Sunday, October 27, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Friday Morning Wood - Roots
"Lookit my roots! See my roots; they're all like naked. C'mon over here and root with me, baby."
Etc.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
More Stuff About Shoes and Noses
Yup: Britten Sinfonia night again. The launch of their new season and I took my usual seat, front and centre, from which vantage point I - as per - took notes for all you shoe fetishists out there.
Nothing quite so outrageously "fuck me" as Alina Ibragimova's shoes from last time around, but this evening's prize went to Jacquie Shave for imprisoning her feet and calves with what I can only describe as a stiletto heeled, gladiator sandal-themed creation that had somehow got pimped by a bondage shop.
Sexiest feet of the night, however, went to Clare Finnimore - principal viola - in black ballet pumps, for constantly twining her feet and ankles around one another and her chair legs in a surprisingly erotic manner. Of course, the fact that she's adorably cute didn't hinder the effect; nor even that she was wearing what appeared to be short clown trousers and a baby-doll nightie in black-on-black stripes.
As usual, the Sinfonia's women took the "black formal" theme and undermined it every which way they could, from Caroline Dearnley - principal cello - in a mountain of lace layers that would have made Stevie Nicks grind her teeth in a jealous rage, to Miranda Dale - 2nd. violin - clad clingingly in a beautiful empire line black velvet gown with a wide satin band under the bust and a diamanté brooch front and centre. With her hair up in strict 20's style she looked glam and gorgeous.
The only non-black item on display was a crimson silk Nehru-collared blouson, wrapped around the increasingly rotund figure of star oboist Nicholas Daniel as he strutted his stuff like a somewhat chubbier Mick Jagger and monstered the fiendishly virtuosic insanity of Nicholas Maw's "Little Concert for Oboe".
Oh, and a mention too for Jacqueline Shave's bonkers mane of red-blonde hair that has now grown bigger than she is and had its own little private party during the gig.
Anyhoo … enough fashion notes, other than to say that the women of the Britten Sinfonia sport a wonderful and exceedingly attractive collection of noses; something I'd not noticed until this evening. I mean, I'd noticed that they had noses, but not that they were so darned attractive … er.
As for the music?
The Sinfonia are renowned for their consistently wonderful programming and this evening gave us a premiere from Chicago-based Brit Anna Clyne (one of whose pieces launched this year's Last Night of the Proms), the Maw oboe piece, Mozart, Haydn and Stravinsky in a delightful mash-up.
This is the band of course, who regular readers might recall recently made gloriously melodic music from - among other things - items of furniture, glass and water, and whose leader has just returned from a free-improvisation concert in a cave on the remote Faroe Islands and is currently working on a piece for violin and the sounds made by Antarctic ice recorded underwater. Which is one of many reasons I love them: they are refreshingly, deliberately and deliciously "different."
They kicked off with Stravinsky's Three Pieces for String Quartet, with Jackie, Miranda, Clare and Caroline putting on their own little fashion show and hitting the tricky Stravinsky pieces with verve and not a little wit. A real grin-inducer.
Next up came Anna Clyne's "Within Her Arms," a beautiful and elegiac string piece that built and ebbed like waves and was both unashamedly gorgeous and very modern; you could tell that her heart lies in electro-acoustic tape pieces even though the stage was filled with lush acoustic strings only. Lovely.
A short coughie break while the piano was wheeled onto the stage and then the dashing Dejan Lazić delighted us with Mozart's Piano Concerto No.12 in A Major (K414) with a small chamber orchestra in support. He has affected a Lisztian dangly forelock and delights in hunkering down with his nose almost against the keyboard, Bill Evans style for the fast passages and then throwing his head and arms back at the end of each thrilling run so that the floppy forelock flies back in a graceful arc. All very Romantic and Byronesque. His piano playing wasn't bad either. Bravos all round at the end.
Interval. Drinkies. Chatties.
The pink glasses and crimson torso of Nick Daniel launched us into the Nicholas Maw piece, with horns and woodwind added to the strings. A beautiful melodic line transferred piece by piece from the strings to the oboe before a fiendishly fast, serial-based and almost free-jazz recitativo and a boffo, grandstanding final movement that saw him exchanging rock-star poses with Jacqueline Shave. Fully deserved encores.
Last up: Haydn. While we wouldn't normally expect such "popular" classical composers as Mozza and Haydn from the Brittens, they choose the more non-traditional of traditional pieces and the finale was Haydn's wilfully bizarre, six movement, 60th Symphony: "il Distratto."
This piece of gonzo weirdness is chock full of jokes and the band were obviously having a ball … exchanged smiles of delight, fiercely furrowed brows and alarmed glances gave the impression that they were flying by the seats of their collective pants, but as ever they were fantastically tight and together. Fiddlers' elbows got a serious seeing-to in the hilariously over the top speed-freak fourth and sixth movements. Inevitably a few folk got caught out after the false climax of the fourth movement and burst into spontaneous applause, much to the giggling delight of orchestra and audience alike.
A gleeful, helter-skelter show-stopper of a finale that blew the roof off and made us cheer and clap until our arms dropped off and then stamp our feet.
This is only the opener in a fabulous season. Next Britten Sinf gig in four weeks' time. Expect hyperbole and fashion notes.
Toodle pip!
Nothing quite so outrageously "fuck me" as Alina Ibragimova's shoes from last time around, but this evening's prize went to Jacquie Shave for imprisoning her feet and calves with what I can only describe as a stiletto heeled, gladiator sandal-themed creation that had somehow got pimped by a bondage shop.
Sexiest feet of the night, however, went to Clare Finnimore - principal viola - in black ballet pumps, for constantly twining her feet and ankles around one another and her chair legs in a surprisingly erotic manner. Of course, the fact that she's adorably cute didn't hinder the effect; nor even that she was wearing what appeared to be short clown trousers and a baby-doll nightie in black-on-black stripes.
As usual, the Sinfonia's women took the "black formal" theme and undermined it every which way they could, from Caroline Dearnley - principal cello - in a mountain of lace layers that would have made Stevie Nicks grind her teeth in a jealous rage, to Miranda Dale - 2nd. violin - clad clingingly in a beautiful empire line black velvet gown with a wide satin band under the bust and a diamanté brooch front and centre. With her hair up in strict 20's style she looked glam and gorgeous.
The only non-black item on display was a crimson silk Nehru-collared blouson, wrapped around the increasingly rotund figure of star oboist Nicholas Daniel as he strutted his stuff like a somewhat chubbier Mick Jagger and monstered the fiendishly virtuosic insanity of Nicholas Maw's "Little Concert for Oboe".
Oh, and a mention too for Jacqueline Shave's bonkers mane of red-blonde hair that has now grown bigger than she is and had its own little private party during the gig.
Anyhoo … enough fashion notes, other than to say that the women of the Britten Sinfonia sport a wonderful and exceedingly attractive collection of noses; something I'd not noticed until this evening. I mean, I'd noticed that they had noses, but not that they were so darned attractive … er.
As for the music?
The Sinfonia are renowned for their consistently wonderful programming and this evening gave us a premiere from Chicago-based Brit Anna Clyne (one of whose pieces launched this year's Last Night of the Proms), the Maw oboe piece, Mozart, Haydn and Stravinsky in a delightful mash-up.
This is the band of course, who regular readers might recall recently made gloriously melodic music from - among other things - items of furniture, glass and water, and whose leader has just returned from a free-improvisation concert in a cave on the remote Faroe Islands and is currently working on a piece for violin and the sounds made by Antarctic ice recorded underwater. Which is one of many reasons I love them: they are refreshingly, deliberately and deliciously "different."
They kicked off with Stravinsky's Three Pieces for String Quartet, with Jackie, Miranda, Clare and Caroline putting on their own little fashion show and hitting the tricky Stravinsky pieces with verve and not a little wit. A real grin-inducer.
Next up came Anna Clyne's "Within Her Arms," a beautiful and elegiac string piece that built and ebbed like waves and was both unashamedly gorgeous and very modern; you could tell that her heart lies in electro-acoustic tape pieces even though the stage was filled with lush acoustic strings only. Lovely.
A short coughie break while the piano was wheeled onto the stage and then the dashing Dejan Lazić delighted us with Mozart's Piano Concerto No.12 in A Major (K414) with a small chamber orchestra in support. He has affected a Lisztian dangly forelock and delights in hunkering down with his nose almost against the keyboard, Bill Evans style for the fast passages and then throwing his head and arms back at the end of each thrilling run so that the floppy forelock flies back in a graceful arc. All very Romantic and Byronesque. His piano playing wasn't bad either. Bravos all round at the end.
Interval. Drinkies. Chatties.
The pink glasses and crimson torso of Nick Daniel launched us into the Nicholas Maw piece, with horns and woodwind added to the strings. A beautiful melodic line transferred piece by piece from the strings to the oboe before a fiendishly fast, serial-based and almost free-jazz recitativo and a boffo, grandstanding final movement that saw him exchanging rock-star poses with Jacqueline Shave. Fully deserved encores.
Last up: Haydn. While we wouldn't normally expect such "popular" classical composers as Mozza and Haydn from the Brittens, they choose the more non-traditional of traditional pieces and the finale was Haydn's wilfully bizarre, six movement, 60th Symphony: "il Distratto."
This piece of gonzo weirdness is chock full of jokes and the band were obviously having a ball … exchanged smiles of delight, fiercely furrowed brows and alarmed glances gave the impression that they were flying by the seats of their collective pants, but as ever they were fantastically tight and together. Fiddlers' elbows got a serious seeing-to in the hilariously over the top speed-freak fourth and sixth movements. Inevitably a few folk got caught out after the false climax of the fourth movement and burst into spontaneous applause, much to the giggling delight of orchestra and audience alike.
A gleeful, helter-skelter show-stopper of a finale that blew the roof off and made us cheer and clap until our arms dropped off and then stamp our feet.
This is only the opener in a fabulous season. Next Britten Sinf gig in four weeks' time. Expect hyperbole and fashion notes.
Toodle pip!
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Saturday Statuary - Big-Ass Bug Thing
"Now hold still, sweetie; I'm just gonna put this big-ass bug thing in your hand."
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Saturday Statuary
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Monday, October 07, 2013
WTF Monday - Shadow Puppets of Ancient Egypt
Right?
You watching?
HA!
Anubis!
ANUBIS!
Aww c'mon!
Jackal headed god?
Sheesh, you're a tough audience …
Y'ready?
Aww fuck! That's Anubis again. I really am shit at this …"
Saturday, October 05, 2013
Where's Mona?
By the way … the girl at the lower left? If anyone knows where I can order one of those, please let me know.
Friday, October 04, 2013
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
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