tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post8313817556905463001..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Chopin and George Sand in ValldemossaDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-5304745189071593692020-02-02T19:10:56.118+00:002020-02-02T19:10:56.118+00:00Good to hear from you, Rustem, and yes, I always f...Good to hear from you, Rustem, and yes, I always found that aspect of Fellini's films odd. I had no idea that the actors made up the lines in the actual scenes, though.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-12008120502805047982020-02-01T23:10:07.466+00:002020-02-01T23:10:07.466+00:00Thank you, David, for this fascinating account. I ...Thank you, David, for this fascinating account. I feel like an absolute philistine, having been to Palma de Majorca recently and not having been organised enough to visit Valdemossa... Next time I'll get up earlier to have my practising done and out of the way in the morning! <br /><br />Totally agree re Italians ruining movies with dubbing, but alas the idiotic tradition of dubbing foreign films is also still upheld in Russia, France and Germany... Interestingly, Fellini himself preferred re-recording all the speech and dubbing his own movies for some reason. And when actors asked what they should say while acting the scene, he would say: anything you want, you can just count: 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. A huge fan of Fellini as I am, I find this part of his aesthetic bizarre.Rustem Hayroudinoffhttp://www.hayroudinoff.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-66198310364909474272020-01-30T08:27:37.723+00:002020-01-30T08:27:37.723+00:00The giant hotels are in small pockets along the co...The giant hotels are in small pockets along the coast, a disastrous legacy of Franco's later years, but the Serra de Tramuntana is UNESCO world heritage-protected. I don't know how much that was to do with Robert Graves (see the Deia piece), but it ensures that the unique mountain landscape, cultivated or not, won't change much.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-57975398995654609692020-01-29T17:34:19.549+00:002020-01-29T17:34:19.549+00:00I had no idea it was still so rural. I'd sort ...I had no idea it was still so rural. I'd sort of imagined giant hotels everywhere but it looks lovely. I'm with Georges Sand on the olives, was going to say my favourite pictures were those twisty trunks with misty mountains behind. And very impressive drawing for 15 year old - or anyone.Deborah van der Beeknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-50818153939953671952020-01-18T11:25:41.058+00:002020-01-18T11:25:41.058+00:00Evidently not.Evidently not.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-36644934212658747372020-01-15T15:10:39.098+00:002020-01-15T15:10:39.098+00:00More off-piste than ever, Sir David. And in one re...More off-piste than ever, Sir David. And in one respect, I don't agree; the dubbed voices are awful (why did Italians always do this, even for their native actors? Some Fellini is ruined too). Burt Lancaster SOUNDS like the hero; his voiceover doesn't. Unfortunately the American-language version was grievously cut. But in any case I would insist that anyone interested reads the novel, to which the film doesn't really come close.<br /><br />Now, anyone for Chopin and Mallorca rather than Lampedusa and Sicily?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-79803477178433350572020-01-15T14:49:16.018+00:002020-01-15T14:49:16.018+00:00It is worth, in choosing a version of Visconti'...It is worth, in choosing a version of Visconti's film of The Leopard, to get the Italian version ( with or without sub-titles). Although this point is not of great weight, one does get the atmosphere better in Italian. And as Susan says, Bassani is to be commended, especially as bringing the novel to publication proved to be so onerous ( various versions appearing etc)David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-61325529756669399792020-01-13T16:19:26.065+00:002020-01-13T16:19:26.065+00:00Well, I can only say that's a very tempting th...Well, I can only say that's a very tempting thought and, once we have got to the other side of selling our house (this will probably take until late 2020), I may well reach out to you! It is daunting how much stuff we have accumulated--and we are not "thing" people at all. We have certainly made a big dent, but have oh, so far to go!Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15674930917585246294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-69221261415522043682020-01-11T16:58:38.680+00:002020-01-11T16:58:38.680+00:00I didn't know about The Novel of Ferrara, thou...I didn't know about The Novel of Ferrara, though I read The Garden of the Finzi-Continis many years ago. So I must.<br /><br />Now, we must fix you and J up with Sophie's (and now our) consul friend who owns the Palma apartment with her two sisters. You'd love Mallorca - so many beauties all within effortless reach of Palma's gorgeous city centre.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-31598245303012657782020-01-11T15:07:43.772+00:002020-01-11T15:07:43.772+00:00Every aspect of this post is delicious, all a part...Every aspect of this post is delicious, all a part of the world to which we’ve not been, so the photos are much appreciated, and the historical backdrop, particularly Maurice’s drawing and the passage from Sand you quote, really bring the place and its notable occupants to life. I look forward to further installments from your trip.<br /><br />Meanwhile, have been thinking of you while reading Bassani’s Novel of Ferrara and wondering whether you may have read it (just translated into English in 2018, I believe). It, too, is infused with a powerful sense of time and place, and of course is a sprawling saga—really a stitched together set of his novels and short stories, though I think reworked a bit to make the whole. On reading the novel (I have a long way to go yet), I was not surprised it was Bassani who knew enough, alone among his publishing house peers, I gather, to bring Lampedusa’s The Leopard to publication. Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15674930917585246294noreply@blogger.com