La couverture familiale

J'ai aciethé il y a quelques semaines une nouvelle couverture pour nos pique-niques. Nous en avions déjà une mais 1)elle était vraiment vieille, 2)celle-ci était cheap et vendue à rabais et 3)ma femme aime vraiment beaucoup les cerises. C'est une raison comme une autre. Nous n'avons pas encore pique-niqué dessus, mais nous l'avons déjà utilisée. Enfin, je devrais dire: petit loup l'a utilisée comme aire de jeu, en mettant ses jouets dessus. Je soupçonne que ça sera so nutilité principale et qu'on ne pique-niquera pas très souvent dessus.

Pique-niquer

J'ai pris cette photo en 2017, lorsque nous avions fait un pique-nique avec des amis. Il fait assez beau ces temps-ci, juste assez pour que l'on puisse manger dehors dans le jardin. On l'a donc fait pour les deux derniers soupers, à la demande de petit loup. Alors nous avons l'intention de pique-niquer encore et proprement, si le beau temps se maintient. Ce serait bien de le faire avec beaucoup de bouffe et des amis, comme c'était le cas dans l'occasion prise sur la photo. Et je dis si le beau temps se maintient, mais mon grand-père nous faisait manger dehors jusqu'en novembre, tellement il aimait ça.

The evening with Don Giovanni

I found this image on Facebook recently, ironically enough a few days before I went to see Don Giovanni. I blogged about it before, I promised to give more details about the evening, so as promised, here is the post giving you the account of my experience (and it was an experience). And I thought this image would be very fitting, even though I already uploaded the overture on a different post. It took Mozart one night to compose its overture, and what an overture it was. But I digress...

I think it would be pointless to write this post as a review. I don't do reviews very well. Don Giovanni is the greatest opera that ever was, in my opinion, however limited the means, however poor the production may be, the music and the story can lift them and turn it into not only an enjoyable night, but an experience. It was a production of limited means: no chorus, only the characters. No orchestra, only a piano. A small stage, minimalist decor, the theater an old barn. Some scenes were cut, even. But nevertheless, it was my first live experience of the classic. I love Don Giovanni for many reasons, maybe the main one is that it is because it is not merely edgy, it is the most revolutionary, iconoclast, anti-establishment piece of lyrical fiction there is. The main character and antihero is a blasphemer, an agent of chaos, a philanderer who does not shy away from rape and murder to satisfy his lust, who openly mocks both the law of men and God, and threatened by eternal damnation accepts his fate rather than repenting, out of fear or remorse. So however humble the setting, the core of the opera was channeled properly.

The intermission was longer, as there was a picnic/supper. We shared our table with a mother and her daughter. The mother was American, her daughter half British from her father, she was 20 and they had settled back to England after a few years in Italy. Very friendly people: they offered us a few glasses of their rosé, they chatted with us and we had a lovely conversation among connoisseurs. I had met two people who shared my love of Italy, my love of opera and my love for Don Giovanni. In fact, the daughter told us that it was the first opera she ever saw. A revelation to her: she knew she wanted to become an opera singer at that moment. I told my wife later that I was so happy about it, thata girl her age and her generation had decided to live her dreams and become an opera singer. It meant that there was hope for the form of art, that it could still touch and marvel new people. And it was very reassuring: we were with them among the youngest people there. Most of the people around us were elderly, "white heads" as my father would say. And I am not that young to begin with!

So that was my evening. I would not end a post about Mozart without his music. So I decided to upload here the ball scene, near the end of the first act of Don Giovanni. With Samuel Ramey in the title role. It has Viva la Liberta in it, that is the main reason I chose this bit. When I say the opera is revolutionary, that is what I mean.

An evening with Mozart

As you know, I am trying to spend some evenings out to see plays (as I did recently). This weekend, it will be an evening of a slightly different type, albeit on a stage: an evening watching and listening to Don Giovanni, my favourite opera. I have seen many operas live on stage, but never this one, believe it or not. It will be the first time.

So anyway, a few months ago I saw a poster in one of the local charity shops about this production of Don Giovanni, for a charity organization, in a nearby town. It has a longer interval, so the audience can have a picnic as dinner/supper. My kind of evening. But in any case, only because of the opera, I knew I had to see it. Getting the tickets was a bit of a pain and slow: I actually had to send a cheque by mail, they do not accept other payments. Nevertheless, I received the tickets today. So I can barely wait. To illustrate this post, I have uploaded an image from this book. An image that would fit Le Nozze di Figaro better, but since we are going to have a meal with the performance, it does fit at least the circumstances. And to celebrate this upcoming evening, I have decided to upload here the overture of the opera I love so much.

An evening with the Bard

I often say to my wife that last summer was the summer of sea life for us, as we visited two aquariums and we went whale watching. This summer is our "theatre summer", as so far we have seen three plays, more than we had in the last five years. So yesterday, we went to see Romeo and Juliet in an outdoor setting. We had to bring a picnic and we sat on our recently bought picnic mat quite close to the stage. It was not the most comfortable experience, we had pins and needles and had to share our space with ants, but it was a unique experience. The tale of the two lovers of Verona is not my favourite play of Shakespeare (Hamlet is, if you are curious), but it is still a brilliant dramatic work. Some observations on the evening:

-I miss the stage. Yes, I said this before and recently, but I can't help it. Every time we see a play, I will both admire and envy the actors. I am considering getting back on the stage, finding an amateur troup I could but there is the language barrier: I never played in English and no matter what it will never be as natural to me as my own mothertongue. I can eliminate my Quebec accent when I play in French, but the out there accent I have when I speak English would be utterly unconvincing for iambic pentameter. However, I could play roles in contemporary dramas and I guess that for an English audience I could easily pass as an American with a bit of practice.

-Watching a play outdoor is an experience in itself, worth in itself the price of the admission ticket. There was a minimalistic stage, no décor to speak of, but the surroundings were enough to feel in another place.

-Being in such a setting made the actors rely more on interactions with the public and old saltimbanque type of entertainment. Playing takes all its meaning here. It is sometimes unsettling, but it is theatre at its roots and highly enjoyable.

-I can never help but find it funny that the quintessential British playwriter wrote a story, a tragedy no less, set in exotic Verona. I wonder what it would be to hear the characters with Italian accents.

-Shakespeare is such a powerful dramatist. I mean, it might sound like a cliché, but he is such a powerful dramatist nevertheless and it still struck me tonight. His text literally lifts the actors, the setting, everything. You can be on a small, bare stage and have limited acting skills, Shakespeare will still make the play work in itself.

-I think no matter what, I will always picture the play with the look and actors of Zeffirelli's version. And I have difficulties seeing any other actress than Olivia Hussey in the role of Juliet.