Well, dear readers, whilst I sit here like so much fish as the bombastic strains of the Beethoven fifth permeate the air, I feel I must also be bombastic, even though I am not Beethoven nor his fifth. And I apologize in advance if the following rant seems redundant, since it will be all too familiar to dear readers of these here notes. So, what in tarnation am I going on about? Well, I’ll tell you what in tarnation I’m going about and the minute I begin you will know exactly what I’m going on about because I’ll be going on about it. Earlier this very evening, I watched another Royal Ballet Blu and Ray, one I’ve been looking forward to, simply called Bernstein Celebration, three new ballets set to the music of Leonard Bernstein, just in case you thought it was set to the music of Elmer Bernstein. The first, Yugen, set to the music of Chichester Psalms, was choreographed by Wayne McGregor – it was my least favorite of the three, but I still enjoyed it for what it was – of course, I have no idea what it was, but that’s another story for another day. The second was called The Age of Anxiety and was set to the music of Bernstein’s second symphony, which is called, rather unsurprisingly, The Age of Anxiety. Liam Scarlett was the choreographer. That one has a great set and choreography reminiscent of Jerome Robbins (the initial setting is a bar like the one in Fancy Free), which is interesting since Robbins himself made a ballet from the symphony (so did another choreographer) – but apparently that choreography is lost. I happen to think Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety is a masterpiece, so I really enjoyed this one best – it takes place during WWII (more Robbins influence) – and in Mr. Scarlett’s hands it contains some gay stuff as well as hetero stuff.
And finally, we have Christopher Wheeldon’s Corybantic Games, based on the music of Bernstein’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium. It’s very well done – I didn’t love it, but like the first piece, I did enjoy it. So, where’s the beef – sorry – rant? Well, you’re probably ahead of me. And I can sum up the rant in two words: Ross MacGibbon, the person who, singlehandedly, has ruined more opera and ballet viewing experiences than any other. Yes, it’s another disgusting display of ineptitude, with lots of waist up shots, no geography, always inside the proscenium, as “directed for the screen” by someone who thinks it’s HIS ballet. This is especially egregious in the Age of Anxiety ballet. He shows the band begin playing, then dissolves immediately into arty shots that were done after the fact, showing posters and liquor bottles and stuff from what we will soon discover is the set. His BS has nothing to do with anything but him making it about him. Then the curtain goes up, but before we can actually get a look at the set he cuts in to the bar portion so we don’t see anything that’s on audience left. He then shoots the entire ballet as if it were an episodic TV show. Well, bucko, this is dance, ballet, and waist up shots are pointless, cutting to a dance move AFTER it’s begun is stupid, and not showing us the spatial relationships between the dancers negates what the story points are and what the choreographer’s intentions are. In fact, Ross, you’re subverting the choreography and that, friend, is not your job. There are two really important set moves and reveals – guess what? We don’t see either of them because he’s in a tight four-shot. We can see something is starting to happen, but we don’t get the set move, which is the POINT, and when we finally get the reveal it’s just confusing. If I were the choreographer or the set designer, I would throw my shoe at this guy and say, “What is it you think you’re doing?” I actually screamed at the TV when he missed the second set move, “Widen out, you moron!” They probably could have heard me two blocks away. But someone at the Royal Ballet must think this guy is the berries or something, because they use him over and over again. All it takes is common sense and a pair of eyes to see how wrong what he’s doing is. End of redundant but necessary bombastic BK rant.
Yesterday was an okay day. I got eight hours of sleep, answered e-mails, listened to music, watched a truly irritating hour-and-a-half “review” of the Ormandy box from David Hurwitz on YouTube. Go search it – you won’t believe it. He loves Ormandy, so that part is good. But he goes through all 120 discs for ninety minutes and if you’ve watched any of his videos, you’ll know just how taxing that is, because he has one of the most annoying voices ever. He has done hundreds of YouTube talks and reviews, which he began during the pandemic, trying to become a YouTube star, I suppose. He has his drooling sycophants, of course, but I rarely agree with him about performances, he can be very dismissive with people who make comments, and his ego is boundless and unstoppable. And there you have it. I then showered and shaved and got ready for the early dinner at The Smokehouse, with our very own Marshall Harvey.
On the way, I stopped at the mail place and picked up a couple of packages, then headed directly to the restaurant. Happily, I found street parking, as did Marshall, so we saved the valet charge. We were seated right away. There were only a handful of other diners, and they seem to be only doing about sixty-percent seating. For the first time ever, I went without the garlic cheese bread – it was really hard, but I stuck to my guns (no mean feat, since I don’t actually have any guns). Every weekday, they have a different special, and Tuesdays it’s their great Filet Mignon at an eight-dollar savings. We both ordered that, plus some Bearnaise sauce on the side, and I got a double order of vegetables, since they haven’t been doing creamed spinach all during their outdoor dining. And we both had their excellent small Caesar to start. The food was incredible and their Bearnaise sauce is the best and I’m afraid I used a LOT of it, but no carbs to speak of in the entire meal, save for about six croutons. It was the best meal I’ve had in a long time, and we plan to go back for the prime rib special at some point.
After that, I came right home and watched the Bernstein ballets, which you already know about. And now, Mr. Previn is doing Mr. Shostakovich’s eighth symphony and I must say it’s one of the best versions I’ve ever heard and I’ve heard a bunch. I like all the Shostakovich he’s done and there’s more in this set. Prior to that, it was his famous recording of the Rachmaninoff second symphony, which is great. I’m not sure it’s my favorite but it sure is up there.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, my 1:00 lunch has been pushed to 4:00 because I forgot I have to audition an actress for this little play I’m doing for the Group Rep. That’s a good thing, because I really didn’t want to eat at the chosen restaurant and now I don’t have to, I can just have a sparkling water and be done with it. I’ll hopefully pick up some packages (books should be arriving today), and then I’ll eat after that, probably tuna sandwiches here, unless I do two egg sandwiches again, which I just might, since that’s so low in calories. I have some other stuff to do, and I can see I’m now going to have to stay on our final singer about getting his video done and to us. I’ll then sign all the books that need signing. And then, at some point, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I’ll go to the storage place and leave the signed books there and the addresses where they’re going, so hopefully those will all go out this week, and I need to find another box of Follies for the helper – I think, having organized the overflow boxes, that it shouldn’t be too hard to find, at least that’s the hope. She of the Evil Eye is coming on Friday instead of Saturday, and I am getting a much-needed haircut. That means I can sleep in on Saturday and have a ME day, and on Sunday it’s dining with Peyton and her mum.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, audition an actress on Zoom, have a meeting at four, hopefully pick up packages, eat, sign books and do post-its with the addresses, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall put out of mind all that misdirection I had to endure earlier in the evening.