Random Jottings

SAGA

I have recently booked tickets to attend the book festival, Way with Words, at Dartington in July and the serendipity that seems to pop up every now and then appeared when I was reading a recent copy of Saga magazine and found it contained two articles by two speakers who I will be seeing there, Xandra Bingley and Carmen Callil.

When I mentioned to my younger daughter some time ago that I subscribed to SAGA magazine her reaction was pretty scathing “Oh, mum you are NOT” and I gently had to tell her that this magazine was for readers over 50 of which I was most definitely one.  It is odd how the old attitudes towards Saga have remained, redolent of white haired old grannies going for coach trips to the seaside, when in fact it is one of the most interesting and lively magazines I have read for a long time.  It is not just full of adverts for stair lifts and walk in baths, though they are there, but has witty amusing articles from regular contributors such as Katherine Whitehorn and Keith Waterhouse, make up advice from a 50+, Angela Rippon, and also boasts its own version of Trinny and Susannah. 

There is lots of straightforward information on topics such as inheritance tax and pensions and while this may not be the most riveting read the magazine’s subscribers certainly need this sort of  expertise to hand.

Recent cover stars have included Rod Stewart, Sean Connery, Catherine Deneuve, Harrison Ford and Mick Jagger who can hardly be imagined taking the aforementioned trip to the seaside unless it was in Barbados or St Tropez.  There is something rather comforting to realise that all these famous names are of bus pass age, and as I told my daughter who was not convinced by my arguments in favour of being a subscriber, SAGA stands for Sex and Games for the Aged…..

Capsule (CD) Wardrobe

At this time of year the papers are full of fashionistas telling us what summer pieces we should have as a capsule wardrobe and this set me thinking:  What classical works could form a CD Capsule wardrobe?  I have indulged myself in putting together those pieces of music that I could not do without and which would provide the perfect slimmed down record collection.  These are merely my own personal preferences and my capsule wardrobe has expanded to encompass a walk in closet and may soon need a room all of its own.

For me the bedrock of a record collection is Beethoven.  If I was forced to choose one composer only, it would have to be Ludwig.  I would forswear even my beloved Wagner, magnificent though he is.  His music can be grand, stunning, shiver inducing and thrilling but you can have too much of Wagner and have to take a break.  This never happens with Beethoven.  There is something so satisfactory about his music.  As I write this I am listening to his Fifth symphony, a piece I must have listened to hundreds of times, and yet it is still fresh and beautiful.  I cannot write a learned scholarly treatise on music, I am not a musician, merely a music lover so here below is my personal capsule CD wardrobe. 

Beethoven:  all the symphonies ultimately, but to start with No 3 the Eroica, No 6 the Pastorale and No 9 the Choral.  Piano concertos:  all of them are a must, but if only one then it has to be No 5 the Emperor.  This is one of the most popular and well known of all his concertos grand and joyous with a simply magical link between the slow middle movement into the third and grand finale. 

Dvorak:  New World Symphony No.9.  Forever immortalised in an advert for Hovis bread many years ago which boosted its popularity no end, this is the symphony that Dvorak wrote when he went to  live in the USA.  One of the most popular symphonies ever and though it is played endlessly on Classic FM, who have the knack of making the most wonderful of works sound downmarket,  this is a must for any collection.

Mozart: when I spoke to a friend of mine about this Capsule Collection and asked which Mozart she would have, her reply was ANYTHING!  This is, of course, quite correct but his output is so vast that you cannot have everything he wrote without damaging your credit card irredeemably, so I would suggest as tasters Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Piano concertos Nos 21 (always called Elvira Madigan concerto sadly, but this does not detract from the sublime slow movement); No 22 simply dancing last movement and No 24 another wonderful slow movement; Violin Concertos 3 and 5, and Horn Concerto No 3.

Bruch: Violin Concerto No 1.  Has topped the most favourite list on Classic FM for several years and understandably so.  Sheer delight.

Schubert: I am guilty of over using the word sublime, but there is really no other way to describe this composer’s String Quintet in C. It is the piece of music most often chosen on Desert Island discs – hardly surprising, the peace and serenity of the slow movement is calming, soothing and life enhancing. His Trout Quintet is just the opposite, dancing, happy and brilliant.

English music:  Elgar (of course) Enigma Variations, Serenade for Strings and his Pomp and Circumstance marches.  Vaughan Williams: Lark Ascending, Greensleeves and variations on a theme of Thomas Tallis

Choral works: Handel Messiah – no record collection is complete without this simply superb and glorious work on the shelves; Verdi Requiem; Elgar Dream of Gerontius, Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Mozart Requiem

I think these are enough to get anyone started.  I have been trying to come up with a CD Capsule opera wardrobe but am not sure I can really do this one as it will be Wagner, Wagner and Wagner despite my comment about him above…

This morning I went to the hairdresser to have the roots done and the hair trimmed and it is very fortunate I only go every six weeks as my hairdresser's salon is two doors away from the Castle Bookshop, which is about the last independent second hand bookshop for miles.  It has been flourishing for years in Colchester and moved to this location as the lease had run out on its previous premises and the landlord (of course) increased the rent by about 500%.....

But is is still going strong and today I popped in with newly blonde and washed hair, feeling good and with the knowledge that my monthly pay cheque had just gone into my bank.  Dangerous times!

I had a very good visit and came out with the following:

Cousin Phyllis - Mrs Gaskell
Lois the Witch and other stories - Mrs Gaskell
Round the sofa - Mrs Gaskell (lovely pocket sized world classics edition) 
Elizabeth Gaskell and the English Provincial Novel - W A Craik

The Coral Island - Ballantyne (Victorian boy's book really about a shipwreck and three lads looking after themselves but a great read  and have not read it since I was a child) lovely Collins edition

Children's stories about Victorian Dolls edited by Gillian Avery (three long stories, one of which is by FH Burnett which was my main reason for this purchase) excellent condition with dust jacket

Noel Streatfield - White Boots. Exactly the same edition I had as a child, excellent condition complete with dustjacket at a give away price

Anthony Trollope and his contemporaries - David Skilton

A Guide to Trollope - the Trollope Society.  This is going to be a treasure trove as it lists all his books, all his characters,  locations, maps etc in short, everything you wanted to know about Trollope but were afraid to ask

An excellent haul and I am now curled up on the sofa gloating over them.  It is a horrid day with a misty drizzly rain so it is good to be indoors with books and music.

Lovely Day

I have been having a quiet few days just catching up on work in general following on from the conference in Canada.  I am looking forward to a quiet holiday weekend and will visit my mother on Sunday for tea, and am going to a cello recital in the evening, so a satisfying day to look forward to.

The main reason I have made an entry today is purely as an excuse to show you all these lovely flowers which a friend bought for me on my return home and to add a little summer colour to these pages.

I was out in Leadenhall Market at lunchtime today and, of course, could not resist wandering into Waterstones to see what was what.  As I entered the door and forced my way past the usual ten foot stack of Da Vinci Codes I was greeted with a full blast high decibel rendering of Delilah sung by Tom Jones.  The noise was appalling and I launched into what my daughters call One of Mum's Tirades.  Asked to speak to the manager and demanded to know why he was playing such dire music.

His response?  Oh don't you like Tom Jones madam?  My response: I adore Tom Jones, have loved him all my life, have his records at home and love Delilah played full blast, but only when I am dancing around my kitchen at home and NOT when I enter a so called bookshop to choose a book.

This was greeted by a stunned silence and then a muttered I will pass on your comments madam to which I replied HAH and a fat lot of notice will be taken of them.  As I swept out in Lady Bracknell mode one young lad behind the counter said " It's all right for you, we have to put up with it six hours a day"

I am now a Woman on a Mission.  I am going to track down the identity of the chairman of Waterstones and ask him why he deems it necessary to have music, any sort of music, in his bookshops.

Watch this space.....

Mrs Gaskell

I am currently reading Ruth by Mrs Gaskell.  I have read some of her works, Wives and Daughters, North and South, Cranford and some short stories but still have plenty more ahead of me.  It is always a good feeling when you know you love reading an author and there are unread delights to come.  I have nearly all of Anthony Trollope on my shelf, some 50+ and have only read about half of them, but just knowing they are there awaiting my pleasure at some future date is very reassuring.

I have read a biography of Mrs Gaskell and of course her own ground breaking biography of Charlotte Bronte.  Through her letters and writings Mrs G comes through as a warm hearted, generous woman.  She was married to a Minister, lived in Manchester and, I believe, had five children.  She managed to deal with all this as well as producing best selling and superbly written books. Throughout she was encouraged and supported by her husband (Memo: seems to me that Victorian husbands/fathers contrary to perceived opinion were ver proud of their womanfolk's achievements:  Henry Lewes/George Eliot; Patrick Bronte/his daughters and Mr/Mrs Gaskell. Am sure this could be future subject for research).   

In Ruth we have an unmarried mother and, of course, totally disgraced while the cad who dumped her gets away with it.  The old, old story.  In North and South we have the story of a dissenting rector and his family who are sent to the North of England to a mining town, and Margaret the daughter of the house, has to come to terms with the realities of life away from the 'effete' south.  This is helped by the fact that the owner of the Mill is devastatingly dark and attractive (well in the BBC video he is anyway!)  The portrayal of the mill worker's strike and the consequences on the poverty stricken workers is vividly portrayed.

In Wives and Daughters we have the setting a la Cranford and Austen, life in a country town with all its pettiness and gossip, but also warmth and friendship.  As with Austen we have the equivalent of a Lady de Bourgh ruling the roost, but much nicer, two old maids similar to Mrs and Miss Bates, and a host of other characters.  The title of the story refers to the main protaganists, of a daughter and her widowed  father who makes a foolish remarriage to a flighty, shallow woman with an equally shallow daughter and the effect of this marriage on the relationship between the two step sisters.  This is another unputdownable book which has also been dramatised by the BBC with a simply superb performance by Michael Gambon as the Squire.

We come to Cranford which is frequently likened to Jane Austen as it mirrors her 'small painting on ivory' outlook and set in a small village peopled almost entirely by women all trying to live genteely and uphold standards.  Each chapter is a mini-story but there is an overall shape to the book as well and it is far from disjointed.  It is a sheer delight from start to finish.

Mrs Gaskell is a great Victorian woman writer but is sometimes overshadowed by her illustrous sisters such as Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot but she is certainly up there at the top of the list.  I am enjoying revisiting her.

Blonde Moment

A blog is a very self indulgent exercise in many ways, with the opportunity to hold forth on one's interests without fear of contradiction and interruption.  There is always a danger of becoming portentious and forming rather a high opinion of one's own importance and in order to counterbalance this I am setting down what I have called a 'blonde moment' which occured on Saturday.

I have a new laptop, only a few months old, and on Friday night the sound suddenly, without warning, diminished by some two thirds.  I tried the usual tricks, switched  on and off, rebooted, then checked the volume settings.  All was fine.  The next morning, while waiting for a digital box to be delivered and set up, I called PC World helpline and had a long, and no doubt expensive chat, with a very helpful young man who took me through everything, reset programmes etc and ended up with the dreaded words 'it may have to go back to the manufacturer'.  Whilst in the midst of this call, two young men arrived to fit the digital box, one looking particularly ferocious and decorated with studs and nails in what appeared to be every orifice.  He turned out to be not only a charming person, but also a computer engineer and he offered to look at my computer for me.

This he did, carried out all the checks, tested it and said the magic words There is Nothing wrong with it.  He then looked at me and said Have you tried this?  leaned forward and turned up - wait for it - THE VOLUME BUTTON.  I had not even known it was there.

After all three of us had had hysterics followed by a cup of tea and biscuit, they departed, no doubt to regale future customers with my stupidity.

Every time I feel an attack of erudition coming on, I shall remember this blonde moment and be humble.

Opera and Me

One of my other great passions is opera.  My father had a collection of 78 rpm records when I was little featuring Great Opera Moments and I used to play these until they were worn out and resembled lace doilies.  By the time I was about ten or eleven I had knowledge of various arias and overtures of operas, mainly Italian, but the real learning process kicked in when my sister had a boyfriend who was interested in opera.  He was posted abroad for a year and left his record collection in Judith's care.  Amongst these were complete recordings of La Traviata, Il Trovatore and other Verdi works and I spent the year he was away thoroughly enjoying his recordings.  He returned, dumped my sister and made off with the records. I think I was more annoyed with them disappearing than his rejection of Judith to my shame.

When I passed my 11+ exam I was taken as a treat to the Royal Opera House as a reward and saw a performance of Aida.  My classmates who had been presented with bikes or roller skates as presents for passing this examination viewed me with disbelief and I was consigned to Dork Corner.  They did not know what they were missing.

Since this start I have seen most Verdi operas, most of Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Donizetti, Bellini, a lot of Mozart and also tried Britten and Janacek.  My repertoire gradually expanded and the defining moment arrived in the 1970s when I had a friend who introduced me to Wagner and thus was my greatest opera passion ignited which needs a blog entry all on its own.

I have often been asked which opera I would recommend for a first visit and my reply would be La Boheme by Puccini.  It has everything.  Young, funny and witty characters, a great story, fantastic well know arias and a guaranteed gut wrenching, four hankie ending.  It is the most popular and well loved opera in the repertoire and no matter how often it is performed, it is always a sell out.

Digital Age

The aerial on our block of flats has just been upgraded and can now receive digital signals so today I purchased a tv top digital box which will enable me to view extra channels.  We live in a dip so am unable to have satellite TV which, now that the Test matches are no longer on terrestial TV, is a tad annoying but into each life some rain must fall.  The advantage of this digital box is that I will be able to see BBC3 and BBC4.  There does not appear to be a huge amount I wish to see in the normal run of events but with the BBC Prom concert season coming up at the Albert Hall, a lot of these will be broadcast on this channel.  At the moment BBC4 is also showing the heats of the Young Musician of the Year contest which used to be shown on. BBC 2 and was accessible to all.  This sort of programme is now hived off to the minority channels so that the mainstream ones can continue their inexorable dumbing down process in the pursuit of ratings. 

The main reason for getting this box at this particular moment however, is very clear and understandable to those who know of my adoration of Wagner.  BBC4 is showing the entire Ring Cycle over four weekends starting on 27 May and, whilst the production is poor (I do sometimes feel a dissertation on the attraction of Wagner for outre directors would make interesting reading) the singing is wonderful and, of course, it features the Mighty Bryn making his debut as Wotan, an event I have been waiting for since I heard him sing in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition some twenty years ago, when he came on and gave a performance of the Act I aria from the Flying Dutchman that left the audience gasping.  I said then that he would make a wonderful Wotan and that, when he tackled it, I was going to be there to see it and I was.

Margaret Attwood

 

While in Toronto I felt I had to check out the Margaret Attwood section of Chapters bookshop, as she is one of Canada's great writers, and I purchased three of her paperbacks.  Whilst they are in print in the UK, I found these jackets very stylish and elegant so purchased themWhile in Toronto I felt I had to check out the Margaret Attwood section of Chapters bookshop, as she is one of Canada's great writers, and I purchased three of her paperbacks.  Whilst they are in print in the UK, I found these jackets very stylish and elegant so purchased them