tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38416236870355475212024-03-13T16:00:37.563+00:00la vie bohemeTravel, art, opera, adventuresAnnette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.comBlogger611125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-34223045429459760312013-12-31T02:54:00.005+00:002013-12-31T02:54:55.090+00:00Ex-pat reflections<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T3n0YXKBWR8/Up9Ttsz5PpI/AAAAAAAAMs4/LZq-4iwzvOA/s1600/IMG_8315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T3n0YXKBWR8/Up9Ttsz5PpI/AAAAAAAAMs4/LZq-4iwzvOA/s1600/IMG_8315.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Sometimes I yearn to be in a place where I don't just know more or less what people are saying, <br />
but know exactly what they mean." </td></tr>
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The other day I read a thoughtful and funny article in the International New York Times (once called, much more borderlessly, the International Herald Tribune). My copy of the paper was five days old, but hey! At least there <i>was</i> a copy to be had in the small Italian village. The writer was <b>Pamela Druckerman</b>, author of <i>"Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting."</i> Her subject was ostensibly the experience of taking psychotherapy in French, but was really a few reflections on life as an ex-pat, in her case in France.<br />
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After my three-and-a-bit years in Europe, there was much that resonated. A few examples:<br />
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<i>"I wasn't sure how long I'd live here, but I did expect my stay to follow a certain ex-pat narrative: You arrive; you struggle to understand the place; you finally crack the codes and are transformed; you triumphantly return home, with a halo of foreign wisdom and your stylish bilingual children in tow."</i></blockquote>
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Bar the children, that's just about my mindset. She goes on:<br />
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<i>"But 10 years on, I've gone way off that script...Sometimes I yearn to be in a place where I don't just know more or less what people are saying, but know exactly what they mean." </i>Yup.</blockquote>
Though very funny too, Pamela can get wistful:<br />
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<i>" ...there are people like me, who study France and then describe it to the folks back home. We're determined to have an "authentic" French experience. And yet, by mining every encounter for its anthropological significance, we keep our distance, too. No matter how familiar Paris becomes, something always reminds me that I don't belong..."</i></blockquote>
Read the full article <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/opinion/druckerman-an-american-neurotic-in-paris.html">here.</a><br />
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These are appropriate reflections as I make a few changes...back to Australia for a few months, for one thing. And this blog moving over to <a href="http://laviebohemetravel.wordpress.com/">Wordpress</a>, for another. I hope regular readers will follow me....<br />
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<i>...hasta la vista....a presto....</i><br />
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Italy41.87194 12.56737999999995729.612365000000004 -8.1748075000000426 54.131515 33.309567499999957tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-70100437745327769512013-12-29T22:28:00.001+00:002013-12-29T22:28:59.205+00:00Endless Horizons<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jfEFwYB7xt8/UrVZ_pkHRsI/AAAAAAAAM78/fXzWBgJXKYA/s1600/john-brack-24483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jfEFwYB7xt8/UrVZ_pkHRsI/AAAAAAAAM78/fXzWBgJXKYA/s1600/john-brack-24483.jpg" height="250" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Brack, 'The Car', 1955. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.</td></tr>
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<b>The Royal Academy in London</b> recently hosted a wonderful <a href="http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/ra-magazine/autumn-2013/under-the-sun,539,RAMA.html">exhibition of Australian art</a>. To wander through the galleries was to walk through a retrospective of Australian history, with illustrations. (The exhibition closed on 8th Dec 2013). I was left feeling both enlightened and homesick, and clutching a large catalogue.<br />
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Here's some extracts from the Academy's website. The curator chose the theme of <b>'landscape' </b>to unify things, and a very good choice it was too. Those endless horizons...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wMkkYAzMhkU/UrVZ_s23FHI/AAAAAAAAM74/g2hp2PaXW5Y/s1600/bush-fire-24478.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wMkkYAzMhkU/UrVZ_s23FHI/AAAAAAAAM74/g2hp2PaXW5Y/s1600/bush-fire-24478.jpg" height="388" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eugene von Guérard, 'Bush Fire Between Mt Elephant and Timboon, 1857', 1859. Art Gallery of Ballarat.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XAGYWpd2tL4/UrVZ_zoRt2I/AAAAAAAAM8A/I8bY2NnZbCg/s1600/john-glover-24479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XAGYWpd2tL4/UrVZ_zoRt2I/AAAAAAAAM8A/I8bY2NnZbCg/s1600/john-glover-24479.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Glover, 'A View of the Artist’s House and Garden, in Mills Plains, Van Diemen’s Land', 1835. Art Gallery of South Australia . </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7VTV4e0Lm8A/UrVaAXRpRNI/AAAAAAAAM8U/KfQTnKJFs18/s1600/rover-thomas-24481.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7VTV4e0Lm8A/UrVaAXRpRNI/AAAAAAAAM8U/KfQTnKJFs18/s1600/rover-thomas-24481.jpg" height="586" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rover Thomas (Joolama) 'Cyclone Tracey' 1991. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.</td></tr>
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The exhibition was so rich that it's impossible, with just a few examples, to do it justice. Just about every Australian artist of any significance was represented. The early colonialists (including my favourite <b>John Glover</b>) were there, with their very European reactions to the landscape. The <b>Aboriginal artists</b> were very strongly represented, and wonderfully curated with excellent explanations of the various schools and how they arose. Off 200 works, one third were by indigenous artists. Then the nineteenth century big guns, all the names (<b>Roberts, McCubbin, Streeton, Drysdale)</b>, and so into the twentieth century. Three of <b>Sidney Nolan</b>'s <i>'Ned Kelly'</i> series were hung (though go to the National Gallery in Canberra and see (up to) 25 of them together for the full impact).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EokPUyIx3Mk/UrVaAq6GEAI/AAAAAAAAM8Q/gF-YMmZ-1l0/s1600/russell-drysdale-24480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EokPUyIx3Mk/UrVaAq6GEAI/AAAAAAAAM8Q/gF-YMmZ-1l0/s1600/russell-drysdale-24480.jpg" height="530" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Russell Drysdale, 'The Drover’s Wife', c.1945. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NPBWm1DdPKE/UrVaAwVKJSI/AAAAAAAAM8Y/35CFRP44dCE/s1600/sunbaker-24482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NPBWm1DdPKE/UrVaAwVKJSI/AAAAAAAAM8Y/35CFRP44dCE/s1600/sunbaker-24482.jpg" height="570" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Max Dupain, 'Sunbaker', 1937. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.</td></tr>
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Perhaps the most talked-about painting was <b>John Brack</b>'s <i>'The Car'</i> from 1955, but many other twentieth century big names were also shown: <b>Authur Boyd, Grace Cossington-Smith, Fred Williams, John Olsen, Brett Whiteley, Max Dupain</b>...a cornucopia. I found the exhibition a little weak as it wended its way to the very present day, but perhaps just a bit more perspective is needed on the recent works.<br />
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However, let me add some kudos for the video work that opened the exhibition as you walked in: <b>Shaun Gladwell</b>'s <i>'Approach to Mundi Mundi'</i>. He sits on a motorcycle and rides straight along a straight road in a flat landscape, the horizon stretching as far as the eye can see. When you arrive at the Sidney Nolan 'Kelly' paintings and contemplate that one where Ned is riding in a similar landscape, the links are obvious.<br />
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At this point perhaps the sentimental amongst us (including homesick Australians) should break into a rendition os Dorothea MacKellar's <i>"I Love A Sunburnt Country".</i>..I jest. A bit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Q-uxq7iLo8/UrVgNUpOcaI/AAAAAAAAM8w/VZhI2OV_CHs/s1600/0919shaun_gladwell_729-620x349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Q-uxq7iLo8/UrVgNUpOcaI/AAAAAAAAM8w/VZhI2OV_CHs/s1600/0919shaun_gladwell_729-620x349.jpg" height="354" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still from Shaun Gladwell's 'Approach to Mundi Mundi'</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MFLrWl8J5zw/UrVmgM34OzI/AAAAAAAAM9M/60MD1dzgsmU/s1600/24otW02key121_v01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MFLrWl8J5zw/UrVmgM34OzI/AAAAAAAAM9M/60MD1dzgsmU/s1600/24otW02key121_v01.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bad reproduction of Sidney Nolan's 'Ned Kelly', but you get the drift....</td></tr>
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And the<b> reviews</b>? Mixed, it seems. The ones that the Academy likes to quote:<br />
"Not just a long overdue show but a powerfully atmospheric evocation of a country seen from myriad facets" - The Times<br />
<br />
"Australia’s most treasured art comes to London for the biggest show yet seen in UK" - The Guardian<br />
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"★★★★ Detailed, comprehensive, omniscient, in places beautiful” The Daily Telegraph<br />
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But apparently <a href="http://www.watoday.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/cascade-of-diarrhoea-uk-critic-savages-australian-art-exhibition-20130923-2u8g4.html">some reviewers</a> found it necessary to dis the whole lot. While I can sympathise with <a href="http://www.watoday.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/australias-london-art-spectacular-is-a-clumsy-embarrassment-20130918-2tztt.html">comments</a> about the limitations of such review-style exhibitions - it was often disappointing to see only one or two works by the really big names - that's inherent in the type of exhibition. Yes, it would be great to see an RA exhibition showcasing just one great Australian artist periodically - as they so often do for, shall we say, 'less-great' Europeans - but they just don't do it. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/sep/22/australia-art-royal-academy-review">Here's The Guardian's review</a> - displaying not very much knowledge of Australian art history, and agreeing with me on the contemporary stuff.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-olvQjLn57Ts/UrVlWwzqXOI/AAAAAAAAM9A/WNfnDN6ISRM/s1600/akey-145-23177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-olvQjLn57Ts/UrVlWwzqXOI/AAAAAAAAM9A/WNfnDN6ISRM/s1600/akey-145-23177.jpg" height="508" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brett Whiteley 'Big Orange (Sunset)' 1974</td></tr>
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.511213899999987 -0.1198243999999704151.511213899999987 -0.11982439999997041 51.511213899999987 -0.11982439999997041tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-22912814729901237122013-12-29T06:07:00.002+00:002013-12-29T06:07:24.870+00:00Abu Dhabi Buildings...wow!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mAu4_9-VCDQ/UqgnTOm9fII/AAAAAAAAMzg/ktz-CBSqlIc/s1600/P1080504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mAu4_9-VCDQ/UqgnTOm9fII/AAAAAAAAMzg/ktz-CBSqlIc/s1600/P1080504.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">The “Circle Building” - Aldar HQ; Abu Dhabi</span></div>
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Have Money, Will Build: One rather glorious off-shoot of a rich Arab oil Emirate, and its need to build a modern new city fast, is that you can end up with a collection of exceptional modern architecture. You might also have a few tasteless bits in there too, but there’s the potential...<br />
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In <b>Abu Dhabi,</b> they’ve amassed an impressive collection. My favourites are the <a href="http://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/sheikh-zayed-bridge/">Sheikh Zayed Bridge</a> by Zaha Hadid, (built 1997 - 2010) and <a href="http://www.etihadtowers.ae/en/about/welcome.php">Etihad Towers</a> by Australian architects DBI Design.<br />
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Hadid's <b>Sheikh Zayed Bridge,</b> at 842 meter long, is said to be the most intricate bridge ever constructed. Its curved design arches evoke undulating sand dunes of the desert.<i> "The bridge features - besides its striking architecture - a dynamic lighting design that is based on subtle colours that flow across the bridge's spine, symbolising the connecting nature of the bridge and the energy that the capital city Abu Dhabi radiates. The bridge is the third traffic route connecting the mainland to the island of Abu Dhabi and the new main gateway over the Maqtah channel. The bridge was designed by architect Zaha Hadid as the grandeur landmark for the UAE's capital city." </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Zayed_Bridge">(source)</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bPrxFSQrzsM/Uqgm8G1PUJI/AAAAAAAAMzQ/lH_PtIrIaP0/s1600/P1080490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bPrxFSQrzsM/Uqgm8G1PUJI/AAAAAAAAMzQ/lH_PtIrIaP0/s1600/P1080490.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheikh Zayed Bridge</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NKa32Dlma4Q/Uqgm7hoYP3I/AAAAAAAAMzM/rtW8lzgCXa4/s1600/P1080492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NKa32Dlma4Q/Uqgm7hoYP3I/AAAAAAAAMzM/rtW8lzgCXa4/s1600/P1080492.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Driving across Zaha Hadid's bridge.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u09yh_jAYxs/UqgqF8ZbbuI/AAAAAAAAM1A/WKedKdIEGsw/s1600/Sheikh+Zayed+Bridge+by+Zaha+Hadid+Architects02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u09yh_jAYxs/UqgqF8ZbbuI/AAAAAAAAM1A/WKedKdIEGsw/s1600/Sheikh+Zayed+Bridge+by+Zaha+Hadid+Architects02.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aerial view. <a href="http://www.aasarchitecture.com/2013/04/Sheikh-Zayed-Bridge-Zaha-Hadid-Architects.html">(source)</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dp-z0srL1V8/Uqgn4oHF9iI/AAAAAAAAM0I/IWTOq9Sci0M/s1600/P1080589.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dp-z0srL1V8/Uqgn4oHF9iI/AAAAAAAAM0I/IWTOq9Sci0M/s1600/P1080589.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Etihad Towers.</td></tr>
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The <a href="http://www.etihadtowers.ae/en/about/welcome.php">Etihad Towers website</a> waxes lyrical about these five delicate skyscrapers, clustered together, reaching 74 storeys:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span class="s1">With five stunning towers that sparkle iridescently in the </span><span class="s1">never-ending sunshine – Etihad Towers is a reflection of </span><span class="s1">everything that Abu Dhabi is and will be… modern, </span><span class="s1">sophisticated and luxurious..</span></i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span class="s1">After several years of planning and design, 2006 was a special year for His Highness Sheikh Suroor Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan and his Projects Department, for this was when construction work got underway. His Highness can be proud of succeeding in creating a very inspirational, prestigious and desirable landmark in the UAE. The scope, magnitude and uniqueness is breathtaking.</span></i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span class="s1">The <b>Australian architects DBI Design</b> have created a sculptural feat that is a true landmark of the City. Changing the Abu Dhabi skyline forever the towers offer the most amazing vantage points – with sweeping panoramic views over the vibrant city and Arabian Sea.</span></i></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wx_mlN1xwpA/UqgoNoMAySI/AAAAAAAAM0Y/GJ_bAa4zF2U/s1600/P1080591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wx_mlN1xwpA/UqgoNoMAySI/AAAAAAAAM0Y/GJ_bAa4zF2U/s1600/P1080591.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foyer of the Jumierah Hotel, Etihad Towers</td></tr>
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One of the slim and beautiful Etihad Towers houses the Jumierah Hotel where I stayed in Abu Dhabi - great choice. The interior, slathered with the marble that the Gulf States seems to love so much (I guess it's cool and luxurious, so why not?), is actually quite impressive. The lobby soars, the exotic slabs of coloured marble entice, the glass curtain windows look out over the sea and city - and you can visit the bar on the 74 floor of Tower Three for afternoon tea.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tulb88h9QHI/UqgnsLuugsI/AAAAAAAAMz8/x2_I5gwZncg/s1600/P1080506.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tulb88h9QHI/UqgnsLuugsI/AAAAAAAAMz8/x2_I5gwZncg/s1600/P1080506.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Side view of the Circle Building, Aldar HQ. </td></tr>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But let’s also mention the <b>“Circle Building” - Aldar HQ.</b> </span>The 23-storey circular building at the capital’s Al Raha Beach has been named in a list of 16 eye-catching structures compiled by a jury of experts. Designed by <b>MZ Architects, which has offices in Abu Dhabi and Lebanon,</b> the 110-metre tall building, which opened in<b> 2010,</b> was <b>the first upright circular building in the Middle East.</b></div>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This is not the first time the building has won international recognition – it was named Best Futuristic Design at the 2008 Building Exchange Conference in Spain. <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/aldars-disc-hq-in-abu-dhabi-ranked-among-the-worlds-most-spectacular-offices#ixzz2n9ZhPM3v">(source)</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Pineapple Building: Abu Dhabi’s Al Bahr Towers</span></div>
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<i>"Abu Dhabi’s striking <b>Al Bahr Towers,</b> their design inspiring comparisons with <b>exotic pineapples and honeycombs,</b> have been named among the world’s best towers in a highly regarded award for high-rise architecture. The <b>twin 29-storey super-green Abu Dhabi Investment Council headquarters</b> came second in the Emporis skyscraper awards for projects completed last year.</i><br />
<i>The buildings are known for their distinctive covering of <b>2,000 umbrella-like elements</b> that can be opened and closed to keep the sun off the glass building as it moves across the sky but also let in daylight. The German-based skyscraper data company Emporis praised the Aedis-designed office towers for providing “a dynamic, translucent facade that runs off power generated by photovoltaic panels and which reacts to sunlight.” The towers have already featured on the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s “Innovative 20” list of buildings that “challenge the typology of tall buildings in the 21st century”. The latest award comes after Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Towers was awarded third place in the competition last year."</i> <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/business/industry-insights/property/abu-dhabis-al-bahr-towers-second-to-canadas-marilyn-monroe-buildings-in-best-architecture-awards">(source)</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yas Viceroy Hotel over an F1 racetrack <a href="http://adventureofthemonth.blogspot.ae/2010/04/yabba-dabba-abu-dhabi-or-what-to-do.html">(image source)</a></td></tr>
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Then there’s the <a href="http://www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/abudhabi/activities/formula_1_race%20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yas_Viceroy_Abu_Dhabi_Hotel">Yas Viceroy Hotel</a> with the F1 race track going right through it...<br />
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Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi Hotel is <b>located within the Yas Marina Circuit,</b> Abu Dhabi. It is the first new hotel in the world to be built over an F1 race circuit. The Hotel, designed by <b>Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture, principals of New York based Asymptote Architecture,</b> consists of two twelve story hotel towers, one set within the race circuit and another placed in the Marina itself, linked together by a monocoquesteel and glass bridge and Grid Shell structure that both cross above and over the Yas Marina Circuit F1 race track.<br />
Asymptote created and conceived of the building as an architectural landmark embodying key influences and local and global inspirations ranging from the aesthetics and forms associated with speed and spectacle to the artistry and geometries that form the basis of ancient Islamic art and craft traditions.<br />
Of architectural and engineering significance is the main feature of the hotelʼs design: <b>a 217-meter expanse of sweeping, curvilinear glass and steel covering known as the Grid Shell</b>: it features an LED lighting system incorporating video feeds that are transmitted over the 5,389 pivoting diamond-shaped colour changing LED panes. This Grid-Shell component is a key aspect of the overall architectural design and significance of the project by producing an atmospheric-like veil visible from miles away. <a href="http://www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/abudhabi/activities/formula_1_race%20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yas_Viceroy_Abu_Dhabi_Hotel">(source: Wiki)</a> . A interesting footnote: the "Grid-Shell Building Information Modeling Consultants" were none other than Gehry Technologies.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the F1 racetrack on the approach to the Yas Viecroy Hotel.</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Capital Gate, the ‘Leaning Building’</span></div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Gate">Wiki </a>has the info: <i>"<b>Capital Gate</b> is a skyscraper in Abu Dhabi adjacent to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre <b>designed with a striking lean. </b>At 160 m (520 ft) and 35 stories, it is one of the tallest buildings in the city and features <b>an 18-degree incline to the west..</b>. The tower (also known as <b>the Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi</b>) is the focal point of the Capital Center/Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre master development....In June 2010, the Guinness Book of World Records certified Capital Gate as the<b> "World’s furthest leaning man-made tower."</b>...</i><br />
<i>The building has a <b>diagrid</b> especially designed to absorb and channel the forces created by wind and seismic pressure, as well as the gradient of Capital Gate. Capital Gate is thought to be the Middle East's first building to use a diagrid; others around the world include <b>London's 30 St Mary Axe (Gherkin), New York's Hearst Tower </b>and <b>Beijing's National Stadium.</b></i><br />
<i>The Capital Gate project was able to achieve its inclination through an engineering program that allows floor plates to be stacked vertically up to the 12th storey, and staggered over each other by between 300mm to 1400mm, which allows for the tower's lean.</i><br />
<i>Capital Gate was designed by <b>architectural firm RMJM </b>and was due for completed in 2011. Capital Gate houses the 5-star Hyatt Capital Gate hotel and office space."</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abu Dhabi<br />Try <a href="http://emilayusof.com/2013/07/7-interesting-buildings-in-abu-dhabi/">this blog</a> for info on some interesting buildings of Au Dhabi.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abu Dhabi skyline from the Etihad Towers.</td></tr>
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates24.4666667 54.36666669999999624.4666667 54.366666699999996 24.4666667 54.366666699999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-18146384840072860602013-12-28T01:21:00.003+00:002013-12-28T01:21:57.735+00:00Mosque Visit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In Abu Dhabi there's one major tourist attraction - and local attraction, too. The <b>Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque</b>. My guide (an Indian) just knew I'd be impressed - "40,000 worshippers! Third-largest in the world! Biggest carpet in the world!" I thought I remembered being given similar statistics when I visited the <a href="http://www.omantourism.gov.om/wps/portal/mot/tourism/oman/details/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3hLb3PXYCMDMwN_U3NDA8_ggEADb1cfQ_cAc_2CbEdFAMHKVOk!/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/mot_english_lib/mot/experience/culture/mosques/grand+mousque">Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque</a> in Muscat, Oman. But modern mosque stats are like that - big, bigger, biggest. It turned out that, wherever it falls in the rankings, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi is a very beautiful thing.<br />
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The building of the mosque was initiated by the late President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), <b>HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan</b>. His final resting place is located in the grounds of the mosque. It was constructed between <b>1996 and 2007</b>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Zayed_Mosque">Wiki </a>claims that it's the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates and the eighth largest in the world.<br />
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I looked up the design and building details. To me, there seemed a very strong Persian and even Mughal influence. The entire place is draped in spectacular marble. Here's what Wiki told me:<br />
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<i>The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque's design and construction 'unites the world', using artisans and materials from many countries including Italy, Germany, Morocco, Pakistan, India, Turkey, Malaysia, Iran, China, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greece and United Arab Emirates. More than <b>3,000 workers and 38 renowned contracting companies </b>took part in the construction of the mosque. </i> </blockquote>
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<i>Natural materials were chosen for much of its design and construction due to their long-lasting qualities, including marble stone, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals and ceramics. It was built by the <b>Italian </b>company Impregilo.</i> </blockquote>
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<i>The design of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque has been <b>inspired by Persian, Mughal and Moorish mosque architecture,</b> particularly the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan and the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco being direct influences. The dome layout and floorplan of the mosque was inspired by the Badshahi Mosque and the architecture was inspired by Persian, Mughal and Moorish design. Its archways are quintessentially Moorish and its minarets classically Arab. The design of the mosque can be best described as a fusion of Arab, Persian, Mughal and Moorish architecture.</i></blockquote>
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The marble used includes <b>Sivec</b> from Prilep, <b>Macedonia</b> on the external cladding. 115,119 m2 (1,239,130 sq ft) of cladding has been used on the mosque, including the minarets. Lasa from Laas, South Tyrol, <b>Italy</b> was used in the internal elevations. Makrana from Makrana,<b> India </b>was used in the annexes and offices; Aquabiana and Biano from <b>Italy </b>in the East White and Ming Green from <b>China.</b><br />
Wow.<br />
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The stats (all from Wiki): The mosque is large enough to accommodate over 40,000 worshipers. The main prayer hall can accommodate over 7,000 worshipers. There are two smaller prayer halls, with a 1,500-capacity each, one of which is the female prayer hall. There are four minarets on the four corners of the courtyard which rise about 107 m (351 ft) in height. The courtyard, with its floral design, measures about 17,000 m2(180,000 sq ft),and is considered to be t<b>he largest example of marble mosaic in the world.</b><br />
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The 96 columns in the main prayer hall are clad with marble and inlaid with mother of pearl, one of the few places where you will see this craftsmanship.<br />
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The carpet in the main prayer hall is considered to be <b>the world's largest carpet</b> made by Iran's Carpet Company and designed by <b>Iranian artist Ali Khaliqi.</b> This carpet measures 5,627 m2 (60,570 sq ft), and was made by around 1,200-1,300 carpet knotters. The weight of the carpet is 35 tons and is predominantly made from wool (originating from <b>New Zealand</b> and <b>Iran)</b>. There are 2,268,000,000 knots within the carpet and it took approximately two years to complete.<br />
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The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has seven imported <b>chandeliers from Germany</b> that incorporate millions of <b>Swarovski crystals</b>. The largest chandelier is the second largest known chandelier inside a mosque, the third largest in the world and has a 10 m (33 ft) diameter and a 15 m (49 ft) height.<br />
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The 99 names (qualities or attributes) of God (Allah) are featured on<b> the Qibla wall </b>in traditional Kufic calligraphy, designed by the prominent UAE calligrapher, <b>Mohammed Mandi Al Tamimi.</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.szgmc.ae/en/">The Mosque's official website</a> waxes lyrical, as well it might:<br />
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<i>As a testament to the vision of its founder, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque <b>sits majestically at the entrance to Abu Dhabi City Island, </b>distinctly visible from the three main bridges connecting the island to the main land, the Maqta, Mussafah and the Sheikh Zayed Bridge. The strategic geographical location of the Mosque is <b>a symbolic expression of the emotional connection the Mosque has in the hearts of all UAE citizens </b>particularly because the burial place of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, first President of the UAE, is located beside the mosque. <br />The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is well recognised by its pure colour, as it is clad with SIVEC marble from Macedonia. Every artistic design element was carefully considered and fits into the overall vision of the Mosque.</i></blockquote>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k5RyXH-9wVs/UqgsIsYVpuI/AAAAAAAAM1M/InUZhiJ8RcY/s1600/P1080442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k5RyXH-9wVs/UqgsIsYVpuI/AAAAAAAAM1M/InUZhiJ8RcY/s1600/P1080442.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a>But one last thing - I expect you might be wondering how a visiting Western woman gets on in a mosque (assuming they're allowed in at all, and as you can see from my pictures, I was.) There are clothing rules: male visitors should avoid wearing shorts and singlets. Female visitors to the mosque are required to wear either a full length abaya (which can be supplied at the reception area) or a head scarf. In addition, tight and revealing clothing is not allowed. Luckily, my guide had a spare abaya for just this very circumstance, and here's me full rigged out (though not wearing it properly - oops! - that bit of neck shouldn't be showing. I spent most of the visit very hot, and constantly tugging at the headscarf to try to cover all hair and skin. I was only giving an admonitory finger-wag by a guard once.</div>
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Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates24.4666667 54.36666669999999624.4666667 54.366666699999996 24.4666667 54.366666699999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-4993721905587140252013-12-26T10:33:00.001+00:002013-12-26T10:33:31.922+00:00Going Organic This Christmas<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DZXLh2-eZgY/UrwAMVwiroI/AAAAAAAAM-s/td_GIsb3L0U/s1600/Superfood+gingerbread+men.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DZXLh2-eZgY/UrwAMVwiroI/AAAAAAAAM-s/td_GIsb3L0U/s1600/Superfood+gingerbread+men.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Superfood Gingerbread Men!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We made a big effort this Christmas. Despite a Sydney Christmas occurring in mid-summer, we can't resist the old tradition of a stuffed and roasted turkey, roasted root veggies and a ham. But we can still be ethical and healthy, right? Hmmm...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OMMUriS6JMg/UrwBzoMGZ5I/AAAAAAAAM_c/kJsJXBa-GUU/s1600/P1080656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OMMUriS6JMg/UrwBzoMGZ5I/AAAAAAAAM_c/kJsJXBa-GUU/s1600/P1080656.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy turkey being basted.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YDWQ57AB92s/UrwAbwFCGeI/AAAAAAAAM-4/PR_mAxNdtPA/s1600/IMG_8462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YDWQ57AB92s/UrwAbwFCGeI/AAAAAAAAM-4/PR_mAxNdtPA/s1600/IMG_8462.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy ham.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This year we did our best to find a turkey that had lived a happy and antibiotic-free life, pecking away in a farmyard somewhere. We were helped in this quest by <a href="http://www.samthebutcher.com.au/">Sam the Butcher</a>, and he also provided a ham from a happy pig.<br />
<br />
The turkey's stuffing was made from a loaf of artisanal sourdough bread, from <a href="http://www.bowanislandbakery.com.au/">Bowen Island Bakery</a>, where they're currently training members of the refugee community in Sydney as bakers. We went for the traditional 'Scarborough Fair' stuffing: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, with lots of onions.<br />
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The root veggies, the onions and the beautiful fresh herbs came from <a href="http://www.doorsteporganics.com.au/index.php?">Doorstop Organics</a>. The turkey was bated with a delicious orange glaze made with organic oranges, and - oops! - Cointreau.<br />
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The Gingerbread Men this year were of the superfood variety: almond meal & buckwheat instead of flour, coconut oil instead of butter, dates instead of sugar, goji berry eyes & almond mouths. "Ironically," said the cook, " they look drunk and overweight." But delish!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NUXgEHO_lSY/UrwBRdlVXUI/AAAAAAAAM_Q/mCpVuYfgwwU/s1600/P1080617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NUXgEHO_lSY/UrwBRdlVXUI/AAAAAAAAM_Q/mCpVuYfgwwU/s1600/P1080617.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Organic parsley - super fresh.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H2XsGCzgZDs/UrwBNQHSauI/AAAAAAAAM_E/p3kEGEk9ofw/s1600/P1080624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H2XsGCzgZDs/UrwBNQHSauI/AAAAAAAAM_E/p3kEGEk9ofw/s1600/P1080624.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Organic veggies.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fh1TTOlp1GM/UrwBRvA5HzI/AAAAAAAAM_U/pwl6v8erYHA/s1600/P1080628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fh1TTOlp1GM/UrwBRvA5HzI/AAAAAAAAM_U/pwl6v8erYHA/s1600/P1080628.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artisanal sourdough bread fro the stuffing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hrq3JwXslZc/UrwB1SoyfuI/AAAAAAAAM_k/UWQB7yzmmHM/s1600/P1080629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hrq3JwXslZc/UrwB1SoyfuI/AAAAAAAAM_k/UWQB7yzmmHM/s1600/P1080629.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cup of fresh herbs: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9sPdj2NADVY/UrwCLi8TzuI/AAAAAAAAM_s/VcYG8ZhF-Zc/s1600/P1080630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9sPdj2NADVY/UrwCLi8TzuI/AAAAAAAAM_s/VcYG8ZhF-Zc/s1600/P1080630.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 'Scarborough Fair' stuffing mixture.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jet2gQw1KAw/UrwCpwMfu1I/AAAAAAAAM_8/vhjzDtyRImg/s1600/P1080664.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jet2gQw1KAw/UrwCpwMfu1I/AAAAAAAAM_8/vhjzDtyRImg/s1600/P1080664.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magnificent orange-glazed turkey.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
All that was left was to enjoy it all with family and friends around the big table.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Merry Christmas!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YM9zprCA9Jw/UrwCd4E0Y_I/AAAAAAAAM_0/lzqZIWoIl3A/s1600/P1080666.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YM9zprCA9Jw/UrwCd4E0Y_I/AAAAAAAAM_0/lzqZIWoIl3A/s1600/P1080666.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carving beautifully.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GuAMe40kEdg/UrwCx961KqI/AAAAAAAANAE/SCqin6f286A/s1600/P1080667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GuAMe40kEdg/UrwCx961KqI/AAAAAAAANAE/SCqin6f286A/s1600/P1080667.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merry Family Christmas.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><div>
The turkey recipe....</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Hot Orange Glazed Turkey with Scarborough Fair stuffing</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
a 5-6kg whole turkey</div>
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50g butter</div>
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1 large onion, peeled</div>
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3 carrots</div>
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1 cup white wine</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Hot orange glaze</div>
<div>
zest and juice from 2 whole oranges</div>
<div>
1/4 cup honey</div>
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3 tbsp fish sauce</div>
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1 tbsp Cointreau</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Scarborough Fair stuffing</div>
<div>
1 loaf white bread</div>
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200g unsalted butter</div>
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1 tsp salt</div>
<div>
1 bunch each of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme</div>
<div>
2 large onions, finely chopped</div>
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about 1 cup of water or chicken stock</div>
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1. Heat your oven to 180C.</div>
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2. Make the stuffing by removing the crusts from a loaf of bread and cutting the white bread into large cubes. Pulse in a food processor to coarse fresh bread crumbs. Fry the onions in a 50g of the butter until translucent and softened but not coloured. Remove from the heat and add the remaining butter to the hot pan, allowing it to melt. Strip the leaves of the herbs from any stems and finely shred them to produce 1 cup of shredded herbs. Into the bread crumbs mix the softened onions with melted butter, herbs, salt and a little stock or water to create a soft stuffing.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
3. Rinse the turkey under running water (remove the neck if still attached) and drain well. Stuff the stuffing into both the neck and rear cavity of the bird. Truss the turkey with kitchen string; start at the neck flap, pin the wings to the body and cross the back of the bird. Loop under the parson’s nose and tie the legs together at the ankles. Rub the skin of the bird with 50g of softened butter and season well with salt.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
4. Split the carrots in half lengthways (you don't need to peel them) and cut the onion into chunks. Place the carrot and onion on the base of a roasting pan and place the turkey on top of the vegetables. Cover the pan with foil and roast in the oven for 2 hours, basting every half hour with the juices collecting in the pan. After 2 hours, uncover the pan and roast for a further hour, until the skin of the bird is browned.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
5. While the turkey is roasting, mix together the ingredients for the hot orange glaze in a small saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes until thick and glossy. After the turkey has been roasting for a total of 3 hours, begin to brush with the glaze every 15 minutes for an additional 45 minutes.</div>
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6. Remove the turkey from the oven and cover loosely with foil. Rest for 30 minutes in a draught-free place, continuing to brush the turkey with hot glaze every 15 minutes, even while resting.</div>
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<div>
7. Remove the turkey from the pan and drain off and reserve any pan juices. There should not be too much oil in the pan but if there is a lot then you may want to skim some of the oil. Place the pan over heat on the stove and scatter 2 tbsp of plain flour over the pan and vegetables. Scrape the bottom of the pan and add in the white wine to deglaze, roughly mashing the vegetables. Return the pan juices to the pan and stir until thickened. Strain the gravy and serve with the turkey.</div>
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<div>
Serves 10</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
</div>
Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Sydney NSW, Australia-33.8674869 151.20699020000006-34.716540900000005 149.91060370000005 -33.0184329 152.50337670000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-90577830151941666582013-12-24T04:44:00.000+00:002013-12-24T04:44:25.622+00:00Oil, Water and Royalty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8OuGI6JhFWw/Uqgfwc6wyUI/AAAAAAAAMxc/IV067rtSkVI/s1600/P1080538.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8OuGI6JhFWw/Uqgfwc6wyUI/AAAAAAAAMxc/IV067rtSkVI/s1600/P1080538.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Abu Dhabi</b>: “Where petrol is cheap but water is expensive” - my Indian guide.<br />
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Price of one litre of petrol: 1.72 dirhams (51 AU cents)<br />
Price of 250 mls San Pelegrino bottled water: 12 dirhams (AU$3.58) (hotel minibar)<br />
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Driving from the airport into the gleaming new city of Abu Dhabi, you could be forgiven a little surprise. This place seems to have discovered the Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, which as fans of <i>‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ </i>will know, is <b>42. </b>Signs along the Corniche highway, brightly lit in the evening, proudly proclaim: ’42’. It turns out that this is not about metaphysics, however, but rather the 42nd anniversary of the establishment of the United Arab Emirates. And of course, the 42nd anniversary is a very important one...er, isn’t it? (Like many things to my Western eyes here, something might have become a little lost in translation.)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9PJ6cqL_ZS8/Uqge8O6s0EI/AAAAAAAAMw8/nvYUQZGUEic/s1600/P1080526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9PJ6cqL_ZS8/Uqge8O6s0EI/AAAAAAAAMw8/nvYUQZGUEic/s1600/P1080526.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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You can lookup the history of the Emirates on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates">Wiki</a> which will tell you the important details:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The United Arab Emirates i(Arabic: دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة Dawlat al-ʾImārāt al-ʿArabiyyah al-Muttaḥidah), sometimes simply called the <b>Emirates </b>or the <b>UAE</b>, is an Arab country located in the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing sea borders with Qatar and Iran.<br />The UAE is a federation of seven emirates (equivalent to principalities). Each emirate is governed by an hereditary emir who jointly form the Federal Supreme Council which is the highest legislative and executive body in the country. One of the emirs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates. The constituent emirates are <b>Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah,Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, </b>and <b>Umm al-Quwain. </b>The capital is Abu Dhabi, which is one of the two centers of commercial and cultural activities, together with Dubai. Islam is the official religion of the UAE, and Arabic is the official language.</i></blockquote>
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The Royal Family plays a prominent role in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, from its patriarch <b>Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan</b>, to his son <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalifa_bin_Zayed_Al_Nahyan">the current ruler</a> <b>Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan </b>and the numerous family members. The ruler’s half-brother is a kind of second-in-command, known as the Crown Prince (or “an extra”, as my guide put it). The patriarch is said to have had 19 sons (and an indeterminate number of daughters) from four wives. Knowing this helps explain why the city is stuffed with royal palaces (and new ones are being built everywhere), public buildings have large ‘VIP’ entrances, and there is a separate airport terminal for the Royal Family. It might also explain why said patriarch looks so fierce on the posters of him around town.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Dhabi">Abu Dhabi</a> seems to run on the untiring work of thousands of immigrants. Though the Arab men in their cool, handsome white <i>dishdash</i> are at the immigration desks at the airport, and wait with their briefcases for luxury cars at the hotels, the waiters, doormen, check-in clerks, cooks, guides, cleaners, security staff, manicurists, hotel managers, taxi drivers, market sellers, construction workers...all seem to be immigrants, many from the Indian subcontinent and Asia, but with a good sprinkling of other nationalities too (including Polish and Australian). Arabic may be the official language, but English is the way of communication in the hotels.<br />
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Wiki tells us:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Abu Dhabi is the second most expensive city for expatriate employees in the region, and 67th most expensive city in the world. Fortune magazine and CNN stated in 2007 that Abu Dhabi is the richest city in the world. However, many residents of Abu Dhabi are blue collared workers who get paid very little, work in relative unsafe environments and live in squalid labour camps; this contrasts with senior managers or executives who earn exorbitant annual salaries and work in plush offices. Thus, it can be understood that the wealth is not shared equally.</i></blockquote>
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The <b>Emirate of Abu Dhabi </b>is the largest area of the UAE, with a land surface of about 67,340 square kilometres, which is equivalent to about 87% of the UAE’s total land area. It has a population of around 920,000, although only 30% of the emirate is inhabited, with the remaining vast expanses covered mainly by desert and arid land — constituting about 93% of the total land area.<br />
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The land is utterly barren - flat desert as far as the eye can see (from a plane, or a high-rise). The city is situated on an island, with a number of smaller islands, natural and reclaimed, surrounding the city. There is a tiny pocket of the original mangrove left - where gazelle used to roam (giving the city its name: <i>‘Abu Dhabi’</i> means <i>‘Father of the Gazelle’</i>). But any other trees you see are planted, and watered. Actually, the place is not completely barren - they do grow a lot of <b>dates</b>. Lovely dates, actually.<br />
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As is well-known, Abu Dhabi and the Emirates sprang from poor, backward fishing villages and desert encampments into high-tech modern cities in the space of only one generation, fueled (pun intended) by the discovery of<b> oil</b>. A LOT of oil. Before the oil, the area was known for <b>pirates,</b> <b>British colonial meddling</b>, and <b>pearls.</b> People began looking for oil as early as the 1930s, but the big strikes were made in the 1960s. And the rest is history, as they say. However, it doesn’t take much imagination to appreciate that such a dramatic transformation in such a short time cannot have been easy, either for the people, or politically. According to the adulatory posters around town, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is much revered for the steady hand with which he navigated these times.<br />
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And the weather? In December, temperatures were around the mid-20s (Celsius), the humidity high but not uncomfortable. There was a light breeze from the sea. However, in high summer the temperatures are in the high 30s on average, and can reach the 50s, with sand-storms not uncommon. Luckily, someone invented air-conditioning, without which modern Abu Dhabi probably wouldn’t exist.<br />
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Here's a photo journal of some aspects of Abu Dhabi -- much to understand and investigate.<br />
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates24.4666667 54.36666669999999624.4666667 54.366666699999996 24.4666667 54.366666699999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-77709777009312288692013-12-23T03:42:00.000+00:002013-12-23T03:42:02.285+00:00The Fourth Estate<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Fourth Estate', Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo (1901)</td></tr>
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This fascinating painting hangs as an introductory and special exhibition on your way into the <b>Museo del Novecento</b>, which houses twentieth-century Italian art. The <a href="http://museodelnovecento.org/en/pubblicazioni/91-museo/artisti/opere/200-il-quarto-stato-1901">Novecento site</a> tells us:<br />
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<i>Opening the Museo del Novecento with The Fourth Estate by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo means <b>attesting to a divide </b>more than preparing the visitor for what he or she is about to see in the rooms that follow. The purpose of this painting, which was completed in <b>1901</b>, was to celebrate <b>the ideals of humanitarian socialism </b>using the theme of a procession of workers advancing and <b>the pictorial technique of scientifically-based Divisionism</b>; but it also marked the final important episode, for Italy’s figurative civilization, in artwork as program, thereby characterized by a search for a superior and concomitant clarity of form and content. But that was not all. The Fourth Estate also identified <b>the end of a season</b> in which the painter’s trade was governed by a respectful, almost natural coming to terms with the museum (here, in particular, the reference is to Raphael’s School of Athens, whose cartoon Pellizza had studied at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana), based on the belief that historic styles traced a continuity that was not just formal but also ideal between past and present.</i></blockquote>
The painting is an interesting example of the 'socialist ideal' school, painted quite early (well before the rise of Lenin and his crew, for example). The advancing workers are characterised by some as strikers. The point it marks in Italian history is an interesting as the point it marks in art history. The technique used - "Divisionism" - can't really be appreciated from a reproduction, but up-close-in-real-life you can see that the colours are all formed not by mixed but by the very careful placements of lines of colours next to each other, giving a subtle, and surprisingly gentle, result. The painting. by the way, is very big -<b> 293 cm × 545 cm. </b>The Novecento has devoted a great deal of research to this painting, and it includes and exhibition of the artist's preparatory drawings and sketches. The website goes on"<br />
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<i>Notwithstanding its ambitiousness, the painting attracted little attention at the time: when it was <b>first displayed at the 1902 Turin exhibition</b> it was neither purchased by the royals (the subject was obviously a sensitive one) nor was it awarded the Premio degli Artisti. The great disappointment that came with these failures contributed to the artist’s deep crisis, which culminated in his committing suicide just a few years later. After entering the Civiche Gallerie by public subscription in 1920 at a time when Milan was led by a Socialist council and the political climate seemed to be ripe for the concrete prospect of revolution, <b>The Fourth Estate, especially in the aftermath of the Second World War, was considered to be on a par with a manifesto-painting of the ideals of the Left, whether reformist or revolutionary. </b>Hence, for a great deal of time it was denied the status of representing a crucial episode in the history of Italian art, until its lofty pictorial values were reestablished with its restoration and permanent display at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna as of 1980.</i></blockquote>
The painting was originally entitled 'The Path of Workers', and the artist had dealt with a similar theme in earlier works such as 'Ambassadors of Hunger', 'Stream of People' and a preparatory sketch of 1898, 'The Path of Workers.' It's said that the inclusion of a woman int he front-line of the workers was ground-breaking in its day. Whatever the politics of it, the painting is incredibly effective in suggesting that a crowd of people is about to walk straight out at you.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Pellizza_da_Volpedo">Wiki</a> gives a short potted bio of the painter, Pellizza:<br />
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<i><b>Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo </b>(July 28, 1868 – June 14, 1907) was an Italian neo-impressionist painter. He was born and died in Volpedo, in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. He was a pupil of Pio Sanquirico. Pellizza used <b>a divisionist technique</b> in which a painting is created by juxtaposing small dots of paint according to specific colour theory. His most famous work, Il Quarto Stato ("The Fourth Estate"), has become a well-known symbol for progressive and socialist causes in Italy, and throughout Europe. The painting is shown during the opening credits of Bernardo Bertolucci's film 1900.</i></blockquote>
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Have a look at <a href="http://www.benedusi.it/blog/en/santo-domingo-04-il-quarto-stato/">this blog</a> by Settimio Benedusi and the moving photograph he's made below. Pellizza might have been impressed?</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Settimio Benedusi.</td></tr>
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Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Milan, Italy45.4654542 9.186515999999983345.4654542 9.1865159999999833 45.4654542 9.1865159999999833tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-6990806381713787792013-12-22T02:07:00.001+00:002013-12-23T03:41:29.062+00:00La Scala Premiere<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'La Traviata' opens at La Scala</td></tr>
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The most sought-after ticket in opera is to the opening night of <b>La Scala's season in Milano,</b> in early December. It's "invitation only", meaning seats reserved for political and local heavy-weights of all kinds - the President and Prime Minister attend - and the all-important sponsors. Any remaining tickets are sold to ordinary punters - for up to €4,600 per seat. So, although I was in Milan on the all-important date, my chances of scoring a ticket were slim to zero.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So near and yet so far...</td></tr>
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Not that attempts weren't made. By an hour before curtain-up, the box office people were shaking their heads, but mentioning €2,000...Still, I didn't have a thing to wear. This is the fashion event of the calendar in the fashion capital of Europe, location of the Prada mothership and just about every other major Italian <i>haute couture </i>brand. After taking a photo beside the La Scala poster (the traditional design, printed fresh for every performance), noting the squads of police, dozens of TV trucks, barriers and security surrounding the venerable Opera House, dodging a mini-demonstration (all those politicos attract the demonstrators), and considering the broadcast on the big screen in the Galleria, it was back to the hotel to watch the performance on live TV feed. Not the greatest sound quality, but much more comfortable in the end. And cheaper. And I was only three blocks away!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High security and lots of TV.</td></tr>
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It was <i><b>Verdi's 'Traviata'</b></i>, and Violetta was sung by the wonderful <b>Diana Damrau </b>- reputed to be the best Violetta singing today, and on this showing, I can understand why. She completely inhabited the role. Divine. The conductor was <b>Daniele Gatti</b>; and the staging and sets were by the Russian <b>Dmitri Tcherniakov</b>. Here we entered the murky waters of controversy. Tcherniakov had updated our 'Traviata' and not everyone was happy about it. Apart from the modern setting (which worked for me, except perhaps Violetta's leggings in Act II) he'd also given some psychological massaging to the usual characterisations. Alfredo in particular was shown to be a rather weak soul - he seemed keen to leave Violetta's deathbed in the last act, and actually looked at his watch. There was much less of the usual flinging into each other's arms. However, it was an exceedingly believable death from Violetta, one of the best I've ever seen.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's Miss Damrau on Rai5, the television station that kindly did a live broadcast for the rest of us..</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very realistic death.</td></tr>
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The <i>loggionisti</i> (those in the upstairs balconies) at La Scala didn't like the production. <b>They booed.</b> Yes, the famous boo-ing took place. Sadly, because they didn't like Alfredo's updated reactions, they booed the excellent tenor singing him, <b>Piotr Beczala</b>, which was totally undeserved. Germont was well-sung by<b> Željko Lučić.</b> But the biggest boos were saved for Tcherniakov and his artistic colleagues. I didn't agree with the boo-ers. The production worked for me.<br />
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<a href="http://www.teatroallascala.org/en/season/opera-ballet/2013-2014/la-traviata.html">Here's the link </a>to La Scala's site if you'd like to check it out for yourself - I expect the ticket prices are a great deal more reasonable now.<br />
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/arts/10iht-Giving-La-Traviata-a-Contemporary-Twist-Scala.html?_r=0">Here's the NYT review</a> which is balanced and sensible:<br />
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<i>When Alfredo, bearing flowers and a gift, arrives at the dying Violetta’s bedroom for a reunion with his lover, he doesn’t immediately rush into her arms. Rather, he pauses timidly — he is slightly fearful of how he will be received. That is one of the many details that lift <b>Dmitri Tcherniakov’s captivating staging of “La Traviata,”</b> which on Saturday initiated a new season at <b>Teatro alla Scala</b> before an audience that included Italy’s president, Giorgio Napolitano, and other representatives of the country’s elite....As cutting-edge theater goes, Mr. Tcherniakov’s staging is relatively mild. His work has often been more controversial. But this did not stop La Scala’s notorious “loggionisti,” inhabitants of the upper galleries, from voicing their displeasure at the final curtain.</i></blockquote>
Read <a href="http://operachic.typepad.com/opera_chic/2013/12/corriere-della-sera-has-excellent-screenshots-here-who-diana-damrau-soprano-piotr-beczala-tenor-daniele-gatti-condu.html">this entertaining blog post</a> for a review of the night, and lots of good stills of the performance.<br />
Then listen to this excerpt and judge for yourself!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TMO9ZDfvE9c" width="420"></iframe>Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Milan, Italy45.4654542 9.186515999999983345.4654542 9.1865159999999833 45.4654542 9.1865159999999833tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-44504034079579079982013-12-21T08:38:00.000+00:002013-12-21T08:38:16.959+00:00Museo del Novecento<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Umberto Boccioni's "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 1913" -- striding into Futurism <a href="http://www.feeltheyarn.it/blog/not-only-fashion-in-milan">(source)</a></td></tr>
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The <a href="http://museodelnovecento.org/en/">Museo del Novecento</a> in Milan provides a stunning counterpoint for the more venerable works of art in the city - the religious art in the <a href="http://lavieboheme2010.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/napoleons-pictures.html">Brera</a>, <a href="http://milan.arounder.com/en/churches/santa-maria-delle-grazie-church">Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper"</a> - it's rather brash to expect twentieth century art to compete for attention. But the Movecento has been doing this since December 2011. Housed in a Mussolini-era building, <b>Palazzo dell’Arengario,</b> on Piazza Duomo, opposite the famous Galleria (which it's architecture mimics) and with the recently-cleaned facade of the glorious Duomo right next door, you'd wonder how this museum of twentieth-century Italian art could compete. It does, by being completely true to its mission. In here, all is modern and all (just about) is Italian. Here's their mission statement:<br />
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<i><b>Museo del Novecento (Museum of the Twentieth Century)</b>, located in the Palazzo dell'Arengario, is a public venue dedicated to Milan's collection of Twentieth-Century Art....<br />To encourage the development of multiple perspectives and critical capabilities through the dissemination of knowledge about twentieth-century art. To conserve, study and promote public heritage and the artistic culture of the twentieth century through research and educational activities. To encourage, through work on various levels, an intercultural approach and involve a public that ranges from specialists to children and passing visitors. <a href="http://museodelnovecento.org/en/home/chi-siamo">(source)</a></i></blockquote>
This passing visitor was duly impressed. After a small vestibule with a few non-Italian treasures (Picasso, Modigliani) to introduce the twentieth century, we're then led through several layers of gallery by the rather good audio guide, with explanations about the artists (often from Milan) and their significance. Various phases and fads in modern art are exemplified (and explained) as you make your way up the building - and into the building behind, the <b>Palazzo Reale, </b>where the gallery continues. <b>Futurism, the Novecento, Spatialism, Arte Povera...</b>learn all about it. Meet some artists you know and some you may not have heard of before -- Boccioni, Carrà, Soffici, de Chirico, Sironi, Martini, Morandi, Fontana, Manzoni, Kounellis -- who played their part in these Italian movements.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucio Fontana's installation at the top of the spiral ramp.</td></tr>
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Speaking of <b>the building</b>, it has been rather spectacularly altered to house this museum: although the exterior remains untouched, inside a large spiral ramp has been installed, in blue and white, visible from the Piazza through the windows of the building, and itself giving wide views of the Duomo and Galleria below. On the top floor, the windows are floor-to-ceiling, and the space is used to display neon-light installations by <b>Lucio Fontana</b>. Here's the website description of the building:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palazzo dell’Arengario <a href="http://museodelnovecento.org/">(source)</a></td></tr>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The transformation of the <b>Palazzo dell’Arengario</b> into the Museo del Novecento, directed by Italo Rota and Fabio Fornasari, had the fundamental objective of creating a simple and linear museum system within a historical building. Another aim was to optimise the use of available space and evoke a powerful and appealing image of the building and the new museum, thereby transforming it into one of Milan’s leading cultural centres. Within the vertical space of the tower, there is a system for ascending the structure by means of a <b>spiral ramp </b>leading from the underground level to the panoramic terrace facing Piazza Duomo. The monumental staircase, the terrace and the splendid covered balcony is now part of an itinerary that offers both Milanese and tourists<b> a unique view of Piazza Duomo.</b> The Arengario is connected directly to the second floor of the <b>Palazzo Reale</b> by means of a suspended walkway. This discrete and minimalistic structure is not simply a bridge between two buildings, but also a means of discovering the fascinating historical stratification of the buildings in the area between Via Rastrelli and Piazza Diaz.</i></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Come on up...</td></tr>
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...and take a stroll through some of the works on display (images from the Museo's website):<br />
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Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Milan, Italy45.4654542 9.186515999999983345.2863052 8.8624194999999837 45.644603200000006 9.5106124999999828tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-29846624412061758762013-12-17T22:31:00.000+00:002013-12-17T22:39:04.162+00:00Milan's Canals<div class="separator tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tLDoT8cgh2U/UqugGvEX1bI/AAAAAAAAM44/QpnTfm2LgGM/s1600/IMG_8364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tLDoT8cgh2U/UqugGvEX1bI/AAAAAAAAM44/QpnTfm2LgGM/s1600/IMG_8364.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Milan - far from the sea. <a href="http://www.abercrombiekent.com/travel-destinations/europe-luxury-holidays/spain-portugal-italy-travel/italy/">(source)</a></td></tr>
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<b>Milan</b> is situated more or less in the middle of northern Italy - or if not quite in the middle, then a long way from the seas, both the <b>Mediterranean</b> and the <b>Adriatic</b>. What a surprise, then, to find that it had once been an "inland port", connected to both, by a series of <b>canals</b> which linked it to the big rivers.<br />
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Milan's canal system dates right back to the time of <b>Leonardo da Vinci</b>, who designed some of its lock systems. In the early twentieth century most of the inner canals were covered over and replaced by tram lines and roads, but a remnant remains, in the <b>'Navigli' district. </b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 'Leonardo lock'</td></tr>
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The canals form an evocative link with the past. Here's what the information sign at the confluence of two of the larger remaining canals tells us:<br />
<blockquote>
<i><b>The Pavia Canal</b>, which as its name suggests connects Milan with the city of <b>Pavia,</b> was not completed until the Napoleonic period. It begins at the canal basin known as the <b>Darsena</b>, under the so-called <b>Trofeo bridge</b>. Locks enable it to negotiate differences in level at various points along its 33-km route, culminating in the visually striking sequences at the point where the canal flows into the Ticino river.</i> </blockquote>
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<i>When the canal opened to navigation in 1819, <b>Milan was finally connected via the Ticino and Po rivers to the Adriatic Sea.</b> This project, which <b>began in the 15th century </b>with the construction of the Bereguardo Canal (connecting the Naviglio Grande to the Ticino near Pavia) and the Martesana Canal (for which <b>Leonardo da Vinci </b>devised a system of locks to allow the waters of the Adda river to flow into Milan’s canal ring), made the city a crossroads between continental Europe and the Mediterranean.</i> </blockquote>
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<i>Today, the banks of the two canals in the <b>“navigli” district </b>are lined with a whole host of trading concerns, <b>art and craft workshops, bars and night clubs,</b> making it one of the most vibrant parts of the city. The hub of “navigli” life is the <b>Darsena basin,</b> created in <b>1603 </b>as an inner city dock. It is fed by the waters of the Naviglio grande and the Olona river (now underground) and in turn feeds the Naviglio Pavese. The city’s inner canal ring, which was covered over in 1929-30, also flowed into the basin through the Viarenna lock (present-day Via Conca del Naviglio).</i></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artisan workshops in the Navigli district.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MW-QHvck32g/UqugaruCbgI/AAAAAAAAM5c/Pg9Ml2cSjR0/s1600/IMG_8371.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MW-QHvck32g/UqugaruCbgI/AAAAAAAAM5c/Pg9Ml2cSjR0/s1600/IMG_8371.jpg" height="640" width="474" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canal-side life.</td></tr>
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You can take a canal-boat ride for a leisurely cruise along a couple of the canals, get a close-up look at the locks, and travel via the Darsena basin. Just for an hour though - not all the way to Pavia!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LooTFe5wUJs/UqugHGuOVEI/AAAAAAAAM48/ogAawql9JBY/s1600/IMG_8351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LooTFe5wUJs/UqugHGuOVEI/AAAAAAAAM48/ogAawql9JBY/s1600/IMG_8351.jpg" height="640" width="474" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Darsena basin.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/europe/italy/lombardy-lakes/milan/milans-canals/#ixzz2nizv7ksd">The Rough Guide</a> gives more history, including a Shakespearean reference:<br />
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<i>Improbable though it may seem, less than fifty years ago Milan was still a viable port – and less than a hundred years ago several of its main arteries – including Via Senato and Via San Marco – were busy waterways.</i> </blockquote>
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<i>In the twelfth century, the first canals linked irrigation channels and the various defensive moats of the city. Later, in 1386, the Naviglio Grande was opened, linking the city to the River Ticino and thus Lake Maggiore. It was Gian Galeazzo Visconti, however, who was really responsible for the development of the system, in the fourteenth century to transport the building materials for the Duomo, especially marble from Lake Maggiore.</i> </blockquote>
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<i>Travellers were also seen on the canals: the ruling families of the North used them to visit one another, <b>Prospero and Miranda escaped along the Navigli in The Tempest,</b> and they were still plied by the Grand Tourists in the eighteenth century; Goethe, for example, describes the hazards of journeying by canal.</i></blockquote>
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<i>In the 1950s, desperately needed materials were floated in for reconstructing the badly bombed city but by the mid-1970s, only a handful of canals were left uncovered; the last working boat plied the waters in 1977.</i></blockquote>
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Have a look at the <a href="http://www.naviglilombardi.it/">Navigli Lombardi site</a>, which includes news and cruise details, plus some lovely pics of the canals on a less foggy day (!) and their further reaches.<br />
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Milan, Italy45.4654542 9.186515999999983345.2863052 8.8624194999999837 45.644603200000006 9.5106124999999828tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-37283972915054521162013-12-17T00:28:00.002+00:002013-12-17T00:28:26.229+00:00Napoleon's Pictures<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7xC735c_OV8/UquZklCyqwI/AAAAAAAAM4E/dc2QrXr1Tjg/s1600/745px-Giovanni_Bellini_-_Dead_Christ_Supported_by_the_Madonna_and_St_John_%2528Pieta%25CC%2580%2529_-_WGA1632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7xC735c_OV8/UquZklCyqwI/AAAAAAAAM4E/dc2QrXr1Tjg/s1600/745px-Giovanni_Bellini_-_Dead_Christ_Supported_by_the_Madonna_and_St_John_%2528Pieta%25CC%2580%2529_-_WGA1632.jpg" height="510" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giovanni Bellini's 'Pieta' (c. 1460)</td></tr>
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The <a href="http://www.brera.beniculturali.it/">Brera Gallery</a> in Milan is a treasure trove of Italian religious art, leavened with some very good eighteenth century Romantic pieces. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinacoteca_di_Brera">Wiki</a> gives the history of the Gallery and its associated schools, and the page shows a great selection of the works. There's no doubt this is one of the principal art galleries in Milan -- but why is there an enormously over-sized statue of <b>Napoleon</b> in the courtyard, and why such an emphasis on religious art?<br />
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The Wiki entry for the gallery says, rather coyly: <i>"the Academy acquired the first paintings of its pinacoteca during the reassignment of works of Italian art that characterized the Napoleonic era." </i>In fact the Gallery is founded on over 400 works removed from churches and convents that were suppressed in the Napoleonic period. They include works by<b> G da Fabriano, P. della Francesca, Bramante, Crivelli, Raphael, Bellini, Caravaggio, Veronese, Tintoretto, Tiziano, Rubens and Van Dyck. </b>The <a href="http://www.euromuse.net/en/museums/museum/view-m/pinacoteca-di-brera/">Euromuse site</a> expands on this fascinating quirk in Italy's history:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>One of the leading public galleries in Italy, the Brera differs from those in Florence, Rome, Naples, Turin, Modena, and Parma in that its origins lie not in the collections of the nobility, princes or courts, but in the cultural politics of the state in the Napoleonic era, reflecting the democratic concepts of the French Revolution.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Like the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice and the Pinacoteca in Bologna, the Brera was originally founded as an appendage, for didactic ends, to an academy of fine arts. However, the Milanese gallery soon took a different direction and, to meet the political requirements of the capital city of Kingdom of Italy, was transformed into a large modern national museum in which works of all the schools of paintings of the conquered territories could be safely preserved to be studied and compared, and to be seen by the public at large....</i> </blockquote>
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<i><b>In 1805, when Napoleon was crowned king of Italy,</b> it was decreed that works of art requisitioned in the departments of the kingdom should be brought to the Academy in Milan, where those by the most famous artists would be displayed in the gallery. Additions to the collections in 1850 included the <b>'Brera Alterpiece' by Piero della Francesca,</b> the <b>'Pietà' by Giovanni Bellini</b> and a number of paintings acquired from the famous Galleria Sampieri of Bologna. In the same period numerous detached <b>frescoes</b> were brought to the gallery from various churches; today the gallery has what is possibly the largest collection of this kind.</i></blockquote>
Although the Gallery moved on from this period and continued to expand its collection (including a bequest of 20th century art), Napoleon's plundering of the churches forms the core of the works on display, and explains that curious religious bent -- and the scraps of frescoes shorn from their original walls.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B82XKHjOln0/UquZmscROEI/AAAAAAAAM4Q/i1WdlT7oseg/s1600/714px-Andrea_Mantegna_-_The_Lamentation_over_the_Dead_Christ_-_WGA13981.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B82XKHjOln0/UquZmscROEI/AAAAAAAAM4Q/i1WdlT7oseg/s1600/714px-Andrea_Mantegna_-_The_Lamentation_over_the_Dead_Christ_-_WGA13981.jpg" height="532" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lamentation of Christ (Mantegna) by Andrea Mantegna. c. 1480</td></tr>
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One of the most famous attractions in the Gallery is <b>Mantegna's <i>Cristo Morto </i></b>(mentioned by this blog <a href="http://lavieboheme2010.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/cristo-morto.html">earlier)</a>. (Full name:<i> Lamentation of Christ (Mantegna) </i>by Andrea Mantegna. c. 1480). The painting is known for its odd perspective on the dead Christ, emphasised in the Gallery by its being hung at about knee-level in a darkened room. It's displayed near <b>Giovanni Bellini's '<i>Pieta' </i></b>(c. 1460), another very moving portrait of the grief of Christ's mother.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YXblteSRr7Y/UquZiCJgSGI/AAAAAAAAM3w/qlZ51C2gvqs/s1600/424px-Piero%252C_Pala_di_Brera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YXblteSRr7Y/UquZiCJgSGI/AAAAAAAAM3w/qlZ51C2gvqs/s1600/424px-Piero%252C_Pala_di_Brera.jpg" height="640" width="450" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piero della Francesca, 'Holy Conversation' c. 1472–1474</td></tr>
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Amongst several other highlights, there's a <b>Piero della Francesca, '</b><i><b>Holy Conversation'</b> </i>c. 1472–1474 -- strange and haunting figures; and <i>'<b>The Marriage of the Virgin'</b></i><b> by Raphael</b> c. 1504 (with a building in the background looking remarkably like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Todi_SantaMariaDellaConsolazione.jpg">the Bramante chapel in Todi.</a>).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VAbum3Xssrc/UquZiFaMZCI/AAAAAAAAM34/NKJfdBZ5tIo/s1600/405px-MarriageVirgin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VAbum3Xssrc/UquZiFaMZCI/AAAAAAAAM34/NKJfdBZ5tIo/s1600/405px-MarriageVirgin.jpg" height="640" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'The Marriage of the Virgin' by Raphael. c. 1504</td></tr>
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But perhaps you find room after room of religious themes can drag a bit after a while? Yet another allegorical story? Yet another Madonna? But every now and then, one of the huge canvases (originally adorning massive cathedrals), the work of a genius will leap out at you. Even if you've never concerned yourself with art history, there are some painters or paintings that just clearly go that one level more. One such in the Brera is<b> Ruben's '<i>Last Supper</i>'</b> (1630-31). The vigorous flowing lines, the look on the face of Judas as he stares out of the frame directly at you, the dog lying under the table (more faithful than the man?) Genius.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5PPGUVsP_QQ/UquZmFbsu4I/AAAAAAAAM4M/E-gIV5IyHL4/s1600/508px-Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_Last_Supper_-_WGA20255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5PPGUVsP_QQ/UquZmFbsu4I/AAAAAAAAM4M/E-gIV5IyHL4/s1600/508px-Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_Last_Supper_-_WGA20255.jpg" height="640" width="542" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruben's 'Last Supper' (1630-31)</td></tr>
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As your visit to the Brera winds to its conclusion, you reach the nineteenth century works, and possibly the most reproduced of all the pictures in the Gallery - <i>'<b>The Kiss'</b></i><b> by Francesco Hayez (</b>1859), a ridiculously Romantic effort, but no less well-loved for that.<br />
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The Gallery's history has not been without its drama. <a href="http://www.euromuse.net/en/museums/museum/view-m/pinacoteca-di-brera/">Euromuse</a> tells us of another struggle in the 20th century: <i>"When Franco Russoli became director in 1973, the Gallery had suffered from twenty years of inadequate funding, poor maintenance and lack of space. He brought this situation dramatically to public attention in 1974 by closing the Gallery; the positive outcome was the launching of the <b>'Grande Brera' project,</b> which aimed to enlarge the Gallery by making use of the 18th-century Palazzo Citterio, together with some rebuilding of the Brera itself."</i><br />
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And so, having contemplated it all from Napoleon to <i>'Il Bacio',</i> your visit is done.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1UPN0fw21Ps/UquZiCi7wuI/AAAAAAAAM30/mOCdlNSe_Cs/s1600/482px-Francesco_Hayez_-_The_Kiss_-_WGA11218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1UPN0fw21Ps/UquZiCi7wuI/AAAAAAAAM30/mOCdlNSe_Cs/s1600/482px-Francesco_Hayez_-_The_Kiss_-_WGA11218.jpg" height="640" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'The Kiss' by Francesco Hayez (1859) </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zuKjF9X45N0/UqucU3BHZDI/AAAAAAAAM4g/7G9OHSGlVSg/s1600/P1080420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zuKjF9X45N0/UqucU3BHZDI/AAAAAAAAM4g/7G9OHSGlVSg/s1600/P1080420.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Francesco Hayez, palette in hand, outside the Brera.</td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pictures of the paintings are from the Wiki site.</span></i><br />
<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Milan, Italy45.4654542 9.186515999999983345.2863052 8.8624194999999837 45.644603200000006 9.5106124999999828tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-17545497090389864282013-12-13T23:02:00.001+00:002013-12-13T23:02:38.847+00:00Much Ado and A Curious Incident<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3nb6u__RWtg/UqdcZZZmmbI/AAAAAAAAMvg/JZTLJCOT7UU/s1600/muchadoaboutnothin_2677282b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3nb6u__RWtg/UqdcZZZmmbI/AAAAAAAAMvg/JZTLJCOT7UU/s1600/muchadoaboutnothin_2677282b.jpg" height="394" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two old friends.</td></tr>
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A visit to London means a visit to a London theatre - or two. Here's a couple of real contrasts:<br />
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<b>Much Ado About Nothing</b><br />
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<a href="http://bookings.oldvictheatre.com/single/psDetail.aspx?psn=15903">'Much Ado About Nothing' </a>- Shakespeare at the Old Vic, with Beatrice played by <b>Vanessa Redgrave </b>and Benedick by <b>James Earl-Jones;</b> <b>Mark Rylance</b> directing. With those kind of names, how could you go wrong? But permit me a little whinge here about the self-indulgence of famous directors. I've been irritated a couple of times by some very obscure plays thrust upon unsuspecting audiences by Benedict Andrews, saved (and sometimes even <i>not</i> saved) by the inclusion of Cate Blanchett. "Oh, Ive always been enthralled by this peculiar and obscure foreign drama since I had to study it in drama college..." - OK, but leave us out of it, please.<br />
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In the case of Mr Rylance, for whom I have the very greatest respect, and the two extraordinary performers he cast as his 'young lovers'...well, it didn't really work all that well. It worked, because they all are who they are, but just not that well. Try something else next time.<br />
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Apart from the elderly character of the lovers, there were the American accents. Shakespeare's <i>'Much Ado' </i>was transported to England in 1944, a change I think worked. But one reason for this choice (according to the program) was so that Mr Earl-Jones, and others, did not need to alter their usual speaking accent. Perhaps I'm the only one who'll say it, but Shakespeare doesn't translate easily to delivery in an American accent. One's ear has to make enough of an adjustment to old English - old English with a drawl is even harder. I snoozed through much of the first half.<br />
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I'm pleased to report, however, that the second half had me far more engaged, principally due to the brilliant duo; and also because the story is so annoyingly sexist (that father should be shot for believing the worst of his daughter so easily...) But I digress... Perhaps I'm making much ado about, er, nothing.<br />
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But wait...<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/10321616/Much-Ado-About-Nothing-The-Old-Vic-review.html">here's a reviewer</a> who was also unimpressed:<br />
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<i>This production came about when Mark Rylance saw Vanessa Redgrave and the great American actor James Earl Jones starring together in Driving Miss Daisy in the West End.<br />Rylance went backstage to congratulate them and, never a slouch when it comes to oddball ideas, suggested that they should play Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado. Redgrave jumped at the chance so long as Rylance directed and now here are all three of them together at the Old Vic.<br />There are moments, quite a few actually, when one wishes that Rylance had kept his big mouth shut. Beatrice and Benedick may be past the first flush of youth, but I don’t think anyone until now has thought of them as old age pensioners.</i></blockquote>
Ah yes, 'Driving Miss Daisy' was a much better casting decision.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mathematical curiosities.</td></tr>
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<b>A Curious Incident</b><br />
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Across town, at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue, is the long-running <a href="http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time-at-the-apollo-theatre">National Theatre production</a> of, of all things, <i><b>"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" </b></i>- not a book you'd think would be easily translated to the stage. <b>Mark Haddon</b>'s book about an autistic boy (or at least one at the Asbergers end of the spectrum) has been rather brilliantly adapted by <b>Simon Stephens</b>. <br />
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The pivotal and demanding role of Christopher Boone was performed by the young actor <b>Mike Noble </b>when I attended, and -- well, wow! The rest of the cast were very able: his teacher Siobhan - <b>Rakie Ayola</b>; his father Ed - <b>Trevor Fox</b>. his mother Judy - <b>Amanda Drew</b>; and a busy ensemble playing everyone else. Plus a live rat playing 'Toby.'<br />
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The set is a cube covered in a an mathematical grid which cleverly acts as everything from a blackboard to a train track. The whole thing melds so beautifully that you're never left wondering what's going on. The story, of course, is brilliantly told from Christopher's point of view in Haddon's book, and that sense also comes across in the play. A 'must see.'<br />
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<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9927821/The-Curious-Incident-of-the-Dog-in-the-Night-Time-Apollo-Theatre-review.html">Here's a review</a> (though of a different, earlier, cast).<br />
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.511213899999987 -0.1198243999999704151.511213899999987 -0.11982439999997041 51.511213899999987 -0.11982439999997041tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-82646386560884066562013-12-12T22:36:00.001+00:002013-12-12T22:36:08.964+00:00Otto's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There are only a very few restaurants for which this blog takes time out from its usual frenzy of opera, travel and theatre, but another of those rare moments has arrived.<br />
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On Gray's Inn Road in London you'll find the small but delightful <a href="http://www.ottos-restaurant.com/">Otto's</a>. I have the privilege of being good friends with a good friend of Otto himself (that's only two degrees of separation, so there's something in it, surely.) I've enjoyed several lovely meals at <b>Otto's</b>, with said good friend, and it only keeps getting better.<br />
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The food style is old-fashioned French - traditional dishes, some prepared table-side, all delivered with flair and aplomb by well-trained young things in white coats (or Otto himself, who is never far away). Regulars are welcomed like old friends. The wine choice is lovingly discussed. The divine <i>jamon iberico</i> or Scottish smoked salmon is delicately carved tableside. You can have a lovely French duck thing, but you have to let them know in advance. This is slow food. Nice and slow.<br />
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The Sunday after my last meal at Otto's, the restaurant achieved a glowing review from London restaurant reviewer <b>Tom Parker-Bowles.</b> You can read it <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-2515004/TOM-PARKER-BOWLES-Bravo-Otto-Its-classique-Nouvelle-cuisine-free-French-cooking-ancien-regime--formidable.html">here.</a> I quote a little (I can't resist - the food descriptions are a work of art in themselves):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>...there’s nothing arch about Otto’s, an unashamedly old-fashioned French restaurant that acts as if nouvelle cuisine were little more than a long-forgotten fragment of some dyspeptic cauchemar.<br />It’s a proper, well-behaved, straight-faced sort of place, with immaculate waiters and waitresses clad in immaculate black ties and white shirts...The more cynical might call it dated, but to me, it feels like a proper dining room, a place that has matured like good Burgundy.<br />Snails arrive mouth-blisteringly hot, and actually have a subtle taste of their own. Astounding. Hare is one beast that could never be accused of lacking punch. And a really visceral specimen would put a tiger off his tea. Here, though, the roast saddle is pinkly restrained, the feral heft more slap than punch. Mulled pear and redcurrant sauce not only offer relief, but push the dish to ever greater heights.<br />Tournedos Rossini shoves two fat fingers up to parsimony and restraint, a chunk of beautiful fillet steak upon which perches a plump lobe of foie gras. Which in turn is topped with a blizzard of shaved black truffle. Just writing about it makes the belly sag and the senses cheer.<br />No-nonsense, beautifully wrought classical French cooking, from the culinary ancien régime.<br />Because great recipes will always outlast the fickle and fashionable, as long as good chefs are there to do them justice. At Otto’s they have both, and flawless service to match.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/04/ottos-london-restaurant-review">Here's another review</a> - equally glowing. Here's the description of the duck dish:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>...it feels like a room in which very good things can happen. Unless you're a duck. Otto's has mostly gained attention for its hulking silver duck press, originally fashioned for a luxe hotel in Provence in the 1920s, which takes pride of place in the dining room. For £120 for two – ordered in advance – Otto's will roast you a whole duck, sourced from the same farm that supplies La Tour d'Argent in Paris, the originator of this dish. It is served in two parts, legs first, followed by slices of rare breast, under a stupidly rich sauce made from the juices of the bird, extracted by crushing it in the press: those juices, the liver, cognac, other stuff, a side order of defibrillator. I will just have to find a friend and save up.</i></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Otto. <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/ottos--restaurant-review-8626516.html">(source)</a></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/fe7addb6-f50e-11e2-b4f8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2n6E6fHLK">Here's a press article</a> which introduces you to Otto's story, and his efforts with the duck.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Otto Albert Tepassé is from an Austrian family of hoteliers and restaurateurs. He worked in some of the greatest dining rooms in Paris, including La Tour D’Argent, spiritual home of the pressed duck...<br />Otto continues his story: coming to London, working at the original Mirabelle, moving on to seemingly every important room in town. Now, he explains, he is older, tired and simply wants to run this, his first restaurant, quietly and well....<br />...I wanted pressed duck at La Tour D’Argent ever since I read about it as a 13-year-old. I loved the Grand Guignol excess and mad decadence, but it was 30 years later when I finally got there. Now canard à la presse is in London, being performed by a man who understands its tradition. If you love food, I urge you to go to Otto’s, and open your heart both to a piece of pure food theatre and to that rare thing: a meal you’ll remember your whole life.</i></blockquote>
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<b>Otto's </b><br />
<b>182 Gray’s Inn Road </b><br />
<b>London </b><br />
<b>WC1X 8EW </b><br />
<b>United Kingdom </b><br />
<b>Telephone: 020 7713 0107 </b><br />
<b>Email: enquiries@ottos-restaurant.com </b><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photos are mainly from Otto's website.</span></i><br />
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.511213899999987 -0.1198243999999704151.511213899999987 -0.11982439999997041 51.511213899999987 -0.11982439999997041tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-8258261398067649692013-12-11T06:40:00.000+00:002013-12-11T06:40:09.508+00:00Satyagraha<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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'Satyagraha' is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Hindi: “insistence on truth” or “zeal for truth”) satyagraha [Credit: Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images]concept introduced in the early 20th century by Mahatma Gandhi to designate a determined but nonviolent resistance to evil. Gandhi’s satyagraha became a major tool in the Indian struggle against British imperialism and has since been adopted by protest groups in other countries.</i></blockquote>
It's not a term that's caught on like a sound-bite, but Gandhi's application of the principal is certainly well-remembered. At the <a href="http://www.eno.org/satyagraha">ENO in London</a> I caught a performance of Phillip Glass's opera based on Gandhi's early struggles in South Africa. On the face of it, this opera might have turned out to be a challenge - over three hours of opera sung in Sanskrit with no surtitles. A friend who'd seen the production a few years ago (it is a co-production with The Met in NYC) described it as "meditative." Hmm..<br />
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As it turned out, the whole thing was dreamy, involving, uplifting and mesmerising. It was the first Phillip Glass opera I'd heard (and I hope not the last). The repetitive themes got into my mind. The sharp little changes kept me on my toes.<br />
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The cast? M.K.Gandhi was beautifully sung by <b>Alan Oke;</b> Miss Schlesen (his secretary) by Clare Eggington; and his wife Kasturbai by <b>Stephanie Marshall.</b> Everyone was good, I must say. The director was <b>Phelim McDermott</b> from a theate company called 'Improbable.' The production involves video, some extraordinary puppetry, and a number of acrobatics. In fact, the staging, I'd heard, was some of the best ever, and I did enjoy it. However, it's the strange music that has stayed with me. Hypnotic.<br />
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The opera text is adapted from the text of the Bhagavada Gita by Constance de Jong. Phillip Glass composed it 1980. This production dates from 2007. The 'action' jumps about in time, so that the Acts highlight different incidents in Gandhi's South African career, in a time-jumbled order. I found it helpful to have some idea of where and when we were. These are my notes from the program, with my own bits and pieces:<br />
<br />
Act I - TOLSTOY (Ghandi’s farm)<br />
The Kuru Field of Justice (Indian myth)<br />
Tolstoy Farm (1910)<br />
The Vow (1906)<br />
Act II - TAGORE (mentor of Ghandi)<br />
Confrontation and rescue (1896) (Mrs Alexander rescues Ghandi)<br />
Indian Opinion (1906) (newspaper)<br />
Protest (1908) (burning registration cards)<br />
Act III - KING<br />
- New Castle March (1913)<br />
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But even so, when I looked up the opera on <a href="http://www.philipglass.com/music/compositions/satyagraha.php">Phillip Glass's web site</a> I see that I missed a few things:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Each act is dominated by a single historic figure (non-singing role) overlooking the action from above: the Indian poet Ravindranath Tagore in Act I the Russian author Leo Tolstoy in Act II, the American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr in Act III."</i></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/21/satyagraha-english-national-opera-review">Here's the Guardian review</a>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Satyagraha makes demands of its audience. Though not as long as the five-hour Einstein on the Beach, which Glass wrote four years earlier, it is fundamentally a reflective work. Although more operatic than Einstein, not much happens in its three acts, in a conventional narrative sense. There is no dialogue. The text, sung by the principals and the excellent chorus, is entirely in Sanskrit, adapted from the Bhagavad Gita. The music, famously so, is patterned and repetitive. The work has to be taken on its own terms."</i></blockquote>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Images from <a href="http://www.eno.org/satyagraha">ENO website.</a></span></i>Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.511213899999987 -0.1198243999999704151.511213899999987 -0.11982439999997041 51.511213899999987 -0.11982439999997041tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-185448245784204072013-12-10T15:42:00.003+00:002013-12-10T15:42:36.312+00:00Eat, Pray, Laugh<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was a privilege to catch a session of Barry Humphries' <a href="http://www.dameednafarewell.com/">'Farewell Tour'</a> of the UK (I think it's already toured in the antipodes). Dame Edna, who's been around since the mid-1950's will be missed. The show filled the <a href="http://www.reallyusefultheatres.co.uk/theatres/london-palladium/history/">London Palladium</a>, a big old theatre dating from 1910, and the audience were in stitches. This could have been because of the thoroughly non-PC jokes, or it could have been because the English find Australians ridiculous. In any event, a great night was had by all.<br />
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We were regaled in the first half by the gross Sir Les Patterson, who managed to enquire if there was anyone left in Poland? "It must be the Marie Celeste of Europe." The farting and toilet jokes wore a little thin after an hour or so; but before Edna joined us for the second half, we segued into a wonderful Humphries character named Sandy Stone.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/nov/17/barry-humphries-farewell-tour-london-review">The Guardian review</a>er, like me, is very fond of the character Sandy Stone:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"But my favourite Humphries creation is Sandy Stone, a suburban oldster who reminisces about a contented, if unfulfilled, life from beyond the grave. "Since my cremation," Sandy announces, whistling through his false teeth, "I've kept a pretty low profile." But Humphries is at his best when Sandy talks of the treatment inflicted on his wife as a "care recipient". There is a Swiftian anger in Humphries' account of the way the strict job demarcation of the "wellness team" prevents them helping an old woman writhing on the floor in agony. Even the way Sandy's wife is taught to reply to the simplest question with "fantastic" when she means "yes" is an index of society's casual disrespect for senior citizens."</i></blockquote>
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Edna then does her thing, involving those foolish enough to take seats in the front rows. Her material is well worn, but still produces many laughs. The show ended with the touching appearance of Barry Humphries himself, having shed all his characters (excepting only Edna's fingernail polish), to bid us adieu. He ended with an anecdote from his earliest days in theatre, when he'd been mis-cast as a Shakespearean Lothario in tights. "Why do they always laugh when I go on?" he asked his director. "It's not the tights," the director answered. "You're just naturally ridiculous." So true.<br />
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.511213899999987 -0.1198243999999704151.193392399999986 -0.76801789999997039 51.829035399999988 0.52836910000002957tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-70570330135219075582013-12-07T09:49:00.000+00:002013-12-07T09:49:05.821+00:00The Georgians and Their Manners<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Georgians at The British Library <a href="http://www.bl.uk/">(source)</a></td></tr>
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<b>The British Library</b> usually has great exhibitions, and <a href="http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/georgiansrevealed/index.html">this one</a> is no exception: <b>Georgians Revealed: Life, Style and the Making of Modern Britain </b>(til March 2014). The occasion is said to be the 300th anniversary of the accession of <b>King George I</b> in <b>1714</b>. <b>George IV </b>died in <b>1830.</b> So a little over a century is covered. As the subtitle suggests, the Georgians years really were the years that made modern Britain - so much that flowered in that century is clearly evident today, or is an obvious precursor to modern-day life. The life of the middle-class, that is, for this is the century that made them. The poor are mentioned now and then; the great generals and statesmen hardly at all, the prostitutes (of which there were many) never. Even the four "Georges" are introduced only at the beginning of the exhibition. This is about the flowering of the British middle class, and all that has meant for the western world.<br />
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When <b>George I </b>was enticed over from Hanover to establish a new protestant constitutional monarchy (George never did learn to speak English), England was set on the road to the dominance that helped it establish one of the great empires. Success in continental wars, innovative manufacturing, improved transport systems -- the country was driven on by technological inventions and entrepreneurial drive.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-16o4b-U_XVc/Up9XOH7ZqWI/AAAAAAAAMtc/3wfvqKP_1Cg/s1600/chairschippendalecatalogue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-16o4b-U_XVc/Up9XOH7ZqWI/AAAAAAAAMtc/3wfvqKP_1Cg/s1600/chairschippendalecatalogue.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page from Thomas Chippendale’s first furniture catalogue of 1754. <a href="http://exhibitionologist.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/review-georgians-revealed-life-style-the-making-of-modern-britain/">(source)</a></td></tr>
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The emerging middle class proved to have the tastes of the middle class today. Design and fashion flourished, new entertainment arrived, a new consumerist culture emerged. The printing presses began turning out newspapers, magazines and marketing print <i>en masse</i> for the growing middle class of merchants and professionals. They had money, and they wanted new buildings, new parks. The middle classes formed about one third of the population of Britain by the end of the period. There were emerging concepts of taste and politeness as the middle classes emulated a small but powerful elite. They built and furnished their homes in the latest styles, shopped for luxury goods, socialised at balls and assemblies.<br />
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It's this time that I think we can 'blame' for the bizarre cult of politeness that infects the modern Briton even today. The middle class Georgians, in an effort keep up with the aristocracy, who probably couldn't give a toss about "manners", set out all kinds of rules of etiquette in widely read books. The Victorians continued the fad, and in the 21st century you can still find a kind of twisted version. 'Being polite' was elevated above being sensible, so that even today in Britain you may find yourself being berated, rudely, for being, er, rude. You've transgressed some esoteric Georgian rule of etiquette, perhaps. Walked too slowly? Bumped into someone? Looked them in the eye? Cue tirade.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BDS2Lq4TaCE/Up9eOBM7O2I/AAAAAAAAMuA/oOBx5uTQP34/s1600/1975.2L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BDS2Lq4TaCE/Up9eOBM7O2I/AAAAAAAAMuA/oOBx5uTQP34/s1600/1975.2L.jpg" height="353" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Victorian, but you get the drift...</td></tr>
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In Georgian times the cities were still rough places of dirt and noise and only gradually improved as<br />
elegant new streets and squares were built. The time of George IV was the time of architect John Nash, responsible for The Regent's Park and it's glorious surrounding Georgian buildings (and for turning Buckingham Palace into a palace). Georgian taste ran to classical architecture, expansive lawns and exotically planted flowerbeds.<br />
<br />
The population of Britain trebled to 24 million and the East India Company imported luxury goods like tea, coffee, and sugar. Shopping became a social activity (sound familiar?) The fashion industry was born. But on the dark side, many luxury goods depended on slavery for their production. The British anti-slavery movement emerged in the 1780s but was not abolished until 1807: a dark episode rarely discussed these days.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lV9Lbd0nEu4/Up9eMmS44MI/AAAAAAAAMt4/lRi1b1lP08Q/s1600/regency-ball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lV9Lbd0nEu4/Up9eMmS44MI/AAAAAAAAMt4/lRi1b1lP08Q/s1600/regency-ball.jpg" height="306" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Georgian dancing at the Assembly Rooms. <a href="http://higglepeahomeed.blogspot.it/2012/04/georgian-fan-etiquette.html">(source)</a></td></tr>
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Sociability was central to middle class Georgian life. There was a huge increase in public entertainments. There were new theatres (dozens still around today), and Assembly Rooms for dancing and gambling. Pleasure gardens and masquerades were hugely popular.<br />
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Drawn from the copious vaults of the British Library, there is on display a number of wonderful written artefacts (also known as books). There are the small tomes on etiquette, music, or what to discuss over the tea-table. There are huge, gorgeous volumes with illustrations of wild flowers. There is a particularly poignant small leather attaché case filled with chits documenting a young beau's gambling debts, left behind when he had to flee to the Continent to escape his creditors.<br />
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Visit, and understand a little more about the curious creatures who are the British.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hW7Rou6bmts/Up9bIZcz48I/AAAAAAAAMto/DsQHWPTZVPs/s1600/georgiansrevealedlondonmap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hW7Rou6bmts/Up9bIZcz48I/AAAAAAAAMto/DsQHWPTZVPs/s1600/georgiansrevealedlondonmap.jpg" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The floor of the final room of the exhibition is a giant map of Georgian London, with each individual street clearly visible.<br />
<a href="http://exhibitionologist.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/review-georgians-revealed-life-style-the-making-of-modern-britain/">(source)</a></td></tr>
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<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Information from the brochure accompanying the exhibition.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pictures from the British Library website, and <a href="http://exhibitionologist.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/review-georgians-revealed-life-style-the-making-of-modern-britain/">this review.</a></span></i>Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.511213899999987 -0.1198243999999704151.193392399999986 -0.76801789999997039 51.829035399999988 0.52836910000002957tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-8620116504084797232013-12-06T17:17:00.001+00:002013-12-06T17:17:38.754+00:00Backstage!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B985laBZUfc/Up5ErH7QrQI/AAAAAAAAMso/AjzImkfC4EA/s1600/MetLive_FALSTAFF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B985laBZUfc/Up5ErH7QrQI/AAAAAAAAMso/AjzImkfC4EA/s1600/MetLive_FALSTAFF.jpg" height="352" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scene we saw in rehearsal <a href="http://www.clarkart.edu/visit/event-detail.cfm?ID=18643&CID=5">(source)</a></td></tr>
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In the final exciting instalment of <b>a weekend of opera in New York City</b> -- a peek backstage on a Monday morning, courtesy of a wonderful new friend with a dream job behind the scenes of one of the world's greatest opera houses. She escorted us on a tour of the prop room, the costume department, the wig maker's domain; we threaded our way through carpenters and sopranos and harps in cases; we peeked at the famous auditorium from the orchestra pit; we bumped into and said 'hi' to Peter Gelb, the head man of The Met himself. Read about life backstage at the opera company <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/arts/music/16subs.html?pagewanted=all">here.</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QCp4ZsPSX7Y/Up9UYWpd3lI/AAAAAAAAMtE/a2HeyPSx3BA/s1600/28-1e046-barber1-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QCp4ZsPSX7Y/Up9UYWpd3lI/AAAAAAAAMtE/a2HeyPSx3BA/s1600/28-1e046-barber1-300x300.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Watson, wig-maker.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://nypost.com/2012/12/28/meet-the-mets-hair-apparent/">Tom Watson</a> is the wig maker at The Met (and moonlights on Broadway):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>With a healthy head of hair, [some singers need] no wig fitting. Just in case, the Met’s wig department has head moulds of roughly 75 singers. “If we know who’s coming in, sometimes I can pull their head off,” and fashion a hairpiece quickly, the Met’s wig master, Tom Watson, said with macabre shorthand. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/arts/music/16subs.html?pagewanted=all">(source)</a></i></blockquote>
And then to the auditorium to watch an hour or so of a <b>piano rehearsal </b>of <b>Verdi's 'Falstaff '</b>- with none other than the revered <b>James Levine</b> conducting from the podium (in his new wheelchair). We sat a couple of rows from the front, with a great view into the pit and up onto the stage. An opera-lover's heaven. This is The Met’s first new ‘Falstaff’ since 1964 (they like to squeeze the lemons dry at The Met). From the little I saw of it, it will be worth the wait.<br />
<br />
The Falstaff in this production is <b>Italian Ambrogio Maestri</b>, who apparently speaks only Italian. The English director <b>Robert Carson </b>fortunately is fluent in Italian (most people running around backstage in an opera house are multi-lingual, it seems!) The <b>piano rehearsal</b> is the director's domain - where he directs the cast in their acting and staging and so on. At the next rehearsal, the orchestra rehearsal, the conductor takes over and the music is all-important. At this piano rehearsal, they were trying out one of the final scenes which involves a huge chorus augmented by actors. There's lots of fake smoke and everyone wears antlers and cloaks, and people are pushed around on rolling tables - chaos! But brought together so expertly by the consummate professionals involved (with just a little bit of sniping between the director and the chorus-master, who clearly was anxious to look after "his" chorus).<br />
<br />
As for <b>Signore Maestri</b>, he's a fine figure of a Falstaff, ably supported by some other very fine figures, including the incredible voice of <b>Stephanie Blythe </b>as Mistress Quickly. It's worth checking out <a href="http://www.ambrogiomaestri.com/">Signore maestri's website</a> - he demonstrates Italian cooking!<br />
<br />
Read a synopsis of the story of Falstaff <a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/season/synopsis/falstaff">here.</a><br />
<br />
It was brilliant. My only regret - and it's a severe one - is that I won't get to see the full performance. But it is being broadcast on The Met's HD cinema program...hmmm...<br />
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Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0New York, NY, USA40.7143528 -74.005973140.3270823 -74.654166600000011 41.1016233 -73.3577796tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-15948948825256468892013-12-05T08:27:00.003+00:002013-12-05T08:27:40.534+00:00Strauss at The Met<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k9QiKOxb5eY/Up3qNwh0mZI/AAAAAAAAMrw/ONWeWdfpUbc/s1600/rosenk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k9QiKOxb5eY/Up3qNwh0mZI/AAAAAAAAMrw/ONWeWdfpUbc/s1600/rosenk.jpg" height="388" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marina Serafin and Alice Coote: 'Der Rosenkavalier' <a href="http://super-conductor.blogspot.it/2013/11/metropolitan-opera-preview-der.html">(source)</a></td></tr>
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A weekend in <b>New York</b> is always a great opportunity for a weekend at <b>The Metropolitan Opera House</b>. This incredible company has the resources, the history, the support, the house and the singers to stage scads of opera, all usually in unforgettable style. My recent NYC weekend included two <b>Richard Strauss </b>operas (I'm a big Strauss fan), plus the exciting opportunity to visit backstage and sit in on a rehearsal. Opera-lovers' Heaven!<br />
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<b>Der Rosenkavalier </b>was first up....<br />
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<b>Richard Strauss</b> composed the music to <b>Hugo von Hofmannsthal</b>'s libretto in <b>1911</b>, and it's revered as one of the best-loved operas in the repertoire. Occasionally you'll hear someone deriding it, but trust me, they're only kidding - everyone loves 'Rosenkavalier'! This particular production, all sumptuous period Vienna, debuted at The Met in 1969!! It's renowned for being one of the longest-running productions in opera history, and those traditional Viennese wigs still look fresh. Well, fresh-ish. The rumour is that this will be the last run for these venerable sets and costumes (which I've seen before, with Renee Fleming as The Marchallin). It was good to see the last run.<br />
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The conductor was <b>Edward Gardner </b>(England). Octavian, the trouser-role, was sung by mezzo <b>Alice Coote (</b>England), a veteran of the part, and a singer I like very much. Elina Garança was scheduled to sing Octavian, but the Latvian diva withdrew due to pregnancy (it is an energetic role). Her replacement for the first three performances is Alice Coote. (Daniela Sindram will sing the role in the December performances).<br />
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The Marchallin is <b>Martina Serafin </b>(Austria), who was regal and lovely. Perhaps slightly too regal, visually speaking, since she's a head taller than Alice Coote. A little belief had to be suspended to work with the story of a 17-year-old youth in the arms of the statuesque aristocrat.<br />
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Baron Ochs, an annoyingly comic role, was sung - comically - by <b>Peter Rose</b> (England). He was a pretty good Ochs. Sophie, the young ingenue for whom Octavian dumps the Marchallin was sung - at the last minute - by <b>Erin Morley </b>(USA). Excitingly, she was the understudy who got to go on, replacing Mojca Erdmann (Germany) who became, er, indisposed, at around the time of the dress rehearsal. It was an excellent Sophie, well sung - congrats to the whole cast for adjusting to the change. <i>That</i> trio -for which the opera is famous - was, as it's supposed to be, to die for.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X2CZ_nV_X7g/Up3tJ8t10hI/AAAAAAAAMr8/iLok_PdZJ04/s1600/09102_show_landscape_large_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X2CZ_nV_X7g/Up3tJ8t10hI/AAAAAAAAMr8/iLok_PdZJ04/s1600/09102_show_landscape_large_01.jpg" height="414" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sumptuous sets on their last run. <a href="http://www.newyorkcitytheatre.com/theaters/metropolitanoperahouse/metropolitan-opera-der-rosenkavalier.php">(source)</a></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/arts/music/der-rosenkavalier-at-the-metropolitan-opera.html?_r=0">Here's a review</a> from the New York Times - wholly congratulatory. <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/1ba0e5a6-5681-11e3-ab12-00144feabdc0.html">This review</a> from the FT is less impressed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zJgRS6VxgLk/Up32bTV7YgI/AAAAAAAAMsM/T195WbhdoGU/s1600/09SCHATTEN-articleLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zJgRS6VxgLk/Up32bTV7YgI/AAAAAAAAMsM/T195WbhdoGU/s1600/09SCHATTEN-articleLarge.jpg" height="404" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Schwanewilms as the Empress in 'Die Frau ohne Schatten' <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/09/arts/music/die-frau-ohne-schatten-returns-to-the-met.html">(Source)</a></td></tr>
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<b>'Die Frau ohne Schatten' </b>was next...<br />
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Still Strauss, but a change of pace in <b>'Die Frau ohne Schatten' </b>(The Women Without a Shadow)<b>.</b> This was the work of Strauss and von Hofmannsthal a few years later, in <b>1919.</b> It's not performed very often, partly because the storyline is quite obscure, the opera is long, and you need a huge orchestra and an inventive staging. And you also need five excellent principals who can sing difficult music. This production premiered at The Met in 2001, and manages to handle the story convincingly -- the spirit world of the Emperor and Empress alternates with the grungy hovel of the Dyer and his Wife, each being lowered and raised to and from The Met's copious basement space. It's great theatre.<br />
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<i>...in 2001... Herbert Wernicke startled the basically conservative Met with an astonishingly progressive production of Richard Strauss’s magnificently bloated Die Frau ohne Schatten. He actually made theatrical sense of Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s high-minded, hopelessly convoluted libretto.</i></blockquote>
And superlative singing, particularly by the US soprano <b>Christine Goerke</b> as The Dyer's Wife. I'd heard rave reviews, and they weren't kidding. Her incredibly rich voice handled the wide range of the role, and her acting was utterly focussed and spot on. The conductor was Russian wunderkind Vladimir Jurowski. The other important roles were also superbly performed: The Nurse - <b>Ildikó Komlósi</b> (Hungary); The Emperor - <b>Torsten Kerl </b>(Germany); The Empress - <b>Anne Schwanewilms </b>(Germany); and Barak, The Dyer - J<b>ohan Reuter</b> (Denmark) - he was excellent in this role of 'the nicest man in opera.'<br />
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The story? Well, I'm not sure you have time...the 'woman without a shadow' is a reference to the Empress, a spirit who married a human and so cannot have children. She tries to buy a 'shadow' from the Dyer's Wife, who lives in poverty and frustration...read the whole <a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/season/synopsis/die-frau-ohne-schatten?customid=780">whole synopsis here.</a><br />
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<a href="http://newyorkclassicalreview.com/2013/11/christine-goerke-moves-heaven-and-earth-in-mets-die-frau-ohne-schatten/">Here's a review </a>raving about the production. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/09/arts/music/die-frau-ohne-schatten-returns-to-the-met.html">The New York Times </a>was impressed. <i>"Goerke unmissable in the Met's Die Frau ohne Schatten" </i>says <a href="http://bachtrack.com/review-nov-2013-met-opera-frau-ohne-schatten">one review.</a> I agree!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Llb6CpD2gP4/Up33Wj7I1LI/AAAAAAAAMsY/QLEeaKl25cg/s1600/dfrau_5289a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Llb6CpD2gP4/Up33Wj7I1LI/AAAAAAAAMsY/QLEeaKl25cg/s1600/dfrau_5289a.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christine Goerke (The Dyer's Wife) and Johan Reuter (Barak the Dyer) <a href="http://irontongue.blogspot.it/2013/11/sie-kommt-die-frau-ohne-schatten-at-met.html">(source)</a></td></tr>
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It's sometimes said that Strauss and von Hofmannsthal had Mozart's great operas in mind when composing these two of their own:<br />
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<i>If “Der Rosenkavalier” amounted to Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s “Marriage of Figaro,” a sophisticated comedy of thoroughly grown-up relationships, then “Frau” — started in 1911, completed in 1917 and first staged in 1919 — was their “Magic Flute,” a fable intertwining the fates of two couples in a mystical rite of passage. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/arts/music/die-frau-ohne-schatten-with-schwanewilms-and-goerke.html">(source)</a></i></blockquote>
Although I can see the link, don't come to these two expecting Mozart - they are both thoroughly Strauss-ian and incredibly involving. Loved them.<br />
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0New York, NY, USA40.7143528 -74.005973140.7143528 -74.0059731 40.7143528 -74.0059731tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-33179519378261492142013-12-04T08:18:00.000+00:002013-12-04T08:18:30.761+00:00Jansing & Co<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3RHcLk7lqlk/Up3DxRNcGlI/AAAAAAAAMrM/qNvibTrkJoU/s1600/Jansing&Company.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3RHcLk7lqlk/Up3DxRNcGlI/AAAAAAAAMrM/qNvibTrkJoU/s1600/Jansing&Company.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the 30-storey high <b>Rockefeller Tower </b>in<b> New York City </b>the best-known tenant is the <b>television broadcaster NBC.</b> Your blogger is not a great TV-watcher, but was thrilled to bits to be invited to sit in the "control room" during the broadcast of a live-to-air news show, <b>Jansing & Co</b>, by none other than the show's delightful and dedicated host, <b>Chris Jansing.</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Control room!</td></tr>
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After passing through the tight security that is <i>de rigeur </i>in all New York high rises these days, especially the iconic ones, a one-floor-only lift whisked up to one of the NBC locations in the Tower.<br />
Chris was wearing a chic purple dress today, and had been in the office since about 5.30 am preparing for the 10 to 11 am broadcast. As she headed to her set, we were escorted by her friendly producer to a corner of a crowded control room, a space stuffed with monitors of all shapes, sizes and functions. Some were tuned to rival networks, but most were trained on the studio set where Chris sat, smoothing her hair and looking cool, calm and collected.<br />
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The show focusses on current news stories - it opens <b>msnbc's news coverage</b> for the day (the hugely popular NBC Morning Show is broadcast from another NBC space in the Rockefeller Center, across the road). On this particular day the subjects under discussion included bad weather on its way across country in time to disrupt Thanksgiving travel, the recently negotiated deal between the US and Iran, a variety of differing views on US domestic politics, and an interview with studio guests - an actress (Naomie Harris) and director (Justin Chadwick) from the about-to-be released movie about Nelson Mandela's life, "Long Walk to Freedom."<br />
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This last segment was the only one to disrupt the spooky calm that everyone seemed to be able to preserve despite being live-to-air. The movie contingent, travelling with an extensive entourage, managed to be rather late in getting to the building, and to the studio. In the control room, the producer began to speak a little more loudly and a little more urgently - "can you SEE them?" -- "OK, you can see Justin. Can you see Naomie?" -- "OK, OK - they're IN the building!"<br />
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After delaying the segment until the end of the show, and with seconds to spare as the intro rolled after the ad break, the guests slid into chairs on Chris's set. With aplomb and charm, she rolled into the interview...and then we were done.<br />
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I asked the producer how everyone managed to stay so calm. "Oh, we do this every day," she said. "If we mess up this one, there's always tomorrow's show!" A glimpse into the world of live TV, NBC style. Thanks, Chris!<br />
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Watch the show on-line <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/jansing-co">here.</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris at work.</td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo and logo sourced from msnbc.</span></i><br />
<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0New York, NY, USA40.7143528 -74.005973140.3270823 -74.654166600000011 41.1016233 -73.3577796tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-1898723932360055362013-12-03T08:57:00.002+00:002013-12-04T15:23:55.075+00:00Little Italy<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/little-italy-s-dining-dash-changing-restaurants-after-each-course"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gYS2TcNh_1U/Upndkv4dygI/AAAAAAAAMqs/wdf-p0rwzb0/s1600/Welcome+to+Little+Italy_0.jpg" height="331" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deep in Manhattan...<a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/little-italy-s-dining-dash-changing-restaurants-after-each-course">(source)</a></td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CetjSp9gp_w/UpndjGkrYiI/AAAAAAAAMqo/RyN3g7gAOk4/s1600/15.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CetjSp9gp_w/UpndjGkrYiI/AAAAAAAAMqo/RyN3g7gAOk4/s1600/15.jpeg" /></a>On a recent visit to New York City for four days, I ate nothing but Italian. Granted, I was visiting with an actual Italian, but still...New York City has many neighbourhoods, and "Little Italy" has been established for a century. It even has its own <a href="http://www.littleitalynyc.com/">website.</a><br />
Geographically, it centres around Mott and Mulberry Streets, St Patrick's Old Cathedral (at 263 Mulberry), and a cluster of restaurants, delis and cafés all channeling the Old Country.<br />
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Let me take you on a tour of the Little Italy sites I sampled...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lE-5EWhljxA/UpncJkrT6rI/AAAAAAAAMpI/m7FJHaz6Go4/s1600/IMG_8160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lE-5EWhljxA/UpncJkrT6rI/AAAAAAAAMpI/m7FJHaz6Go4/s1600/IMG_8160.jpg" height="640" width="472" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emilio's place...</td></tr>
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Join me for dinner at <b>Emilio's Ballato</b> restaurant at 55 E Houston St. Emilio is from the Amalfi Coast. As such, he is careful about his food, careful about his guests (no reservations, BTW) and if you're an Italian from the Amalfi Coast you get to invade his kitchen to give instructions about your dinner. <a href="http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/ballato/">This reviewer</a> complains that <i>"Ballato’s clubbiness can seem off-putting, especially as owner Emilio Vitolo scrutinizes newcomers from his front corner table"</i> but is won over in the end:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Vitolo favors unfussy preparations of classic dishes. Almost all are winners. Hearty rigatoni alla Bolognese comes in a thick sauce with beef, veal, and pork, while baked shrimp benefits from pristine seafood and simple garlic and bread crumbs. An extensive and reasonable wine list includes <b>Ballato’s own label, produced by a Tuscan friend. </b>A private dining space in back has hosted <b>celebs </b>like Billy Joel, Lenny Kravitz, and Tom Hanks, while a central-casting mix of outer-borough Italians, younger locals, and wide-eyed tourists people the spare main dining room. The club vibe pervades, but doesn’t exclude: If Vitolo doesn’t know your name when you’re seated, he will by the time you’ve finished your espresso and nibbled on a plate of on-the-house biscotti.</i></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lou and Sam's place...</td></tr>
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For your deli requirements - gorgeous imports from Italy - the motherlode is at <b>Di Palo's</b>, 200 Grand Street. Lou is one of the brothers running the place, and his son Sam is in charge of the wine <i>enoteca </i>(all Italian wine, of course). Various other daughters, wives, brothers, sisters-in-law, aunts and uncles assist: heirs to a business that's been in the family for several generations. Lou and Sam have visited the Amalfi Coast, and source some of their products and wines from the region.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tnA83atlCXk/UpncT9LLFkI/AAAAAAAAMpY/QoQ3R0fR3PM/s1600/IMG_8205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tnA83atlCXk/UpncT9LLFkI/AAAAAAAAMpY/QoQ3R0fR3PM/s1600/IMG_8205.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Yorkers crowding Di Palo's</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GYUAvPQTzcg/UpncqAgNklI/AAAAAAAAMpg/1hG7gdtEZ5E/s1600/IMG_8209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GYUAvPQTzcg/UpncqAgNklI/AAAAAAAAMpg/1hG7gdtEZ5E/s1600/IMG_8209.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pick up your panettoni in Di Palo's</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aTIu_JQcjSs/Upnc_llL8-I/AAAAAAAAMp4/ImbSpCGDYBA/s1600/IMG_8219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aTIu_JQcjSs/Upnc_llL8-I/AAAAAAAAMp4/ImbSpCGDYBA/s1600/IMG_8219.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Di Palo's<i> enoteca</i> we find...wine from our friend Alfonso's Tramonti vineyard on the Amalfi Coast, <b>Monte di Grazie. </b><br />
And a sample of his old vines!</td></tr>
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On the corner of Mulberry and Grand is a small, slightly amateurish but very sincere small museum, the <a href="http://italianamericanmuseum.org/">Italian American Museum.</a> What better location? <i>This historic location on the corner of Mulberry and Grand Streets once housed “Banca Stabile” which was founded by Francesco Rosario Stabile in 1885. During its heyday, the bank offered the newly arrived immigrants from Italy much more than financial services. It was a link for the Immigrants in the United States with their relatives in Italy. In addition to a full range of banking services, it also provided the following services: telegraph, travel via steam ships, import-export, notary public, and post office; a kind of all in one immigrant community service centre. </i>(source: their website).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some Napoli <i>presipo </i>in the Museum - and a lectern for those special occasions.</td></tr>
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The Italian American Museum goes to explain (on it's website) that it <i>"is more than an immigration museum. Its purpose is to document the myriad of contributions made by the people of Italy and their descendants to the very fabric of American society from its earliest origins and its philosophical underpinning through philosophers, explorers, adventurers, industrialists, scientists, educators, politicians, and everyday extraordinary people, telling the whole story which continues to flourish and evolve in America today. Italian Americans are the fifth largest ethnic group in the United States of America today, with distinct cultural values and traits which distinguish them as a people within the greater multicultural American society. Thus, the museum serves as a point of reference for those who are Italian Americans and those who wish to learn about Italian Americans."</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Papers from the bank vaults documenting the immigrants who arrived by sea, </td></tr>
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The Library of Congress tells part of the story <a href="http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/italian3.html">here:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Most of this generation of Italian immigrants took their first steps on U.S. soil in a place that has now become a legend—Ellis Island. In the 1880s, they numbered 300,000; in the 1890s, 600,000; in the decade after that, more than two million. By 1920, when immigration began to taper off, more than 4 million Italians had come to the United States, and represented more than 10 percent of the nation’s foreign-born population.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What brought about this dramatic surge in immigration? The causes are complex, and each hopeful individual or family no doubt had a unique story. By the late 19th century, the peninsula of Italy had finally been brought under one flag, but the land and the people were by no means unified. Decades of internal strife had left a legacy of violence, social chaos, and widespread poverty. The peasants in the primarily poor, mostly rural south of Italy and on the island of Sicily had little hope of improving their lot. Diseases and natural disasters swept through the new nation, but its fledgling government was in no condition to bring aid to the people. As transatlantic transportation became more affordable, and as word of American prosperity came via returning immigrants and U.S. recruiters, Italians found it increasingly difficult to resist the call of “L’America”. </i></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_JYSDismV-A/UpndVEYEgZI/AAAAAAAAMqQ/8F_1y1M_qG4/s1600/IMG_8226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_JYSDismV-A/UpndVEYEgZI/AAAAAAAAMqQ/8F_1y1M_qG4/s1600/IMG_8226.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Famous Italian-Americans commemorated: Here, Serpico "The cop who defied the system."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cazOaWqHV4k/UpndWV6giuI/AAAAAAAAMqY/DKzEN36Y6Gs/s1600/IMG_8228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cazOaWqHV4k/UpndWV6giuI/AAAAAAAAMqY/DKzEN36Y6Gs/s1600/IMG_8228.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here's a photo of our friends at Di Palo!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ELfr9Vgsf4/UpndhihschI/AAAAAAAAMqg/wiGDdIa9D6w/s1600/IMG_8238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ELfr9Vgsf4/UpndhihschI/AAAAAAAAMqg/wiGDdIa9D6w/s1600/IMG_8238.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Did you know that the chief sculptor of Mount Rushmore was an Italian, <b>Luigi Del Bianco</b>?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wm7GC3di1OI/UpndnAllZ4I/AAAAAAAAMrA/WnvG8ciCeHI/s1600/IMG_8245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wm7GC3di1OI/UpndnAllZ4I/AAAAAAAAMrA/WnvG8ciCeHI/s1600/IMG_8245.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
And finally, let's stop for an espresso and sfogliatella at <a href="http://www.ferraracafe.com/home.php">Ferrara Bakery and Café</a>, 195 Grand Street<br />
between Mulberry & Mott St. As they exclaim on their website:<br />
<br />
<i>For four generations, the Ferrara family has been delighting Little Italy with its outstanding Italian/French desserts. Cannoli, sfogliatella, gelati and more have been made right here since 1892.</i><br />
<i>Today, not only can you come in and enjoy the "Ferrara Favorites" along with specialty coffees, lattes and espressos, you can now order for delivery anywhere in the continental USA for a taste of Little Italy at home!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I can report that both the espresso and the sfogliatella were, indeed, like a taste of home.<br />
<br />
<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com1New York, NY, USA40.7143528 -74.005973140.3270823 -74.654166600000011 41.1016233 -73.3577796tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-71570483097756878722013-12-02T09:13:00.001+00:002013-12-02T09:13:09.915+00:00Tower Tours<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aBsLAWqyZac/UphpglNaDDI/AAAAAAAAMlw/Lrh5e0SdfsY/s1600/414215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aBsLAWqyZac/UphpglNaDDI/AAAAAAAAMlw/Lrh5e0SdfsY/s1600/414215.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Your brave correspondent at Willis Tower "Skydeck Ledge", Chicago.<br />
Trusting Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There's recently been a lively discussion, shall we say, over the title of "tallest building in America", or "tallest building in the Western Hemisphere." That last description circumvents consideration of <b>Taipei 101</b>, the <b>Petronas Towers</b> in Kuala Lumpar, or anything the Middle East can come up with: <b>Burj Khalifa</b> in Dubai has been the tallest building in the world since 2010 and stands at 2,722 ft to the tip of its spire.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/08/willis-tower-world-trade-center-dispute">The Guardian</a> outlines the issues. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/12/new-world-trade-center-recognized-as-tallest-building-in-us/">Fox News</a> announces the "winner". <b>One World Trade Center,</b> with its 408 ft steel spire, measures <b>1,776ft.</b> It's a symbolic reference to the year of the US Declaration of Independence. The contention is over whether its steel attachment is an antenna or a spire. If the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat had decided that it's an antenna, One World Trade Center would be reduced to a mere 1,368ft building – smaller than the <b>1,451ft Willis Tower </b>in Chicago. However, to the chagrin of Chicagoans, the Council decided that the attachment was a spire - an integral part of the building. The spikes on top of the Willis Tower, which, if 'counted', would make it even higher still, are officially 'antennas.' Although the Willis Tower folk are remaining dignified through this dispute - Willis's top floor, at 1,354ft, will always be higher than the One World Trade Center’s 1,268 ft - Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel was heard to mutter, of the One World Trade Center spire: <i>"If it looks like an antenna, and acts like an antenna, then it's probably an antenna."</i><br />
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Or, as the recently updated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Tower">Wiki entry</a> puts it:<br />
<i>Upon completion, One World Trade Center in New York City surpassed Willis Tower through its structural and pinnacle heights, but not by roof, observation deck elevation or highest occupied floor.</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-moO_VNVzbN4/UphqU2I6R4I/AAAAAAAAMm0/lgepQKmc26A/s1600/P1080293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-moO_VNVzbN4/UphqU2I6R4I/AAAAAAAAMm0/lgepQKmc26A/s1600/P1080293.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View East from the 103rd floor of Willis Tower.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k4lb44eAZr8/UpnGUSP9kmI/AAAAAAAAMnY/Lp8F0TAOPeA/s1600/LensImpressions-03-94.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k4lb44eAZr8/UpnGUSP9kmI/AAAAAAAAMnY/Lp8F0TAOPeA/s1600/LensImpressions-03-94.jpg" height="400" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Willis Tower, Chicago <a href="http://chicago-outdoor-sculptures.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/willis-tower-sears-tower-more-than-50.html">(source)</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://www.willistower.com/">Willis Tower </a> began life as <b>Sears Tower</b>, and is still often referred to by that former name, such is the iconic stature of the building. The name change to 'Willis' dates from 2009; the building was completed in 1973. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Tower">Here's Wiki</a> on the tower.<br />
<br />
The Sears Tower observation deck, called the Skydeck, opened in 1974. It's located on the 103rd floor of the tower, and is 1,353 feet (412 m) high. Tourists who venture up can experience how the building sways on a windy day, and can see far over the plains of Illinois and across Lake Michigan to Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin (on a clear day). The Skydeck competes with the J<b>ohn Hancock Center</b>'s observation floor across town, which is 323 feet (98 m) lower [John Hancock is 100-storeys and 1,127-foot (344 m) tall]<br />
<br />
In 2009 Willis Tower's owners installed retractable glass balconies, extending out approximately four feet over Wacker Drive from the 103rd floor. They call this <b>"The Skydeck"</b>. The all-glass boxes allow visitors to look through the floor to the street 1,353 feet (412 m) below. The boxes can, we're assured, bear five short tons of weight (about 4.5 metric tons). As you can see from the pic above, I trusted them on this....<br />
<br />
<br />
However, I did want the FULL story before I ventured out over Chicago from 103 floors up, and here's what the brochure told me:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Original Sears Tower architecture firm <b>Skidmore, Owings and Merrill </b>(SOM) designed The Ledge so that the fully enclosed glass boxes retract into the building, allowing easy access for cleaning and maintenance.<br />Experts in international structural glass design, Halcrow Yolles, fully designed and detailed all the glass and steel components. Beginning with the architect's original concept, the engineers took the design one step further by eliminating all perimeter structural steel at the sides and along the floor of the glass enclosures and creating a near-invisible support system.<br />MTH Industries, the Chicago-based 120-year-old glass and architectural metal contractor that installed the Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, installed The Ledge’s 1,500 pound glass panels. Each box is comprised of three layers of half-inch thick glass laminated into one seamless unit. The low-iron, clear glass is fully tempered for durability.</i></blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uQcBLqgaUvU/Uphqn0YWWjI/AAAAAAAAMnI/dvJNF4pSvxU/s1600/P1080297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uQcBLqgaUvU/Uphqn0YWWjI/AAAAAAAAMnI/dvJNF4pSvxU/s1600/P1080297.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north over Chicago from Willis Tower. The <b>John Hanock Building</b> is the black one in the centre.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zJ7sRu0IlGo/UphqoodsuTI/AAAAAAAAMnM/9eaQk0RM9Kw/s1600/P1080302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zJ7sRu0IlGo/UphqoodsuTI/AAAAAAAAMnM/9eaQk0RM9Kw/s1600/P1080302.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Skydeck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="http://onewtc.com/">One World Trade Center</a> in New York City, the new "tallest building in America", has just opened for business. It will, I believe, have an observation deck for visitors but this is not yet operational. You can, however, rent an office there. New Yorkers, and all Americans, have been watching the building of the new tower with anticipation, and celebrated its completion this month. Here's a video of the workers installing the spire that enable the "Freedom Tower" to eclipse Willis:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0-HgliS-NGk" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKmCNvlPFYc/UphqeOgYmgI/AAAAAAAAMm4/SdqYwSMKtCA/s1600/original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKmCNvlPFYc/UphqeOgYmgI/AAAAAAAAMm4/SdqYwSMKtCA/s1600/original.jpg" height="640" width="330" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One World Trade Center - "Freedom Tower", NYC<br />
<a href="http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=123628">(source)</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>One World Trade Center </b>facts: 1,787' Pinnacle / 1,373' Roof | 108 floors. The observation deck will be on the 100th to 102nd floors, once it opens.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, there are other options in New York City if you'd like to get a bird's eye view from a tall tower. <a href="http://www.esbnyc.com/">The Empire State Building</a>, completed in 1931 and standing <b>1,454' (443 m) high</b>, has been welcoming visitors to its outdoor viewing platforms for many years. The observatory there is on the 86th floor. <a href="http://www.rockefellercenter.com/">The Rockefeller Center</a> is also well-known for its viewing platform called <b>"The Top of The Rock"</b>, which is on top of the tallest building in the complex, the <b>1933 Art Deco skyscraper</b> officially named the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GE_Building">GE Building</a> - <b>70 floors, 850' (259 m).</b><br />
<br />
During construction, photographer <b>Charles Clyde Ebbets</b> took the famous photograph <i>"Lunch atop a Skyscraper" </i>on the 69th floor.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oXlH8sanfIA/UphqDuaW1BI/AAAAAAAAMms/QGFYxBcmEpE/s1600/IMG_8192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oXlH8sanfIA/UphqDuaW1BI/AAAAAAAAMms/QGFYxBcmEpE/s1600/IMG_8192.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">"Lunch atop a Skyscraper" 1930</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k2QV0AoeVF0/UphpvkeuLWI/AAAAAAAAMmU/eEUg_K0y5Dw/s1600/IMG_8177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k2QV0AoeVF0/UphpvkeuLWI/AAAAAAAAMmU/eEUg_K0y5Dw/s1600/IMG_8177.jpg" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On solid, er building, this time, On Top of The Rock. 70th floor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YIkLhv0ALek/Uphpzu3c4OI/AAAAAAAAMmc/-KAaK9SZwIM/s1600/IMG_8178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YIkLhv0ALek/Uphpzu3c4OI/AAAAAAAAMmc/-KAaK9SZwIM/s1600/IMG_8178.JPG" height="474" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Central Park in winter, from the 70th floor, Top of The Rock.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t56GTZ21nIc/Uphp6Ng8BEI/AAAAAAAAMmk/VYiiLUf4yJM/s1600/IMG_8183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t56GTZ21nIc/Uphp6Ng8BEI/AAAAAAAAMmk/VYiiLUf4yJM/s1600/IMG_8183.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NYC from The Top of The Rock. The Empire State Building is centre left; <br />
the new Freedom Tower is to its right, in the distance. You can even see lady Liberty from here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yQTLV86wTRk/Uphph5-w4JI/AAAAAAAAMmE/Yafxyw35Sus/s1600/IMG_8161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yQTLV86wTRk/Uphph5-w4JI/AAAAAAAAMmE/Yafxyw35Sus/s1600/IMG_8161.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rock at night.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ky3Z2dLcBTY/UphprLPqnrI/AAAAAAAAMmM/2XaWkLWdDfA/s1600/IMG_8166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ky3Z2dLcBTY/UphprLPqnrI/AAAAAAAAMmM/2XaWkLWdDfA/s1600/IMG_8166.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rock is home to NBC, and the<br />
famous 'Rainbow Room.'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R7aETmRb1Qk/UpnRK_6nK1I/AAAAAAAAMns/05LInmAIepQ/s1600/170px-Dubai-CN-Sears-towers.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R7aETmRb1Qk/UpnRK_6nK1I/AAAAAAAAMns/05LInmAIepQ/s1600/170px-Dubai-CN-Sears-towers.svg.png" height="320" width="155" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Just so you're clear on the current state of play in "World's Tallest":<br />
<br />
The new <b>World Trade Center in NYC</b> is now the fourth tallest building worldwide, behind <b>Dubai’s Burj Khalifa</b>, at 2,717 feet tall, <b>Shanghai’s Shanghai Tower</b>, at 2,074 feet tall, and the <b>Makkah Royal Clock Tower in Mecca</b>, which stands at 1,972 feet.<br />
<br />
But it's all in how you measure these things, as Chicago has found out this month. Don't fret if you can't clim to be absolutely THE tallest - there's plenty more records you could list. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_101">Taipei 101</a> (101 stories above ground and 5 below), for example, is able to make these claims:<br />
<br />
<i>Upon its completion in 2004 Taipei 101 claimed the official records for:</i><br />
<i>Ground to highest architectural structure (spire): 508 m (1,667 ft). Previously held by the Petronas Towers 451.9 m (1,483 ft).</i><br />
<i>Ground to roof: 449.2 m (1,474 ft). Formerly held by the Willis Tower 442 m (1,450 ft).</i><br />
<i>Ground to highest occupied floor: 438 m (1,437 ft). Formerly held by the Willis Tower 412.4 m (1,353 ft).</i><br />
<i>Fastest ascending elevator speed: designed to be 1,010 meters per minute, which is 16.83 m/s (55.22 ft/s) (60.6 kilometres per hour (37.7 mph)).</i><br />
<i>Largest countdown clock: Displayed on New Year's Eve.</i><br />
<i>Tallest sundial. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EkrXhU-ee7c/UpnRK98FzKI/AAAAAAAAMnw/eo014sXI9LY/s1600/132aa2d8-34b2-48cb-bffd-43cade1869ae-460x276.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EkrXhU-ee7c/UpnRK98FzKI/AAAAAAAAMnw/eo014sXI9LY/s1600/132aa2d8-34b2-48cb-bffd-43cade1869ae-460x276.jpeg" height="382" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They're both, er, TALL.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Chicago, IL, USA41.8781136 -87.62979819999998241.497477599999996 -88.277991699999987 42.2587496 -86.981604699999977tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-34713774829205431432013-12-01T09:11:00.002+00:002013-12-01T09:11:11.123+00:00America Windows<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container tr_bq" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S_kT5km-KT8/UpnT8WJrAtI/AAAAAAAAMos/YL6ieKzbO-o/s1600/P1080325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S_kT5km-KT8/UpnT8WJrAtI/AAAAAAAAMos/YL6ieKzbO-o/s1600/P1080325.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail, Marc Chagall's <i>'America Windows'.</i></td></tr>
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Wandering through the wonderful <b>Chicago Art Institute </b>the other day, followed the corridors from the old wing (the ex-World's Congress Building from the Chicago World's Fair of 1893) to the spectacular piece of architecture that is the Modern Wing - opened in 2009 and Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning Italian architect <b>Renzo Piano.</b> I paused on my way, at the juncture where the two buildings meet, to admire a set of luminous blue stained glass windows. These were Marc Chagall's 'America Windows', purpose made for the Art Institute and recently reinstalled. They were new to me, though I've admired Chagall's stained glass in churches, such as <b>Zurich's Grossmüster </b>and <b>Frauenkirsch</b>. These windows int eh museum are lovely things, beautifully lit. I <a href="http://www.luxpopuli.com/en/?page_id=247">looked them up:</a><br />
<blockquote>
<i>Marc Chagall’s America Windows were a gift to the Art Institute of Chicago created by the artist for their specific context. Long a favourite of visitors, the searingly blue light creates a powerful background for the moments and events that occur across the piece...</i><i>Removed to protect the pieces during the construction of the Modern Wing, the pieces were extensively conserved, and a new context was required that could better protect the pieces from the effects of temperature and humidity.</i></blockquote>
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<i>The new location allowed implementation of integrated systems that carefully address every aspect of the conservation and presentation of the system. Vinci Hamp Architects coordinated a team of structural, M&E and fire safety engineers along with Lux Populi to integrate what is, perhaps, the most refined light box around. The studies included photometric studies to ensure evenness of the illumination without flattening out the perceived depth of the piece (observe how most stain glass windows in museums appear flat), optimum colour temperature and rendition to best reveal the tones and elements of the piece, elimination of edge effects, thermal moderation to prevent condensate or thermal cracking and numerous other aspects.<br /><b>Marc Chagall. America Windows, 1977</b>. A gift of Marc Chagall, City of Chicago, and the Auxiliary Board, commemorating the American bicentennial in memory of Mayor Richard J.Daley.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.biography.com/people/marc-chagall-9243488">Here's </a>a bio of Marc Chagall, who was born in Belarus (then the Russian Empire) in 1887.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Renzo Piano's Modern Wing of the Chicago Art Institute.</td></tr>
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Chicago, IL, USA41.8781136 -87.62979819999998241.497477599999996 -88.277991699999987 42.2587496 -86.981604699999977tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-40375590064193977082013-11-30T10:35:00.000+00:002013-11-30T10:35:06.280+00:00The White City<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fieldmuseum.org/">(source)</a></td></tr>
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In <b>1893 </b>the soot-blackened, hog-killing, rather foul and grimy -- but vibrant -- city of <b>Chicago</b> beat out New York and Washington DC to become the host city for the great <a href="http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/wce/history.html">World's Fair</a> of that year, also known as the <b>World's Columbian Exposition </b>(commemorating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of the North American continent). Even back then, Chicago was a hotbed of <b>talented architects</b>, a characteristic it kept through the twentieth and into the twenty-first century.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flocking to the World's Fair, Chicago, 1893<a href="http://artchoo.com/1893-worlds-fair-exhibit/">(source)</a></td></tr>
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To produce this massive fair - and make sure that Chicago and the US of A kept up with, or preferably surpassed, the city of <b>Paris</b> (which had hosted the previous World's Fair) - a band of dedicated architects and rich (very rich) entrepreneurs got together. It was touch and go for a while, but they did it, and spectacularly. The resulting Fair Grounds, built to the south of the grimy city in the Jackson Park area, was comprised of mostly temporary buildings in grandiose neo-classical style. When time was running short, the decision was made to basically whitewash the lot of them. The result was very wonderful and very white. The Fair was dubbed <b>"The White City"</b>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rookery, Chicago</td></tr>
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The lead architects on the project were <b>Burnham & Root</b>, though Root passed away before the Fair (he died of pneumonia early in the planning process). Their firm had nurtured several up and coming men who later became architectural 'names', including <b>Louis Sullivan</b> and a young <b>Frank Lloyd Wright</b>. The shape of the Fair was formed from the 'control room' on the top floor office of Burnham & Root in a landmark building they'd built in the Chicago Loop, on South La Salle Street not far from the Board of Trade Building, named <a href="http://www.therookerybuilding.com/index.html">The Rookery</a>. Today you can visit that top floor office - at the soaring height of <b>eleven stories,</b> where Burnham & Root conferred with their fellow architects, and the famous landscape architect from New York, <b>Olmsted</b>, over plans and schemes. The group could see the Jackson Park area from the windows, if they looked.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THE office, of Burhman & Root, 11th floor, The Rookery, Chicago.</td></tr>
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Visiting<b> The Rookery</b> is fascinating in itself. Take a guided tour and learn all about it:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>The Rookery...was revolutionary in several respects. Its architecture was unique and much <b>more ornate </b>than had been seen to date in commercial buildings. The Rookery successfully implemented many new and breakthrough building technologies - including<b> metal framing, elevators, fireproofing, electrical lighting, and plate glass </b>- that established the commercial acceptance of <b>the modern skyscraper</b>. At 11 stories tall, The Rookery was one of the earliest examples of metal framing with masonry walls on such a large scale. Today, it is considered the <b>oldest standing high-rise in Chicago.</b></i> </blockquote>
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<i>Moorish, Romanesque Commercial, Indian, Venetian, Arabian, Islamic, Byzantine: all these words have been used to describe the Rookery’s exterior motifs. Some critics said that the mix of styles lacked unity, but others felt that the repeating patterns were an interpretation of American culture, reflecting a spirit of conquest.</i></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank Lloyd Wright's idea of an office building atrium.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FLW's decorative touches, Rookery atrium.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The oriel staircase, The Rookery</td></tr>
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The building is probably still great to work in - it has a wonderful large <b>atrium</b> letting in light to interior offices. These were favoured in the early days, since it was better to look inwards than outwards onto the dark, stinky streets. The atrium was remodelled in 1905 by none other than <b>Frank Lloyd Wright</b>, who covered it in light marble and delicate art deco decorations.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OI1cRtRUrXM/UpeSSr0pTFI/AAAAAAAAMlY/MGIc19DPUa0/s1600/ferris+wheel+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OI1cRtRUrXM/UpeSSr0pTFI/AAAAAAAAMlY/MGIc19DPUa0/s1600/ferris+wheel+2.jpg" height="470" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first Ferris Wheel <a href="http://www.wbez.org/series/curious-city/your-ticket-white-city-108994">(source)</a></td></tr>
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But back to the <b>Fair</b> - people flocked to it, 27 million visitors in 6 months. <i>"Sell the cookstove if necessary and come. You must see the fair." </i>wrote author Hamlin Garland in a letter to his parents in 1893. And what did they flock to see? The grandiose white buildings, the landscaping of a previously marshy area, the artificial lake with an island and a steam boat. But above all the exhibits - examples of the latest technology in the Electricity Building and the Manufactures Hall. The whole fair was powered and lit by the new-fangled electricity -- not using coal and gas allowed The White City to stay white.<br />
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They also came to see new inventions, like Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum. They came to see and ride the amazingly huge world's first <b>Ferris Wheel </b>(designed by a Kansas engineer named Ferris, expressly to out-do the Paris Fair's Eiffel Tower). And they came to see curiosities (including native peoples) from far-flung countries around the world which they'd be unlikely ever to visit, and to see animals and crafts, minerals and plants, that were strange and curious.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/tween-us/2013/11/the-field-museum-1893-chicago-worlds-fair-exhibit/">(source)</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Chicago's Field Museum.</td></tr>
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You might pause to wonder what happened to all those stuffed wild animals, mineral specimens, fossils, jaw-bones, Indonesian gamalans, Japanese kimonos. Answer: many of them ended up forming the initial collection of <b>Chicago's natural history museum</b>, called <a href="http://fieldmuseum.org/">The Field Museum</a> (after business man and department store pioneer, Marshall Field, who donated the wherewithal). <b>The Field Museum </b>has rummaged in its basements and curated a fine <a href="http://fieldmuseum.org/happening/exhibits/opening-vaults-wonders-1893-worlds-fair">exhibition</a> (runs until September 2014) where once again you can marvel at the things that made the eyes of 1893 pop. I was particularly taken with the stuffed animals, in excellent condition even after 120 years in the basement. Many are the work of the man who became the Museum's own taxidermist, <a href="http://fieldmuseum.org/about/carl-akeley">Carl Akeley</a>. (Two of his elephants are on display in the Field's main hall).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/arts/design/field-museum-looks-back-at-chicagos-worlds-fair.html?_r=0">(source)</a></td></tr>
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There's a great review of the Exhibition from the new York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/arts/design/field-museum-looks-back-at-chicagos-worlds-fair.html?_r=0">here</a>, with pics of some of the exhibits. The Museum's display is enlivened by some rather intriguing animated postcards. Video artists have taken postcards from 1893 and added in some moving figures. It's just like being there. Sort of.<br />
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<b>The White City </b>is said to have inspired a whole movement focussed on urban planning:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The White City is largely credited for ushering in the City Beautiful movement and planting the seeds of modern city planning. The highly integrated design of the landscapes, promenades, and structures provided a vision of what is possible when planners, landscape architects, and architects work together on a comprehensive design scheme...Where the municipal art movement focused on beautifying one feature in a City, the City Beautiful movement began to make improvements on the scale of the district. The White City of the World's Columbian Exposition inspired the Merchant's Club of Chicago to commission Daniel Burnham to create the Plan of Chicago in 1909, which became the first modern comprehensive city plan in America. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Columbian_Exposition">(from Wiki)</a></i></blockquote>
The Fair had more than 200 buildings, almost all of which were designed to be temporary. Their facades were made not of stone, but of a mixture of plaster, cement, and jute fibre called <i>staff,</i> which was painted white, giving the buildings their "gleam". Architecture critics derided the structures as "decorated sheds". <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Columbian_Exposition">(Wiki)</a> In any event, the whole lot burnt down in <b>a big fire in July 1894</b>, about six months after the fair closed. A couple of survivors, which were intended to be permanent, remain: the <b>Palace of Fine Arts </b>(original home of The Field, now Chicago's <b>Museum of Science and Industry</b>); and the <b>World's Congress Building</b> in Grant Park (now the <b>Art Institute of Chicago)</b>.<br />
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And in the Art Institute you can find, if you look closely, a few more remnants of the original fair, including these panels from the Japanese Pavilion, restored and displayed in the oriental art section of the galleries:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panels from the original Japanese pavilion at the 1893 World's Fair, Chicago.</td></tr>
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Chicago, IL, USA41.8781136 -87.62979819999998241.497477599999996 -88.277991699999987 42.2587496 -86.981604699999977tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-77196064662337927692013-11-29T08:40:00.001+00:002013-11-29T08:40:55.719+00:00Aqua, The Building<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aqua, The Building</td></tr>
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<b>Chicago i</b>s a city of extraordinary twentieth (and 21st) century architecture, from the earliest skyscrapers, through the ornate neo-classical, art nouveau and art deco confections of the 1920s and 1930; to the beautiful "less-is-more" International Style of <b>Mies Van Der Rohe</b>'s elegant tall buildings; to what was, in the 1970s, the tallest building in the world, <b>Sears Tower</b> (now Willis Tower.)<br />
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But let's pause just for a moment and admire a particularly gorgeous skyscraper, 82 stories high, in downtown Chicago's Lakeshore East development: named <b>'Aqua'</b> by its management, the tower is a mixed hotel and residential building. You can buy or rent an apartment there if you have the cash (<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/aqua-tower-in-downtown-ch_n_743540.html#s146971">this article</a> discusses the prices in 2010).<br />
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Aqua was completed in <b>2009</b>, and was designed by architect <b>Jeanne Gang</b>, principal and founder of <b>Studio Gang Architects,</b> and it's her first skyscraper project. Chicagoans get excited by the fact that the designer is a woman - Aqua is the largest project ever awarded to an American firm headed by a woman. For reasons which are not clear to me (perhaps they did the hard work of interpreting the design and overseeing construction), Loewenberg & Associates are the architects of record. It's won a few architecture prizes.<br />
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As you can see by the pictures, the most distinctive feature of the building is the undulating balconies, each different from its neighbour. They make the building facade look like it's flowing, as in water ('aqua' - geddit?) The architect said she was inspired by shelves of rock around Lake Michigan, and the waters of the lake; but the balconies also, it seems, have some practical purpose. They help shade the glass and "confuse" the wind, and are arranged specifically so that residents can have views of city landmarks unobscured by the surrounding structures.<br />
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It's a beautiful thing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BJw8nDOesW8/Uo_UUVnMQuI/AAAAAAAAMjQ/MQu9B8rNfZU/s1600/slide_11178_146974_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BJw8nDOesW8/Uo_UUVnMQuI/AAAAAAAAMjQ/MQu9B8rNfZU/s1600/slide_11178_146974_large.jpg" height="464" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/aqua-tower-in-downtown-ch_n_743540.html#s146971">source</a>)</td></tr>
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Chicago, IL, USA41.8781136 -87.62979819999998241.8781136 -87.629798199999982 41.8781136 -87.629798199999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3841623687035547521.post-52936236791041470742013-11-28T09:57:00.004+00:002013-11-28T09:57:57.962+00:00Lyric Opera in Chicago<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marrina Rebeka as Violetta in Chicago Lyric Opera's 'Traviata'.</td></tr>
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A couple of opera firsts for me in <b>Chicago</b>: wearing a beanie to the opera (it was below freezing); and an opera house that provided an orderly cab queue after the performance (well done).<br />
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The company was the <a href="http://www.lyricopera.org/">Chicago Lyric Opera</a>, the production was <b>Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’</b>, with the excellent Maltese tenor J<b>oseph Calleja </b>singing Alfredo. Our Violetta - a demanding role for a lyric soprano, the classic ‘singing while she’s dying role', a tough one to pull off well - was a Latvian soprano, <b>Marina Rebeka</b>; and the baritone Germont was <b>Quinn Kelsey</b>, a product of the Chicago Opera’s young artists program.<br />
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My verdict? I thought Alfredo was smooth, easy, rich and nuanced. I thought Violetta was a huge effort, acting needs more work, a lovely voice but could be modulated a little more (read = loud); but it’s a tough role, and a bouquet for Miss Rebeka. I thought the Germont was well sung but not inspiring. [PS I heard later that Ms Rebeka was not well. If true, she deserves a second bouquet]. On a good night at a '<i>Traviata',</i> the second act (where Germont and Violetta have their big confrontation) should have me in tears. This one didn’t quite achieve that, but was nevertheless enjoyable.<br />
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The rest of the cast all seemed to be from the company and to have come up through the young artists program. The singing was patchy (what I could hear - some were too faint); and the young singers, bless them, looked like they were playing dress ups in a high school show - not comfy in their 19th century outfits. I also thought the direction lacked a little. One’s principals shouldn’t be turning their backs to the audience, or putting their hands to their mouths quite so much (as Violetta did). This was a debut opera for a theatre director, and it showed a bit. The production, a co-production with Houston Grand Opera and Canadian Opera Company, was...ok. I think designers should be braver about putting something IN the era. It doesn’t need to be ‘time-less’ to be timeless, if you know what I mean.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eD1FSFHvN5s/Uo_Fxwgr7HI/AAAAAAAAMiY/wclEbgAb5Y0/s1600/traviata-1-TR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eD1FSFHvN5s/Uo_Fxwgr7HI/AAAAAAAAMiY/wclEbgAb5Y0/s1600/traviata-1-TR.jpg" height="270" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Act One.</td></tr>
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It was <b>opening night</b>. I see that the reviewer in the <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/columnists/rhein/chi-la-traviata-lyric-opera-review-20131121,0,6092064.column">Chicago Tribune agrees with me:</a><br />
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<i>It would be nice to be able to report that Lyric's new production of this melodious tearjerker, which opened Wednesday night at the Civic Opera House, got such special treatment. What we had instead was <b>an uneven "Traviata," </b>unobjectionable on musical, dramatic and scenic grounds, that <b>failed to touch the heart in the way exceptional performances of Verdi's middle-period masterpiece can do....</b></i><b> </b></blockquote>
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<i>A striking beauty blessed with a bright, ravishing timbre and top notes like laser beams, <b>Rebeka had what it took to nail her big aria (</b>with its restored second verse) and florid cabaletta in Act I. <b>The rest of her performance disappointed.</b> The emotionally buffeted Violetta of Act 2 and the dying Violetta of Act 3 <b>needed more oomph</b> in the middle and bottom registers and a keener sense of dramatic involvement in the characterization. Neither Violetta's noble act of self-sacrifice nor her farewell to earthly things, the aria "Addio del passato," really tugged at the requisite heartstrings...</i> </blockquote>
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<i>Not that the emotional punch of the Violetta-Germont confrontation in Act 2 was helped by Kelsey's <b>somewhat growly, if voluminous sound and the condescending smugness and lack of sympathy </b>with which Alfredo's father treated his son's lover...</i> </blockquote>
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<i>Thank goodness for Calleja, a handsome Alfredo whose easy outpouring of burnished tone and ardent manner were everything one looks for in the role of the naïve country boy who seeks true love in the fleshpots of the Parisian demimonde. <b>Calleja is the main reason to catch this new "Traviata."</b></i></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8HOI9b5w4ZQ/Uo_FxztmzzI/AAAAAAAAMiU/IW6nsgL88FA/s1600/traviata-11-TR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8HOI9b5w4ZQ/Uo_FxztmzzI/AAAAAAAAMiU/IW6nsgL88FA/s1600/traviata-11-TR.jpg" height="270" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Act Three: drama in red.</td></tr>
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The <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/stage/23908476-421/lyrics-la-traviata-fails-to-impress.html">Chicago Sun-Times reviewer</a> was also unimpressed, even criticising Italian conductor <b>Massimo Zanetti </b>(with whom I had no quibble). He complains about Ms Rebeka: "after Violetta’s Act 1 half-hour mini-opera, the wan singer just does not have the voice for the next two highly demanding acts. She is even almost inaudible in the famed letter-reading introduction to the Act 3 signature, “<i>Addio del passato</i>..” and says of Mr Kelsey that he "fails to stake his claim on the elder Germont.." and "is generally hulking, skulking and one-dimensional in both his singing and in his acting."<br />
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It's nice to find the critics agreeing with me! However, it was an enjoyable if not great '<i>Traviata.'</i> I have seen <b>Calleja </b>sing this role with<b> Reneé Fleming </b>as Violetta and <b>Thomas Hampson</b> as Germont, and that’s a<b><i> very</i></b> high bar.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5cwRCCc-Ouc/Uo_FyGwTFXI/AAAAAAAAMic/ncUSKI_pgVM/s1600/traviata-6-rk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5cwRCCc-Ouc/Uo_FyGwTFXI/AAAAAAAAMic/ncUSKI_pgVM/s1600/traviata-6-rk.jpg" height="270" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Act Four: the death scene.</td></tr>
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Check out the lavish production and a little of Verdi's fabulous music, in this trailer:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Qo6XReu4c5w" width="560"></iframe>
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The <b>Chicago Civic Opera House</b> is delightful - an <b>Art Deco </b>and <b>Art Nouveau </b>confection festooned with decorative touches. The seating seems to all have good sight lines (it's not a traditional horse-shoe with the usual sight-restricted side boxes). I had front row of the dress circle, which was an excellent view, though perhaps closer might have been better. It’s a large house.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aLYAi8YsS9A/Uo_BrZat8lI/AAAAAAAAMh0/-SQ2v_-GjI0/s1600/Civic_Opera_House_060528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aLYAi8YsS9A/Uo_BrZat8lI/AAAAAAAAMh0/-SQ2v_-GjI0/s1600/Civic_Opera_House_060528.jpg" height="400" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Civic Opera House, Chicago<br />
"a giant throne..."</td></tr>
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It’s not <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Opera_House">Chicago's original opera house</a> - that was built in 1885 but demolished after a number of fires in 1913. The current building, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_Opera_House_(Chicago)">Chicago Civic Opera House</a>, was built in <b>1929</b> (and restored in 1996), and is described on its <a href="http://www.civicoperahouse.com/">website</a> as <i>“one of Chicago's historic landmarks and among the world's most beautiful buildings...a hybrid of Art Nouveau and Art Deco designs”.</i> Here’s <a href="http://www.lyricopera.org/about/lyric-history.aspx">a description</a> of the Opera House (which is topped by offices) in rather purple prose:<br />
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<i>The Civic Opera Building is a majestic limestone skyscraper with a 45-story office tower and two 22-story wings. Shaped like <b>a gigantic throne facing the Chicago River </b>between Washington and Madison streets, it was completed after just 22 months of planning and construction. The auditorium and its backstage areas occupy approximately one-third of the total space of the building. The distinguishing feature on the Wacker Drive side of the Civic Opera Building is the colonnaded portico that runs the entire length of the building.</i> </blockquote>
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<i>At the south end, large bronze doors open onto the grand foyer of the Civic Opera House, whose <b>gilt cornices glitter beneath the sparkling lights of Austrian crystal chandeliers and elaborately stenciled ceilings.</b> The magnificent space features a floor and wainscoting of <b>pink and gray Tennessee marble</b>, and <b>fluted Roman travertine columns and pilasters.</b> The 40-foot-high columns are topped with carved capitals covered in gold leaf. ..An <b>imposing grand double staircase</b> leads to the mezzanine foyer, where there are thirty-one boxes. Above this box level are two more balconies, each with 800 seats. The Civic Opera House s<b>eats 3,563. </b></i></blockquote>
That’s BIG.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YCzdsJjqqUU/Uo_IAFBeR8I/AAAAAAAAMis/KXBVA9FvbBo/s1600/284619460-08082124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YCzdsJjqqUU/Uo_IAFBeR8I/AAAAAAAAMis/KXBVA9FvbBo/s1600/284619460-08082124.jpg" height="203" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael Black</td></tr>
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In other news, the program informed me that the chorusmaster from Opera Australia, <b>Michael Black</b>, has decamped to Chicago to become concertmaster for the Lyric. That will be a loss to the Sydney company. In an article about Black, the program expressed surprise that Opera Australia produces about 500 performances a year, and that Australian public schools place so little importance on music. Yup. Apparently Black worked as 'interim chorusmaster' in Chicago in 2011, and is now back full time - <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-08/entertainment/ct-ent-1109-classical-black-20111109_1_chorus-master-donald-palumbo-lyric-opera-chorus">they liked him.</a><br />
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As with so many great US opera companies, there’s an impressive list of donors and supporters. And an advertisement in the program headed: <i>“Let’s Leave It All To Lyric!” </i>Given the size and scope of Chicago Lyric Opera, and the fact that it has <b>Reneé Fleming </b>as its artistic advisor, I was a bit surprised to read a comment in an program article insisting that, in comparison to other US and European houses, <i>“we can hold our head high, high, high. We’re every bit as fine as any of them.” </i>Hmm...who would have thought that wonderful, brash, fabulous Chicago would have a bit of a cringe complex?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SIWxsc1wNYs/Uo_Gfh864aI/AAAAAAAAMig/Wjhy-m20dvY/s1600/Ardis_Krainik_Theatre_credi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SIWxsc1wNYs/Uo_Gfh864aI/AAAAAAAAMig/Wjhy-m20dvY/s1600/Ardis_Krainik_Theatre_credi.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art Deco meets Art Nouveau in the <b>Chicago Civic Opera House </b><a href="http://www.civicoperahouse.com/">(source)</a></td></tr>
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<br />Annette Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11078075767352387819noreply@blogger.com0Chicago, IL, USA41.8781136 -87.62979819999998241.497477599999996 -88.277991699999987 42.2587496 -86.981604699999977