Tonight:
4°c
Just managed to catch Nicholas Hytner's staging of The Magic Flute at the Coliseum, thanks to nice friends offering two spare tickets. After champagne in the crush bar, I was more than ready to be transported by Mozart's Singspiel, and settled into the stalls with a spoiling sense of anticipation. And then - I feel such an ingrate - followed three hours of assault on the faculties.
As I reeled out, something awful happened. Instead of thanking my generous hosts politely for a lovely night at the opera, as normal people would, I checklisted the 10 things I'd hated about the production in a machine-gun-fire voice, brooking no interruption. My husband gave me a warning look. I was having, of course, a bad bout of Newsnight Review-itis.
We are obsessed with this programme in our house, and particularly enjoy it when guests invited on the airwaves to opine about recent releases and events unloose a staunchless torrent of "negorrhea" in order to appear clever-clogs, just as I had about The Magic Flute. And very entertaining it is too. The problem is, as I have demonstrated, you don't have to be a guest on the programme to catch it. Just watching it seems to be enough.
Now, as a result of repeated exposure to smugly superior guests who toss their heads and smirk, "I re-read Proust in French every summer" or "When I was in Bayreuth " it's got to the point where I find the pretentious post-mortem so toe-curlingly enjoyable that I could almost skip the performance itself. Help!
* Everyone keeps going on about Gail Trimble and the eligibility of the contestants on University Challenges passim. But surely the story is not about who was or wasn't a student when the show was taped. I simply can't get over the fact that Sam Kay graduated in May and had a job as an accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in June - while almost every other graduate I know in London is busily employed in "personal development", ie out of work.
* Best evening of the year so far by miles - the Bedford in Balham. This is the venue that helped launch James Morrison, Paolo Nutini and KT Tunstall, and the talent on display on Tuesday was really shocking. Earl Okin, Antonio Forcione, a floppy-haired singer called Lee McDougall who is definitely the next James Blunt, and others I haven't room to mention. Except one. She'll kill me for this, but here goes - my sister Julia (right, who is in a band called second person) performed an acoustic set of five songs, accompany ing herself on the piano. Sorry Jules - you were amazing.
Reader views (2)
Never mind, Rachel. At least you acknowledge that being polite and thanking your hosts is normal, so there is hope for you yet. There's still time to give up Newsnight for Lent. You could usefully devote the time to some of that "personal development" you mention later – developing your own ability to be positive. In the words of Eric Idle: "Always look on the bright side of Life". Or, since it's Lent, look for the Good News in the people around you, and do something to support them.
But you are wrong about the real story of University Challenge. No, it's not about Gail - altho' I'd love to meet her - or about the fact that Sam has got a job. It's the fact that yet again a bright young scientist has been seduced by the accountants. The world faces serious challenges which need more science and scientists. Not more accountants.
- Ken W, London UK
Hi!
I'm glad that you enjoyed The Bedford. The standard there is almosy always wonderful. (Sadly, you left before the astounding African artiste, Modeste).
I just hope that you were using 'shocking' in your article in the positive sense of the word!
- Earl Okin, London, UK
