Category: review

Feverish Figaro

To the ENO for the Marriage of Figaro last night, with around 20 fellow Onegin chorus members, which added to the entertainment value. We went because Kate Valentine, who sang Tatyana in our production of Eugene Onegin, is singing the Countess, and very relieved we were that she was singing the Countess, as she missed…

October 15, 2011
Feasting the senses

It’s been a bit of an indulgent weekend, feasting our senses, and there’s more to come. We started with the visual and a trip to the Guildhall Art Gallery in the heart of the city for an exhibition of John Atkinson Grimshaw paintings. Grimshaw started out as a bit of a fellow traveller with the…

October 9, 2011
Songs from the Edge

Our local church, St Augustine’s on One Tree Hill, likes music and as a consequence sees more of us than they would otherwise. Last night there was more reason than usual to go, as our friends Mel, Katrina and Laura were playing. The evening was entitled Songs from the Edge: The edge of what, I…

October 2, 2011
The Passenger

So the Wendy Dawn Thompson Fan Club (Blackheath Chapter) were out in force last night, Me and A, M and D (separately, we thought they were going a different night and bumped into them in the bar). I have to admit I would not have gone to The Passenger if WDT (Vlasta) hadn’t been in…

September 30, 2011
Folkestone Triennial: Art-on-Sea

A and I are a bit last-minute with exhibitions and regularly miss things because we think we’ll go ‘later’ and then just forget. However, we actually made it to the Folkestone Triennial with two days to spare. We followed the yellow seagulls sprayed on the pavement from the station to the visitor centre. There was…

September 25, 2011
A Sense of Place

As a writer, reading is hedged about with difficulties – every book read takes time away from time writing (even when travelling, these days, although the book-to-read-on-the-train is still an honoured tradition), and there is the danger of absentmindedly siphoning off themes and even style, I am easily influenced by a good writer. And, except…

September 20, 2011
Open Queue

It’s day two of London Open House and we’re off to Crossness Pumping Station. This has been a long-held ambition, but with so much to choose from over the weekend it has taken, ooh, six years? to get here. The instigator of this sudden resolve is our friend J who phoned and said: I’m going,…

September 18, 2011
London is Open

Every year in September, buildings of historic, architectural and ecological note open for the public for free. In London Open House is in full swing. Take a look at the overwhelming website – it’s all going on tomorrow as well. Most years I go and feast my eyes and wear out my feet: holidays are…

September 17, 2011
Opening Doors to the ‘Other Side’

In a previous post I mentioned that I thought I might be missing out in not having seen a variety of operas. I’ve started making up for it. The advantage of doing a community opera of the calibre of Blackheath’s is that you get to meet people who know a thing or two, and this…

August 28, 2011
Rinaldo – but no sea-serpents

Straight from Opera rehearsal, to watching Opera, at Blackheath Halls, this time a production from Trinity Laban. Home from home you’d think, (and we are considering getting camp beds put up in the recital room we are there so much) but nonetheless it required a gear change. I’m not familiar with Rinaldo, and we were in…

July 3, 2011