Tag Archive | Covent Garden

Work at NYU, The City, Bolshoi Ballet

Aug6

Monday, August 5, 2013

Work at NYU, The City, Bolshoi Ballet

            The morning passed quickly with me putting in about 3 hours at my computer even before I got up for breakfast. I skipped morning Mass as I was so engrossed in my work, I did not want to break my trend of thought.  We had granola cereal for breakfast at the Bishop’s table with tea and then I returned to my work. A good part of the next hour was spent sorting through the vast amount of paper I have accumulated through my handwritten or photocopied notes and research at the British Library. The administrative assistant at NYU-London at Bedford Square kindly agreed to assist me in mailing them back home to the States to save me having to pay excess baggage charges.

            I called Tim to find out if I could get over to his place to pick up the weighing scale he owns and took the bus two stops down to Holborn. With scale safely in my possession, I returned home and continued to cull down my papers. When that was done, I made a bundle of one pile and carried it with me to leave at NYU-London.

Lunch at Hare and Tortoise with my NYU-Office Mate:

            James Polchin and I share a very large office at our NYU campus in New York. Because he is currently posted in London, I have the office to myself and I do miss his presence. We had made plans to meet for lunch and to catch up on all that is happening at our London site. At 1.00 pm, James arrived at The Hare and the Tortoise at Russel Square’s Brunswick Center which has great pan-Asian food. My favorite is the Curry Laksa and I make sure I have it at least once during each of my visits to London. And that was exactly what happened. James ordered sushi and sashimi and I ate my super-large prawn, chicken and squid soup which was as terrific as I always remember it to be. We had a long and very informative exchange of information and ideas and he caught me up on all the changes that have occurred on our London campus since I worked here. We laughed, we joked, we tut-tutted over things and then it was time for the short stroll to Bedford Square. I said goodbye to James there and then settled down in my office to do a spot of photocopying and to print out a number of items that I need to send off to New York. I spent more than an hour getting all this work done and then I was off.

A Walking Tour of The City:    

            A steady drizzle had begun by the time I left my office and since I did not have my brolly—I am getting used to a London sans rain—I hopped into a bus up to Chancery Lane Tube station, then took the Tube to Bank. My idea was to explore the mainly commercial heart of The City of London which comprises banks, financial institutions, etc. and a bunch of beautiful old Wren and Hawksmore churches.

            When I got off the Tube, I was right outside the great Neo-Classical edifice of Mansion House which is the office of the Lord Mayor of London (not to be confused with the Mayor of London who is Boris Johnson—BoJo—and who is ensconced at City Hall, Norman Foster’s overturned glass pudding bowl on the South Bank). Right opposite is Sir John Soane’s Bank of England Building and right next to it is the Royal Exchange Building (the original Stock Exchange Building of London). These structures are fabulous and I do adore them. But with the drizzle becoming a steady shower, I quickly found my way to the Church of St. Stephen Walbrook (on Walbrook Lane) only to be disappointed because it was closed. Bummer!

            Not losing any time, I found the next church on my agenda: St. Mary’s Abchurch which, thankfully, was open. I stepped inside and took in the lovely aged interior with its box pews, superb wood carved altar and reredos by Grinling Gibbons and painted dome (thought to have been the work of James Thornhill but now attributed to someone else).

I spent some time there in prayer before venturing out in the rain again to look for St. Mary’s Woolnoth. This church sits at the cross roads with the Bank of England. It is one of Nicholas Hawkmore’s masterpieces with its two flat spires (reminiscent of Sainte Supplice in Paris). Unfortunately, it too was closed but I could admire its beautiful exterior and its characteristic Hawksmore’s touches—the solid pillars high up near the spires, for instance.

Tired and with plans disrupted by the rain, I rode on the bus to St. Paul’s and got back home about 5.00 pm. Having slept very late at night, I took a half hour nap as I had wonderful evening plans in store—I was off to see the Bolshoi Ballet straight from Moscow perform at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden—a treat, I knew, that would be unbeatable. I simply could not get over the fact that for about 30 years since I have been coming to London, I had never seen a performance at Covent Garden and then suddenly I was seeing two in two weeks (Puccini’s La Rondine had been my first, two weeks ago)!

The Bolshoi Ballet at Covent Garden:

            Cynthia had prawn sandwiches and marble cake ready for me with tea. I wolfed it down and showered and got ready for my night out. On the Tube to Covent Garden and after a short stoll through Floral Street, I was at the theater at 7. 15 ready for my 7. 30 pm performance. The Royal Opera House looks gorgeous at night with all the lights on—the last time I had been for La Rondine, it was a matinee performance and the place wore a very different look. This was far more elegant.

            Well, I had a lovely seat and I settled down eagerly to give myself up fully to the enjoyment of the spectacle. And a spectacle it was indeed! I mean, what can I say except look for superlatives? Everything was brilliant—from the music to the choreography to the technical flawlessness of the ballet dancers as they performed The Sleeping Beauty to the stirring music of Tchaikovsky. For the next three hours, with an intermission which allowed me to stretch my legs and walk to the gorgeous glass conservatory restaurant, I had a simply splendid time. The lady sitting next to me also was alone—she is a ballet freak and extremely well-informed about it. We struck up a lively dialogue and I learnt a great deal from her in a short time. Indeed, I realized that this was my very first full-length ballet ever and what a dream it turned out to be. I could not have been more elated!

            I got back on the Tube to St. Paul’s and walked briskly home at 10. 30 pm when there were still enough people about to not make me feel uneasy. The rest of the household was asleep when I entered, so I tiptoed up to my room and settled down for the night.

            I did not fall asleep right away, however, as I have a problem with my Outlook which is allowing me to receive email but no longer allowing me to send any. I spent over an hour on the phone with a technician before my minutes on my phone card ran out and my session timed out. Overall, a hopeless experience that left me more frustrated and disappointed than over. But tired and upset, I fell asleep and hoped to sort things out tomorrow.

          Until tomorrow, Cheerio!

 

A Walking Tour of Covent Garden and ‘Macbeth’ on Screen

Jul21

Saturday, July 20, 2013

London:

            I awoke about 6. 30 with a splitting headache and decided I needed to do something about it. Two hours and two Tylenols later, headache was history and I was able to get out of bed at 8.30 and start my day. Phew!

            Spent most of the morning doing errands—began packing for my move to my next lodgings at St. John’s Wood. This took about half an hour. Next, I made gift packs for all my friends here who have ‘lent’ me their homes in which to stay.  Then I got on the bus to St. Paul’s to my friend Cynthia’s home so that I could leave my large suitcase at her’s and travel about London from one week to the next with a much smaller case that she lent me last week. Unfortunately, she was in the shower, so I did not meet her. Left the suitcase outside her door and returned home on the bus. I caught up on email and did some steady work for a couple of hours. I breakfasted on the last of my muesli and honey yoghurt and then made a sandwich for lunch and got dressed. By the time I left the flat, it was close to 1.00 pm. I took the Tube to Covent Garden in order to start my walking tour of the area following the route in DK Eyewitness Guides.

A Walking Tour of Covent Garden:          

          Holborn, where I am currently based, is dead at the weekends—which is a good thing if you live here as it gives you some respite from the constant buzz of the area that is highly commercial and profoundly legal. (The Tube stop is called Chancery Lane which, if you are a fan of Charles Dickens, you will know was the setting for his novel Bleak Housefilled with lawyers and the case called ‘Jarndyce and Jarndyce’ which went on endlessly).

          So when I hit Covent Garden, the contrast was startling. The area was jam-packed with tourists. There were thousands everywhere I turned. Streaming out of the Tube station in droves, they choked Long Acre Road and spilled into the Piazza at Covent Garden in such numbers, you’d think London was the only place in the world to which a visitor could go!

          I followed the route which took me into Neal Street to the charming little courtyard called Neal’s Yard. Here, buildings painted in bright and vivid colors are clustered around a small space filled with health food stores and restaurants. Everyone seemed to be doing a thriving trade with people eating on the pavements in café trottoir settings a la Paris. These were once warehouses that have been jazzed up to become exorbitant real estate in which only the fanciest shops and boutiques have their glass fronts.

            Just across the street was Thomas Neal’s—another warehouse building that has been converted into an indoor mall. It has a restaurant on the basement level and an interesting light fixture replicating giant light bulbs on the main level. I popped in, took a few pictures and walked out towards Seven Dials which was also packed. It is like a miniature Eros statue (I mean the one at Piccadilly) in the number of people that had congregated around its base. It stands at an important crossroads that is marked by a column on top of which are six sundials—the seventh is the point of the column itself. Although the original column dated back to the 17^th century, this is a more contemporary replica.

            On through Monmouth Street I proceeded, to arrive at colorful St. Martin’s Court (previously Ching Court) also filled with eateries, the main one belonging to Jamie Oliver. Outside, there is Dishoom, the Indian restaurant with a difference—it serves Bombay street food and lots of chaat. It was packed with Indians having brunch. I stepped inside (as my friend Murali had blogged about it and I was keen to see it for myself) and found Bollywood posters from the 1960s as well as magazine pages from Eve’s Weekly and Feminawhich took me down Nostalgia Lane double quick! A really interesting restaurant that is worth a visit, I think.

            On I went towards Rose Street and Garrick Street to find The Lamb and Flag pub that has stood on this spot in a hidden corner since the 16^th century. Parts of the interior have been untouched since that time. I was encouraged to try their own brew—New Frontier ale–and it was welcome on another hot morning—although I have to say being cloudy and overcast, it offered relief from the heat and humidity of the past few days. John Dryden was once seriously wounded in a brawl outside its doors in the alley because he had lampooned the Duchess of Portsmouth (one of the mistresses of Charles II) and there is a plaque to commemorate this shady event.

            As I walked towards Covent Garden, I spied Carluccio’s, an Italian restaurant chain that I absolutely love. It carries some of my favorite eats: their caponata and their lemon tarts are to die for and I never leave London without partaking of the genius of the chain’s founder, Antonio Carluccio. I popped in to look around and was rewarded with a few nibbles—sample olive oil served with focaccia bread and parmesan cheese and salami. Nice!

            By this time, I was close to Covent Garden’s lively Piazza that was fairly jumping with humanity. There were buskers galore all over the place entertaining the public with magic shows and musical offerings. I found Laduree, the French confectioner, has set up a tea room right on the piazza! How multi-culturall it is all becoming—Carluccio’sand Laduree only steps from each other. I love Laduree’s melange de maisontea (house blend tea) to which I had become introduced in Paris and I buy loads of it (now available in New York). I introduced my friends Michael and Cynthia to it when they were visiting me in Connecticut and now they are huge fans too! I stepped into Apple Market and into the many shops that line the market—once a famous flower market (setting for Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion and its film version My Fair Lady), today it does a brisk trade in all sorts of crafts. In neighboring Jubilee Market, there were more arts and crafts although on some days of the week there is vintage bric a brac (no more antiques—for those one has to go to the posh shops at Notting Hill or on Church Street).

            Circling around, I came to the corner that was once a coffee shop called Boswell’s(today it houses Balthazar, a restaurant). Dr. Samuel Johnson met his biographer Boswell in this space in the 18^th century and the fact is marked with a detailed plaque outside that tells the whole story. This area was well frequented by Dickens who was a dedicated theater buff and who spent most of his evenings watching dramatic performances in them. There was once a Theater Museum here but today it is a Film Museum. The Theater Royal is not too far away on Drury Lane (where the Muffin Man once did a roaring trade, according to the old nursery rhyme).

            Past Bow Lane I went and into Floral Lane (there was once a big flower market here, hence the name) to arrive at the Royal Opera House which, I am ashamed to say, after so many visits to London and after having lived here, I had never been inside! Of course, that had to be remedied, so in I went with the idea of taking a tour—only to discover that they had just closed tours down as the afternoon’s matinee performance was about to begin. I browsed around the crowded gift store before venturing to the Box Office myself to find out about Day Tickets. I discovered that they do sell those—so I will be back tomorrow to try and get one for Puccini’s La Rondine. However, what I did manage to get was Cultural Gold:  a ticket to see the Bolshoi Ballet later in August. Although it is not the best seat, it was one of the few remaining and I snagged it immediately. I might not have seen the Kirov Ballet at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg in Russia, but here I was soon going to see the Bolshoi on at the ROH—it was just pure great luck!

            Ten minutes later, I was on the Tube heading home to shower and get dressed to go to Battersea to my friend Rosemary’s home. She had invited me to dinner before we set off for Chelsea-Fulham to see the National Theater’s Live screening of the final show of Macbeth coming from the Manchester Theater Festival starring Kenneth Branagh in the lead role. Roz had put together a light Smoked Fish (Salmon and Mackerel) Salad which she served with buttered bread and beer for starters. We set out in her car and drove into Chelsea (which has a very interesting and different look at night—I must explore it after dark, I think), parked in a small side street and entered the theater. Seating was free and we had our pick.

MacBeth on Screen in Chelsea-Fulham with Roz:

            The production was staged in a deconsecrated church in Manchester and the shape of the building dictated the design of the performance—the audience sat in the choir stalls. It was hot (I could see the audience fanning themselves) and the production was designed to take place in a mud pit. During the opening battle, they had rain pouring down on the mud making it a churning, slippery mess. The cast were dressed in thickly padded costumes and I felt for them in the heat. The opening with the three witches was hideous—God knows what the director did to them. They looked awful and sounded worse. Some of their best lines were lost in the sing-song manner they affected. Lady Macbeth was also a bit unappealing but Branagh as Macbeth and the actor playing McDuff were especially good. I am not sure it was the most orthodox Macbeth I have seen (and I have seen many staged versions) but this was memorable for its innovation and experimentation.

            It was 10. 45 when it ended. Roz dropped me to South Kensington Tube station from where I took the train and got home at 11. 20 pm exhausted and ready to drop right into bed after what had been a busy but very interesting day. 
          Until tomorrow, Cheerio!