Seramide

I know there has been discussion about my romping about the world. Well this weekend I am in London for a bookbinding course with Mark Cochran. He is one of the UK's prime designer Bookbinders. For example, he did the author's presentation copy of The Booker Prize winner which was Lincoln in the Bardo. He has a good blog. I was in fear about attending this course but I am holding my end up.  The course is about decoration on the cover but along the way, we are being taught some very good bookbinding techniques. I am pleased with progress so far.

I stayed up overnight on account of the difficulties with trains early on Sunday morning. So stayed in the Strand Palace which I have not done for years. At breakfast,I did not hear any English spoken at all. And on account of being in London for an evening, I organised myself a ticket to Covent Garden to see Seramide by Rossini. It is a tragedy and I agree with Mr Beethoven who said 'Mr Rossini,you do comic opera very well. You should stick to that'. Rossini's problem is that he has written a tragedy with comic opera music and it is glorious music. The opera house must have felt they had to pull the stops out to justify putting it on because I have not seen anything so lavish in London for a very long time. Munich yes, New York yes, London no. And the house was packed. By the way, the plot was bonkers. But the heroine was Joyce diDonato who I admire.

I have to admit to not being happy about my seat. By the time I realised I had a free evening, it was nearly sold out and I had a seat in something called the upper amphitheatre. Well I suppose you cannot really have signs saying 'The Gods' but that is what it was and nearly at the back as well. I have not sat in the Gods for forty years or more. Normally I sit in the middle stalls, never the circle, too far from the stage. Anyway you could easily get vertigo where I was sitting. But it was nice to walk back to the hotel at the end and it took about five minutes. I did think the music was wonderful and I am glad I went but I doubt if I would go out of my way to see it again.

At the course venue,the Designer Bookbinders are holding an exhibition on binding a set book Emily Dickindon's poems. So here are two nice examples.