This past Sunday I went to Salisbury Cathedral for their famous Advent service. This is the Church of England at its ceremonial grandest, a procession of clergy and choirs, with the staffs and crosses, even the embroidery on the gonfalons* sparkling in the candlelit darkness, designed for maximum impact. As the clock struck, the lights … More It was a very cultured week
For the last two Saturdays I have trekked to London to see Bellini’s Norma at the Royal Opera; the first round was a bit of a lucky windfall – a friend, who had the tickets, couldn’t go and so I got to go and have a proper outing; museums and shopping, and drinks on the … More Norma, or my mad-ish autumn of opera
Now, this is opera. Il Trovatore is one of the major works by Verdi, a smash hit from the get go – within the first three years of its 1853 premiere, it had been performed thousands of times, in over two hundred different productions. I have heard it being described as a hit parade in … More My mad summer of opera, Part 4: Il Trovatore
Werther is, for me, a strange opera. It’s full of beautiful music, it’s all about tragic love, and yet if fails to thrill. It’s based on Goethe’s late 18th century novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, and simply tells the story of a young, comfortably off middle class man falling in love to for a … More My mad summer of opera, Part 3: Werther
Verdi, the Shakespeare of operatic composers, wrote 37 operas (counting second – and, in some cases, third – versions of some of his works), and like Shakespeare the playwright, it took him about ten attempts to achieve the maximum artistic quality (with Macbeth, no less). Nabucco is the attempt number three, and of the somewhat … More My mad summer of opera, Part 2: Nabucco
It just so happens that this summer I’m going to the opera a lot. I’m pretty much seeing every other thing they have on – I have a Nabucco ticket for Saturday next week, and both Werther and Il Trovatore coming up in July. Last Saturday, all dressed up in my fancy new silver loafers, … More My mad summer of opera, Part 1: Oedipe
Shakespeare for absolute beginners 