(photo by Ben Langdon)
Now, let's get to the point: I've just turned 30. Tintin's in States for a while, and I'm a somewhat recalcitrant lady of leisure (which moniker I do prefer over grass widow, thank you very much). As such, I've decided to actually flaunt my age and get up to all sorts of mischief. Some that I should have tried long before, some I'm only old enough to try now.
Since the fashion at the moment is for bucket lists, and my art teacher always used to say that humans tend to see symmetry as beauty, here's my 30/30 list (on a shoestring):
1.
2.
3.
4. Learn French
5.
6.
7.
8.
9. Learn a martial art
10. Learn to take better photos
11. Write a novel (and do your damnest to get it published)
12.
13. See 30 operas or ballet performances
* Agon - Igor Stravinsky, George Balanchine (ballet, 1957) - impressive but forgettable
* Un ballo in maschera - Giuseppe Verdi (opera, 1859) - great
* La Bayadère - Ludwig Minkus, Marius Petipa (ballet, 1877) - very good
* Castle Nowhere - Arvo Pärt, Matjash Mrozewski (ballet, 2006) - beautiful, with superb set design by Yannik Larivee
* Don Pasquale - Gaetano Donizetti (opera, 1843) - good fun
* Giselle - Adolphe Charles Adam, ch: Jules Perrot, Jean Coralli, Marius Petipa (ballet, 1884) - very good
* Invitus Invitam - François Couperin (arranged by Thomas Adès), Kim Brandstrup (ballet, 2010) - odd, but hauntingly beautiful
* Limen - Kaija Saariaho, Wayne McGregor (ballet, 2009) - weird
* Nabucco (Nabucodonosor) - Giuseppe Verdi (opera, 1842) - mind-blowing
* Niobe, regina di Tebe - Agostino Steffani (opera, 1688) - great (and Jacek Laszczkowski as Anfione was sublime)
* Onegin - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (orchestrated and arranged by Kurt-Heinz Stolze), John Cranko (ballet, 1965) - good
* Polyphonia - György Ligeti, Christopher Wheeldon (ballet, 2001) - forgettable
* Requiem - Gabriel Fauré, Kenneth MacMillan (ballet, 1976) - forgettable
* Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold) - Richard Wagner (opera, 1869) - very good
* Romeo and Juliet - Sergey Prokofiev, Kenneth MacMillan (ballet, 1965) - great (and Tamara Rojo as Juliet was ethereal, heart-breaking, stunning, poignant, marvellous... I could carry on like this all day)
* Roméo et Juliette - Charles-François Gounod (opera, 1867) - no (halfway through, I was already thinking "oh, die already!" and Juliette's grating voice and appalling lack of acting skills were painful to witness)
* Rigoletto - Giuseppe Verdi (opera, 1851) - perfect, best performance to date with the sensational Dmitri Hvorostovsky (and Michael Vale's sets and Tanya McCallin's costumes, lovingly lit by Paule Constable, were extraordinary)
* Sphinx - Bahuslav Martinu, Glen Tetley (ballet, 1977) - very good
* Swan Lake - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, ch: Marius Petipa & Lev Ivanov (ballet, 1895) - absolutely fabulous
* Sylvia - Léo Delibes, Frederick Ashton (ballet, 1952) - there's no crowbarring a plot into this one, so unless you're a stalwart fan of endless silent-movie-style harem follies, this one is borderline tiresome
* Theme and Variations - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, George Balanchine (ballet, 1947) - impressive, again
* The Tsarina's Slippers (Cherevichki) - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (opera, 1887) - absolutely fabulous
* Turandot - Giacomo Puccini (opera, 1926) - very good
* La Valse - Joseph Maurice Ravel, Frederick Ashton (ballet, 1958) - like watching ballet through a kaleidoscope
* Winter Dreams - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (arranged by Phillip Gammon), Kenneth MacMillan (ballet, 1991) - very good
Total: 25
14.
15.
16. See aurora borealis
17. See the fjords
18.
19. Learn sign language
20. Become an extra
21.
22.
23. Learn to read sewing patterns properly
24.
25.
26. Knit an heirloom shawl
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And here I've run out of ideas. The rest, therefore, is comprised of all the things I didn't know I wanted to do when I started this post, but ended up doing anyway.
27.
28.
29. Take an oil painting class
30. Start a family
