Is Opera and Ballet Elitist?
The question has to be asked after last night and my visit to the O2.
In my view it was a serious experiment to try to sell ballet to people, who would not normally go and it has been reported as such. Here’s Arlene Phillips, saying that ballet is for everyone.
But if it was so important, why is it that only the Independent seems to published a review this morning?
Perhaps those that feel very seriously about ballet think that the O2 is rather beneath it.
I think that this might be the problem. Those that go regularly, often subsidised in their corporate seats want to keep it not elitist but exclusive!
Here’s a few thoughts.
My mother was a humble comptometer operator in the Accounts Department of Reeves in Dalston before the Second World War. She and her friends regularly went to the ballet and the opera. Would the typical office worker on the equivalent salary to my mother be able to afford a weekly visit to opera or ballet now?
I was once at about the age of sixteen at White Hart Lane to see Spurs play Arsenal. It must have been after Spurs had disbanded their band, as the Metropolitan Police Band were playing before the match and at half time. At half-time, one of the band put down his instrument and immaculately performed a serious operatic work. The performance was very good and totally unexpected and he got a tumultuous response from the probably 50,000 or so in the ground. So when people say that the common people don’t appreciate opera, are they are putting forward the collective view to preserve the exclusivity?
One of the best theatrical performances C and I ever saw, was a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar by the Italian Youth Theatre in the theatre at Taormina in Sicily.
A Double First For Me!
Up until last night, I’d never been to the O2 at Greenwich or ever seen any serious ballet live. I did see Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo with C once a few years ago and enjoyed that, but it could not be described as mainstream ballet, although it is serious dance.
Last night, a friend who works at the Royal Ballet, took me to see Romeo and Juliet at the O2. So it was a double-first!
I enjoyed it immensively and felt that it worked well both as a show and as a spectacle. The only thing I didn’t like was that some in the audience, were constantly going in and out of the arena.
But don’t take my word for it, read the review in The Independent.
Here’s an extract.
Some details do get swallowed by this venue. The big crowd scenes blur, but Kenneth MacMillan’s famously impassioned duets keep their power. As the story’s focus shrinks to Juliet’s bedroom, then her tomb, the ballet reaches out to conquer this cavernous space.
So I think the Royal Ballet can say they have a success on their hands.
I should also say that because of my rather odd eye-sight, which could follow the detail well on the stage for a minute or so before my eyes tired, that the format with large video screens allowed me to rest them a bit, by watching the screens intermittently.
I would suspect that I might enjoy ballet and other shows in a large arena more than I would in a traditional theatre. But I do know that my eyes are getting better, as towards the end of the last football season, I found the action much easier to follow than at the start.
I would certainly go again!
Willie Carson and Katherine Jenkins
I had to laugh at the racing on BBC this afternoon.
Willie Carson was cuddling up to Katherine Jenkins, whilst they were commentating on the racing. He just about reached up to her bust.
I suspect the picture will make the papers.
Farewell Flick Colby!
To many British men of my generation, Flick Colby was an icon of the 1960s almost as important as some of the bands and singers of the era.
Her choreography and performances in the initial dance group she founded, Pan’s People, are remembered by many, as they were often the highlight of the week’s television to men and boys of a certain age.
If people think today that such as Lady Gaga and other singers are raunchy, then at some times Pan’s People were only slightly less so. Mary Whitehouse certainly didn’t approve.
So farewell Flick! You gave lots of people, lots of pleasure.
The Palm Dog
Most cinema enthusiasts have heard about the Palme d’Or awarded at the Cannes Film Festival for the best film.
I hadn’t realised until today, that there was also a Palm Dog, awarded to the best performance by a canine. The award this year was won by Uggy, a Jack Russell, in a film called The Artist.
Danny Baker Returns
Danny Baker is back on Radio 5 Live this morning after his treatment for cancer.
I wish him well.
Let’s hope he’s on as good form as ever. I shal be listening.
Party Licences to be Scrapped
One of NuLabor’s most disastrous pieces of legislation was the need for a council licence where any music was played.
It is all described here in the Sunday Times. One classic ruling means that a carol concert in a church doesn’t need a licence, but one in the church hall next door does.
This is perhaps the best bit of the article.
In one notorious ruling, the Tate Britain gallery was told it had to obtain a licence for an exhibition by the Turner prize winner Susan Philipsz because it featured a recording of her singing a Scottish folk song.
Hopefully things will get better and create more and better music and other venues. Obviously, there is the noise and alcohol nuisance problem, but that should be handled with other unconnected legislation. You could argue that you get more of the latter, for a Cup Final shown live on a big screen in a pub, than say a folk concert in the same venue.
Is Eurovision Promoting National Stereotypes?
I don’t usually watch Eurovision, but hey, what else is there to do tonight, after the awful Mancunian double?
But are countries promoting their own sterotypes?
After all the Irish entry was about humour! The Greek one had no chance of making any worthwhile sales! The Russian one was all about male machismo and was probably written by someone with lots of talent like Vladimir Putin. I did like the singers for Hungary and Estonia and if they played their cards right ….
The French entry was calling out for someone in the orchestra to open a bottle of brown ale at the right moment, to enliven the proceedings. You may laugh about that, but a friend once played in the 1960s in the backing orchestra for such high-brow touring productions as The Desert Song. You quickly learned what was the best time to get a drink.
But quite frankly Eurovision isn’t the same without Terry Wogan.
Limp Handshakes, Sincerity and Hank Wangford
They are talking about handshakes on BBC Breakfast this morning, after it had been reported that Ed Milliband has rather a weak one.
C and I always used to describe the United States as the Land of the Limp Handshake, as most of the people we seemed to meet on our travels there, performed it that way and also seemed to be quite insincere.
Sincerity brings me to possibly the funniest moment on BBC Breakfast. Some years ago, the incomparable Hank Wangford spoke about a product called Sincerity. There was also an American on the program, who happened to be selling something that most notably wasn’t. C didn’t watch breakfast television after that episode, as she laughed so much, she nearly did herself some serious damage.
I’d thought that Hank had retired but apparently he’s still singing and practicing his own unique brand of medicine according to his web site.
Danny Baker Is Coming Back
Christian O”Connell said on his radio show this morning, that Danny Baker will be returning next week for his Radio 5 show. He has done one show on radio since he started his battle against cancer and there is a report here.
I shall be listening.
The Anonymous Widower 