Tchaikovsky’s opera “The Queen of Spades” – after the Pushkin novel, is quite rightly accorded genius status in Russia, yet is only sporadically aired in the West, where audiences seem to prefer the unrequited love angst of Eugene Onegin. Perhaps it needs a Russian maestro and setting to bring out the best of the production, but for me any story that involves ghosts, gambling, a doomed heroine and the disgrace of addiction along with a murder has got to be worth the entrance money.
Prokofiev’s “Love For Three Oranges” at the Mariinsky
Serge Prokofiev was, along with Dmitri Shoshtakovich, one of the Soviet Union’s greatest composers, and along with his rival possessed a fierce sense of the ridiculous. The 1920s and 30’s were a time for avant garde expressionism and this opera examines this in detail. Princesses being born from Oranges? Silly Marches? It’s almost Pythonesque in its absurd surrealism.
Albina Shagimuratova Recital
The beautiful Albina Shagimuratova, another up and coming opera singer in an intimate recital tonight, with a set of Arias by Bellini, Donizetti (the ‘mad’ scene from Lucia di Lammermoor) and Romances by Rachmaninov. Again, I find these intimate settings a great leveler, the chance to hear a powerful singer in a more delicate setting – two hands, one voice.
Ekaterina Semenchuk Medtner & Rachmaninov Recital
The Mariinsky’s annual White Nights Festival takes in not just opera and ballet but also more intimate performances. Hence we have the wonderful mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk – usually to be seen on stage performing Boris Gudonov, the Queen of Spades, Valkyrie, Il Trovadore and so on, presenting some of the 19th century Russian salon romances.
Graduating from the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St.Petersburg, she is one of the new batch of global operatic stars, and sang at Prince Charles wedding to Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Russian romances however are a different ball game – tales of doomed love, unrequited love, passionate love and odes to both the joys and despairs of life, they are often miniatures in cameo; a blend of piano and emotion that comes through in extraordinary clarity of nuance. It helps that Russian is a very powerful and romantic language.
The Astana Ballet Performing “Zhusan”
I’m a big balletomane and especially of the Russian ballet school; it’s one of the reasons I have an apartment in St.Petersburg. The Mariinsky is possibly the worlds greatest ballet troupe, and especially now the Bolshoi is caught up in political and financial scandals. Under Valery Gergiev the Mariinsky is a living institution; it commissions new works as well as offer tickets at a very reasonable price. The average age attending is 32 – at New Yorks Met it is 70. Hence it is common at the Mariinsky to see young schoolgirls and their young Mothers attending the ballet as well as elderly Babushka’s – it is art for the people, not just the elite as it has become in the United States and is in danger of doing so in London.
St.Petersburg White Nights
I have arrived back at my St.Petersburg apartment, where true to form the White Nights are in full extension; this is the view from my balcony overlooking Maneznaya (Horse Riding) Square, with the Mikhailovsky Palace Stables just across the road. This photo was taken at 11pm.
Sri Lankan Monsoon, Russian White Nights
From March onwards the weather begins to build up along the southern coast of Sri Lanka, becoming progressively hotter and humid. These are electric days, the hum of not just the overhead ceiling fan but of the air conditioner hard at work. The sunlight is biting this far south, and the watery atmosphere although ideal for plants, is uncomfortable for mammals. So much so that between 11am and 3pm the garden is silent – nothing stirs and even the birdlife takes a siesta.
Colombo Colonial Gin
Back in the Colonial days, Britain had about 10,000 civil servants in India (which then included Pakistan and Bangladesh), and another few thousand scattered around Burma, Malaysia, Singapore and Ceylon. They were augmented by the various traders, chancers, and adventurers – and their long suffering wives so memorably described by W. Somerset Maugham.  Scots dominated, then as now, meaning every colonial home and bar catering for this British diaspora had a regular supply of whisky on hand. Many blends of varying quality made their way from Scotland to the region; some of the ancient brands such as Black Dog, Old Keg and Bagpiper were actually distilled locally using know-how and equipment brought in from Scotland.
When I Was A Rock Star – Clutch Thorn & The Tiananmen Squares
Clutch Thorn (think “Axl Rose”) & The Tiananmen Squares were an air guitar heavy metal group who went on tour in Shanghai in September 2000. We hyped the city up with stickers, t-shirts and posters advertising a one-off evening of “concerts” around various bars and clubs around Shanghai, got dressed up in these absurd outfits, and accompanied by the gorgeous, pouting Tiananmen Squarettes….went out to party!
The Excellent Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle
I had one of these fellows fly into my Lounge the other evening, I am used to many strange and beautiful bugs coming in, but this chap tops the list. At about three inches long and an inch and a half high he’s a compact animal, and despite the fierce looks was rather docile.