dirac

It’s his right. Considering the poor quality of some of those old television tapes, I can understand his feelings. Sometimes the camera does lie. Perhaps he would prefer his dancing be remembered as it was onstage at his best, and in contemporary accounts.

As Balanchine said to Jonathan Cott, “I don’t create or invent anything, I assemble.” This strikes a distinctly constructivist note (as Scholl also says, I think). They did, I'm sure. It seems as if Balanchine would listen politely to Kirstein's thoughts about a Pocahontas ballet or whatever and then do what he was going to do anyway. The result was often too Petipa for Kirstein.

I add my thanks to Anne and Jane. A pleasure to see.

Oops. That's a cute story, innopac. How's the rest of the book? I've never read it.

In fairness to Pavarotti, it wasn’t just cheesiness, although I’ll allow that element was there. He had a genuinely popular touch and the kind of voice even non-fans can recognize immediately. These skinny guys with the stubble are unlikely to have the same no matter what the quality of their vocals. True. It never seems to occur to them that the original Three Ts were not ugly by any means but looks weren’t central to the appeal of their show. (I saw the first one again on PBS recently. It holds up really well.) I also remember Three Irish Tenors and Three Sopranos. Didn't get very far.

I would recommend getting all of Croce’s books eventually, but for your immediate purposes “Writing in the Dark” will do. (However, "Afterimages" contains a lot of material in which Croce responds directly to other writers and is openly critical of them - they put her views in context and tells you something about what others were writing at the time. I think it's worth adding to the list.) I would suggest including Deborah Jowitt’s “Time and the Dancing Image." There’s an anthology I have at home that I found helpful as a sampler but I can’t recall the title offhand – it may even be on your list. I’ll see if I can find it and post the title and the editor’s name. I agree with liebs about Acocella’s book.

Interesting topic, Ray. (I like 'sutured,' too. For me, Divertimento No. 15 is 'sutured' to the dance - I can't hear it without seeing the ballet. Serenade, too.)

It’s not Emily Bronte, but a Wuthering Heights that was true to her bleak vision wouldn’t have been possible in 1939 Hollywood. I didn’t care for it when I first saw it years ago because I had just read the book, but over time I began to like the movie for its own sake. Many adaptations have cut off the story after the death of the first Catherine simply for the sake of time – if you try to work both stories into a two hour feature then both of them get short shrift. The producer, Samuel Goldwyn, saw the story primarily as a vehicle for his big lady star, Merle Oberon, and the final product reflects his priority. Wyler’s direction is fine and it’s a good screenplay, although I can’t stomach the ghosts of Cathy and Heathcliff at the end. Oberon looks lovely in her ballgowns but is otherwise a bad mistake as Cathy and her deathbed scene is better left unmentioned. Olivier had wanted his then little known lady friend, Vivien Leigh, in the role. Wyler offered her Isabella instead and she turned it down, wisely if not shrewdly – she was completely unsuited to Isabella, whereas she might have made a fine Cathy. Olivier back then wasn’t yet Olivier – he always credited the director, William Wyler, with showing him how to act in front of the camera, so in a sense we’re still looking at apprentice work, and given that consideration he’s darn good. His big dark eyes with their melancholy regard aren’t those of Heathcliff – you know Olivier isn’t going to hurt anybody –but he has passion, and his rejection of Isabella (played by Geraldine Fitzgerald, a remarkable performance, true to the character and to Bronte) was cold enough for this viewer. Had the movie been made at, say, Fox, we probably would have had Tyrone Power as Heathcliff. Power wouldn't have been awful, exactly -- I can't think offhand of another young male star of the era who would have been better suited to Heathcliff, in fact -- but in the context of the time Olivier was a solid choice. Darcy a year later is a far more polished performance – he was learning fast. Well, they tried, growing heather in a back lot for accuracy. Unfortunately, they didn’t count on the California sun, which grew the heather to cornlike proportions, and Olivier and Oberon practically had to use machetes to get through it.

Thanks for the link, Mashinka. I’m inclined to agree with the editor of Opera Now, who is quoted as saying that the Three Tenors phenomenon was accidental and any attempt to replicate it deliberately is unlikely to take off. An opera star with wide public appeal like Pavarotti doesn’t come with the mail, for one thing, and it also just happened that the three voices involved sounded good together, which isn’t always the case, as the article also notes. Still, it will be interesting to see how this develops.

Greetings, vagansmom, it's good to hear from you. It's true, sometimes circumstances, especially romantic ones , help. My attempts with Tom Jones took place outside an academic context, and maybe it would have helped if I had been forced to read it through to the end.

I feel the same way, Ostrich, and when I was watching the adaptation shown awhile back on Masterpiece Theatre (now retitled "Masterpiece") the exact same thing happened. How true. I only picked up John Gardner's Grendel for that reason, my previous experiences with his fiction not being happy ones, and it turned out to be a great book. It would take infatuation of Tristan and Isolde proportions to force me back to Pynchon, though.

Thanks for reviving the topic, bart. As mentioned earlier in this long thread, by me in fact , Swinton has been cast as Elizabeth for Derek Jarman in "Jubilee" (although Gloriana found herself in unusual circumstances). Yes, it's not historically accurate but there's real emotional truth to it - it's very effective.

A nice appreciation in The Palm Beach Post, with a YouTube clip at bottom. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content...bering_nor.html

A lot can depend on translations when it comes to the Iliad and the Odyssey, but I also cop to not having read them line by line....

True, but his most favored women tended to be on the tall side. Villella couldn’t dance with Suzanne Farrell or one of her chief replacements, Karin von Aroldingen, in most ballets. Kent and Verdy were in and out, and Mazzo wasn’t a factor until Farrell left in ’69. Villella notes that d’Amboise’s position in the company rose as Farrell’s did, and he was bothered by it. (One of the bits of candor about company life that this reader appreciated.) It was fortunate for both Villella and McBride that they were physically and temperamentally so well suited to one another. That's right. He also mentions that he wasn't too good at it to begin with and is funny about the excuses the ballerinas would come up with to avoid rehearsing with him.

This probably applies to subject matter as well as style. For example, many of us love War and Peace . But how many have read (or, more challenging, RE-read) Tolsoy's long disquisitions on the meaning of history? I had to do so for a history class -- once! Since then, I flip past all those pages pages until I get back to the fictional characters. The incredibly long sections on whaling in Moby Dick probably fit into this category as well. Are there PARTS of classic novels you've avoided? That's a good question, bart. I can't think of whole sections I've ignored, but it's true that I don't always read as closely the second time around.

No, but short enough. Baryshnikov wasn’t on the scene yet when Villella was rising to prominence, and five-eight is sufficiently short to make life inconvenient for a male danseur – especially in Balanchine’s company. Well, few stars are modest, although some are better at not letting their egos hang out than others. It’s safe to say that Villella knew he occupied an unique position and it strengthened what appears to be natural nerve and moxie. Regarding the tapes, I agree that it's a loss for us, but it's also a performer's right. I can understand how some dancers might have reservations.

I did enjoy the Golden Bowl, although sometimes the enjoyment was similar to the pleasure of reading philosophy or concentrating on a "difficult" piece of music. Sometimes the work was half the fun! Sorry, kfw, I missed your comment. 'Difficult' music is a good analogy - you have to really focus on the writing and allow yourself to be drawn in.

Ostrich, I love 'The Golden Bowl' but I can understand not doing so. Many people don't care for late James. I once felt as you do, but acquired the taste. 'The Wings of the Dove' I don't like quite as much, but I think it's great, too. Maybe try them again a few years from now??

Yes, it's true, it's not Bourne's fault if others are careless.

Interesting responses, all. Many of these books are very high in the entertainment quotient, I'd suggest, and also they are not too long, with one obvious exception. (I note that many of the books under discussion here tend to be longer rather than shorter.)

Well, he has not only his daily reviews, which can be quite substantial, but he's also afforded nice chunks of space in the Sunday Times. This has its limitations, but Macaulay has more space than many, if not most, other critics.

I hate to be a hall monitor about this, but I did make a polite request that we return to the topic. A perfunctory reference to "Mamma Mia" while you continue with your posting as you did before does not suffice. The Altman discussion stops here, please. By all means begin a new thread if you like - I'd be happy to join in myself. Thanks very much.

A gentle reminder that this is the Mammia Mia! thread. The occasional digression is fine, as long as we revert back to the topic. Thanks!

I thought I would ask BTers about classic books they disliked, weren't able to finish, or never got around to starting. I've never been able to get all the way through Tom Jones. It's a great book and I enjoy it, up to a point. It just doesn't hold my interest all the way through.