Ehi, Gioachino! Son Qua!

Gioachino qua, Gioachino  là,

Gioachino  su, Gioachino giù

Okay I'm paraphrasing here, it should be:  Ehi Figaro!  But in a little under a week's time it will be Gioachino Rossini who will be all over the place and in great demand.  Or at least all over the place and in great demand in and around Salzburg.

As we were leaving the final concert at last year's Pfingstfestspeil we were given the prospectus for 2014.  And it was with some surprise that we saw it was proclaiming:

Now anyone who knows me knows that in my world Rossini is up there with Mozart and Verdi in the Holy Trinity of Opera.  One of the - oh so many -  pleasures of our time in Italy was the yearly excursions to Pesaro to celebrate her favourite son.  Pesaro and Rossini - well of course; Salzburg and Rossini - not so much.  Though as I write this I cast my mind back to an incredible  Barbiere in 1969 with Claudio Abbado at the start of his career as a Rossini specialist.  But still I never thought of going to Salzburg to hear Rossini.  I had forgotten one little detail: though I wouldn't necessarily pair Salzburg-Rossini when playing word association on my psychiatrist's couch I certainly would if the kindly doctor peered over his pince-nez, puffed on his pipe and mono-toned "Cecilia Bartoli!"

And of course La Ceci is the artistic director for the Pfingstfestspeil  so it would only stand to reason that in her programming she would, at some point, include the Swan of Pesaro.  As a sidebar  Bellini was often referred to as the Swan of Catania.... it would seem those early 19th century composers were a veritable wedge of swans!  And programme him she did for 2014:  there's Rossini in the morning, Rossini in the evening and (for those that could afford it) Rossini at suppertime!

Jens Rassmussen's cover for Pfingstfestpseil 2014 prospectus is rather busy but it does cover all the bases from Tornadoes Rossini to the Cathedral in Pesaro, the composer's hometown.  And I must say includes a less than flattering caricature of the Festival's artistic director.

 As I mentioned almost a year ago we had no intention of going back to Salzburg for the 2014 festival tomorrow we'll be heading to Frankfurt en-route to that lovely city on the Salzach to wallow in five days of Rossini, Rossini and more Rossini - with the odd bit of Hahn, Vivaldi and Faure thrown in just to keep me on an even keel.  And I must admit that the tickets were booked five days after they went on sale in May 2013 - talk about the eternal optimist!!!!

Unlike other years we are giving a few things a miss this year - that Whit Monday last year when we ran from Mozarteum to St Peter's Church to Grosses Festspeilhaus with only a chance to grab a quick energy restoring cup of tea and a piece of Sacher Torte was just too much.  And there will be a few other changes this year:  an old - as in longtime not age - friend will be coming with us and we'll be meeting a friend of her's for a few days in Salzburg.  And hopefully we'll be having a late evening cocktail with one of the inveterate contributors to Parterre Box.

But the big change is that for the first time in a long time we will not be occupying the Tuscan Suite at the Hotel Bristol. Though La Ceci's tenure as artistic director has been an exciting one - witness last year's programme - there has been a downside to it.  During the Muti tenure there was one "big" name - Muti; that's not to say that we didn't hear quality - we heard and saw quality in spades.  But with the advent of Bartoli there are some "big" names on the bill and the Festival now has a higher profile. And with a higher profile comes higher prices at hotels, restaurants and other venues in town.  Prices have almost reached Summer Festival levels and frankly I gave up on the Summer Festival years ago as being beyond my financial resources.  And sadly the beloved Bristol has reached that point where my pocketbook couldn't justify paying the tariff being asked.  Sad because going there was always like going home - however I'm sure we'll still be able to find a table at the Sketch Bar after a performance and see some of our old friends who are regulars there.

And there have been two changes to the Festival format this year:  we get not one but two operas, both staring Cecilia Bartoli.  And to accommodate that sort of scheduling the Festival begins one day earlier this year running from Thursday until Whit Monday.  And there is very little in the way of purely instrumental works this year - its almost all vocals!

But what vocals!  We get La Cenerentola with Cecilia, the amazing Mexican tenor Javier Camarena, who sent New Yorkers for a spin last month, and Nicola Alaimo; the Stabat Mater with Antonio Pappano and his Santa Cecilia forces, Krassimira Stoyanova, Elīna Garanča, Piotr Beczala and Erwin Schrott; the Petit Messe Solonnelle in the piano/harmonium scoring again with Maestro Pappano, his Santa Cecilia Chorus,  Eva Mei, Vesselina Kasarova, Lawrence Brownlee and Michele Pertusi; Joyce DiDonato in a recital of songs inspired by Venice; and finally Otello with  La Ceci and John Osborn. Not a bad gathering of the Rossini clans?????

And what are we missing?  Well Franco Fragioli, the countertenor, is singing Rossini and Myerbeer - but as beautifully as he sings Mr Fragioli's stage mannerisms drive me up the wall so we're giving it a pass for a dinner at Triangle.  And French pianist David Fray is bobbing and weaving, as is his wont, through a programme of Bach, Rossini and Liszt while we explore the Lake District.  But the big miss is the Rossini Gala followed by the Gala Dinner.  The list of singers is an incredible one - including some great names from the past - and the dinner is a Rossinian feast.  However impressive the list of performers for the gala might be the thought of my Teresa Berganaza, Montserrat Caballé and Jose Carreras singing anything at this stage does not fill me with pleasure - I prefer to stay with my memories and my old wind up Victrola at this point.  And the gala dinner afterwards sounded like a gourmand's delight but I think we'll just have a nice Bazaar Töst at Cafe Bazaar with a comforting glass of something white, wet and local.

In younger and slimmer days
- more hair, less weight.

There are a few interesting events arranged around the Festival that may be more than worthwhile catching in the two days we have free.  Das Kino, the local art cinema in Salzburg, is showing several Rossini-themed films including the Jean-Pierre Ponnelle opera productions and Mario Monicelli's Rossini! Rossini! with Philippe Noiret and Jacqueline Bisset.  Apparently this was a film that Robert Altman gave up on and Monicelli took over.  I've always wanted to see it so this might well be my opportunity.  And this year even the Salzburg Marionettentheater has joined the Festival line-up with a revival of their puppet production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia but whereas in the old days they used the old Decca recording with Teresa Berganaza I understand the revival is voiced by... our Cecilia.

So its time to try on the trachen and see if it still fits - I have a sneaking suspicion there will be a problem there and no time to lose weight to solve it - bundle up the laptop, double check the tickets and hotels and start packing.

May 31 - 1669: Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.

Lunedi Lunacy

May 26 -1879: Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.

Lunedi Lunacy

Cirque du Soleil meets Beaujolais!

Thanks to Maureen for sharing this one!

May 19 - 1780: New England's Dark Day: A combination of thick smoke and heavy cloud cover causes complete darkness to fall on Eastern Canada and the New England at 10:30 A.M

Cantrice, Castrati e otre Bestie - Part III

The Rival Queens - Part I

The history of opera is riff with stories of rivalries between singers - male and female - though often those frictions are more in the minds of their supporters than of the favourites they champion.  Several modern day (i.e. late 20th century) examples spring to mind - rather disappointingly today the majority of operatic stars vow undying love for their peers and colleagues in syrupy air-kissy intermission features on High Definition broadcasts that make one long for the days of Maria Callas and her infamous comparison of her voice to Renata Tebaldi's.**

Gone are the days of a *Nellie Melba sailing through the red velvet curtains after pushing aside a young Giovanni Martinelli as the audience chanted his name with the remark that her dear public wanted their "Auntie Nellie".  Or the even more heady events of 6 June 1727 during a performance of Bononcini’s Astianatte when a battle royal or rather a battle before the royals broke out between the fans of the two reigning queens of song at Handel's Royal Academy of Music.

As an astounded Princess Caroline looked on Francesa Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni are reported to have heaped insults, in Italian, on each other and finally resorted to pulling each others hair as their adoring fans egged them on with catcalls, cheers and other "indecencies".  According to the local press the disheveled prime donne were escorted off stage, several of the audience arrested and the performance - and the opera season - was suspended.   There is sufficient proof that the press may have exaggerated the events of the battling donne (imagine our surprise!!!) and that the cause of the major disturbance were more the actions of  their devoted followers than the two singers themselves.  The Cuzzonists were led by Lady Pembroke who it is said encouraged her entourage to hiss Faustina.  This led to a satirical verse making the rounds of the town:

UPON LADY PEMBROKE’S PROMOTING

THE CAT-CALLS OF FAUSTINA.

Old poets sing that beasts did dance 

Whenever Orpheus play’d, 

So to Faustina’s charming voice 

Wise Pembroke’s asses bray’d.

In fact the two ladies were considered the "best of enemies" and there is a possibility that behind the scenes they were on cordial if not sisterly terms.   The Royal Academy was not the first stage they had shared and, thought the concept was new for the London opera scene, it was not unknown in an Italy house to have two prime donne in the same opera.  There is also the very good possibility that the directors of the Royal Academy manipulated the situation to sell tickets for their often financially troubled company.

A playbill from 1747 for Lee's popular tragedy which
had pitted rival actresses against each other on the
English stage since 1677.  The same story had served
Paolo Antonio Rolli as the inspiration for his Alessandro
which featured the two "Rival Queens" of opera twenty
years earlier.

Cuzzoni and Bordoni first shared the London stage in Handel's Alessandro; the argument of which was well-known to English playgoers as the subject of Nathaniel Lee's popular and oft-revived 1677 tragedy The Rival Queens, or the Death of Alexander the Great - a popular vehicle for rival actresses.   And a source had been feeding the press and public curiosity with stories of backstage intrigue and tensions for several weeks before the prima.   The occasion itself passed without incident - the only fireworks being the vocal ones on stage.  Handel had provided music of equal brilliance for each of them.  He had made sure that both roles were of equal length and wrote one short duet (Placa l'alma) for the two of them.  He knew Cuzzoni's abilities and style well but based Faustina's music on what he knew of her previous repertoire.  Later he was to replace two of her arias with music that he felt exploited her abilities more completely.

Their joint appearance was a great success and the coffers of the Royal Academy were filled by a public that began to clamour for tickets to see the "Rival Queens".  After that first overwhelming triumph the city waited impatiently to see what Handel, Bononcini and company were going to create for the two of them.   And they were not to be disappointed: Handel wrote five works that featured the two divas.  It must not have been an easy task as he had to pay particular attention to who got what to sing, when they got to sing it and with whom.  And the abilities and demands of the great castrato Senesino had to be considered - Francesco Bernardi, the third member of Handel's "dream team",  was not know to give up centre stage easily.  It was a delicate balancing act.

The "rivalry" continued in the 1727-28 season however when Bordoni was offered a salary that was one guinea more than Cuzzoni for the next season  the soprano reacted to the insult by almost immediately packing her bags and returning to the continent. The financially troubled company hoped the affair would soon be forgotten but they had not such luck.   That same season John Gay's The Beggar's Opera opened and Handel's bickering divas were immortalized as the back-biting heroines Polly Peachum and Lucy Lockit.  The much worshiped goddess had become a source of fun and the pretensions of Italian opera the butt of a very successful satire.

By 1729 the Academy declared bankruptcy and was dissolved.   Bordoni was never to appear in England again however Cuzzoni was to make an ill-fated return several years later.

A ticket for a performance of The Beggar's Opera at Covent Garden for the benefit of Thomas Walker the original MacHeath.  It shows the unhappy Captain trapped between his battling "wives".  The design is attributed to Hogarth.

As mention Cuzzoni and Faustina had first appeared together in Venice and were great favourites there - and both had been the subjects of Anon Maria Zanetti's satirical pen.

 Francesca Cuzzoni 

 

Born in Parma in 1700 (?) Francesca Cuzzoni (called la Parmigiana) made her debut in her home town at the age of 16 in Dafni, a pastoral opera, starring Vittoria Tesi.  However she was not to remain in the shadow of other singers for long.  By 1718 she was appearing on the stage of San Giovanni Grisostomo with Faustina Bordoni and Antonio Bernacchi.  She went on to appear on the major stages of Italy and in 1722 debuted with Handel's Royal Academy in London.   She had been enticed to make the channel crossing, accompanied by her husband the harpsichordist, teacher and composer Pier Giuseppe Sandoni, by a £2000 salary and the proceeds of a benefit.

Cuzzoni had appeared many times with the renowned male soprano Nichola Grimaldi or Nicolino.  The
Carnivale season of 1730 they appeared in three operas - Idaspe, Artaserese and Mitridate; Zanetti
neglected to note which of the three was lined in this caricature

Cussoni was not known for her stage presence - she was a cold actress by the days' standards - nor her personal beauty - her receding chin is perfectly captured in Zanetti's caricature and badly hidden in one of the few official portraits.  Nor was she known for her sense of style - singers provided their own wardrobe as them moved from stage to stage and her's was often remarked upon as being rather dowdy.  However it should be noted that the brown silk dress shot with silver that she wore in Rodelinda set a fashion trend amongst the younger ladies of London.  With Cussoni it was her vocal talents that enchanted as Cleopatra, Rodelinda, Asteria and several other damsels in distress that Handel,  Bononcini and her husband wrote for her.

The painter of one of the few "official" portraits of Francesca
Cuzzoni did his best to highlight the lady's better features.
What he could not capture was the magic of her voice which
overrode any physical shortcomings she may have had.

Her London debut was as Teofane in Handel's Ottone on January 12, 1723. The story is often told that she had found that "Falsa immagine"***, her first aria, was not to her liking: she felt it was too simple and did not display her talents to their fullest.  She also had a sneaking suspicion that it had been originally written for Maddalena Salvai, Handel's previous prima donna.  Handel, who unlike many of the composers of his time would only indulge singers' whims so far, is said to have grabbed her by the waist and threatened to throw her out the window, growling: Madame you are a devil, but I will make you know that I am Beelzebub, King of the Devils.  A cowed Cuzzoni sang the aria and her debut was an incredible success.  The Royal Academy also basked in financial success with ticket prices doubling and tripling for subsequent performances.

She had a range of two octaves and her high notes were said to be unrivaled in clearness and sweetness.   It was reported that she seemed incapable of singing out of tune and had a true intonation that impressed even her rivals.  Her unaffected style fit the sympathetic roles that Handel wrote for her. 

After leaving London following the aforementioned salary insult she travelled to various opera houses in Europe and met with success everywhere but Vienna where her outrageous salary demands met with a cold reception from the local impresario.   Though she and Sandoni had separated she appeared in his operas in Venice, Modena, Bologna, Naples, Piacenz and during Carnivale seasons in 1730-1734.  In 1734 she returned to London as prima donna for the ill-fated Opera of the Nobility.  The company folded after one season and Cuzzoni made her way back to the Continent.

"Though Tuneful Scarecrow and Thou Warbling Bird" by Joseph Goupy was said to be based on a design
by the Countess of Burlington.  Farinelli and Cuzzoni had been hired by James John Heidegger, a Swiss
entrepreneur seen here lurking in the background, to perform in London. Goupy's caricature of Handel is
said to have ended their friendship.

Though she was to continue giving concerts it appears that her last operatic performance was in Hamburg in 1741.  That same year it was rumoured and gleefully reported by at least one London newspaper that she had been charged with poisoning her husband and was to be executed.  She and Sandori had been long separated and her reported act of mariticide was a good seven years before his actual demise of natural causes.

Her appointment in 1746 as court singer in Stuttgart was cut short when she left the city leaving a large number of unpaid debts.    Cuzzoni's demand for astronomical fees may have been more than a matter of prestige - she was often in debt and one of her last appearances in London was a benefit in May of 1751.  The advertisement for the concert including a begging note from the prima donna stating: "I am so extremely sensible of the many Obligations I have already received from the Nobility and Gentry of this Kingdom ... that nothing but extreme necessity and a desire of doing justice, could induce me to trouble them again, but being unhappily involved in a few Debts, am extremely desirous of attempting every Thing in my Power to pay them, before I quit England ..."  Sadly the concert was not a success and Walpole called her "old Cuzzoni" and Burney remarked on her "thin, cracked voice".  She left London for Holland shortly after; however once again the problem of debts followed her and she spent some time in Debtor's Prison.  The Prison Governor allowed her to earn money from performing to gradually pay back her creditors.

After that her name was noticeably missing from playbills or announcements and she faded from the music scene.  It is known that she went to Bologna and spent the remaining years of her life there living in poverty.  It was rumored that she found employment as a button maker and on her death in 1770 the once great prima donna left neither estate nor family. 

If Cuzzoni died in penury life after London was to be an entirely different story for her rival.

...  to be continued.

*I repeat this story with the possibility that it is an operatic urban legend but if it didn't happen it could have!

** Again possibly another operatic legend but during an interview with Time Magazine Callas is  quoted as saying that comparing her to Tebaldi was like comparing champagne with Coca-Cola.  However a bystander insists she said "champagne to cognac" and some else quipped "No, to Coca-cola" which the interviewer then attributed to Callas.

***This link will take you to a lovely performance by Rose Manion from a rather unusual programme aired in the UK called "A Night with Handel" filmed in and around modern London.

May 18 - 1944:  Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the government of the  Soviet Union.

Lunedi Lunacy

We are preparing for our annual - and possibly last - trip to Salzburg for the Pfingstenfestspeil. Yes I know we've said that before but there are so many other places on the bucket list that we feel we must turn our attention to in the next few years.

But that is a subject for another time as we confirm our hotel reservations and get our train tickets in order.  In the meantime friend Michael thought he would send this along as a helpful aide-memoir as we head off to Austria and Germany.

And who says they don't have a sense of "ha ha"?

April  28 - 1503: The Battle of Cerignola is fought. It is noted as the first battle in history won by small arms fire using gunpowder.

Mercoledi Musicale

It's easy to see why the young Ivor
Novello was a heart-throb.  And there
is that rather magnificent profile!

Last week I remarked, rather light-heartedly, on being told to show my profile "like Ivor Novello" during rehearsals for a 1920s musical parody.  I'm rather proud to say that I knew exactly what the director meant; Novello's music was part of my childhood experience.  That and my early fascination with theatre - musical and dramatic - meant that, rather precociously, I knew who Ellen Terry, Ethel Merman, Noel Coward and the Lunts were by the time I was ten.  Not necessarily knowledge that has stood me in good stead in the world at general but got me drinks bought in bars of a certain type when I was young and not unpretty.

Today much of his work is largely forgotten and it's difficult to fathom that Novello was once one of the most popular stage and screen stars of his age.  Unlike his contemporary Noel Coward he has never had a Renaissance though he was truly a theatrical Renaissance man:  writer, composer, lyricist, director, actor and producer his range extended from Shakespeare to ersatz operetta.  And those operettas were grand, lavish, romantic affairs that filled the stage of the Drury Lane with waltzes, ballads, comedy songs and love duets.  And filled the coffers of his producers until his final Ruritanian romance  King's Rhapsody.  Novello died several hours after the curtain had fallen on a performance of this rather contemporary story of a King who abdicates his throne for his young son.

Olive Gilbert and Ivor Novello on vacation
in Jamaica in 1948.

His first success had been as a composer in 1914; his friend Lena Guilbert Ford, an American living in London, wrote the lyrics of what was to become one of the most beloved songs to come out of the Great War:  Keep the Home Fires Burning.  Ford lived in London, was passionately patriotic and active in seeing to the welfare of soldiers returning from the Front.  Sadly she and her son were the first Americans to become causalities of that war when they were killed in an air raid that leveled their London flat on March 7, 1918. 

This recording I've used was made between the two wars by Olive Gilbert and the Williams Singers.   I've made the video using some of the fascinating recruiting posters that were produced in Canada to encourage young men to join the fray.  Aside from the sophistication and, in many cases, artistic beauty of the designs I was surprised to see how many were targeted to specific cultural groups.  You may want to go directly to the YouTube site to see them in HD.

Olive Gilbert was a contralto in the British tradition - her voice had that plush deep sound that bespeaks big bosomed English ladies like Clara Butt.  And in Gilbert's case the voice is as well-upholstered as the lady herself.  She was a great favourite of Novello and he always made sure a part was available in one of his musicals for her.   His was the sort that made sure that his long-time colleagues and friends were not forgotten.   His musicals always had parts for Mary Ellis, Zena Dare, Dorothy Dixon, Vanessa Lee and Muriel Barron amongst his leading ladies, his partner Bobbie Andrews in character parts and of course Olive Gilbert.

Here she and Muriel Barron join in one of the loveliest melodies Novello ever wrote and that I remember (possibly from this recording?) from his Perchance to Dream.  Miss Gilbert sang We'll Gather Lilacs  at Novello's funeral in 1951.

 Perhaps its time for a Novello Renaissance?

April 23 - 1985: Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than 3 months.

Lunedi Lunacy

According to a recent survey our good cousins to the South consume approximately $2,000,000.00 USD worth of chocolate at Eastertide.  I could find no statistics for Canada but I wouldn't be surprised to find that we are not far behind.   So where does all this chocolate come from?  Well these days I'd think mostly China but back in the 1930s Walt Disney had another idea.  So sit back, gnaw away on that chocolate bunny (apparently the proper way is to eat him ears first) and enjoy the way Easter eggs use to be made:

April 21 - 1863: Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, declares his mission as "He whom God shall make manifest".

Christ Has Risen! Alleluia!

He has risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Pericopes of Henry II
Folios 116v and 117r
Munich, Bavarian State Library, Clm 4452

 Happy Easter     Buona Pasqua     Joyeuses Pâques

April 20 - 1657: Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City).

Peace Be Unto You

Patricia Routledge reads Chapter 20 of the Gospel of John.

April 19 - 1012: Martyrdom of Ælfheah in Greenwich, London.

Moadim l'simcha*

*The traditional greeting for the intermediate days of Passover:  A wish for a good festival time

Monday evening many of my Jewish friends opened their Haggadah, said the Kadeish blessing and asked the age old question that begins the first Sedar of Passover:  Why is this night different from all other nights?

The rituals and observances of this holy festival - one of the three in the Jewish calendar along with Sukkot, Shavu'ot - have been passed from generation to generation in these guides to the story and rituals of Passover.  The text itself is the fulfillment of the commandment in Exodus 13:8: And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying: It is because of that which the LORD did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.

This beautiful tiered seder plate is from Eastern Galicia or Western Ukraine.
Made in the 18th-19th century it is in the collection of The Jewish Museum, New York

As with many ritual texts the origins of the order and form of Passover Seder are a matter of both conjecture and contention.  Some scholars date it as early as 170 CE with the latest date suggested being 360 CE.   The first complete existing manuscript is from the 10th century in a prayer book compiled by the Egyptian rabbi and philosopher Saadia ben Joseph Al-Fayyumi.

The frontispiece to the Heiligen Haggadah

Since that time Haggadot have existed in many forms from gloriously illuminated manuscripts that speak to the artistry in Jewish communities throughout the world to a few sheets of mimeographed paper stapled together as handouts from local kosher butchers.  One of the largest private collections in the world belongs to Stephen Durchslag,  a Chicago lawyer.  And the over 4,500 ritual guides in his collection represent Haggadot in all their forms - from the most elaborate to the simplest.

Many of the most beautiful early manuscripts were created in Spain and were amongst the belongings that Jews were allowed to take with them after the Alhambra Decree in 1492 expelled Jews from their Most Catholic Majesties kingdoms.  As the Shepardim moved throughout Europe and the Ottoman Empire  their art and artifacts influenced and were influenced by the places they settled.  Amongst the many illuminated manuscripts now residing in museums throughout the world are the Sarajevo Haggadah, the Barcelona Haggadah, the Washington Haggadah, the Rylands Haggadah and the Golden Haggadah.  Most of these priceless books show that, as well as being beautiful, they served their intended purpose - wine stains, turned down pages, every day wear and tear indicate their use at many Passover Seders.

The Birds' Head Haggadah is oldest known Ashkenazim text and is unique in that the 13th century German
scribe -  thought to be named Menaham - followed the admonition against making "graven images". 
Most of the human figures have been given bird-like heads though some have been left faceless or
are wearing helmets.  

This delightful pop-up book based on the Birds' Head Haggadah is for children -
here Moses prepares to lead the Children of Israel through the Red Sea.

One of the things that makes a Haggadot different from most other Jewish books are the images that appear amongst - and often replacing - the text.  The admonition against "graven images" does not apply as the book is not intended as religious text but as a ritual guide.  However Menaham, the German scribe who created the Birds' Head Haggadah in the 13th century took no chances - the very human bodies telling the Exodus story and making the preparations for the feast all have, as its title suggests, birds' heads - a conceit that delights to this day.

The Golden Haggadah is so called because of the extensive tooled gold leaf
in the backgrounds.  Probably created in Barcelona around 1320 it is
one of the treasures of the Hebrew Collection at the British Library.

Smuggled out of Spain at the time of the Expulsion, the history of the Sarejevo
Haggadah would be a great subject for an adventure film.  It has survived
many close calls during wars, rebellions and attempted thefts and is considered
one of the most valuable of illuminated manuscripts.

Another treasure in the British Library collection is the Barcelona Haggadah made in
Catalonia during the second half of the 14th century.  It celebrates the Sephardic
Rite and is particularly noted for the elaborate floral and animal decorations of the border.

The earliest known copy using a mechanical press was printed in 1486 in Soncino, Lombardy. The Italian Ashkenazi family of printers took their name from their home town and members of the Soncino family were a major influence in the spreading of "printing" in Italy and the middle-East. Their output included religious and secular texts - many illustrated with elaborate engravings or hand-painted detail.

Published in Venice in 1609, the illustrator of this print Haggadah is unknown;
however Israel ben Daniel Zifroni, the printer was well-known in Switzerland,
Germany and Venice.  The scene at the bottom shows Elijah the prophet leading
the way for the Messiah who is arriving at the gates of Jerusalem (Malachi 3:24).

This 1813 Haggadah was made in Bordeaux by the Brothers Zoreph - Jacob, the
illustrator and Isaac, the printer.  The text is divided evenly between Hebrew and
French but there are instructions in Ladino, and some translations into Aramaic.
The scene represents Pharoah's daugher finding the baby Moses, as his sister
Miriam watches in the background.

As printing became more widespread the form and appearance of Haggadot changed with the times.  They reflected - as they always had - the cultural and world around them.  One famous recent example is the Szyk Haggadah created in the mid-1930s by Polish artist Athur Szyk.  Known for his political caricatures during the Second World War, his Haggadah reflected the events happening in Europe prior to the outbreak of that War.  In his original version the forces of Egypt wore swastikas on their armbands - this detail was removed prior to it publication in England in 1940.

Polish artist Athur Szyk could not find a European publisher for his Haggadah
and moved to England in 1937 to oversee its publication there.  His illustrations have
the jewel-like appearance of illuminations but he treat the subjects - here the Four Sons -
in a modern way.

A Passover songs asks:  Who knows the four?  The answer: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.
The New Union Haggadah was published in 1982 and illustrated by Leonard Baskin.  Here he
represents those Four Matriarchs. 

And even today Haggadot are changing with the time:  a quick search on the Internet shows that they can be found in many forms - facsimiles of  manuscripts, reprints of previous editions, modern editions, children's editions (including that delightful pop-up version of the Birds' Head), web versions, even an iPad fascimile of the Golden Haggadah and even an iPhone app.  The method may change but the ritual, the tradition remains the same.

April 18 - 1961:  The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a cornerstone of modern international relations, is adopted.

Lunedi Lunacy

nd
Back in 1950s the Players' Theatre Club in Villiers St - in the arches under Charing Cross Station - were best known for their recreation of old style Music Hall and early Pantomimes. A revolving group of singers, dancers and comedians such as Hattie Jacques,  Peter Ustinov, May Hallett, John Hewer and Ian Carmichael and host of other West End names-to-be of the period entertained in the raucous and ribald manner of their Edwardian predecessors.  But in April 1953 the Club broke new ground by moving forward from the early 1900s all the way to the 1920s when composer/lyricist Sandy Wilson presented them with The Boy Friend.  A gentle tongue-in-cheeky poke at the chiefly mindless but wildly melodic musicals of the 1920s.

Geoffry Hibbert assures Dilys Laye that "It's Never
Too Late" in the 1954 Broadway production.

All the cliches were there - the phony French accents, the rich young hero in disguise as a poor delivery boy, the titled old lech and his battleaxe wife, even the brash American - with all the required numbers - love duets, Charlestons, novelty numbers and comic pieces.  It soon transferred to the West End and played 2082 performance making a star of its leading lady Anne Rogers.  The Broadway run was somewhat less - 485 performances - but it did prove a stepping stone for its new leading lady - Julie Andrews was spotted by the producers of a musical that was in the works and was offered the role of Eliza Doolittle in the upcoming Learner and Lowe musical My Fair Lady.

Its a show I've always loved - I saw it first at the old Music Fair summer tent theatre with the New York Madame Dubonnet and Percival Browne (Ruth Altman and Eric Brown).  And I shamefacedly admit that I actually appeared in a production of it one summer as Tony Broadhurst, the young hero - don't ask!  Let me just say that we had a campy director-choreographer named Julian who kept insisting that I "show your profile, dear; just like Ivor Novello."  It would have helped if I actually had a profile like the lovely Mr Novello.

One of my favourite numbers is one of those novelty duets:  madcap flapper Dulcie has become disillusioned with the empty young men she's encountered and the venerable, if ever so lecherous,  Lord Broadhurst thinks he may have the solution.  The recording is from the original Broadway cast with Dilys Laye and Geoffry Hibbert - impersonated here by Billy Barkhurst and Steven Widerman of The Puppet Company.

Unfortunately the success of both The Boy Friend and the popularity of Miss Andrews spawned two highly forgettable movies - Kenn Russell's unfunny mutilation of the original and the very long and equally unfunny Thoroughly Modern Millie created as a vehicle to star Miss Andrews when they couldn't get the rights to the original.  And sadly for Sandy Wilson a sequel guying the musicals of the 1930s was as unsuccessful as the movies.  One of those occasions when theatrical magic only struck once.

April 14 - 1828: Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary.

Lunedi Lunacy

At the suggestion of our friend Cathy we've recently signed up for a programme that supports youth employment and local agriculture:   Farm Works,  an enterprise sponsored by Operation Come Home.  We have bought a half-share in a farm plot and will receive produce from the plot over the summer and into the autumn months.  It seems like a win-win set up to me and I know Cathy received more than she could use from her plot last year.

That and the appearance of our local groundhog - Spring has finally sprung! - made this little guy's adventure seem appropriate as a bit of lunacy for a Monday in April.

Hopefully our young farmers won't run into any Geomyidae Thomomys and our resident little guy and his family won't meet with misadventure when searching for food.

April 7 - 1141: Empress Matilda, became the first female ruler of England, adopting the title 'Lady of the English'

Lunedi Lunacy

It seems that every day I see another obituary for an singer, dancer, comedian, politician (quite often the same thing as the former really) or world figure from my youth.  Today it was Eddie Lawrence, the Old Philosopher.  I remember laughing my head off (we didn't LOAO in those days) as he recounted the list of horrors befalling his "buddy", "cousin" or "booby" followed by the exhortation to "keep you head up" and the blare of a brass band.

This is a routine I don't remember but it does sound very much like a group of us that sat around yesterday afternoon quaffing our Bloody Marys, nibbling our smoked mackerel and Italian olives and bemoaning the follies of today's youth.

Hope Eddie is exhorting those angels to keep their chins up and hold their heads high.

March 31 - 1909:  Construction of the ill fated RMS Titanic begins.

Près des remparts de Séville - Part II

I have never been a fan of any type blood sport however - you knew there was going to be a however didn't you? - whither I approve/like/accept it or not bullfighting has been a integral part of Spanish culture for several centuries. This does not make it either right or palatable - I went to a bullfight in Arles in the South of France many years ago.  Following the traditions of Provence it was not to the death but I still found it rather unsettling.  There are  things in many cultures that I don't approve of, but that as a visitor I must simply accept as being a fact of history.   While visiting Sevilla I could simply ignore the whole bullfighting phenomena or take a look at it and try and understand where and why it fits into the culture of the country.

The Coat of Arms of Real Maestranza De Caballería de
Sevilla:  the Goddess of Peace and the Goddess of War
flank the motto Utriusque Interest - it matters to both.

As unusual as it may seem to us the annual season of bullfighting is administered by a Royal Society:    Real Maestranza De Caballería de Sevilla (The Royal Order of Chivalry).  The first Brotherhood was established as Cofradía de San Hermenegildo shortly after the conquest of the city by Ferdinand the Saint in 1248.  The Order was created for the purpose of training the nobility in the use of arms and equestrian skills.   Their stables bred some of the finest mares and colts in Andalusia - trained for military action and civilian sport and leisure.   Even in those early days the Order organized public events in the main squares of Sevilla to celebrate feast days, commemorations and Royal visits

In 1670 it was reestablished under its current title and in 1730 came under the symbolic leadership of a member of the Royal Family - King Juan Carlos I,  is the current Hermano Mayor which rather whimsically translates as Big or Elder Brother of the order.  Amongst the equestrian festivals the Order organized were annual games of Alcancias (a military exercise), Manejos (dressage) and Toros y Cañas (Bulls and Lances).  It is the later that was the precursor of modern day bullfighting.

An early French print shows the make-shift set up of the bullring when it was indeed simply a converted Plaza.

Early bullfights were meant as displays of equestrian abilities and took place in public squares rather than in a designated arena.  Streets were blocked off with fences and carts,  stands erected and balconies around the square hung with banners and tapestries.  It was not until the early 1700s that a permanent wooden structure was considered for the annual season of bullfighting.  It was a rectangle styled after the squares that had been the sites of previous seasons.  Later in the century in was replaced by another wooden building but this time in a circular shape.  By mid-century the area had become built up with additional stone buildings accommodating stables, butcher shops and warehouses - these stone buildings were to affect the design of the building seen today.

The bullring of the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla in 1837 as seen by David Roberts.  Though the boxes adjacent to the Prince's Box were roofed-over it was still possible to see the Cathedral and the Giralda from many of the stands.

A more permanent stone structure was begun in 1761 and over the years changed and added to until in 1785 Carlos III prohibited bullfights.  For the next 60 years little was done in the way of maintenance or building until in 1841 construction and restoration began again.  It was to continue until 1972 when the old warehouse under the stands were converted into a broad circular corridor and the museum and art gallery.

The facade of the Plaza del Toros is an 19th century interpretation  of baroque;
as a result of being built, reconstructed and added to over 120 years the building has 30 unequal sides. 

And it was the museum and gallery that we decided to explore to find the story and traditions  behind  bullfighting in Spain and more particularly Sevilla.  The Museum is small but beautifully set up and the guides are charming and more than willing to answer questions and talk about the "sport".  They seem to be sensitive to the feelings of non-aficionados - particularly North Americans.  No apologies were being given but every attempt was made to place things in a historical and cultural context so that though we may not approve at least we were able to understand how it fit into life there.

Guillermo Muñoz Vera's
2014 Poster

Bullfighting has been a popular subject for lithographers, painters and photographers so it didn't seem unusual that there is also an art gallery as an element of the museum.  Back in 1994 painter Juan Maestre, who was also a caballero with the Order, launched a project to commission artists to design the posters for the major Feria de Abril season.  Since then well-known foreign and Spanish artists such as Larry Rivers, Fernando Botero,  Joaquín Sáenz, Ricardo Cadenas, Manuel Salinas, Félix de Cárdenas amongst others have created the images that advertise the two weeks that are the most important of the year.  The wide range of artists and styles have meant that posters have ranged from the whimsical to the reverential to the outright (in my view) bizarre.  And in some cases it is possible that the artist is subtly criticizing his patrons.  

Unfortunately the rather intriguing piece created by Guillermo Muñoz Vera for this year's Feria is only available as a small image.  Muñoz Vera is known for his realism and often a sense of disturbing melancholy.  I may be reading too much into it but I do find the looming shadow of the bull facing the empty stands unsettling.

A click on the rather science-fantasy image of the bull below will take you to a retrospect of the past 20 years of colourful posters.

I have to admit one of my favourites is the 2007 poster by Manolo Quejido - not the most confident of matadors from the looks of it.

March 29 - 1867: Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada on July 1.

Mercoledi Musicale

Sevilla has served as the setting for several of the more famous operas. Rossini's Barbiere not only practices his tonsorial talents there but proudly proclaims his home town in song and title. Mozart's Don spectacularly fails to seduce any of the maidens in his birthplace (or at least not in DaPonte's version). Leonore, disguised as Fidelio, rescues her husband from the clutches of the evil Don Pizzaro after his long stay at a suburban prison. Verdi's Leonora plans to run away from Sevilla with her Peruvian boyfriend get botched in Act 1 and then she doesn't see him again until Act 4 then promptly dies.

And Bizet's Carmen - well now that's a story isn't it? She works in the Real Fábrica de Tabacos rolling cigars when she isn't rolling customs guards in the nearby Sierra Madres.   And I'm told tour guides in Sevilla are more than happy to show you were she worked and, though I'm not sure how true this is, the odd one can show you the spot, if not the blood stain, on the the Plaza de Toros where Don Jose stabbed her!

I've oft recorded that one of the great evenings I spent at the opera was back in May of 1980 at the Opéra Comique in Paris.  Teresa Berganza had agreed to sing Carmen the year before at Edinburgh provided that the "Spanish" cliches were avoided.  Conductor Claudio Abbado, producer Piero Faggioni and designer Ezio Frigerio built a production around her that was low-keyed, restrained and superbly successful.  Unfortunately by the time it reached Paris Abbado - in a dispute over which orchestra was to be used - had bowed out and was replaced by Pierre Dervaux,   But the main draw remained: Teresa Berganza as Carmen.

In 1984 in conversation with Bruce Duffie she had this to say about the role:

BD:  Is Carmen at all a nice lady?

TB:  Yes, she’s a delightful lady – enchanting.  The problem with audiences going to see Carmen is that they don’t understand who she is.  She has so often been presented as a bad prostitute, and she is not a good or a bad prostitute.  She is a gypsy woman.  Audiences don’t often understand that.  If she were a prostitute, she wouldn’t be working in a cigar factory.  She would have accepted Don José and then given him horns [deceived him] with 5 or 6 men at the same time.  If she were a prostitute, she would have a rich lover and be covered with jewels.  And, if she were a prostitute, she wouldn’t have stood up to José and let him kill her.  She would have fled.  But she is not that.  She is a free spirit, a special woman. . . a liberated woman.

BD:  Do these kinds of women still exist?
TB:  Of course.  It is important to understand the gypsy people, because they are free people.

BD:  Does Carmen plan a few steps ahead or does she just let things happen around her?
TB:  Carmen believes in destiny.  She believes in the cards, so as to preparation, she doesn’t believe that it would make any difference.  The destiny is there.  She has read it in the cards and she goes forward to meet this destiny at the end.  This is the story that Mérimée wrote in his nouvelle and this is the story that Halévey and Meilhac wrote in their libretto and what Bizet put into the music.

BD:  So she goes to meet it rather than fight it?
TB:  She does not fight.  She accepts.

© 1984 Bruce Duffie

And that's exactly how she played and sang it - and when she suggests to poor Don José (Placido Domingo) what happens Près des remparts de Séville he doesn't stand a chance.

You might just hear me - from my first row Circle seat - amongst the cheering audience that glorious night in May.  This video brings back some wonderful memories of an glorious evening.

Mr Duffie's interview with one of, in my opinion, greats of the operatic world is available here. 

March 26 -1351: Combat of the Thirty : Thirty Breton Knights call out and defeat thirty English Knights.

Lunedi Lunacy

I'm not sure if the good Dr Seuss actually wrote this but if he didn't he should have!

March 24 - 1837: Canada gives African Canadian men the right to vote.

Près des remparts de Séville - Part I

I mentioned to my friend Michael in Dallas that for some reason Spain had always been fairly low on my list of countries to visit in my forty-five years of travelling.  I'm not sure why the Iberian peninsula was previously excluded but in the past few years I've made up for it with two trips to Barcelona, a stay in Madrid, sadly only a day in Valencia but fortunately longer visits to Sevilla and Granada.  I'm going to need another lifetime because the bucket list still includes Cordova, Cadiz, Zaragoza,  Santiago de Compostela, the Basque Country, Navarre and a return visit to spend more time in Valencia, Granada and Sevilla.

The magnificent Cathedral, the largest Gothic structure in the world, dominates the city in this map of Sevilla from 1590.  The port was the sole centre of trading for the Indies until it was superseded by Cadiz; the Guadalquivir has long since silted and is navigable only for small boats - fortunately ours was in that category.

It may be difficult to imagine now but at one time Sevilla was the major port of the Spanish Empire.  Their Catholic Majesties had decreed that La Casa y Audiencia de Indias or clearing house for all goods to and from the Indies would be located in the city on the Guadalquivir River.  This meant that anyone doing or wanting to do trade with the Spanish colonies had to come to Seville.  It was to remain the greatest city in Spain during the Golden Age until three events sent it into decline:  Cadiz was designated a trading port, plague decimated the population in 1649 and the river that was its artery to the sea began to silt up.

We were fortunate that the Azamara Quest is one of the few cruise liners that is small enough to make the journey to the port and is able to dock right in the city - and I mean right smack in the city.  And we were doubly fortunate as this was the last time that she would be going into Seville - the port insurance costs are too high.  We were to understand why when we watched what it took to get us into dock.

Captain Smith was a chatty,  affable and extremely seasoned seaman and he announced that we would be entering Seville harbour at 0300 in a series of interesting and tricky maneuvers that should anyone wish to look in there would be coffee, tea and pastries on deck.  He felt that it might just be worth missing an hour or so's sleep to see.  Well there was no way we were going to miss this.  I thought I had taken pictures but can't seem to find them on either my camera or my iPhone however Laurent did have a few photos and has kindly given them to me.

Heading up the Canal de Alfonso VIII towards the basin of the Port of Sevilla.

We left the Quadalquivir at the Embarcadaro and entered the Canal de Alfonso VIII (which follows the old course of the river) and passed under the suspension bridge at the Ronda de Circunvelencion with about 15 feet to spare.  When we reached the basin of the entrance to the Porto Captain Smith did a 180° pivot and proceeded stern first or backwards up the left branch of the Canal towards the Puente de las Delicias, the last lift bridge on that stretch of the Canal.

Approaching the Puente de las Delicias lift bridge at 0330 in the morning with the city glowing in the background.

Almost at the bridge in our backward progress towards the site where Columbus docked on his return from the New World.  He had left with three ships but the Santa Maria was wrecked off the coast of Hispaniola and only the Nina and the Pinta returned.

We watched the basic maneuvers from the top deck but then moved to the balcony of our cabin which was right at the aft of the liner.  It was incredible as we slowly moved towards the bridge and passed through it with only about 5 feet on either side (see photo below).  Had we been in the cabins on either side of ours we would have been almost able to touch the bridge - thus the reason that the insurance premiums were so astronomical for our entry into port.

As we passed through the Puente de las Delicias it was almost possible to touch the spans from our cabin at the aft of the Azamara Quest.

We docked at Puente de los Remedios beside the marvelous colonial neo-baroque splendor of Martin Noel's Palace of the Republic of Argentina built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929.  The quayside and adjacent Paseo de las Delicias are lined with buildings designed to house exhibitions from the former American colonies of that Golden time when Sevilla was the mercantile capital of Europe.  After the exhibition the Argentine Pavilion became the Murillo High School but now houses a dance academy.

Preparing to dock at the quayside adjacent to  the Pabellón de la República Argentina from the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929.  Many of the Pavilions from the Exposition are still standing and in use as municipal offices, museums and restaurants.

By the time we had docked it was almost 0400 so we took one final walk around the deck - took in the lights of the city and a dark sky dotted with stars before turning in for what was left of the night.  Captain Smith was right - it was worth interrupting our sleep to watch.  And his deft work meant that from our berth at the foot of the Paruqe de Maria Luisa we were in easy walking distance of the bosky pleasures of the park itself, the Plaza de España, the Plaza de Toros and all the attractions of the old city.

 March 23 - 1540: Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.