Yesterday evening, I had a message from a violinist friend - she had a spare ticket for Nabucco at the Palace, would I be interested? Yes. Yes I would. A 1pm showing, and my 1pm student had to come earlier because he was in a concert in the afternoon - perfect. I'd known for some time that the Palace screened operas and ballets, but hadn't ever gone to one. This was well worth it so I can see this happening again.
I had no idea of the story, or any famous bits (yes - as a musician I'm a little embarrassed about this). However, it wasn't just the opera - the musical director, and the conductor, spoke about the work. Where it fit in Verdi's life, the significance of various aspects, what the plot was all about, etc. Before the beginning we had a snapshot of rehearsals with the 2 leads, and before the 2nd half (after a timed 15 minute interval) we had a bit of chorus behind-the-scenes. Both of these segments I found wonderful. Seeing the personalities of the top shots (just, you know, Placido Domingo and Liudmyla Monastyrska) as well as the enthusiasm of the chorus made the whole experience a bit more personal. It was such a relief to hear the chorus members being so excited about their jobs - especially when we heard that 400 people applied for 4 jobs. Two of them said the best thing - and it's something I've felt myself. That is, that looking out at the 2000 or so people who are there to watch you, and you're singing to them, and not only that, but you're surrounded by 60 other singers who are singing with you, all on the same page (so to speak), is the most amazing feeling.
As for the actual opera-on-the-big-screen - I'm a little bit morally torn. It was such a good production. I'll get to that in a moment. The moral dilemma comes from knowing that, if we always went with the cheaper cinema option, the opera industry would die. And there is so much involved in producing an opera! However... This was fabulous. Close-ups of the singers (slightly disconcerting with the mouths doing what they need to do, but I can deal with that); easy-to-read sur-titles; peeks into the pit. And I don't have the money to get to London, so this is a reasonable alternative.
The setting work was so simple but very effective. It didn't detract from the music or drama at all. Well, except for the fire, which had me slightly on edge. Yes, I knew it would be controlled and safe and all that, but still. The costumes I mostly liked. They went with a modern setting, and they all looked like they were in a World War II movie. Which was rather appropriate, considering this is a war opera. However, the 'sisters' Fenena and Abigaille wore these really unflattering tent-like coats. I really wanted them to wear 40s dresses that wouldn't make either of them look like a big lump. Oh well. The orchestra was noticeably wonderful. Tuning. Tone. Balance. But, best of all, togetherness. The pizzicati! So together! There was only one place where it sounded like there were maybe 2 people playing them together, and then - only just. And when there was an instrumental part (without singers, that it), it was so intense.
The singers. Wow. The chorus was well done (and snaps to the guys willing to go shirt-free for an act). The soloists were all top notch. Opera hasn't made me cry before, especially when seen live (creaking stages, anyone?) but this one had me tearing up a few times. Well-balanced voices combined with acting skills make for a powerful production. Placido Domingo is a well-known force, and rightfully so. He sang and acted his part so well. Liudmyla Monastyrska was a new name to me, but jaw-dropping. Such a huge voice, with (as she put it herself) enough vocal mastery to pull off the part. I'm so glad I went to this!
Saturday, 8 June 2013
Friday, 7 June 2013
Cinnamon Beef Stew
It's stew weather, and I'd had this Tana Ramsey recipe bookmarked for quite some time. One of the aspects that had stopped me was experience in the size of my casserole dish compared with the size of Tana's meals. There's always so much food! So, without a large-family-sized dish, I halved the recipe. I also didn't do a thorough check of my pantry before shopping so was without the tomato puree - I don't think it really suffered though. And as it turned out, I didn't have enough marsala either, so topped it up with some soy sauce. This was also a 'day of' decision, so I didn't get to marinade for too long either - next time. Here I'll put my quantities and indicate what it was meant to be.
Ingredients:
500g braising steak (I used chuck steak), cut into 5cm/2 inch cubes
100mL marsala (I had maybe 30mL, and just sploshed over some soy sauce - enough to cover the meat)
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 stick celery, cut into chunks
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
150g shallots, peeled (I didn't even come close to this amount, and just used the 8 or so remaining in the vegie drawer)
175g carrots (preferably baby - my organic carrots were quite small), scrubbed, topped and tailed, or cut diagonally into 2.5cm/1 inch chunks
[1/2 tablespoon tomato puree]
100mL water
1 bay leaf
1 large cinnamon stick
125mL (1/2 cup) beef stock
salt and black pepper
Method:
*Put the beef in a mixing bowl and pour the marsala over it. Stir well to make sure the beef is separated and covered in wine. Cover and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes-2 hours.
*Preheat oven to 180C.
*Put the onions, celery and garlic into a food processor/mini chopper and process until completely smooth. Add the tomatoes to the food processor and blitz again.
*Remove the beef from the marinade [and dry on absorbent kitchen paper - oops missed that bit]. Reserve the marinade.
*Heat half the oil on a high heat in a casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid until it shimmers [or, if you don't have an stove-oven dish, like me, use a large saucepan]. Add the beef in batches and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate and put to one side. Add the remaining oil and cook the carrots and shallots until coloured at the edges. Either return the beef to the casserole, pour over the pureed vegetables and tomato mixture, add the tomato puree and reserved marinade and water, or put all ingredients - minus the stock - into a casserole dish with a lid.
*If using a stove-friendly dish, bring to the boil while stirring, then season with salt and pepper. Tuck the bay leaf and cinnamon stick into the stew, making sure they are completely submerged in the liquid.
*Place in the oven (with the lid on) and cook for an hour. Add the beef stock, season with salt and pepper and stir. Return to the oven and cook for a further 1 1/2 hours or until the beef is tender.
Great served with mashed potato (and a nice glass of red). Serves 2-3. This was just perfect for this weather. I used a bit of cornflour to thicken up the sauce, but aside from that, this was just right. Meltingly tender beef and the aroma of cinnamon.... Mmm...
Ingredients:
500g braising steak (I used chuck steak), cut into 5cm/2 inch cubes
100mL marsala (I had maybe 30mL, and just sploshed over some soy sauce - enough to cover the meat)
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 stick celery, cut into chunks
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
150g shallots, peeled (I didn't even come close to this amount, and just used the 8 or so remaining in the vegie drawer)
175g carrots (preferably baby - my organic carrots were quite small), scrubbed, topped and tailed, or cut diagonally into 2.5cm/1 inch chunks
[1/2 tablespoon tomato puree]
100mL water
1 bay leaf
1 large cinnamon stick
125mL (1/2 cup) beef stock
salt and black pepper
Method:
*Put the beef in a mixing bowl and pour the marsala over it. Stir well to make sure the beef is separated and covered in wine. Cover and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes-2 hours.
*Preheat oven to 180C.
*Put the onions, celery and garlic into a food processor/mini chopper and process until completely smooth. Add the tomatoes to the food processor and blitz again.
*Remove the beef from the marinade [and dry on absorbent kitchen paper - oops missed that bit]. Reserve the marinade.
*Heat half the oil on a high heat in a casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid until it shimmers [or, if you don't have an stove-oven dish, like me, use a large saucepan]. Add the beef in batches and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate and put to one side. Add the remaining oil and cook the carrots and shallots until coloured at the edges. Either return the beef to the casserole, pour over the pureed vegetables and tomato mixture, add the tomato puree and reserved marinade and water, or put all ingredients - minus the stock - into a casserole dish with a lid.
*If using a stove-friendly dish, bring to the boil while stirring, then season with salt and pepper. Tuck the bay leaf and cinnamon stick into the stew, making sure they are completely submerged in the liquid.
*Place in the oven (with the lid on) and cook for an hour. Add the beef stock, season with salt and pepper and stir. Return to the oven and cook for a further 1 1/2 hours or until the beef is tender.
Thursday, 6 June 2013
Outfit #145 - Who Says You Can't?
I'm not quite breaking every rule in the fashion book here, but a few. However, I feel the overall result isn't too bad.
Skirt: Sinerji (swap). Tank (only sometimes visible): Now. Long-sleeved top: Dotti. Dress (as shirt): Sunny Girl (op shop). Vest: Portmans. Stockings: Ambra. Boots: Sandler. Scarf (not pictured): Alta Linea. Jacket (only worn to school, not pictured): Sportsgirl (from Jeannie). Earrings: from mariachi.
I'm wearing a dress as a shirt. Pattern with embroidery. Short sleeves over long. Black and blue. Black and brown. Who made these rules, anyway?!
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Outfit #144 - Benefits of Baggy Clothes
Dress: Don't Ask Amanda (op shop). Top: Tokito. Stockings: Target. Boots: Sandler. Scarf: David Jones (on loan from mum). Jacket: Dotti.
1. If tops bunch up, you don't look lumpy.
2. No need to suck in mid-section (although good posture is still advisable).
3. Comfy as.
4. Stretching is easy! Not just lower legs or arms, but quads and hip flexors and pretty much everything.
I've also noticed that I feel more like a creative person when I'm dressing like this. And I do appreciate that I can wear all sorts of clothing styles to work - the only no-nos are denim and shorts, and I've added 3/4 pants to my list of 'not for work' clothes.
I only took this last photo to show the colour of the top, which looks brown in the main photo. A certain sporting event is on tonight... And to reassure myself that my face won't always look as weird as yesterday. Phew.
2. No need to suck in mid-section (although good posture is still advisable).
3. Comfy as.
4. Stretching is easy! Not just lower legs or arms, but quads and hip flexors and pretty much everything.
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Outfit #143 - Sore Almost Everywhere
Title says it all, really. I could go through the list, but I'll just leave it at letting you know that yesterday's PT session was thorough. I have ow-ies in places I haven't felt since the days I did circus. Meanwhile, next time I wear this skirt I think I'll need to do some close-up shots. Likewise with the top. The skirt is a dark denim-type material with large buttons, and the top is black and white but looks slightly psychedelic in photos. Unless I make the photo really large... And then you can get a slightly better idea.
Skirt: Country Road (op shop). Top: Limited Edition. Stockings: Target. Boots: Mina Martini (from Jeannie). Earrings: gift. Scarf: David Jones (on loan from mum). Jacket (not pictured): Dotti.
These boots were much-complimented. I have walked around Melbourne and my own neighbourhood in them, so I thought a Tuesday would be fine. Er - maybe not. If I'd worn flat shoes for the walk to and from stations, or if they didn't have a narrow wedge, or if I wasn't in pain from, you know, the neck down, it might have been different... But by the time I got home my feet were complaining. Lesson learned.
I do like them so much though that you get 2 photos of them.
I know my face looks odd here. The purple bits around my eyes seemed to be especially weird today. I wasn't going to go nuts with concealer, mostly because I couldn't really be bothered most of the time, and then I have days like today...
Monday, 3 June 2013
The New Dish Drainer
Actually, the new dish drainer is more like a symbol of me relinquishing control. You see, I wasn't very well, and my mum came to stay. I wasn't at the stage of being sick where I needed hot soup brought to me or anything, but I was still in the 2 naps a day, when possible, stage. Normally, I resist change and help, especially when it's in the kitchen. But I just let it be. I'm not good at the whole cleaning thing either, but I now have a sparkling clean kitchen. And a new dish drainer.
The dish drainer is on probation. There isn't much space on the lower level, and the water collects a fair bit and stops those dishes drying quickly. It's also smaller than my last one - but this fact I'm counting as a plus. Plus it's really purty. So, right now at least, I'm loving my kitchen, mostly, and glad that I let my mum do what mums do, mostly. (And I apologise for the crooked photo!)
Sunday, 2 June 2013
Movie #36 - Iron Man
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that - on a school night - I'd stopped by a friend's place on the way home from a meeting, and we'd watched some of Iron Man. Well, we finally watched the second half. In the first sitting, we did get pretty much exactly to half way, but looking at the screen I had no idea what had happened before that to lead us to this point. So we went back a few scenes (I tried to type 'rewound' but that felt so outdated, especially for a Blu-Ray experience), and watched a whole lot more of the movie again. Which was a good thing.
As for the actual movie... Man becomes superhero - but much more technologically apparent than, say, being zapped with a super X-ray machine. And then saves, you know, the Good World, with a little twist. This might sound like I didn't enjoy the movie - but I did. Hello, Robert Downey, Jr. It was just that it hasn't made a huge impression on my brain. There were some bits that have continued to pop up in my head, though.
I do like the nod to the original Iron Man costume at the start. But even more than that, I like his attitude. Yep, he gets blown up, and all his hard work at building the suit is ruined. However, he's escaped from the baddies, and he just picks himself up and brushes off the sand and keeps going. I like that attitude. In my head, the unspoken lines were something like "Huh. It blew up. Next".
I don't really like the general tone of the America = good, Middle East = bad, even though that was moderately rectified at the end. And the boys' movie style of blasting all the baddies with superior firepower was such a cliche, I had to do an internal eye roll. I know that you have to have a villain and all that, and the cultural climate at the time would suggest that this good guy/bad guy scenario would have gone down a treat, but still... I'm curious to see who the bad guys are in 2 and 3.
I don't like Gwyneth Paltrow in this. I found her to be rather annoying. My overall impression is reddish wavy hair, freckly face, and a bit dopey, while still trying to be a smart and sexy assistant. Moving on.
I do like the life change that occurs in him. Not the "I've been held hostage and nearly killed" bit, but the "Actually, maybe my company is not such a great thing after all, and I don't really care what you all think because you're just interested in your own money, actually, so I'm going to do what I think is right" bit. Yeah. Living your own life, not what others think you should be doing because it worked for them or will work out better for them. Following your own heart, not your bank balance. Working diligently towards a goal and gaining self esteem from your work, not from how much money you make or how attractive you are or how attractive your, er, conquests, are. Listening to your own heart, not the financial-worries-sector of your brain. Doing something to right a wrong. That's my kind of superhero.
As for the actual movie... Man becomes superhero - but much more technologically apparent than, say, being zapped with a super X-ray machine. And then saves, you know, the Good World, with a little twist. This might sound like I didn't enjoy the movie - but I did. Hello, Robert Downey, Jr. It was just that it hasn't made a huge impression on my brain. There were some bits that have continued to pop up in my head, though.
I do like the nod to the original Iron Man costume at the start. But even more than that, I like his attitude. Yep, he gets blown up, and all his hard work at building the suit is ruined. However, he's escaped from the baddies, and he just picks himself up and brushes off the sand and keeps going. I like that attitude. In my head, the unspoken lines were something like "Huh. It blew up. Next".
I don't really like the general tone of the America = good, Middle East = bad, even though that was moderately rectified at the end. And the boys' movie style of blasting all the baddies with superior firepower was such a cliche, I had to do an internal eye roll. I know that you have to have a villain and all that, and the cultural climate at the time would suggest that this good guy/bad guy scenario would have gone down a treat, but still... I'm curious to see who the bad guys are in 2 and 3.
I don't like Gwyneth Paltrow in this. I found her to be rather annoying. My overall impression is reddish wavy hair, freckly face, and a bit dopey, while still trying to be a smart and sexy assistant. Moving on.
I do like the life change that occurs in him. Not the "I've been held hostage and nearly killed" bit, but the "Actually, maybe my company is not such a great thing after all, and I don't really care what you all think because you're just interested in your own money, actually, so I'm going to do what I think is right" bit. Yeah. Living your own life, not what others think you should be doing because it worked for them or will work out better for them. Following your own heart, not your bank balance. Working diligently towards a goal and gaining self esteem from your work, not from how much money you make or how attractive you are or how attractive your, er, conquests, are. Listening to your own heart, not the financial-worries-sector of your brain. Doing something to right a wrong. That's my kind of superhero.
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