London, Bath, the Cotswolds, and yes...Rene Pape

Iconic London, Kensington Palace, Stonehenge, Walking the Slaughters (click to enlarge)

I went to London from May 29 to June 9, 2009. I'd been once before on a 'grand tour' and had seen some major sights like Windsor Castle and the Tower of London, but there was a lot left like Stonehenge and the British Library and Museum. Besides, she thought, Rene Pape was going to sing Rasch's Mein Herz Brent w/ the London Symphony. So months ago, maybe even a year, I got my symphony ticket (very good seat btw-center about 17th row), and quickly followed w/ a plane ticket. I used Rick Steves for my planning and he gives excellent advice. I'll add some links at the end.

I stayed in Belgravia (thanks Rick) near Victoria Station and Coach Station and had a leisurely walk to Buckingham Palace - the Changing of the Guard SOUNDED great but how it looked I would not know as I was far from the first row. It was fun anyway, and I bought some chotzkes at the Queen's Collection (priceless art and bling) and got to see a couple of Windsor Greys, the Queen's own horses, which she names herself.

I did a lot of the usual touristy stuff - loved the hop on/hop off bus, and saw a lot of sights just riding around (got a sunburn too -- London was hot!). Got out to Kensington Palace (Di's place) and saw some of her dresses and gorgeous gardens. Saw the coronation chair at Westminster Cathedral and all the war heros at St. Paul's (the Brit's religion and conquests seem curiously entertwined.) Attended a lovely evensong at St. Paul's, with a guest choir from Sweden and had a coffee in their crypt. Dreamed about undertakers that night. Their evensong was rather Episcopal except they cross themselves and their crosses are crucifixes.

I think my favorite thing in London is the food court at Harrod's lol. It's sumptuously decorated, and they have lunch counters around - one for deli, one for wine and cheese, one for sweets like sundaes and sodas, one for dim sum, and on and on and on. I was truly (as my Mom would say) in hog heaven.

The concert! I took a taxi (expensive!) to Royal Festival Hall which rather resembles something from the former Eastern bloc - ugly! But gosh, that young LSO and its young conductor just played their hearts out - Mendelsohn, that elegant fellow's Reformation Symphony, some Mahler dirge like piece (Totenfeier) featuring nine (9) bass viols. And after intermission - drum roll - Rene Pape and others performing the Rasch Mein Herz Brent. Of course I have the CD, but gosh the thing is powerful when performed live and with English subtitles projected on a screen like the opera. Rene was in good voice, not sensational, and was popping Fisherman's Friend or some lozenge throughout, so he may have been suffering from a grunge. All in all, a great concert, however.

After about a week, I abandoned London for Bath. I was closer to the Coach Station than the train, so decided to take the bus down, even though it's a little slower. The driver helps with bags (which train folks don't do), and while waiting in line I enjoyed meeting a British character - to wit -- a young man - 20 if a day - giant of a fellow, wolfing down a sub. He asked me something like "Is Portsmouth after Bournemouth" which of course I had no clue, so we passed the question back two or three ticket purchasers till someone knew the answer. Meanwhile, the young giant, realizing that I'm American, said "You're American - something something diamond" and I thought he was saying America was a diamond. What he said (on repeat) was he loved Neil Diamond lol. 20 year old Neil Diamond fan -- well Barry fans are ageless too.

After a lovely drive through the countryside, we arrived in Bath. I flagged down an (expensive) taxi - I could have walked except for the luggage - when will I learn to pack light?? I LOVED my hotel - Pratt's. Creaky! Old! Upholstery and carpet were a little stained, but otherwise, my room was spotless. The window OPENED, and I was serenaded by birds and gulls all night long. Pratt's is near the train station, the Abbey, and the tourist vehicles. The location is perfect. I took their double decker bus ride and got to see the famous circle of 'condos'. Bath looks like you expect to walk into a Jane Austen novel at any moment. Something I enjoyed was the restaurant, Sally Lunn. They have an earlybird dinner for $10, 2 course, mit candlelight and wine if you want it. Another restaurant I enjoyed was Garfunkel's. They gave me a table by the window (twice) and they have an extensive menu.

From Bath, I took two EXCELLENT Mad Max tours. Mad Max is a (now heavenly) dog. His 'parents' Maddy and Paul run Mad Max, and Paul was our tour guide. One day we did Stonehenge and Avebury and a couple of quaint towns, stopping at an excellent pub for lunch. In Avebury I purchased a Crop Circle book, which may have started a new obsession. The next day we motor toured the Cotswolds, where we 'walked the Slaughters' and once again felt like extras in a Jane Austen novel.

When I left Bath, I decided to take the train back to Gatwick - big mistake! For starters, it's expensive. But in Bath, there are three (3) flights of stairs to the boarding platform and NO LIFT OR ESCALATOR. I happened upon a friendly homeless fellow who said, "you look lost." I said "If you're not too busy, I'll give you a couple of pounds to lug my stuff to the train platform." He said OK, got 3 pounds, and I was saved.

Some links:

Lime Tree Hotel, London
Rick Steves's London 2009
Pratt's Bath UK
Mad Max Tours, Bath UK
Mein Herz Brent
London Symphony Orchestra
Streetwise Maps

Barry's Jingles

About the time State Farm apparently has abandoned "Like a Good Neighbor State Farm is there" BandAid brand has resurrected "I am stuck on a BandAid 'cause BandAid's stuck on me." What goes around comes around...

Barry Live at the Greek Theatre LA 1978

This is a photo of a photo from the retrospective which comes with the DVD. Hope Barry doesn't mind.

I just received the DVD of Barry's concert Live from the Greek Theatre '78 and it was a pleasant surprise and way to spend a weekday evening. Barry has other DVDs I prefer - Blenheim Palace, On Broadway - but this one is great for historical purposes. His voice is so pure and he thankfully noodles so little. He and I are the same age and I was 35 at the time of this concert. His fans look like contemporaries. Now when you see the fans at a Barry concert, Barry hasn't aged but the audience is plump and very middle aged. The Copa number is a classic and is included on some other retrospective I have. Lady Flash knock themselves out for the whole show. Barry is such a great songwriter and song deliverer. Although he probably made him famous, I do wish he'd never met Clive Davis.

Rene Pape and the Bronx Zoo too...

I flew to NYC on Thursday 23 APR 09 for Das Rheingold at the Met. I took the Broadway 104 bus down from 95th Street where I found myself to have achieved elderly status: 2 kind folks on a crowded Manhattan bus offered me their seat :~). I found the opera a little plodding (Maestro Levine was ill, perhaps that was why) and the frog aka Alberich a highlight. Rene Pape played Fasolt, one of the giants, and was in wonderful voice. When he sang about his love for Freia, his emotion and passion carried right up to the balcony. Others have conjectured about Pape's recent hiatus/illness, I'll posit that perhaps he quit smoking? When I quit, I gained an octave or so and discovered what I think they call falsetto. I tried the new restaurant at65 in the front of Alice Tully Hall for dinner. It was just right for price and ambiance for someone looking for a reasonable and unpretentious place around Lincoln Center. Unfortunately the food was very average and the service abysmal. The pretty young waitperson must have concurred, charging me only for my dessert. Perhaps they'll get the kinks out in time.



On Friday, I found my way to Madison Avenue via the 96th Street crosstown bus. I walked up to about 99th for the Express BxM11 bus to the Bronx Zoo. I had my 2.50 in quarters all set, but it's 5.00 before 10 even for Seniors, so I blew all my quarters on the trip up and scrounged for more while I was at the zoo. Five dollars for an express ride to Bronx from Manhattan is a bargain though. I enjoyed the zoo - my first trip there. The grounds and buildings are beautiful. Daffodils were in bloom, and forsythia, and the trees were just beginning their frothy greening. The animals are in natural settings and it's oftentimes difficult to make them out. The Creatures of the Night exhibit was one of the best - all the bats you might ever hope to see in the darkened exhibit. I pretty well did the whole zoo. On foot. After bussing back to Manhattan, I went to the Pain Quotidian at Broadway and 91st for an excellent vegetable quiche and glass of sparkling raspberry (rhubarb?) tea which was delicious. I wandered back to the Hotel Newton and crawled into bed around 9 PM. I did not wake or dream till 6 AM.





On Saturday, I awoke and went down to the reliable Key West diner for pancakes and bacon. After, I took the 96th Street crosstown bus to Fifth Avenue and the M1 or so down to 88th for the Met Museum. I was still exhausted from the zoo, so I just wandered around a bit, looked at the ancient artifacts on the first floor. There is a breathtaking small bronze of an Arabian dancer - at least she looked Arabian in all her veils. I perused the giftshop and added to my mug collection. I went back to my room and rested, showered, dressed, rode the 104 bus down to 57th Street and walked over to Carnegie Hall. I planned to hit the Carnegie Deli, but it was crowded (not surprisingly) and they stuck my by the kitchen door, so I left and walked over to whatever is cattycorner to Carnegie Hall, something Euro I believe, and had great quiche and tea but a horrible restroom! Then I went to Carnegie Hall where I discovered the elevator (thank God) and rode up to the Dress Circle for a so so seat to hear Herr Pape's leider recital.



Pape amazes me. He's like a YoYo Ma or Jacqueline Dupree with the extraordinary control he has over his voice. But rather than carrying around a prized cello, he carries his own Stradivarius within. I'm blessed/cursed with a pretty good ear and I swear the man hit every note of every song with breathtaking precision - well ok, a couple just a hair sharp but...
Being new to voice groupiness, I was unfamiliar with his songs for the evening. It goes without saying that they were all beautiful, and they generously provided us with English translations of all the lyrics, which, while beautiful, certainly dwell among the more morose of poetic expressions. Must be the bass repertoire. I was happily surprised with the extraordinary virtuosity of Brian Seger at the piano. The recital ended far too early, and after much (but not tumultuous) applause from a respectably full (but not SRO) house, we were rewarded with 2 (I thought 3 but other reviews say 2) encores,the last of which was -- Some Enchanted Evening. On which note, Rene sent us home, humming AND enchanted.

On the way home to the Hotel Newton via the 104 bus, I absently read the inserts in the recital program. Rats! Roaches! The man was providing autographs and a Meet and Greet after the recital and - I missed it!!!!


KICK SELF IN BUTT...I MISSED IT!

Endings

Monty Python Brave of Heart Rest in Peace April 8 2009

The first time I saw Monty was at my dead sister's house. I saw a brave and beautiful long haired cat climb the stairs and look at me with huge eyes the color of a summer sky. I brought a bowl of dry kibble and a bowl of canned cat food. I sat on a porch chair and listened to the wind in the pines and watched Monty eat everything, then leave. This dance of ours went on for several weeks. Finally on Christmas Day 2007 I left her food in a cat carrier and when she entered to eat, closed the door. And brought her to my house.

The 16 months since have been fraught with frustration, irritation, fear, and compromise on the part of dear Monty, me, my male cat who Monty hated, and my dog, who Monty loved. We all adjusted as best we could, most especially perhaps Tony, my male cat, who was relegated to the front porch in thunderstorms and 30 degree temperatures.

Only a psychiatrist could puzzle out why I decided on April 8 to have Monty put down. I don't think she was sick although she may have had a UTI -- she had peed or sprayed in the laundry room which was sort of the last straw in my adjusting to her quirks. When I finally decided, after I asked God for guidance on the 7th and decided on the 8th, action was swift. I was afraid I'd chicken out. When I pulled her from under the bedspread where she was 'hiding' and napping, I put her in the carrier. In previous trips to the vet, she has objected ferociously, even getting the door open on one occasion. But this time, she just sat and looked at me with her big blue eyes. Perhaps she was resigned, perhaps she just thought it was a vet visit, perhaps she was in shock, perhaps she was happy to be going, I don't know.

I've put many pets down, but Monty is the first I've put down for behavioral issues. The fact that she was my sister's cat and kept that flame alive conflicted me always. But Tony, my male cat, was fighting every cat in town for his dinner, I was dealing with Monty's spraying issue, and Monty had become more and more withdrawn, frankly.

Was it the right decision? Only God knows. I miss her terribly. She slept in my bed. She got in my lap after supper. Did I mention her blue eyes, which were the last thing I saw as Doc White took her away. But she also attacked with claws unprovoked, spent days hiding under blankets, hissed at Tony the male cat, and generally made life dysfunctional for the rest of us.

Art Garfunkel used to sing a song with these lines:

Endings always come at last,
Endings always come too fast,
They come too fast,
And they pass too slow,
I love you
And that's all I know.

Huffington Post 4/7/09 - The President Visits Iraq

Rene Pape reprises Marke for Met's Tristan and Isolde

I treated myself to a weekend in NYC to hear 'live and in person' Rene Pape do his King Marke in Tristan and Isolde. My first introduction to him was watching this T & I on PBS. I remember how difficult the 'suspension of disbelief' was because Eaglen and Heppner (Isolde & Tristan in that version) were huge and not very good actors. In the second act, enter the dashing Mr. Pape as the cuckolded King Marke. Now the suspension of disbelief becomes downright impossible :~). But his singing was grand, his eyes were quite blue, and I fell head over heels in love with him and opera. So now, even though I own the DVD and have his King Marke monologue on the excellent Gods, Kings, and Demons, I wanted to experience the opera first hand.

I had a great seat, although I paid dearly for it, joining the Met Guild for early selection and still plonking down near 100 bucks for a balcony seat. But it was the front row and in the center. Daniel Barenboim conducted the Met orchestra for the performance. I'm not a huge Barenboim fan -- I think he overwhelms the singers, rather than enhancing them -- but the sound from T & I enveloped me, as if I could have floated down from the balcony on its lushness.

Caterina Dalayman sang Isolde this night, and a German - Peter Seiffert I believe - sang Tristan. They did a serviceable job, but the real stars of the night were Barenboim's orchestra and of course the incomparable Pape. Even though I've seen it and heard it a dozen times, hearing his stunned and wounded Marke, how hurt he was by Tristan's unfaithfulness, I found myself almost shedding a tear. Actually I though Dalayman and Seiffert brought a lot of tension and drama to the opera -- their dramatic abilities perhaps more notable than their singing this night, at least. Also the rather austere and geometric set seemed right when I saw it for real on the stage -- the Wagner music is so overpowering, to do more with the set would have been overkill imo, except for the silly toy soldiers in Act III.

When the curtain calls came, great cheers came forth from the audience when Pape took his bow. I didn't cheer (it's the MET for heaven's sake) but I did stand and applaud enthusiastically. I WANTED to take a picture of his curtain call, but I'd already been admonished by the usher for having a camera in my hand (although I hadn't USED it), and was too chicken to try to snap one, even for the curtain call. Oh well.

All in all, I'm glad I can say I've seen Pape's King Marke 'live and in person' now.

RENE PAPE: Run...do not walk...

...to amazon.com or other fine site and purchase the Blue Eyed One's Gods, Kings, and Demons.

I cannot tell a lie - I downloaded this album (I paid!) from the DG site as soon as it was available in Germany, so I've been listening for a month or two. However, my car player wouldn't play the 'homemade' CD so I purchased a store version from Amazon. Rene Pape is gorgeous to look at and to listen to. I've crossed the ocean twice to hear him sing. After years of buying collections and operas so that I could hear one measly aria from him, it's a great treat to have a whole CD of Rene. Many of his iconic arias, like Ella Giamai M'amo from Don Carlo and the great King Marke aria from Tristan and Isolde are here. But the one I listen to over and over is Act II, Romance: "Na vozdusnom okeane" RUBENSTEIN: Demon. The music is as melodic as Schubert, and the singer as lyrical as the finest tenor. Great emotion pours out through his disciplined voice. If there are any sins in this CD they are ones of omission -- for example, there is no In diesen heil'gen Hallen or O Isis und Osiris, from Magic Flute -- I guess Sarastro isn't a God, King, or Demon. If you like Rene Pape, you must own at least one copy of this CD.

Postscript (11/21/08)
Hearing the 'store' version on my Sony stereo, I have a new fave from the CD -- the death scene from Boris - of course it's sung perfectly, but the drama is so real I feel like I'm listening to the opera itself being enacted. Now I'm a little bit sorry I didn't go with my first impulse to fly over and hear Mr. Pape's Boris in Dresden in December.

(crossposted at amazon.com)