tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post6248271329446439049..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Antinoöpolitan trousersDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-59526237485011370372014-03-18T08:25:32.096+00:002014-03-18T08:25:32.096+00:00Clearly I need to return to Lyon with you two gran...Clearly I need to return to Lyon with you two grands gourmands. Merci, Monsieur l'Abbe, pour le recommendation. Meanwhile I was condemned to scampi and chips in an undistinguished eatery on Epsom Downs for the maternal's 83rd birthday.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-49438820993614396482014-03-18T00:29:30.624+00:002014-03-18T00:29:30.624+00:00la quenelle de brochet est toujours du poisson &qu...la quenelle de brochet est toujours du poisson "pike", comme yous savez trop bien Monsiuer Damant .En 2005 vous avez dejeuner sur cette grande oeuvre en Lyon . La sauce nantua avec ses ecrivesses ext obligatoire.<br /><br />Liam<br />L'abbbe de AiguebelleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-35253736181174592512014-03-18T00:17:32.873+00:002014-03-18T00:17:32.873+00:00next time you are in Lyon try La Mere Brezier. One...next time you are in Lyon try La Mere Brezier. One of the better restaurants in Lyon.<br /><br />LiamAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-5645698031618756732014-03-16T16:50:17.303+00:002014-03-16T16:50:17.303+00:00David, as you say that you will be returning to th...David, as you say that you will be returning to the food capital of France in April, I confide that you will eat that masterpiece of the cuisine Lyonnaise, quenelles de brochet ( if made with say sole or salmon all one gets is a mousse - to get a real quenelle the firmer flesh of the pike is necessary; I suppose shark would also do well)..... BUT - mon cher ami, PRENEZ GARDE !! . A quenelle is apparently now an anti-semitic gesture which can get you thrown out of a football team, or vilified in the anti-racist press. The explanation of this disgraceful theft of a word is not suitable for a chaste blog such as this David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-40428827234351755262014-03-15T14:36:40.022+00:002014-03-15T14:36:40.022+00:00And now, back to the Coptic fish and so many other...And now, back to the Coptic fish and so many other delights on this post (and please forgive steering off course). You know, I am a bit the country bumpkin when it comes to this world of patterns and design, yet you remind me how much I've loved stumbling into an exhibition of such things. I am reminded by this post that I would like to get back to the V&A Museum, and of a fascinating exhibit at the Met of African fabrics about which I'd intended to write on the blog but never did. <br /><br />I also love where your imagination takes you, from this observation, "I was reminded how selective a view we have of the ancients according to what's survived" to thinking about whether Norsemen had tattoos. So many wonderful worlds to explore!Susan Scheidhttp://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-15511536560564398372014-03-15T02:22:00.051+00:002014-03-15T02:22:00.051+00:00I recognize the title, Fonctionnaire à la pourpre ...I recognize the title, Fonctionnaire à la pourpre means a very senior Public Servant, a delegate of the Emperor, authorized to handle senior matters on behalf of the Sovereign. In Rome the Equestrian order were the first to wear it on their toga to signify that they were honourable and just below the rank of Senator. In time it evolved but I remember hearing it in France about someone who today would be a high magistrate. Laurenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297393116796129135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-83821809009030788912014-03-14T14:16:46.304+00:002014-03-14T14:16:46.304+00:00Setting fine poetry to music is definitely a trick...Setting fine poetry to music is definitely a tricky proposition. John does have good credentials for this, though. His musical writing is very lyrical, and he's Welsh born and bred. I believe he grew up in Swansea, and now lives very close to where Thomas wrote Under Milkwood. What I think is wonderful about this, too, is that it gets the "Thomas poetry people" out to hear contemporary music, including a poetry friend of mine who lives in Wales--he'll be going, and I'm hoping it will lead to discovery of so much other great music, new and old, in his own country. Wish I could be there myself. John's festival this year looks excellent, too.Susan Scheidhttp://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-41786436638308679232014-03-14T13:45:16.938+00:002014-03-14T13:45:16.938+00:00In Welsh villages ( even into the 20th century) t...In Welsh villages ( even into the 20th century) the harp was frowned upon as worldly vanity. Calvin has a lot to answer for. David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-58175944649480315812014-03-14T11:55:46.783+00:002014-03-14T11:55:46.783+00:00I'm in two minds about setting great prose or ...I'm in two minds about setting great prose or poetry to music - if a composer were to find the right speech melody and harmonise accordingly, as Reich does in The Cave and Different Trains, it could work extremely well. And Britten's word-setting in A Midsummer Night's Dream has embedded half Shakespeare's text in my brain. But you make the strong point that so many composers like Strauss have made - he said he only set second-rank poetry because the first, like Goethe's, had all the music in it already (though he did succumb to Goethe in later life).<br /><br />Burton - no, I think it's individual poems, though a timely reminder that I MUST hear Under Milk Wood with his narration again.<br /><br />The thing I'd like to hear in Welsh music is a convocation of harps all playing at once. Sioned Williams, one of the world's greats, came to talk to my BBCSO class last week - inspirational - and we touched on that.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-39420791995155479962014-03-14T09:13:09.223+00:002014-03-14T09:13:09.223+00:00Dylan Thomas' prose in Under Milk Wood is so m...Dylan Thomas' prose in Under Milk Wood is so musical that any opera will move onto very dangerous ground. But dancing to the readings by Richard Burton ( he has the right music in his voice) might well be splendid, though not ( if I understand correctly) Under Milk Wood<br /><br />PS I was brought up in Wales. Amazing musical ( even with voice only) tradition. David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-58933579027993225162014-03-13T23:57:07.024+00:002014-03-13T23:57:07.024+00:00Well, Sue, that fish tapestry IS one of the highli...Well, Sue, that fish tapestry IS one of the highlights of Lyon, so I wasn't being that singular, I suppose - when I first saw it I couldn't believe that a fabric so individually designed and executed, and dating back virtually to antiquity, could exist.<br /><br />Was approached about Metcalf's Under Milk Wood opera by PR - if only TAD had the budget to send me westwards, but in any case Our Man in Cardiff, the estimable Stephen Walsh, will go to Swansea to cover it for us. It's the major event of anniversary year, though I look forward very much to how Christopher Hampson, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting in Glasgow last week, will choreograph poems of Dylan Thomas in the famous readings by Richard Burton for Scottish Ballet this coming fall.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-29045137005288208972014-03-13T23:29:31.919+00:002014-03-13T23:29:31.919+00:00Beautiful things from first to last. Here's th...Beautiful things from first to last. Here's the line I loved the very best, and thought to myself, only David would have been there and been able to say this: "but when I mentioned how much I'd loved the Coptic fish tapestry . . .". They should have given you the keys to the kingdom . . . though in a way perhaps they did!<br /><br />Very much an aside, but I saw today that your colleague, Jessica Duchen, has an article in The Independent on John Metcalf's new opera, Under Milkwood, coming up soon as part of the Dylan Thomas Festival in Wales. The centenary looks like it should be fun. Will you be partaking in the festival in any of your many capacities?Susan Scheidhttp://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-39914275231474017272014-03-13T10:14:21.765+00:002014-03-13T10:14:21.765+00:00Missed opportunities in Sochi: Cossack whip prowes...Missed opportunities in Sochi: Cossack whip prowess; competitive torturing of old Ukrainian women?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-69197122946291712672014-03-13T10:09:42.084+00:002014-03-13T10:09:42.084+00:00Maybe gladiatorial combat should be added to the l...Maybe gladiatorial combat should be added to the list of current Olympic sports? Also chariot racing a la Ben Hur?David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-920660159834227532014-03-13T08:19:21.699+00:002014-03-13T08:19:21.699+00:00Yes, of course: I didn't think it through. Rea...Yes, of course: I didn't think it through. Reading further in my catalogue, I read that there were three gravesites associated with participants in the 'Jeux olympiques d'Antinoe', including one of a gladiator. This one was identified by the reins buried with him.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-70223491100937745022014-03-13T07:17:26.963+00:002014-03-13T07:17:26.963+00:00Surely a charioteer? Such a person would have co...Surely a charioteer? Such a person would have considerable status<br /><br />David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-52413948838612882962014-03-12T23:01:07.563+00:002014-03-12T23:01:07.563+00:00Maybe she attended on his imperial highness? Thank...Maybe she attended on his imperial highness? Thanks, David, for the prompts. The precise term remains shrouded, though. One of the other mummies' status also eludes me - 'conducteur du char' - though 'chevalier byzantin' is much more obvious. Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-6601630045379079442014-03-12T11:57:03.478+00:002014-03-12T11:57:03.478+00:00The phrase " fonctionnaire a la pourpre"...The phrase " fonctionnaire a la pourpre" presents certain features of interest. In France, "fonctionnaire" means in principle any servant of the State, but in my experience in Paris it usually means ( especially when enunciated with a degree of reverence) someone pretty senior. And to be a servant of the purple entails, one can surmise, a boss of high rank. Hence maybe why these fonctionnaires were worthy of mumification <br /><br />But a difficulty is raised by the word "pourpre". This has in French a meaning oscillating between red ( even crimson) and what in English is definitely the colour purple. Pourpre ( or purpure in heraldry) is in a boundary zone of the spectrum of light, between red and violet. So the dress of a Cardinal which we would certainly describe as red ( as in "red hat" )was sometimes referred to in French as pourpre ( indicating high rank as above). So, David, if somewhere in the documentation about the mummy you feature allusion is made to red rather than to purple, blame the shellfish out of which the Phoenicians extracted the original dyeDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.com