Culture across the board

This week has been music week but very different experiences. First, over three hours' worth of Handel's Partenope at the ENO. I did not even know how to pronounce it, let alone know it! 

Handel can be a bit like wallpaper - very pretty but unmemorable. This was wonderful, with the usual operatic cross-dressing in pursuit of unrequited love but played for laughs. Some people thought it childish. I thought it hilarious. Great sets inspired by Man Ray. And all on a Sunday afternoon.

The second musical offering took place at the newly opened King's Place. Advertised as a flute concert, nothing prepared us for a concert hall with a few chairs standing against the walls and a scattering of large, jewel-coloured, cushions on the floor. These were rapidly covered by sprawling and reclining concert goers!

A harp stood solemnly in the middle and a viola player, a flautist and a tenor performed individually or together from different points in the hall. 

In one piece, the flautist sat on a low stool, with a vast sheet of paper, presumably with the score, on the floor in front him. As he progressed from one section to another, a cardboard tube was placed over the flute, then he covered himself with a duvet and played from inside his igloo, to be followed by a black scarf round the flute when he emerged. Next he kicked the stool away and slowly tilted backwards until he was lying on his back. Oh yes. And there was the sound of footsteps echoing around the hall while he was playing. Deeply meaningful, no doubt for the initiated!

A unique experience but surprisingly interesting and rewarding.