The Cellist - a ballet featuring the tragic life of Jacquline du Pre, Royal Ballet 2020

When I was at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama I never realised that the life one of my colleagues would be made into a ballet performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as we sat drinking tea out of huge white china cups in the local Fleet Street workman's cafe. In those days Jacquline du Pre had very short cropped red bobbed hair but she was already "special" and it was no surprise that she won the Gold Medal for musicians in the same year that I won the GSM&D Production Prize and Michael Jayston won the prize for Drama. We were a very talented lot but this would have surprised us all.

I am not sure what she would have made of it but I was surprised and delighted at the result even though I think the true story which was not all roses for her and her family could have been even stronger if this could have been postponed a couple of years until all the supporting cast could be portrayed more realistically. Regretfully the ballet leans on sentimentality which is not a bad thing as it touches us emotionally at the moment of performance when not a dry eye in the house seems fitting but later one when one gets a grip on oneself I always feel slightly annoyed as I did after watching "Song of Bernardette". Du Pre's life, glittering career though it was and full of promise, ended up in tragedy for all of us.

Lovely choreography, dancers were wonderful as usual and splendid production. Well done! Took some courage to mount this.

PS. I was glad to see that the Royal Ballet gave the young dancer who played the youthful Du Pre the correct curtain call. She deserved it but also could have deserved a bouquet too! The Royal Opera House should have a few spares on these occasions. Fonteyn used to have a standing order at the local florists for her bunch of pink roses, not red, from her missing husband. I feel sure the budget could run to it.

Well worth watching!

David Hockney and the Camera Obscura of 1420

Saw this BBC documentary a long time ago in 2011 and I found it again by accident today in 2020. This documentary made me appreciate just how brilliant David Hockney is.

Ever since I saw this type of painting in my youth, my mother always included a sojourn at the National Gallery when we went up to London by tube, I was fascinated by the problem of how the artists did it. The intricate lacework on the ruffs seemed impossible to achieve.

It never occurred to me when I was nine it was traced as today we trace in Adobe Illustrator. Hockney's explanation is so simple and his evidence conclusive.

All these pictures are about 32 cm square as that is the size that the subject comes into focus. When shown in black and white they all look like photos. This all happened about 1420. Yes, it can be dated.

Enjoy.

Janette Miller The Adobe Products I use in 2020

I use Adobe products. 

They are all challenging to use and take some learning and there are so many of them that I enjoyed this video. 

All 50+ Adobe apps explained in 10 minutes

It must have taken an age to make and it is only one of three made by this maker humtog but it has had over 3 million views and I can see why.  

I use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Auditon, Muse, ( Now obsolete but still the best web design programme) Premiere Pro,  plus an awful lot of others on my iPad and iPhone.  

If I don't use them for a bit, like now when I have been watching the Metropolitan Opera I get out of touch and have to revise.

Thinking of reading another audiobook. I lost my voice due to hyperthyroidism but now it is coming back. I shall use Audition to do this as for sound enhancement there is nothing else like it. Maybe the novella "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James. I'll see.

I have had to relearn how to use this blog too as I gave up on it it appears when I took to FB but I think I shall give it another go.

The Damnation of Faust at the Met

I have been privileged to see two fantastic productions of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust, the first at the ENO in 1969  by Michael Geliot, I went three times. It was said to be better and more spectacular than the coronation and this Met production by Robert Lepage which is in the same vein, a multi-media extravaganza.

This opera was said to be unproducible in Berlioz's day. It was a century before its time. Both productions lean heavily on dance, the former was choreographed by John Broome who did the choreography for my first West End musical "Stop the World I want to Get off", I wish I had known he had done this. At the time I was not only in the musical I was the ballet mistress and tidied up the production every Thursday morning. I would have happily continued as the ballet mistress but it appeared I was too valuable as a performer. Evidently, I had "IT"! I wanted to produce opera not appear in "Lilac Time"!

I love the use of live TV behind the singer and I had the opportunity to do "Tristan" I should use this technique so the audience gets up close to the action.

The only problem at the Met on the transmission is getting the ensemble together. Berlioz was clever as a lot of the work is in unison so it is acceptable but when the parts separate it is unfortunate. Musicals get around this by wiring each artist for sound so they can hear themselves sing. Opera singers need to be able to hear themselves sing otherwise they can't and end up yelling which is most unpleasant and not their fault. Too many gorgeous voice are ruined in the hopeless attempt of getting over an orchestra and singers quickly develop large wobbles. Too many choruses are out of time and tune as the distance is too large. This production avoids this pitfall by having the chorus strung out downstage by the audience.

These past four weeks have been one feast of opera. Almost an opera a day and a superb example of the art at that. Without this virus, I should never have been able to see these fabulous works as I am too far away and even in NZ expensive. It is hard to recall them all but if I have to the one that was most striking was the "Tristan & Isolde" set in a submarine, very powerful, and surprisingly the two Fausts, very different and both "powerful".

It is OK to Live a Life that Others Do Not Understand -Janette Miller

There is no doubt about it I have lived a "Strange Life". My playground was Wembley stadium, one of my schools was a palace the other Upstairs, Downstairs, one grandfather ran the 1948 Olympic Games, the other gave the world pneumatic golf balls and the golf umbrella and that was just the start! I am definitely an "Outsider".

But I do enjoy being "an outsider". All artists are "outsiders. We see the world differently. We can't help it. We just do and we recognise each other immediately. We also "move on" to the next adventure. Normal people will just have to forgive us.
I am certainly not "Normal"! "Strange?" Maybe. I think "Eccentric" may be the best description. At my age I am old enough to be "Eccentric"!

The Mona Lisa De-varnished and what a computer can reveal,

This engineer is using powerful lights, cameras, and computer software to digitally remove the varnish from the "Mona Lisa," allowing people today to see the painting as da Vinci once did.

Stream "Decoding da Vinci" online now to learn more: https://to.pbs.org/2Qu7htX

I had an IT experience of this type quite recently at The Auckland Art Gallery. It is truly astonishing what scanning and IT can tell you about a work of art but not everything. In real life one never knows exactly what is going to happen. 

In 1982 I commissioned two designs for "Fidelio" from the then destitute artist Tony Fomison. In NZ I owned the copyright. As oil paintings dry so slowly I had to leave them with the artist and as I was busy I never gave them another thought. He said he would look after them and I never saw them again until I walked into the Auckland Art Gallery 37 years later when I thought I recognised "Fidelio Act 2" only it did not look quite right. 

Four years and an expensive court case for both parties established legally that I owned the copyright. Naturally, I thought the Art Gallery held my original and as I am 77 I asked at the settlement meeting if I could see it again as my recollection of the original and the slides that were used in the production looked very different but time has a way of altering colours and tints and one's mind plays tricks. It was agreed that I would be allowed a final look at the Galleries convenience.

After the settlement, the Art Gallery behaved in an exemplary manner and five months later this February 2020 a viewing was arranged. I had not been given access to the painting during the court case. Viewing the Art Gallery's painting was a shock to us all. It was in fact very different from the original and it was not time that had made the changes. My original was blue and light beige/pink, the one on view was yellow and white. Pure white! 

What had happened? Well, we just don't know. Fomison was famous for reworking his artworks sometimes to destruction and this may have happened here as the underpainting revealed a ghost which was not there in my original copy. Separations for printing on Photoshop can show these as the Art Gallery's revealed. The original "Fidelio" had no ghost and was painted on board, not canvas as with the copy. The ghost is almost thumbing its nose at us and laughing at how much angst the artist's actions had caused.

Unfortunately, the Art Gallery and the BNZ, who holds what was thought to be "Fidelio Act 1", both have an unauthorised copy which the artist quietly sold on without my knowledge or permission in 1983 as originals and neither organisation holds the copyright. Still, as the price paid was just a few hundred of dollars and not the hundreds of thousand dollars the originals would be worth if genuine the galleries have not made a huge financial loss but both now have worthless copies that cannot be shown without a copyright licence till fifty years after my death. 

It shows that proof of provenance is everything in buying art. Fomison was wise enough not to sign these works and sold them as is through an agent. Be warned art buyers, never buy an original artwork without a formal written transfer of ownership and guarantee from the artist.

Did Fomison cut up my original and paste it on to an old canvas? We don't know. Is my original underneath? I had hoped this would show up but it didn't.

But it was a practical lesson into what this type of technology can and can't do. It can clean up the Mona Lisa but it cannot tell reliably what is underneath unless each layer is dry first before being repainted as with the ghost who won't go away.

I am hoping when this virus is over to have "Fidelio Act 2" made into a mural on a wall somewhere in NZ which I think Fomison would have enjoyed. It was the mural he never painted on a wall. It is very beautiful and a vision of hope for the future which is so needed at this moment.

To Leave the EU or Remain in EU What the Elite of EU doesn't understand!

It has been fascinating to be able to watch the EU Referendum debate as it comes to a final conclusion from the distance of 11 thousand miles.  I left the UK for New Zealand in 1974 just after Britain when the UK joined the Common Market in 1973. I was about 33. I am classed in NZ as an immigrant, at first as a Whinging Pom not so much by the native Maori but by the previous UK immigrants who had stamped their destructive mark on The Land of the Long White Cloud by cutting down all the indigenous forests and rearing lamb and dairy for the homeland.

With hindsight, I do not think that the Brits who voted so enthusiastically to join the EU over 40 years ago would do so today but this seems to have come as somewhat of a shock to the Remain Campaign led by Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour Leader whose name escapes me..... Jeffrey Corbyn and the Elite of the EU whoever they are. Why aren't the Brits falling over themselves to remain in Europe? Many other leaders from all over the world can't understand it either, President Obama, Angela Merkel of Germany, President Hollande, World Trade Organisation, International Banks, Big Businesses, a plethora of other notables even the Pope all consider Leaving the EU would be a bad thing for the UK and in fact a disaster for it.

To begin - after David Cameron did his renegotiation of UK conditions for Britain remaining in EU all seemed to go to plan and the Remains looked comfortably ahead. This was relatively easy to achieve as they have the press on their side. All they had to do was to tell the locals how to vote.  For example, The UK Guardian, a bastion of the liberal media came out in favour and in fact, nearly every article published was and still is in favour of remaining in EU. It also favours immigration of any kind, no unfavourable comments allowed as I found out to my cost when my sense of fair play promoted Brexit the Film. I got your comments will be moderated red exclamation mark! which to be fair the Guardian has promised to remove but has yet to do so. The BBC, The Times, all publish pro articles so what is the problem? Well, the problem is that this Elite and it is an Elite just doesn't understand the British Middle or Working Class. They don't get us at all.

Suddenly out of the blue ten days before the vote things have changed! The Opinion Polls were given a jolt as for once the Outgroup has taken a small lead. Something has gone horribly wrong. Even David Cameron has said he needs to try harder. He doesn't realise with his background of privilege and help from his non-tax paying father Cameron has no idea of what or whom he is dealing with and really neither has anyone else who is not native British.

So what exactly do the British want that the EU hasn't supplied? The Elite appears to think the Leavers are behaving unreasonably and if the Brits don't toe the line dreadful things are going to happen to them  Look what the EU has given them, wonderful cheap holidays, the chance to live abroad in a pleasant climate, no visas, cheap mobile phone charges on the way, and regulations from pillowcases to kettles. Also, some lucky firms have the safety of tariffs, quotas and more regulations to stifle the competition and Trading Agreements with other countries are in the offing ..... perhaps. etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. The British are like naughty, ungrateful children.

It may come as a surprise to the UK Establishment and the EU and the rest of the world that the deal being offered by the EU at the moment may be the best ever but the Brits don't want it.  They prefer life without the EU thank you very much. The Romans must have experienced this lack of enthusiasm too. Rome gave the world central government, roads, aqueducts, peace and even citizenship if a man served most of his life as a Roman Soldier and yet the plebs were always revolting. Even Bread and Circuses didn't seem to please. The ancient Brits preferred the Dark Ages possibly still do. he only way to get them into the Middle Ages was to invade and kill them off. William the Conqueror did a great job in 1066. Killed an awful lot and enslaved the rest. Invaders sort of does this.

The British learned to be wary of Greeks bearing gifts and kept invaders at bay for centuries. Even when they had to have a foreign King as they had killed their own in 1642, they were happy to have one as long as the king did not meddle in politics. This is still the same today. The British do not like being invaded and now they feel they were invaded by stealth. It is not politically correct to say this is happening in many parts of Britain but an invasion it is. The native  British have slowly been displaced over 43 years and although they may not say so they do not like it. Nobody would but the Elites think this is OK. No would you mind but you will take is not a good idea.

The EU and Elites do not realise that the British are not like the rest of Europe. Britain is an Island Nation and we stopped letting our betters tell us what to do in about 1215 with Magna Carta. The British didn't like being taxed by Elites then and they don't now. They don't like faceless bureaucrats telling them what to do. Any whiff of a poll tax and a revolt is certain and the Brits usually win. Even Maggie Thatcher could not get the poll tax accepted although it is good for many people.

Then nothing gets a group of people angrier than being sold a pup. In 1973 the Brits were sold a Common Market with all the benefits of a free market, not a political  union where any rule or tax can be inflicted upon them by faceless Elites most of who do not speak English as a native and who have very expensive tastes like the arts, and school fees for children, and special shopping centres where they can indulge every whim which the Brits have to pay for without a chance to say Hey wait a bit explain please.

If you sell a concept like the EU you better deliver otherwise the natives will revolt. On the whole, the EU has not delivered for the UK may be to the Elite, who can see remaining in EU as a perk for life but not to the rest of the population who have mostly seen their jobs disappear abroad. The British Working Class are very special, they stood up to The Kaiser and Hitler but they have found themselves side stepped in favour of foreigners who are considered more worthy in their own country. Slowly without being asked the British working and middle classes have seen the world they fought for disappear and something very different emerge which they might have accepted if they had been asked but they weren't. New Britain has just arrived, especially in London, which is now no longer British but a Corporate City not of the natives choosing. London was a down to earth, gritty town, aged by fogs and bombs. It was a working city but today it looks like a fantasy theme park all blue, white and gilt glistening in the sun with a huge fairground Ferris wheel to boot. Lots of pretty toy soldiers and a Royal Family to make other countries who haven't got one, jealous.

One very British trait is that of fair play. The British like to play the game by the rules whereas other cultures like to win no matter how like sneakily introducing a political union with lots of rules without being upfront about it. The Brits don't mind losing as long as it is fair. Brits will give any foreigner a fair go but the foreigner has to play fair and meet the Native Brit a bit over halfway and this is difficult for the EU to grasp.

Immigration was not in the original deal. Immigration was a problem even from the Commonwealth but after an initial shock, the Jamaicans integrate very well Britain needed men to reconstruct Britain after the war.  The first immigrants from the commonwealth had a basic knowledge of British culture and soon slotted in. They tried to integrate but the Asian immigrants were different. They didn't. It was too difficult so multiculturalism and all its problems were allowed to happen. If Britons had known that they would have to host millions of immigrants from Europe as well the first deal would never have happened.

But according to the British Elite and EU, the working and middle-class Brits should be embracing this opportunity. Well, I have news for them, on the whole, the Brits loathe it. The young who never have known any different may at first. They like the sound of living and studying abroad for free even though the reality may not live up to their expectation. They too are sold the dream of A free Europe only to find that they have been sold a pup when the jobs and the lifestyle fail to materialise and they find themselves pushed out of there home area but hoards of immigrants who eat up all the resources.

Now they are told to stand by for Turkey's 70 million to be given free access to Europe. Is it any wonder that they feel afraid. The Elite will go on living in their glass castle in Brussels telling us all to get on with it safe in the knowledge that they cannot be voted out. We know best. Well, they don't. The working class and now middle-class Birt just wants a quiet life, a house, a secure job, a couple of kids and enough spare cash to enjoy themselves with people like themselves. They are not interested in learning or fitting into a new culture in their own country. They do not see why they have to.

Being told what to do and how to think and being patronised by We know Best is just not going to work. Threatening people who have very little that things will get worse doesn't help either. The average Brit is wonderful in a crisis, very inventive, very hard working and if given the chance creative.  They will start new industries and shops but not if they are forced into conformity by rules, rules, rules and they see people cheating the system.

So what could the EU  Remains have done better? For a start, The EU should have listened to British grievances, taken them on board and offered something instead of nothing. Cameron was made to look foolish. If the EU wants Britain IN as it now says it does it should have offered something. The UK is afraid of mass immigration, it has small landmass compared to Germany or France and the UK is full up. It needs a breather for the immigrants to settle in and adapt to a secular society that has equality for women and does not like killing animals without stunning. That simple act would possibly have been enough. The British would have known that the EU had heard the problem and cared. As it is Britain knows that nothing is said or does will alter the EU as it stands.

Once the Brexit campaign swung into action pointing out these facts it is not surprising that they have succeeded in persuading the working classes that staying was perhaps not the right answer this time. Britain is quite capable of standing on its own feet. It has done so since 1066.   They have put up with this Brussels nonsense for 43  years show that they have given it a go and now it is time to leave. It is time to take back industry and fisheries, reclaim our heritage take a deep breath and start again without being patronised by an Elite who does not think we can rule ourselves. We did once and now and we can do it again.