Brian Dickie

A day in the country

The Village Pond, Buriton, Hampshire 3:45 pm Sunday September 30 2012

I had a delightful day today, taking a train from Clapham Junction to Petersfield, and having been met by my brother-in-law, then driving just ten minutes to the delightful village of Buriton.  This is a charming backwater - there is no shop, just two excellent looking pubs, the Church of St Mary (below) and a school.......a good mix!

I leave for 72 hours in Paris early tomorrow morning.  The Eurostar is an amazing bargain at this time of year as long as you are flexible - this can cost less than popping up to Milwaukee from Chicago by Amtrak!

I will be back on Wednesday afternoon in time for what promises to be a great evening in Middle Temple Hall.  This will be a recital by our dear friend Danielle de Niese, accompanied by the peerless Julius Drake. What fun this should be!

A short stroll down the Thames Path

Putney Bridge 5:45 September 29 2012

I thought that a trip down to Putney Bridge, just one subway stop from home, would be just the thing on this gorgeous evening.  A short stroll on the Thames Path is one of the many bonuses available to Londoners and it was the perfect evening for this.  One small glitch was encountering the crowd emerging from Craven Cottage, home of Fulham FC who were playing Manchester City this afternoon.  (They lost 1-2).  But it was an orderly 25,000 quietly going home from a very family oriented football ground.  I live half way between two Premier League teams - Chelsea and Fulham.  I must get involved!

Meanwhile the real sports action is in Chicago - the Ryder Cup at Medinah. Pretty bad news from there at the moment for us Europeans.......its not over until its over, but it looks bad at 3:20 pm Chicago time.

A great and venerable institution

The Royal Academy of Music has been around since 1822.  It was the first, and remains the foremost, of the British conservatories, and is a contituent part of the University of London.  I have been connected with them for years, since my early days at Glyndebourne in the 1960s when I assiduously monitored the singer students at the RAM as well as the Royal College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and the then named Royal Manchester College of Music.  It was a most fruitful operation for me as I was, in those days, deeply involved in the process for the recruitment of young singers for the Glyndebourne Chorus, and later was the first Administrator of Glyndebourne Touring Opera which we founded in 1967.  And the pickings were rich!

Jane Glover is now director of the opera program at the RAM.  So I was delighted to go along yesterday evneing to an entertaining scenes programme which included excerpts from Owen Wingrave, Giulio Cesare, Der Schauspieldirektor, and La bohème.  Jane conducted and the students had the benefit or being directed by John Copley.  And it is clear that there is much talent to be watched for future opportunites.  I am anxious to persuade more young British singers to participate in the Neue Stimmen competition next year.  And I will certainly be targeting some of these.  Of course this will only be the young people who are graduating this year 2012-13.  The week of the finals on October 2013 is a busy time in the concentrated calendar of these graduate students.

I have to mention a few standouts whom I think we will be hearing more of in the coming years. So I will mention just one from each of the casts - all men.  There were great women too! So now I will stick my neck out!  From Owen Wingrave the Lechmere tenor Samuel Furness, from Giulio Cesare the pianist Chad Kelly, from the Schauspieldirektor the title role tenor Thomas Elwin, and from Bohème the Marcello - Ross Ramgobin.

My friends and colleagues know how much importance I attach to outstanding work on the music staff - so I was particularly pleased to recognize the exceptional Chad Kelly.  The pianists, whose work is of critical importance, are often overlooked - not by me!

I hope to get back to the RAM for three other shows this academic year - then I will pick on some of the young women stars of the future.  They have some!

My Chicago readers should be reminded that Jane Glover leaves for Chicago tomorrow for another stint with Music of the Baroque.  This is her tenth season and she is opening it with a delicious Haydn and Mozart programme.  You must not miss this - on Friday at the Harris theater, and on Sunday at the North Shore Center in Skokie. 

Tomorrow I will be spending the day in the country visiting family, including two more infant additions, twins born on August 7, who are roughly speaking a great nephew and great niece I believe, although it may not be as simple as that!

A remarkable production

Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

Richard Jones's production of Martinů's Julietta was first seen in Paris in 2002 (with William Burden in the stamina sapping role of Michel), and subsequently in Geneva. Now, ten years later it appears at the English National Opera looking for all the world as though it is completely new; it is superbly cast with an array of luxury casting examples in smaller roles - Andrew Shore, Gwynne Howell and Susan Bickley for example.  And the central character of Michel is taken magnificently by Peter Hoare (above) whom I saw last in Simon McBurney's production of A Dog's Heart at ENO last year.

This is a classic ENO company achievement - just the quality of work that made the company its name in the "Power House" days.  Edward Gardner delivers once again an exceptional orchestral contribution from his fine players. Ed's rare theatrical and musical gifts consistently give the ENO brand great lustre.

The company is continuing to deliver its brand of bracing originality.  I wonder what they will make of Julius Caesar that opens on Monday.  Whatever it turns out to be it will be worth the visit.  And with Christian Curnyn in the pit the music will be looked after...........

Martinů

I will be at Martinů's Julietta at the English National Opera this evening, directed by Richard Jones, just the kind of creative imaginative director you might expect to be perfect for this piece.  This should be fun.  More later!

At home sick!!

I have a really unpleasant cold and have essentially spent the last two days at home drinking water and keeping quiet.  But I am off to the Garrick this evening for dinner with an old friend.  This will either kill or cure!!

Meanwhile I have been only able to look out of the window towards the east down Ackmar Road - not a ravishingly beautiful view.  But there are nice clouds, and you can see the Shard in the distance!

Richmond and The Orange Tree Theatre

It was a special treat to make the easy expedition yesterday evening to the delightful small town of Richmond.  It is a mere 20 minutes on the underground from home, and it is technically in London forming part of the London borough of Richmond-upon-Thames.  But it certainly feels agreeably away from the bustle of the city.  Kew Gardens and Hampton Court are near by, and the River Thames is particularly pretty at this part of its winding way towards London.

Alas it was a wet miserable day yesterday so I did not go early to enjoy a riverside walk, but instead arrived just in time for the really excellent and most enjoyable production of the somewhat harrowing playYours for the Asking by Ana Diosdado.  It runs through to October 6 and is worth taking trouble to see it.  With a strong ensemble and a virtuoso central performance by Mia Austen, I feel encouraged to pop down there again. 

Next month they will produce the British premiere of Jules Feiffer's The White House Murder Case, just the thing as we prepare our heads for US election day!  It will be directed by the immensely distinguished veteran British director, Christopher Morahan.

The 41 year old Orange Tree Theatre, is a national, not just a local, treasure.  Click the link for its history.  I am enjoying discovering bits of London life.......and by the way the Orange Tree Pub next to the theatre is the real thing - with real ale too of course.

Family weekend

London basked in glorious sunshine yesterday and the families were out in force in Parsons Green, where the brave organisers of the fun fair were rewarded with perfect conditions and huge crowds.  Such things are hardly to be taken for granted on September 22 in London. I was meanwhile occupied with a grandson's sixth birthday party on the other side of London - a good hour away.  Such is the size of this huge city, the largest in Europe by far.

Burlington House, 11:30 am September 23 2012

Today it has been wet and miserable, cold and unpleasant.  But it was a pleasure to make the trip up to the Royal Academy at Burlington House in Piccadilly, for the last day of an excellent show which has been running since the beginning of July.  This was From Paris: A taste for impressionism, a delightful small exhibition of works from the Clark Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.  My American readers have in many cases made the trip to Williamstown, home of the great liberal arts school Williams College.  Those who have not will find it a worthwhile trip.  It is a mere 30 miles from Tanglewood.  The collection of the late Sterling and Francene Clark is a model of its kind. 

The Clark family remain major supporters of the arts.  They hail from Cooperstown, NY - home of the Baseball Hall of Fame and, more to the point, of Glimmerglass Opera, and have made a huge contribution over generations to the prosperity of this delightuful town in upstate New York.

Tomorrow I will be making a trip up river to Richmond, home of the Orange Tree Theatre, just one of the many distinguished high quality "off West End" theatres in and around London.

Contrasting aesthetics on the Thames......

I was at the Passport Office this afternoon to collect my new document just four hours after my "interview".  I then took a brisk walk down to the Tate Gallery (Tate Britain it now is since the building of Tate Modern further down river on the south bank of the Thames).  There is a magnificent rich exotic Pre-Raphaelite show on, which I took a quick spin around in the 45 minutes that I had to spare.  I will be back - but preferably not in prime time.  I will try to get there at 10 am.  It was appallingly crowded at 4 pm.  As a Tate member/friend I can go in as often as I like for nothing.  So now that for the time being I am comparatively leisured (is that a word?) I can take full advantage of this.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's The Beloved is just one of the many gorgeous things collected together for this brilliantly curated show.  And it was of particular tangential though not trivial interest to me since it was purchased for the Tate in 1916 with assistance from Sir Otto Beit, father of the late Sir Alfred Beit who was my greatly loved board president at Wexford during my years as Artistic Director there 1967-1973.  Furthermore Rossetti's painting represents the power of a woman's beauty, and in this case it is Dante's Beatrice.

Now all this is in stark contrast with the view across the Thames from the Tate, past Vauxhall Bridge to the St George Wharf development.  This is surely one of the most ugly views of the great river that I could find.

St George Wharf, Vauxhall 4:30 pm September 21 2012

Passport problems!

My passport is full and does not expire until 2014 - not a square millimeter left for stamps let alone visas.  Indeed when I went to Armenia last year I had to persuade the authorities to paste their very pretty visa sticker over some existing stamps.  So I have to get a new one before I go on my next visa requiring trip - I am not leaving it to the last minute.......(uncharacteristically?.......)  I will be off to China again in the Spring  so we must be prepared.

So I have obtained the forms and will be at the Passport office tomorrow morning ready to get this done in one day.  And I needed a new photo.  So I went off to Fulham Broadway where there is a "booth".  It swallowed my money and did not regurgitate a photo.  So I found an excellent cobbler who takes passport photos on the side. And he did a great job for £5.

Fire Brigade Station, Fulham 3pm September 20 2012

And on the way home, walking down the Fulham Road, I passed a gem of a building, the Fulham Fire Station, dating back to the late 19th century and still functioning.  There are oodles like this in London of course.  But it is so refreshing and reassuring that these lovely old Victorian buildings are still doing the job they were built for.

The photo booth operator, based in County Down, Northern Ireland called to apologize and promised to send a refund of my lost money. And the cobbler?  Well he did a good job and the very serious image will be on my passport for the next ten years.