Jack Buckley

Permanence as Pleasure: Rodin at Tate Modern

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Permanence as Pleasure: Rodin at Tate Modern

Advanced in his career, Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) went to see the Hellenic (Greek and Roman) sculptures in the British Museum. Those which had been broken spoke most powerfully to him.  So much so that he returned to his workshop and immediately broke some of his own sculptures. Their so-called message increased. Critics and friends agreed.

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John Wilson and OperaGlass Works turn the Britten screw for telly

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Britten, The Turn of the Screw: Libretto by Myfanwy Piper from a story by Henry James. An OperaGlass Works production. Directors – Dominic Best, Selina Cadell and Eliza Thompson. Set designer – Tom Piper and Director of Photography – Jim Ashcroft. Sinfonia of London / John Wilson (conductor). Orchestra recorded at Cadogan Hall, London and filmed at an empty Wilton’s Music Hall, London. Shown on BBC FOUR, 6.6.2021 and available on BBC iPlayer until 6.7.2021. (JB)   

Robert Murray (Peter Quint) © Laurie Sparham

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She Walks in Beauty – Marianne is Faithfull

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Marianne is Faithfull

Marianne Faithfull (c) Giancarlo Botti

Marianne is Faithfull. That’s true whether upper or lower case is used for the f. We have to ask, faithful to what or to whom? In Marianne’s case it doesn’t just mean tribe, though as I shall show, that is of overwhelming importance; it means faithful to herself, even as that self continues to reveal to her, unknown aspects of herself.

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Mozart: the thick and thin of it

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Readers of the London Review of Books have recently been reminded of the incomparable importance of Brigid Brophy (1929-1995), born of Irish parents in Ealing, West London, sometimes called Lady Levey, since her happy husband, Sir Michael Levey, who was Director of the National Gallery, gave up his posting to look after her in her final illness of multiple sclerosis, following her many lesbian affairs, with among others, Iris Murdock.

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