Quote of the Day... and Books and Operas

"The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness."

This is the wonderful first line from Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited, by Vladimir Nabakov. This was recommended to me a while back by a friend, and it's what I'm reading now. Nabakov is one of his favourites.

Then we found an interesting connection as I started babbling on about Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky's opera, which happens to be one of my absolute favourites. I've seen it live in Toronto several times. But the best ever was at the Met in NY (courtesy of Dave) in the then-new production directed by Robert Carsen and designed by the brilliant Michael Levine. It was remounted last year with Fleming and Hvorostovsky and broadcast by the Met as part of the live-to-cinemas project. I taped it off the tv when it was later broadcast on PBS. It truly is a great production. But, back to my Nabakov-recommending friend: We've both read Pushkin's poem Eugene Onegin (on which the opera was based) but what I didn't know is that Nabakov's four-volume translation and notes on Onegin was a major achievement, and what he didn't know is that Onegin (the opera) must be seen and heard (in my passionate opinion). He picked up the DG recording I recommended (with Thomas Allen, Mirella Freni and Levine conducting, from 1987), and I'm searching for Nabakov's four-volume set. One of the elements of friendships I treasure is where there is always something new and exciting to discuss, and things to learn.

And, lucky girl, another friend (the same one who treated me to the Zimerman last week) sent me an early Christmas present: a DVD of a film of the opera Onegin, filmed on location with actors dubbed by singers (Bernd Weikl in the title role - yay!). I'm dying to see it. Makes me wish I had two tv screens, so I could have my DVD fireplace playing on one, and a movie on the other. Okay, that would look stupid. You get my point though? As for adaptations of the original poem, there is a lovely movie of Eugene Onegin (1999) by Martha Fiennes (Ralph's sister, what a talented family - and there's a brother who's a gamekeeper... how very Lady Chatterly's Lover). It stars Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler. The ballet, too, is wonderful, and it uses Tchaikovsky's music. I saw Patricia Ruanne dance it in 1984, and she won the Olivier award that year for it. So yes, you can tell I love this story, in all its versions.

I finished The Golden Compass yesterday afternoon and I"m champing at the bit to get the other two in the trilogy. So much to read! I love this time of year, it's a perfect time to read, to bake, to sigh... and this year I'm making time to do all of them. Dusting will wait till I'm ready for it. Ooh, time for lunch. My weekly marmite sandwich awaits!