John HikerBiker - John HikerBiker – personal site of JohnH, a hiker, sports motorbiker (biker) and photographer based in Hammersmith, West London, UK
Bauhaus: Art as Life - Barbican Art Gallery
Billed as The biggest Bauhaus exhibition in the UK in over 40 years, the Barbican Art gallery’s Bauhaus exhibition features a wide range of artefacts from UK, Berlin, New York, San Francisco and Paris. Not only are there works of the Masters (ie teachers) of the Bauhaus school and the students, there are also posters, photographs and printed materials illustrating life in the Bauhaus school.
At last a decent Bauhaus exhibition here in London but it’s a very British selection with few translations for non-German speakers and no “Continental” perspective. It continues to elude me as to why London and Britain have ignored Weimar culture and its apogee, the Bauhaus school of art and design, over the past few decades. Their pre-WWII art and design was far in advance of British attempts: Arts and Crafts was a pale and diffuse light compared to the strong clear light of Bauhaus Weimar and Bauhaus Dessau, whose influence has proved enduring.
La Bohème - The Royal Opera
I enjoyed The Royal Opera's latest revival of their production of Puccini's romantic tragedy La Bohème, conducted by Semyon Bychkov. This production was first shown in 1974 and has lasted exceptionally well. It is very much an atmospheric design and a great relief to have a straightforward setting where an attic is an attic and a bar is a bar. The production has loads of detail and stage action but lets the music shine forth without distraction as Puccini unleashes his full romantic palette.
Semyon Bychkov started off briskly: that seems to be the most effective way to settle the audience, many of whom are there as much for a night out enjoying corporate hospitality as to enjoy an emotional workout. The strong emotions of Act One of La Bohème, contrasting what was 19th century Paris bohemian or laddish behaviours with high emotion, verge on sentimentality that seems a strange recreation for corporate people who must deny their own emotions to achieve their success. It's as much a contrast as a boxing dinner with the East End's hopefuls fighting for the entertainment of the black tie and suited diners.
Proms booking 2012
The BBC Proms present themselves as the “world’s greatest classical music festival” and of course they are; it’s a pleasure and a privilege to be able to walk to the Albert Hall direct from my work’s office and then to walk home afterwards.
All of this depends on tickets, either a Prom ticket bought on the day or seat tickets bought in advance. These days the advance booking process is online but is far from satisfactory. It is maybe slightly less of a lottery than the previous postal booking process: at least I can choose exactly what to book and adapt my choices in the light of what is actually available at the point of booking.
Hammersmith in bloom - April 2012
My walk to work today in Hammersmith, West London this Monday morning; a very bright clear morning following an exceptionally wet weekend. The trees, bulbs and flowers all showing their spring best.
Pacific Quay, Glasgow - April 2012
One night north of the River Clyde at Pacific Quay in Glasgow on a business trip. Strange architecture around the science museum and the BBC's Pacific Quay building evocative of insects or armoured animals, like huge armadillos.
The shimmering reflection of the BBC building looks like the thrust of rockets while its twin satellite dishes look like bug eyes; so maybe the aliens landed here and these are the husks of their landing pods...
More Articles...
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johnhikerbiker: My review of Bauhaus: Art as Life at the Barbican Art Gallery. Works by Klee, Kandinsky, Gropius, Moholy-Nagy etc http://t.co/aMz7bXVT
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johnhikerbiker: My review of Royal Opera's revival of Puccini's La Bohème. Bychkov, Giannattasio, Calleja, Pierard http://t.co/6JXnHnYk
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johnhikerbiker: Blog written whilst waiting online to book tickets for the BBC Proms 2012 http://t.co/YgwfZ937
