:: Venite a cena...! ::

Last night I went with a couple of the Amadeus cast to see a production of Don Giovanni. Even us stoical English types were a little apprehesive at the prospect of the Garden Opera Company's outdoor extravaganza in yesterday's blustering gales. The prospect of some beautiful surroundings would not have made three hours of Mozart in the rain intolerable. As luck would have it, common sense prevailed; an alternative venue had been arranged. And so we decamped to a nearby chapel. This is an exquisite building and, with a rather better acoustic than the great outdoors, bode well for the performance. The opera itself was full of the comic touches that make the more innovative modern productions interesting, accessible and popular beyond the Covent Garden set. Some may baulk at the idea of Don Giovanni played as a rather louche gangster-style philanderer, with (gasp!) an American accent. However, I think this, coupled with a certain amount of extra dialogue made the narrative convincing and engaging, in spite of the staid English translation of the libretto. I felt the staging, placed outside its intended context (a field), looked ill-at-ease in the grand venue, but for me it was the musical side of things which felt most awkward. The small band of musicians (less than 10) coped admirably in condensing a full operatic score, but the inevitable lack of orchestral depth meant that certain scenes lost some dramatic power. The singing ranged from very good to a little weak: many of the men's voices failed to carry, especially in the lower ranges. Nevertheless, the acting was surprisingly good - funny, deftly played and convincing. The idea of reimporting soap-opera into real opera isn't new, but here the sharply drawn stereotypes and vaguely ludicrous storylines were perfectly complemented by Mozart's music, alternately frothy and foreboding.

Enuff kulcha... It seems the silly season (never far away in Devukha Dungeon) is here in force. With the TV infested with sporting events, even Her Majesty's Government is unable to refrain from jokey straplines and "topical" references. This piece on library funding wins my prize for the best/worst pun in a government press release.

In Ecology news, it seems Russian bureaucracy has kept the bustards out. Oh... I think it's infectious. As long as I don't catch blairitis I should be OK...

The offensive sight of bored ferry passengers engaging in a mass orgy had me in fits of giggles. Not because of the subject matter, you understand, but due to the following sentence: 'One man is wearing a T-shirt clearly emblazoned with the words "100% Brummie".' Laugh? I nearly died... It did cross my mind that the photos could all have been touched up a little for added amusement. In fact, the Hayward Gallery's latest exhibition seems to proclaim the end of photographic portrait - at least as factual records. Frankly, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Doner Kebab flavour wheat crunchies in a local newsagent, but that's another matter. You can find the cheapest price for them at Fixture Ferrets, a UK grocery promotions site. If you want real ferrets, you'd better head to Ferret Central...