tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post1833753257523605636..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Spring in RoulettenburgDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-14549786936824085802015-05-08T12:25:30.476+01:002015-05-08T12:25:30.476+01:00Thanks, Laurent. For a more complete picture, I sh...Thanks, Laurent. For a more complete picture, I should have snapped the old ladies of both sexes with their jewel-collared wee dogs and the Russian grotesques. I'm glad to have gone but I wouldn't willingly go back.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-90327972446062885522015-05-08T03:42:20.923+01:002015-05-08T03:42:20.923+01:00We never visited Baden-Baden but your photos are l...We never visited Baden-Baden but your photos are lovely it gives a good idea of the place.Laurenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297393116796129135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-83850371886748708702015-05-03T12:18:43.589+01:002015-05-03T12:18:43.589+01:00Stritch was a bitch, the speakers-ill-of-the-dead ...Stritch was a bitch, the speakers-ill-of-the-dead maintain. I don't care - she had performing genius and clearly didn't go out of her way to be 'nice'. <br /><br />The curtsying anecdote is so Damantesque - and not an anecdote I'd heard before.<br /><br />I imagine even Skelton's Tristan would be lost in the Festspielhaus air hangar, wanderer. You could build a trip around it - or come and see him in London. Gardner's conducting will be something, if his near-perfect Mastersingers was anything to go by. Nicely oblique way of getting round to SS, and 'zip' is new to me in that context.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-55934677818821857652015-05-02T23:47:31.477+01:002015-05-02T23:47:31.477+01:00Lovely to read about and glimpse Baden-Baden into ...Lovely to read about and glimpse Baden-Baden into which my insights have been zip especially as it has been in local news the last few days since Skelton announced he's withdrawing from making his Tristan debut down here in June with the SSO and has delayed that (debut) till Baden-Baden before taking the role to the Met and then ENO. Bugger.wandererhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08196036534397389760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-42497703816055049872015-05-02T23:03:03.533+01:002015-05-02T23:03:03.533+01:00David N: Except, perhaps, Elaine Stritch! Thought ...David N: Except, perhaps, Elaine Stritch! Thought of your prunus a bit today, as we were walking in in the glorious weather that's finally arrived, and seeing not only the blossoms on the the trees, but also carpeting the ground. <br /><br />David D: I laughed out loud at the curtsy story!Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-27153785535960111522015-05-01T15:40:29.147+01:002015-05-01T15:40:29.147+01:00I once was looked down upon at a smart cafe in Ger...I once was looked down upon at a smart cafe in Germany and arranged surreptitiously through a friend that when his sister came to collect me she curtsied. I graciously acquiesced. That showed them.<br /><br />I also think of Satan's reply when he was not recognised - " Not to know me argues yourself unknown"David Damanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409591480349323761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-30833584362234771062015-05-01T15:08:15.302+01:002015-05-01T15:08:15.302+01:00I can't imagine you and J have much in common ...I can't imagine you and J have much in common with the Ladies Who Lunch. Least of all the fact that you take your art seriously and for them it's just cultural capital (to make a sweeping generalisation). <br /><br />I find the term 'posh' is used here in a rather comical fashion by folk who have no concept of what they're talking about (watch a TV reality show like 'Come Dine With Me' and you'll see what I mean. Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-43460463369137073872015-05-01T15:03:43.847+01:002015-05-01T15:03:43.847+01:00David & David: Posh is probably not a helpful ...David & David: Posh is probably not a helpful word to use for what I was trying to convey. It's really a question of whether one feels welcome vs. allowed at sufferance. It's when the folks around you (and this doesn't have to do just with money, but it can take that form) give that "down the nose 'what are YOU doing here'" look. I've had it happen once or twice from elegant dowager-type volunteers at the Met Museum, though, thankfully, most of the time, they're just delighted you're delighted with the Met. And I've had it happen when I have a seat amongst certain long-time subscribers at the NY Phil, often the very same who seem bored to death at the music on offer. It's a funny old world.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-33194298101453583352015-05-01T12:44:17.262+01:002015-05-01T12:44:17.262+01:00There's uncomfortable posh, which depends on t...There's uncomfortable posh, which depends on the beholder, David, and then there's comfortable posh. I would find the Garrick very comfortably posh if it weren't for some of its more bestial and anything but gentlemanly inhabitants (like the one quoted in The Guardian yesterday who said he'd feel uncomfortable with women members because he'd be addressing inferiors).<br /><br />It's certainly been used as a term of abuse by an identifiable, libellous troll who's been needling me on The Arts Desk, namely in a criticism of a travel piece exclaiming 'you're not writing some pathetic blog for your posh friends' (she has a class hang up, but anyway I'm a lower middle class boy with a spouse and plenty of friends who made their way in life using their nous and not any connections).<br /><br />Unlike Carlsbad and Marienbad, both places I'd be curious to visit, Baden-Baden has in some ways moved on, in others not. The vulgarity of many of the expensive shops, especially those with signs in Russian, tells you what you need to know about status merchandise today. Hideous, all of it. Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-25929732215194481952015-05-01T12:34:16.247+01:002015-05-01T12:34:16.247+01:00Susan - Posh should be seen as wonderful - not a r...Susan - Posh should be seen as wonderful - not a reason for being uncomfortable......providing it is genuinely elegant and splendid and not a reflection of artificial pretensions as regretfully it so often is<br /><br />When I was in Karlsbad ( Karlovy Vary ) 1968 it seemed to have the appearance of a century before - some streets and buildings could have been as Goethe saw them. One of the few advantages of Communist rule was that the tearing down of older buildings was so much slower than in the West. The Pupp Hotel ( then named the Moskva but now again the Pupp) was the only expensive place we found to eat in Czechoslovakia, and splendidly posh despite the regime. David Damanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409591480349323761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-51393284969070873412015-05-01T09:27:29.295+01:002015-05-01T09:27:29.295+01:00The changing parade helps one to adjust to the los...The changing parade helps one to adjust to the loss of prunus blossom. Was lunching with an old friend in the Chelsea Physic Garden yesterday - first time there this year - and the Judas trees, with the loveliest blossom of all, were in full bloom with a carpet of bluebells beneath. And on the way home from the city last night, I came across a row of houses in a Kensington back street with wistaria (as I remember it should be spelled), lilac and cyanothus all together.<br /><br />Thanks for sound advice. Curiously we've never come up against any legal idiocies here, but it's nice that the European Commission acknowledged civil partnerships and now offers more to married couples. My friend Claire and her partner of over 20 years Howard are going to announce their banns on the same day: she's been dead against the institution, but a lawyer advise them it was worth it.<br /><br />Haven't heard Butsko's magnum opus yet, though VJ has a copy so I could if I asked nicely...Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-79080578748149926112015-05-01T00:28:16.405+01:002015-05-01T00:28:16.405+01:00Even though, from your description, it doesn't...Even though, from your description, it doesn't appear Baden-Baden is a "must visit" place, your photographs are enticing, as always. I do have this extremely vague recollection of a visit to a German spa town, I'm thinking perhaps Karlsbad--which seemed a bit uncomfortably posh to me at the time, but this was decades ago. Back at your homestead, there is something quite lovely about that carpet of prunus blossoms, if only they would stay that lovely for longer than fallen spring blossoms do. In your comments, I had to stand back in a bit of horror at the thought of a two-hour concerto for percussion instruments in a mostly dodecaphonic style. I hope you made it through that one OK. Last not least, if your experience is anything like ours, you may find that dealing with some of the institutional idiocracies gets a little easier once you've got the legal rights we should have had all along.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-86918227020892827862015-04-30T23:06:31.690+01:002015-04-30T23:06:31.690+01:00David, yes, I remember you telling now. Now read T...David, yes, I remember you telling now. Now read The Gambler, please.<br /><br />Catriona, I blush to say I have never even heard the name of Tsypkin, just as last night in Jurowski's superb Rachmaninov concert I had never heard of one of the arrangers, Soviet-era composer Yury Butsko. Now VJ enlightens me that I must hear a two-hour concerto for percussion instruments in a mostly dodecaphonic style... Anyway, I'll now hunt down this book.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-8089713820644142612015-04-30T16:44:11.551+01:002015-04-30T16:44:11.551+01:00Have you read Leonid Tsypkin's 'Summer in ...Have you read Leonid Tsypkin's 'Summer in Baden-Baden', described by James Wood in his review for the Guardian as a 'biographical-critical' novel?Catrionanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-24641432824842053522015-04-29T11:06:44.932+01:002015-04-29T11:06:44.932+01:00Crime and Punishment was one of the only two books...Crime and Punishment was one of the only two books that I could not stop reading till I had finished. (The other was Wuthering Heights) I gave a copy of Crime and Punishment in Dutch to a young Dutchman who said after he had read it that it was about him ( that is, about the young Dutchman). An insight into the fact that this book is not just a story about a young man who killed an old woman and stole her money, but about ( young) men generally, like HamletDavid Damanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409591480349323761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-16379537255393667452015-04-29T09:55:27.037+01:002015-04-29T09:55:27.037+01:00How fascinating, Catriona, I'm sure there'...How fascinating, Catriona, I'm sure there's an anthology of literature about Baden-Baden to be published. I've seen interesting snippets of Mark Twain's far from enchanted view of the place, so must get hold of the book in question.<br /><br />Anyway, it's not a place I could love, but it does have the authenticity of being something of what it was in the 19th century. <br /><br />Of course it's thanks to your wishes that I put together this photo travelogue...Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-12912174823341776592015-04-29T09:50:34.789+01:002015-04-29T09:50:34.789+01:00After my visit to Baden-Baden in the mid-Seventies...After my visit to Baden-Baden in the mid-Seventies, I did a fair bit of research and found out lots about the demi-monde as a result. Paris decamped to Baden-Baden for 'les folies a Bade' in September - horse-racing mainly - and the demi-monde, of course, went too. The memoirs of Marie Colombier, as I recall, had lots of interesting gossip. The Empress Augusta of Prussia had a house there, and Edward VII-to-be stayed there, while he was gallivanting and roistering at the casino. There's an anecdote about Bismark dancing on a table in the casino with his shirt-tail hanging out ... Catrionanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-59122654919553011642015-04-29T09:20:27.276+01:002015-04-29T09:20:27.276+01:00I suspect Baden-Baden always had the edge on Karls...I suspect Baden-Baden always had the edge on Karlsbad, at least in terms in the breadth of its culture (remember Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict inaugurated Benazet Jr's new theatre). And yes, it would have been the general regime. Though steaming rituals are good for one, as I know. Anyway, the walk up and down the Lichtental Allee, as most residents do with dogs of all shapes and sizes, is good for the constitution, too, and the air is healthy.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-43902152977606477142015-04-29T07:50:21.021+01:002015-04-29T07:50:21.021+01:00Did going to these spas ( I suppose that Karlsbad ...Did going to these spas ( I suppose that Karlsbad was the most famous up to 1914) do any good - I mean health-wise? I would suspect that the waters in these places could easily have been to a limited extent bad for one if drunk. Maybe the regime generally was helpful, rather like a health farm todayDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.com