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Tag Archives: opera

Tripping hither, tripping thither

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

When I went to the bar as a very young man, it was often enough in the company of the Oxford University Gilbert & Sullivan Society. My relationship with G&S had started early, specifically the argument in Three Men in a Boat over which song Harris is trying to sing (I remain confused to this [...]

Filed in correspondence, Journalism | Also tagged All Souls College, Arcadia, Bletchingdon, Brexit, clowns, comedy, Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907, donkeys, drink, English National Opera, fairies, food, French, G Schirmer, Greek, Grenadier Guards, Holywell Music Room, Iolanthe, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Jerome K Jerome, Kazakhstan, ketamine, Latin, law, librettos, Mount Ararat, music, Oxford University, Oxford University Gilbert & Sullivan Society, plebs, politics, Richard D'Oyly Carte, Savoy Theatre, sex, shepherds, Sir Arthur Sullivan, Sir William Schwenk Gilbert, the Conservative Party, the House of Lords, the Liberal Party, The Oldie, The West Wing, voice, women | Comments (0)

I ink, therefore I am

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

On the choice and acquisition of my one and only tattoo. – For The Oldie

Filed in correspondence, Journalism | Also tagged Afghanistan, Anthony McGowan, army, Asterix, buffalos, Classics, Cleopatra, Egyptology, Elizabeth Taylor, gladiators, Greek, Latin, men, mothers, Oxford, Rome, Russell Crowe, Samoan, sewerage, South Africa, SPQR, tattoos, The Oldie, war | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Monday, October 30, 2017

. The Queen won a first prize for bantams at the King’s Lynn Fur and Feather Society’s show. — The Nelson Evening Mail, January 6 1909 . In LA there is a chess set designed for the East India Company, featuring Sikh soldiers vs Afghans. Among a certain kind of people, being ‘passionate about Israel/Palestine’ [...]

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Also tagged (il)literacy, Afghans, bantams, birds, Bobby Kennedy, Brett Dean, butter, chess, Communism, cricket, death, Django Reinhardt, education, England, finance, Germany, government, Iceland, Israel, King Alfred, King's Lynn, liberal arts, Los Angeles, music, Nelson Evening Mail, Palestine, politics, queens, Rain Men, sailors, Sam Craft, sea-faring, sex, Sikhs, South Benfleet, tattoos, the East India Company, Tierra del Fuego, traffic, Truth, work, WWII | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE

Monday, September 18, 2017

. Our Eastern allies have just spent £2,000,000 in equipping a Government steel works. — The Nelson Evening Mail, September 8 1908 . Ben Stokes is the sixth Englishman to have his name on the honours boards at Lord’s for both batting and bowling. The smell of hot food is not very common on building sites. Annalise was [...]

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Also tagged Afrikaners, America, Anne Watson, arachnids, Australians, Ben Stokes, Benjamin Britten, Brexit, cricket, death, drink, finance, food, government, hair, Iceland, Leonard Bernstein, life, London, Lord's, manufacturing, Neighbours, Nelson Evening Mail, penises, Peter Grimes, Reading, Sebastian Faulks, South Africa, steel, the Bible, the Chinese, the EU, the Irish, the NHS, the Nile, train-travel, TV, work | Comments (0)

A complete list of all those who have gone fishing, according to Benjamin Britten

Sunday, February 5, 2017

1) Old Joe 2) Young Joe 3) You Know

Filed in Non-fictions | Also tagged Benjamin Britten, fishing, micro-non-fiction, Montagu Slater, The Pikey Laureate | Comments (0)

I’ll play along (after Da Ponte)

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

You wanna dance, you little count? You wanna dance? If you really wanna dance then I’ll dig out the banjo. Why not? I’ll play along with you. If you wanna learn how I’ll even show you the moves: I could teach you a thing or two. I will, I will – I promise! But gently [...]

Filed in Poetry, Translation | Also tagged Da Ponte, Dominic Hilton, Figaro, Italian, libretto, Mozart, music | Comments (0)

La Fille du régiment

Friday, April 20, 2012

Donizetti’s silliness at the ROH, reviewed. – For theartsdesk

Filed in Journalism, review | Also tagged Ann Widdecombe, Donizetti, music, Royal Opera House, Switzerland, the French, theartsdesk | Comments (0)

The life and times of Sir Jonathan Miller

Sunday, April 1, 2012

BBC2′s Arena on one of the last remaining Renaissance men. – For theartsdesk

Filed in Journalism, review | Also tagged BBC, Gilbert & Sullivan, Oliver Sacks, Plato, science, Shakespeare, Sir Jonathan Miller, Sir Laurence Olivier, theartsdesk, theatre, TV | Comments (0)

theASHtray, vol.5

Saturday, March 3, 2012

In which we hear more about Klinghoffer, camp terrorism, vultures, fake boobs, Cape Town, Debussy, The West Wing, and the aftermath of sex with Willie Nelson. – For theartsdesk

Filed in column, Journalism | Also tagged Alan Rickman, Cantona, Debussy, Denzel Washington, ENO, film, hairdressers, Israel, John Adams, Maeterlinck, Mallarmé, Palestine, Ricardo Darin, Ryan Reynolds, South Africa, theatre, TV, Vincent Cassel, Willie Nelson, Zach Braff | Comments (0)

theASHtray, vol.4

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Carry on up the hillbillies, the questionable merits of Aïda, and why the CIA employs so many jazz nerds. – For theartsdesk

Filed in column, Journalism | Also tagged Aïda, art, CIA, Egypt, Hamlet, Hieronymus Bosch, jazz, John le Carré, Kings of Leon, plaid, radio, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, theartsdesk, Verdi | Comments (0)