strange_complex (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
strange_complex) wrote2006-05-19 11:33 am
strange_complex) wrote2006-05-19 11:33 am
Entry tags:
- bach,
- concerts,
- drama,
- food,
- friends,
- handel,
- london,
- music,
- oxford,
- parents,
- purcell,
- qi,
- reviews,
- rik mayall,
- robin blaze,
- stephen fry,
- theatre,
- theatregoing,
- vivaldi
Things unblogged
Gosh. I would appear to have some free time. Nominally, I'm at Warwick doing essay returns. But since I only have 11 people to see today, as opposed to the fearsome 35 I got through yesterday, there are a lot of gaps in the day when I can do other things. And I've actually run out of minor administrative tasks to perform, so that means I can write on LJ - yay!
What I'm going to do here is give quick accounts of some of the things I would have blogged over the last couple of months, if I'd had the time to do so. They probably won't get the same level of detail as they'd have had if I'd written them up at the time. But at least this way they won't be completely forgotten.
18th March - celebratory meal at Gee's. While I couldn't claim to have conducted a scientific survey, Gee's has to be a strong contender for the joint titles of a) Best and b) Most Expensive restaurant in Oxford. So when my parents offered to take me out for dinner wherever I wanted to celebrate getting my job in Leeds, it was naturally my first choice!
And I wasn't wrong in making it either. The setting is beautiful enough: the whole restaurant is set into a Victorian conservatory. But, more importantly, the meal was one of those I think I'll never forget as long as I live. Best of all was the starter (vegetarians and animal rights activists look away now!) - foie gras on a slice of brioche bread, with a fig on top. And I don't mean pate de foie gras there. I mean an actual slice of fat, distended goose liver, cooked to absolute perfection - on the outside richly golden, on the inside pink and rare, as liver should be, to the extent that the very core of it was almost liquid. I really don't think I've ever eaten anything so deliciously flavoursome in my entire life, or so well-suited to the brioche and fig it came with. As I swallowed by last mouthful of it, I wondered if anything I'd ever eat again could possibly live up to the same standards. Oh, and for the record, I did face the reality of what I was doing by contemplating the suffering of the goose as I ate. But I'm afraid I concluded that it had been entirely worth it.
After the foie gras, whatever followed was going to seem pale in comparison, but the rest of the meal was extremely memorable too - just not quite as astonishing as the starter. Richly delicious duck, again cooked to perfection and literally falling off the bone, in a subtle but fresh and tangy orange sauce. Then lemon syllabub, and finally a Vodka Espresso cocktail. This latter really said it all about Gee's, actually. Normally, a Vodka Espresso is a chilled shot of espresso coffee, made up with Tia Maria and vodka. So, basically, iced coffee with a couple of shots chucked in to make it alcoholic. At Gee's, though, the coffee was of the best - strong and full-flavoured without being bitter - while the vodka which they had used was not just there to provide alcohol value. It added its own distinct contribution to the mix, making its presence known on the tongue as the coffee flavour faded. Clearly, they hadn't just shoved in any old vodka, but used a really good one, of the kind people might drink for its flavour in its own right.
Yep, Gee's might be expensive. But not ludicrously so - I think the bill came to something like £50 a head for the three of us. And you definitely get what you pay for.
30th March - Robin Blaze at the Wigmore Hall. Prior to this concert, I don't think I'd seen Robin Blaze live for at least 3 years. I think the last time was singing Handel's Rodelinda at the Apollo in 2003 - certainly, there are no mentions of him in this LJ since I starting writing in it regularly in April of 2004, and I'm pretty sure I would have mentioned it if I'd seen him in that time! A sad state of affairs, since he's my second-favourite countertenor (after David Cordier), so I was glad to have a chance to put that right!
Maybe it was something I'd forgotten since the last time, or maybe Blaze's technique has just grown in the intervening period, but I was struck by the power and volume of his voice. OK, so the Wigmore Hall isn't the biggest venue ever, but it's sizeable enough, and he was filling it with no problem at all. Clear, piercing, pure and flexible, but all with a light, easy feel - very much what I'd always liked about him in the first place. I did notice an occasional undertone of roughness when he sang piano or in the lower part of his range. But overall, a definite thumbs up. And it was fun to get his autograph afterwards too! I know I got it from him once before, when he was singing the B Minor mass up in Birmingham with Emma Kirkby (amongst others). But that was on a programme which I since seem to have mislaid, so this time I grabbed a CD before I left and got him to sign that instead - hopefully meaning I won't lose it this time!
1st April - 'Springtime Baroque' concert at the Sheldonian. This was a selection of Baroque chart-toppers, performed by the Oxford City Orchestra - things like 'Spring' from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Bach's 'Air on a G-String', Handel's 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba', etc. The orchestra aren't baroque specialists, and I was surprised by how much I noticed this. Part of it was their instruments, of course - they used modern instruments at modern pitch, meaning that the violin sound in particular was much brighter and brasher than at the Robin Blaze concert just two days before. But it was clear stylistically, too: their treatment of rhythms just wasn't as precise as I'm used to from most of the music I listen to.
Still, not a bad job, and a very enjoyable programme. The biggest surprise of the evening for me was my companion,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aef, who'd suggested going in the first place, suddenly turning round to me in the interval and announcing that it was the first time he'd ever been to a live classical concert! He really enjoyed it, though, to the extent that he was keen to try out Bach's St. John Passion the following weekend. In the end, we didn't because it had sold out, but I shall remember to include him in invitations to any future classical concerts I attend before I leave Oxford.
24th April - QI recording. Of all the TV shows I could possibly wish to go and see recorded live, this one would definitely be top of the list. And, thanks to the wondrouskaz_pixie, I got to do just that! And meet a fine and fabulous bunch of her friends while I was at it.
I was in the middle of dissertation-marking at that time, so hadn't really had a chance to get excited before we got there. But once we were in the studio it all suddenly because very real! We had the usual warn-up routine they do at these things to get the audience laughing, with lots of poking fun at people in the studio. Then the guests came on: Alan Davies, obviously, plus Clive Anderson, Arthur Smith and Vic Reeves, to be precise. Very exciting, but the moment we'd all been waiting for was the entrance of His Stephenness, of course! And suddenly, there he was, bouncing in like an exuberant school-boy, pushing his fringe out of his eyes and grinning broadly at us all.
He was fabulous from start to finish - charming, engaging, self-deprecating, fervently enthusiastic, and of course startlingly, but not arrogantly, intellectual. And, asrosamicula pointed out in her own post on the subject, there was no sense that this was a facade, maintained for the sake of the cameras. That's just how he is, and how he likes to interact with people.
I can't remember much of the jokes or the subjects, now: the comments I made on my sms_to_lj post from the studio are probably a better guide to that. But I do know it was a great evening, and I look forward very much to seeing the broadcast version.
8th May - Rik Mayall in 'The New Statesman'. Thanks this time go tostompyboots for organising an outing to this at the New Theatre Oxford Apollo. It's a stage adaptation of the 80s TV series, in which the nastiest and most right-wing politician ever conceived has gone New Labour. And damn, did it work. Not the absolute most biting and original satire ever - perhaps because Blair's government has become so easy to satirise that it's all been said already - but still enormously good fun, and with plenty of topicality in it. We enjoyed screaming loudly when Mayall first made his entrance (as stompyboots rightly pointed out, Rik Mayall may not be sexy, but Alan B'Stard is!), and some of his ab-libs - although I did feel that his ribbing of a woman in the front row with an 'annoying laugh' tipped over the edge from humourous banter into prima-donnaesque gripe after a while. And who wouldn't love to see Tony Blair being locked up in a crate while an even slimier schemer takes the country over from him? Definitely recommended, and I'm very glad we went.
Well, that was a great relief! I feel a lot less weighed down by a back-log now, and more able to get on with posting about things day to day. There are still some Big Posts I need to make about things like my new job, and my book and so on. But this has definitely been a good start.
What I'm going to do here is give quick accounts of some of the things I would have blogged over the last couple of months, if I'd had the time to do so. They probably won't get the same level of detail as they'd have had if I'd written them up at the time. But at least this way they won't be completely forgotten.
18th March - celebratory meal at Gee's. While I couldn't claim to have conducted a scientific survey, Gee's has to be a strong contender for the joint titles of a) Best and b) Most Expensive restaurant in Oxford. So when my parents offered to take me out for dinner wherever I wanted to celebrate getting my job in Leeds, it was naturally my first choice!
And I wasn't wrong in making it either. The setting is beautiful enough: the whole restaurant is set into a Victorian conservatory. But, more importantly, the meal was one of those I think I'll never forget as long as I live. Best of all was the starter (vegetarians and animal rights activists look away now!) - foie gras on a slice of brioche bread, with a fig on top. And I don't mean pate de foie gras there. I mean an actual slice of fat, distended goose liver, cooked to absolute perfection - on the outside richly golden, on the inside pink and rare, as liver should be, to the extent that the very core of it was almost liquid. I really don't think I've ever eaten anything so deliciously flavoursome in my entire life, or so well-suited to the brioche and fig it came with. As I swallowed by last mouthful of it, I wondered if anything I'd ever eat again could possibly live up to the same standards. Oh, and for the record, I did face the reality of what I was doing by contemplating the suffering of the goose as I ate. But I'm afraid I concluded that it had been entirely worth it.
After the foie gras, whatever followed was going to seem pale in comparison, but the rest of the meal was extremely memorable too - just not quite as astonishing as the starter. Richly delicious duck, again cooked to perfection and literally falling off the bone, in a subtle but fresh and tangy orange sauce. Then lemon syllabub, and finally a Vodka Espresso cocktail. This latter really said it all about Gee's, actually. Normally, a Vodka Espresso is a chilled shot of espresso coffee, made up with Tia Maria and vodka. So, basically, iced coffee with a couple of shots chucked in to make it alcoholic. At Gee's, though, the coffee was of the best - strong and full-flavoured without being bitter - while the vodka which they had used was not just there to provide alcohol value. It added its own distinct contribution to the mix, making its presence known on the tongue as the coffee flavour faded. Clearly, they hadn't just shoved in any old vodka, but used a really good one, of the kind people might drink for its flavour in its own right.
Yep, Gee's might be expensive. But not ludicrously so - I think the bill came to something like £50 a head for the three of us. And you definitely get what you pay for.
30th March - Robin Blaze at the Wigmore Hall. Prior to this concert, I don't think I'd seen Robin Blaze live for at least 3 years. I think the last time was singing Handel's Rodelinda at the Apollo in 2003 - certainly, there are no mentions of him in this LJ since I starting writing in it regularly in April of 2004, and I'm pretty sure I would have mentioned it if I'd seen him in that time! A sad state of affairs, since he's my second-favourite countertenor (after David Cordier), so I was glad to have a chance to put that right!
Maybe it was something I'd forgotten since the last time, or maybe Blaze's technique has just grown in the intervening period, but I was struck by the power and volume of his voice. OK, so the Wigmore Hall isn't the biggest venue ever, but it's sizeable enough, and he was filling it with no problem at all. Clear, piercing, pure and flexible, but all with a light, easy feel - very much what I'd always liked about him in the first place. I did notice an occasional undertone of roughness when he sang piano or in the lower part of his range. But overall, a definite thumbs up. And it was fun to get his autograph afterwards too! I know I got it from him once before, when he was singing the B Minor mass up in Birmingham with Emma Kirkby (amongst others). But that was on a programme which I since seem to have mislaid, so this time I grabbed a CD before I left and got him to sign that instead - hopefully meaning I won't lose it this time!
1st April - 'Springtime Baroque' concert at the Sheldonian. This was a selection of Baroque chart-toppers, performed by the Oxford City Orchestra - things like 'Spring' from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Bach's 'Air on a G-String', Handel's 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba', etc. The orchestra aren't baroque specialists, and I was surprised by how much I noticed this. Part of it was their instruments, of course - they used modern instruments at modern pitch, meaning that the violin sound in particular was much brighter and brasher than at the Robin Blaze concert just two days before. But it was clear stylistically, too: their treatment of rhythms just wasn't as precise as I'm used to from most of the music I listen to.
Still, not a bad job, and a very enjoyable programme. The biggest surprise of the evening for me was my companion,
aef, who'd suggested going in the first place, suddenly turning round to me in the interval and announcing that it was the first time he'd ever been to a live classical concert! He really enjoyed it, though, to the extent that he was keen to try out Bach's St. John Passion the following weekend. In the end, we didn't because it had sold out, but I shall remember to include him in invitations to any future classical concerts I attend before I leave Oxford.24th April - QI recording. Of all the TV shows I could possibly wish to go and see recorded live, this one would definitely be top of the list. And, thanks to the wondrous
kaz_pixie, I got to do just that! And meet a fine and fabulous bunch of her friends while I was at it.I was in the middle of dissertation-marking at that time, so hadn't really had a chance to get excited before we got there. But once we were in the studio it all suddenly because very real! We had the usual warn-up routine they do at these things to get the audience laughing, with lots of poking fun at people in the studio. Then the guests came on: Alan Davies, obviously, plus Clive Anderson, Arthur Smith and Vic Reeves, to be precise. Very exciting, but the moment we'd all been waiting for was the entrance of His Stephenness, of course! And suddenly, there he was, bouncing in like an exuberant school-boy, pushing his fringe out of his eyes and grinning broadly at us all.
He was fabulous from start to finish - charming, engaging, self-deprecating, fervently enthusiastic, and of course startlingly, but not arrogantly, intellectual. And, as
rosamicula pointed out in her own post on the subject, there was no sense that this was a facade, maintained for the sake of the cameras. That's just how he is, and how he likes to interact with people.I can't remember much of the jokes or the subjects, now: the comments I made on my sms_to_lj post from the studio are probably a better guide to that. But I do know it was a great evening, and I look forward very much to seeing the broadcast version.
8th May - Rik Mayall in 'The New Statesman'. Thanks this time go to
stompyboots for organising an outing to this at the stompyboots rightly pointed out, Rik Mayall may not be sexy, but Alan B'Stard is!), and some of his ab-libs - although I did feel that his ribbing of a woman in the front row with an 'annoying laugh' tipped over the edge from humourous banter into prima-donnaesque gripe after a while. And who wouldn't love to see Tony Blair being locked up in a crate while an even slimier schemer takes the country over from him? Definitely recommended, and I'm very glad we went.Well, that was a great relief! I feel a lot less weighed down by a back-log now, and more able to get on with posting about things day to day. There are still some Big Posts I need to make about things like my new job, and my book and so on. But this has definitely been a good start.