2019/59: Gods of Jade and Shadow -- Silvia Moreno-Garcia

2019/59: Gods of Jade and Shadow -- Silvia Moreno-Garcia

“... it is a good thing I rescued you,” Hun-Kamé said.
“You did not rescue me,” Casiopea replied. “I opened that chest. Besides, I wasn’t a princess in a tower. I knew I’d get away one way or another, and I was not waiting for a god to liberate me." [loc. 720]

( no major spoilers )

Monthly culture: May 2019

05MAY19: Chilhuly at Kew: Reflections on Nature, Kew Gardens

A cloudy cool day, but some of Chilhuly's glass art -- disposed around the gardens, bright glimpses through trees and along paths -- seemed to focus and magnify the grey light. Other works just clashed. The sheer intricacy and scale of the best pieces (like this blue one) gave me some insight into the technical challenges of massive glasswork.

10MAY19: Elizabethan Miniatures, Portrait Gallery
Beautiful, small and intricate: the gallery provides magnifying glasses so that one can examine the brush-strokes. I was struck by just how many of these miniatures I recognised from the covers of 1980s editions of Shakespeare, Donne etc. I hadn't realised that 'An Unknown Man' (Hilliard) had a gilded background: on my copy of Shakespeare's Sonnets, it's a rather boring beige.

15MAY19: Tallis Scholars, Cadogan Hall
A programme of Taverner and Rachmaninov, performed plainly and perfectly. I was unexpectedly moved by the melancholy beatury of Taverner's 'Funeral Ikon', the setting forth into the dark, leaving one's companions behind. Rather less charmed by 'The Lamb', in which a baby sheep is quizzed on theology. The Rachmaninov swept me away, perhaps because the words didn't get in the way of the music. There is glory here. Also echoes of Monteverdi. The choir's Russian language coach received special thanks!

17MAY19: Detective Pikachu, Greenwich Picturehouse
Surprisingly enjoyable and very cheerful. I confess that despite my ongoing Pokemon Go habit, I wasn't really gripped until Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) appeared. Ryme City, the setting, is full of landmark skyscrapers from many cities, which was an interesting visual: for a city inhabited by creatures of many shapes and sizes, it didn't seem especially accessible. The film has moments of sadness and moments of triumph, though I suspect I found the ending sadder than it was intended to be. (Normality restored so Pikachu ignored :(.).

22MAY19: Salomé (Oscar Wilde), Greenwich Theatre

"Back, spawn of Sodom!" is an actual quotation from Wilde, and that line did get a lot of laughs. In this production Salomé is a prince rather than a princess, but just as precious (and I don't mean that in a good way). This is ... not one of Wilde's triumphs: structurally disjointed, overblown, repetitive, almost a pastiche. Splendid staging (though I query the decision to have Iokanan's 'pit' behind the stage while the actors responding to his prophecies peered forwards into the audience) and lighting, and some excellent acting, especially from Annemarie Anang as Herodias and Bailey Pilbeam as Salomé. The latter's perfect control in his dance contrasted brilliantly with the Tetrarch's frenzy.
I am still not convinced that Herod and Herodias would listen to the Pina Colada song, even on original vinyl.