Since you asked, Pierre, it’s a bit of a challenge (and a mess), but here are some pictures. I do know how lucky I am. Most writers can only dream of their own space.
A room of my own – pics
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Sleepwalking opera
Last night four of us watched the DVD of the MET Sonnambula (Bellini). New opera, new composer for two of us. I love this production (Mary Zimmerman), it breathes dramatic life into a rather unlikely, sentimental story set in a Swiss village and gives the fabulous music a chance to shine. The setting is a New York rehearsal room and by interleaving the tribulations of the modern lovers who are singing the main parts with the story, the whole thing becomes a glorious comedy. Of course, with Juan Diego Flores and Natalie Dessay the casting is perfect.
We talked afterwards about what works for new opera goers. The singing, according to the newcomers is mainly noise to start with, so you need to fall for the principal singers and be able to follow the story they tell. Sonnambula was a little complex from that point of view. Two DVDs work well are the made-for-Cinema Bohême (Puccini) directed by Dornhelm. The mangled subtitles bother me, but Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon are beautiful, passionate and have voices I could listen to as I leave the world. This is made for screen viewing too. For me though, the best of all to start off with is La Traviata (Verdi – my favourite opera composer), in the 2005 Willy Decker Salzburg Opera production. Same soloists as the Bohême in a production that is almost like Greek theatre. This seems to be a hit for new comers and old timers every time we watch.
We also talked about the difference between live and DVD/Cinema. In the first a sound experience so amazing in quality and a total view of the events on stage. In the second wonderful close-ups, emotional contact with the singers/actors… plus comfortable seats, good view and freedom to stop and start. Both great ways to watch/listen to opera, just different.
Personally I like my opera in the original language – it fits the music and the libretto much better that way – with English subtitles.
Bug patrol and peony joy
Going into the garden for some heavy pruning and edging, I found myself on non-stop bug patrol. The green/black fly have started on the roses, are continuing on all the soft fruit and still attacking the new growth on the maples. I prefer to share the job with ladybirds than to use to insecticide, and the ladybirds are in short supply, so to keep up with them I have to spend the time.
Then there are the lily beetles. If there is anything nastier than squashing a lily beetle, it is dealing with their larva. These are encased in revolting black smeary gunge and need a strong stomach, but as far as I know, there is still no known predator in the UK. I love the lilies so it’s worth it.
There are compensations, peonies don’t seem to be afflicted with bugs:
Dancing on the Docks 2
In July 1941 the men of 27 Line Section stood waiting (as soldiers spend so much time doing) at Liverpool docks to embark on their troopship for a distant unknown destination. The Scotsmen in the section decided to while away the time by dancing an Eightsome Reel. Sergeant Pawson (from Glasgow?) was the leader and he made up eight separate Eightsomes – 64 men. Their captain, my father Barry Baker, attempted to play the mouth organ for them, while the Scotsmen taught the Englishmen the steps and the moves. Then they danced.
Barry remembers:
The reel was such a success that it gathered quite an audience of porters, sailors and others, so we did it all through once again. After that came the order to board, so my last memory of England for more than four years was dancing on the platform at Liverpool Docks.
27 Line Section is created – POWs 1
In 1941 about 70 men of the Royal Corps of Signals gathered on Liverpool docks preparing to embark for service ‘somewhere’ abroad. They carried tropical gear. Some of the men were career soldiers and had survived Dunkirk. Their units had been disbanded and they had been sent to work at Harnham Camp near the South Coast, restoring lines in the much-bombed coastal city of Plymouth. They were perhaps hoping for a cushier posting after their grim experiences.
These Dunkirk men had been allocated to a newly created unit, 27 Line Section, under a newly created Captain, Barry Baker, all of twenty-five years old, married with a baby son. Barry should have been in France, but he was recovering from head injuries after being knocked off his motorcycle by a young Canadian driving on the wrong side of the road. Backing him up was a 40 year-old NCO, 2nd Lieutenant Sutherland Brown, a married Plant Manager from Malaya.
The bulk of 27 Line Section was made of Scottish Reservists mainly from Glasgow. Many worked in the post office but there were also bakers, electricians, butchers, bricklayers, waiters and many other trades. They ranged in age from nineteen to late thirties. Few if any had been abroad before, none, except possibly the Lance Sergeants, had seen active service.
In his memoirs Barry wrote:
The Glasgow party arrived, bringing most of their own lorries with them, and they seemed to fit in quite easily with the men I knew already at Harnham. We had a few days to sort out duties, stores, transport and drivers and then we were sent on detachment as a whole Section to carry out a most interesting job. This was a great bonus as it enabled us, me and the four sergeants, to get to know one another and to get the Glaswegians and the Southerners properly acquainted and working together without the nuisance of Company Parades or C.O.’s inspections.
These weeks together proved crucial in the years ahead. As Barry remembers:
The whole job lasted only a few weeks but by the end of it No. 27 Line Section had a firm personality and individuality of its own. Later in Malaya or up country in Siam, if any of our men were asked what Unit they came from they would not answer “Malaya Command Signals” or “Attached to 8th Australian Div”, or even “2 Group POW Camp”, but simply “27 Line Section”.
Rhododendron heaven
Rhododendron Yakushimanum (the original species)
Rhododendron Yakushimanum ‘Morgenrot’
Rhododendron Yakushimanum ‘Cupcake’
Rhododendron Yakushimanum ‘Flava’
Chicago – one sadness
I spent all my days on my recent visit to Chicago in a bubble of happiness and grinning with delight, yet there was one moment when I came near to weeping. We were on a bus and a pretty young woman tried to sit in a seat near us. She was unable to squeeze her thigh into the seat because of the armrest, so she stayed with half her thigh stranded in the air.
I have no doubt that other American cities are no different and Chicago also had plenty of slim and normal sized people, but to someone from another country, the vast number of over-sized people was a shocking sight. After a while you adjust and normal looks thin, fat looks normal and obese just looks fat. Yet every day watching so many people struggling to move around made me sad.
Books, Books, Books
In the last few weeks my reading has ranged a little widely, but unintentionally each book influences my reading of the next
Contested Will by James Shapiro – an excellent and absorbing analysis of the many, often hilarious, theories about who wrote Shakespeare. The astonishing thing is that so many people still believe one or other of these. The Shakespeare doubters fall roughly into two schools, those who believe that a shoemaker’s son from Stratford could never have achieved such sophisticated heights and those who believe that all writing is autobiographical. Shapiro deals painstakingly with the wide spectrum of theories and then returns the reader to solid ground with the contemporary evidence.
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey – the investigation into the true nature of King Richard the III, written as an immensely entertaining novel. I have read this several times before, it is still in print after 70 years. She makes her characters live and makes you love them. (Oh envy!).
The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith – A slightly dour book, it is difficult to love the main character, Isabel. On the other hand, I have a strong sense of self-recognition; Isabel over-thinks and imagines full-blown scenarios out of the tiniest stimuli. It is uncomfortable to have your own failings brought before you. EG is enjoying it for its Edinburgh setting.
Beastly Things by Donna Leon – As always, Leon creates a good read and deals with important subject matter, in this case the introduction of meat unfit for human consumption into the food chain. Greed, nepotism, and the criminal underbelly of Italy are displayed, and set against the warm surroundings of Brunetti’s home life and cuisine. These stories are a little formulaic and the use of metaphor occasionally gets out of hand (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/may/23/rules-writing-block-metaphor), but still, especially for lovers of Venice, a good read.
I have started reading Fitz by Jenifer Roberts (in manuscript) – a lively and entertaining history of James Edward FitzGerald, a wayward, charming, talented man who was so influential in the colonisation of New Zealand. The story is much enhanced by the original diary material of so many of the men and women involved.
jet-lagged from Chicago
I am planning a blog reassessment, but first I will put up some posts of various things on my mind.
Chicago has totally charmed me. We stayed on the North Side and all the streets were full of an explosion of spring into summer; narcissi, tulips, maples in leaf, cherry blossom, hostas everywhere. The sidewalks often have cultivated strips beside them, all individually designed by the house owners.
The number of theatres is quite astonishing. We saw three excellent productions in three different theatres (two directed by Elly Green), we listened to a (free) string/clarinet lunchtime concert in the beautiful Culture Centre. We saw a superb exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Art – Destroy the Picture – the anger and innovation made visible in post WWII ‘paintings’. The Smart Museum of Art had an astonishing collection (and a foyer with people of all ages having a go at producing a Rothko painting).
The highlight was being caught and soaked by the high canon of water from the Buckingham fountain in Grant Park and then drying off within about 15 minutes in the sunlight and warm wind.
Our first and only baseball match (to date) saw The Cubs win. Altogether a visit of enormous entertainment and happiness.
Blog downtime
Owing to happy family events, I will not be blogging for about fortnight. I will be taking a reflective look at the exercise when I return.
Acer Palmatum Trompenberg
Green Writing Room 