The Tanner Report/Don Giovanni and a Derby win
Our editor is always keen that contributors from sport comment on artistic performance and vice versa. There used to be a music critic called Hans Keller much parodied by Private Eye who was a massive Spurs fan and these days David Mellor will go to Stamford Bridge as often as the Royal Festival Hall. I must confess a certain operatic disinterest and critical inadequacy. Some time ago I enlisted to a Rust outing to see the Mozart opera at Glyndebourne , Don Giovanni. Having bought my ticket for yesterday’s performance, I learned that Fulham’s derby at Brentford had been switched to that Friday and now televised. Michael Stuart assured me that the opera began at 4.00 pm, ended at 7-20 and I could see the match on tv. I have a Fulham friend whose windows in London I used to clean who moved down to Brighton Marina and he kindly agreed I could watch the game at his. Nonetheless it would be tight.
After a typical trencherman’s lunch with Bob Tickler at his beloved English’s, we had car transport organised to Glyndebourne. There was an absolute deluge and therefore impossible to see the lovely grounds. Bob’s companion, his ex, was over from Paris who Bob joshed for her expensive taste – she orders from the menu more by price than taste – said she would like a momentum so he purchased her a souvenir coffee mug from the Glyndebourne club shop that cost £35. I thought football clubs shops were the only ones that took liberties! The auditorium was in wood which made it look like a vast sauna but this enhanced the acoustics. We had excellent seats in the front row. These cost £68, cheaper than the Premier, but his was not a Premier event as it was the tour not festival production.
Michael urged me to do some prep both on Mozart and the opera. From a study I had downloaded by David Timsin, I learned that Mozart had unique mastery of all forms of classical music. Brahms and Schubert never wrote an opera, Puccini and Verdi did not compose a symphony, Wagner did not compose a concerto. A Venetian libertine Lorenzo da Ponte wrote the libretto. He also wrote Cosi Fan Tute and Marriage Of Figaro. The action takes place in 24 hours in one place and essentially covers the downfall of an amoral philanderer. Sounds like the latter day footballer! As it’s sung in Italian with titles above the stage I still found it difficult to follow. I am not really qualified to comment on the singing. I did not see the point of the cast being dressed in modern dress as it was clearly set in the past. The set too was confusing. There was massive facial portrait in the style of a Gicoanda, a dining table set at 45 degrees tilt in a white minimalist dining room that resembled a cool New York restaurant. Michael explained that the producer was Jonathan Kent who has an impressive theatre cv and nowadays the trend is more toward a theatrical production than in the past when there was wooden acting but splendid singing. At the end, there was a long somewhat self congratulatory curtain call which irritated me as I wanted to get away for thee kick off. Our lads will only go to the Hammersmith End if they play well. At 3 hours it was too long for me, too much recitative and the whole experience did not engage me.
I arrived at my friend with the game 15 minutes old. He said Fulham were dominating but could not score. It was all gelling except the final coup de grace. Our two full backs bombed down the wings applying pressure with crosses. Aluko was turning the Brentford defenders every which way but despite an almost total dominance we only had one first half goal when Aluko was first to his parried shot to show for it. Inevitably Brentford improved in the second half and I feared the Bees would equalise. I was impressed how the Fulham defence coped with this pressure. We continued to create good chances. With Brentford pushing forward for an equaliser Tom Cairney struck the second on the counter. There is much to savour in this Fulham side. In my time as a supporter I have never seen one with better dribblers: Aluko, Ayite, Cairney and Parker are all masters of this neglected art and the quick passing interplay is pleasing on the eye. We are still too prone to error but we have moved on from the free scoring side that concedes two every game to a mean defence unable to convert enough of the chances created. This was our fourth away league win, we have only lost one on the road against Aston Villa which begs the question why we only have 2 home wins. The pundit Peter Beagrie said there was a greater weight of expectation at The Cottage but it may be after the demolition of Huddersfield 5-0 this too has changed.
