The Last of the Mohicans

Two books that everyone knows are Moby Dick and The Last of the Mohicans – but I’ve not read either of them.

Three Operas and a Game of Charades

Saverio Mercadante (58), Franco Leoni (10), Umberto Giordano (14). It’s time to put the clocks back and it’s time to go back to Wexford to see operas by three prolific composers – they have clocked up 82 operas between them.

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A Night at the Opera

I left you in Paris on a perfect autumn afternoon, conjuring up the mood with the Kinks, Autumn Almanac, sitting on the fourth floor of an hotel near the Sorbonne: open balcony, legs stretched out,  IPad on knee, drink in hand, sun streaming in, waiting for Robert to arrive from London. Sometimes this website misleads,… Continue reading A Night at the Opera

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Allelujah!

Yesterday morning’s Ancient World Breakfast Club (AWBC) talk was given by Dr Aggeliki Kompoholi who teaches at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Plush

My BMW turned eighteen earlier this year. It doesn’t have Sat Nav so I improvise. My system can even remember previous destinations. I store the slips of paper in the sun visor.

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Dorset Days

Last Sunday I heard Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle in Puycelsi in the Tarn. Later today I will be back in church in Dorset for more music.

Pesaro

I read a Good News story recently. The restriction on taking liquids in excess of 100 ml in hand luggage should be lifted soon. I well remember when it was introduced.

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Two Masses

The hunting season has opened in the Tarn and on Sunday morning local sportsmen were out in pursuit of deer and boar (sangliers). Not a good day to be out walking in the woods with Reggie.

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Slovenian Rhapsody

Another day, another walk to Richmond. It was high water so no wildlife to see on the foreshore. It was Monday morning so some litter left by picknickers after a warm and sunny weekend. Home in time for a shower, a swift weak G&T and tube transfer to Sloane Square for a lunchtime chamber music… Continue reading Slovenian Rhapsody

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Prom Virgins

I was a little surprised that neither of my guests on Thursday evening had been to the Proms before, especially as one is a little older than me, but they do live in Ireland.