
. Definitely played for laughs even at the most desperate moments. At the start of Act 2 one of the audience just in front of us, stifled a sneeze and David Fielder's Vladimir, milked the moment. I'd never seen the play before - though I had acted a bit of it as an Easter Saturday epilogue back in 1982. I'd urge you to see it but I think tonight is the last night! - nothing happens, waiting for night to fall. The play's text is available here. Also I remember the spontaneous applause at the end of Lucky's monologue and Pozzo's repulsive Churchill. An interesting counterpoint after seeing 'Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead' in the same theatre last year.

Shrove Tuesday

Whilst working spent the afternoon listening to the Charles Ives symphonies which seemed to be an appropriately unbuttoned way of celebrating the day. Home for pancakes :-) I've been looking for a moment to link here - a rather different meal - the Leonardo Last Supper in incredible detail!

Happenstance

Was looking for an email to contact an old friend - and found this
well worth staying to the end! Hat tip to revtc
More films of Ilana Yahav here
(another more than one post a day month!!)

More bad taste

But not Christmas presents this time. Via r.m.c.r and Alex Ross comes this set of LP covers. Unfortunately I remember seeing most of these - I don't think I bought any though!

Imaginary Landscapes

Giornale Nuovo has pictures from a recent Érik Desmazières exhibition -in Vevey - go and have a look!. Unfortunately the exhibition is over - and I need to be in work tomorrow!

Tsotsi

The SIlk Screen was showing Tsotsi on Wednesday, nearly didn't go - too much on - but glad I did, beautifully photographed and a gripping narrative. Manipulative? maybe but sometimes plots have to grab you by the throat. Official site - I wasn't aware that it was adapted from a novel. Strongly recommended!
Then on Thursday to the Bridgewater hall for a Halle concert (50 years to the day from Sibelius' death) so they have the rather atypical Valse Triste and Violin Concerto, I wasn't at all keen on the first half, everything seemed to drag, but then came the second half - Rachmaninov 2nd symphony - was rather dreading this after the laboured performances in the first half but it was taken at a thrilling pace, don't think I'd ever heard it live, Still conductors who stop beating and conduct by twitching their shoulders drive me up the wall! Guardian gave it 5 stars but their review doesn't appear to be on the web site yet. Concert is repeated on Sunday...

I've now spotted it (the Guardian review)

Masterclass

What a great artist and teacher Jorge Bolet was - I have no chance of ever being able to play the Rachmaninov 3rd concerto but I learnt a lot from this masterclass from 1983 - that link is to no 11 of 14(!). I'm rehearsing some Rachmaninov and Scriabin for the Alderley Edge Festival (better link welcomed!) later in the month - I see that the Op 23 prelude I'm playing - in the Romantic class was written earlier than the late Scriabin I'm doing for the modern class (but only just!) - a recommendation of a recording of the Engime (Op52) would be appreciated - as long as it's not the Volodos! This year a top 3 place is not assured!

French events

Just received notice of an event at the Alliance Française in Manchester where Cécilia Lyon is going to talk about the artist Adolphe Valette a French view of early 20C Manchester murk.
Also - now long gone - but we attended the showing of 36 Quai des Orfevres at CineMac - a pretty violent film for a 15 certificate - though I gather 15 is the top age limit in French certification so maybe the BBFC just copied the rating! Ienjoyed the film despite the violence - and don't start to fidget when you think the film may be ending - at the point it is just getting into its stride! The Guardian said

France provides a corking blockbuster of its own, as Gérard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil duke it out in Heat-like corrupt cop thriller, 36 Quai des Orfèvres.

I feel like adapting that description into a conking blockbuster in view of the splendid noses on display, sometimes one got confused as to which villain was getting beaten up but I found it very emotionally involving. Try the review here for a more jaundiced opinion - but maybe i just enjoy soupy melodrama! Another review may have some spoilers for some twists in the early part of the film.

Charles Matton

Giornale Nuovo has some wonderful images of tiny architectural interiors of Charles Matton - go and admire them!