Beethoven's Eroica - the movie

We watched this movie last night.

Beethoven: Eroica (2003)

It's an historic moment captured in time -- specifically, the exact date in 1804 when the public first heard Ludwig Von Beethoven's momentous "Eroica" (Symphony No. 3). This film follows Beethoven (Ian Hart) as he prepares to unveil his grand masterpiece to a select group of listeners at the Lobkowitz Palace. Jack Davenport and Tim-Pigott Smith co-star. Features a full performance of the symphony conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

This is the best movie that I've seen in months but then I'm a Beethoven fanatic and particularly love the Eroica.

There is very little dialogue and hardly any story - just the music and the reactions of the people in attendance. Prince Lobkowitz's orchestra is giving the first unrehearsed performance of the symphony for the princess and a few guests. There's a short introduction to the assembled characters and then the symphony begins. As the music plays, the camera follows the characters as they hear the Eroica. That's it. That's the whole movie.

Listening to this sublime music and seeing the reactions of the first people (a handful of music lovers, the musicians and even the servants) ever to hear Beethoven's third symphony kept me in tears the whole time. The movie shows through the faces of the audience and orchestra just how shockingly new and exhilarating the Eroica was in its time.

As the guests walk around the small hall looking over the shoulders of the musicians at the score, exchanging glances that show their thoughts on their faces as the music moves them - or annoys, frightens and disturbs them.

At the beginning, before the music starts, one servant asks another what to expect. The other servant replies, "I'm not sure but it will be the usual; either music for dancing or music for praying."

That made me think that Beethoven's music is both. You can dance and pray with it. In fact for Beethoven dance is prayer.

One of the characters in the movie is Beethoven's student/assistant, Ries von Thayer. This is what he wrote at the time about that first performance in June of 1804:

Here it happened that Beethoven, who was directing (the Eroica) himself, in the second part of the first Allegro where the music is pursued for so many measures in half-notes against the beat, threw the orchestra off in such a way that a new beginning had to be made. In the first Allegro occurs a mischievous whim of Beethoven's for the first horn; in the second part, several measures before the theme recurs in its entirety, Beethoven has the horn suggest it at a place where the two violins are still holding a second chord (the violins are suggesting a Bb7 chord -- the dominant of Eb Major, whereas the horn is playing the theme (a simple arpeggio) in Eb Major, a harmony which sounded quite "wrong" to 1804 ears!. To one unfamiliar with the score this must always sound as if the horn player made a miscount and entered at the wrong place. At the first rehearsal of the symphony, __which was horrible__, but at which the horn player made his entry correctly, I stood beside Beethoven, and, thinking that a blunder had been made I said: "Can't the damned hornist count -- it sounds infamously false!" I think I came pretty close to receiving a box on the ear. Beethoven did not forgive the slip for a long time.

That incident is shown in the movie.

In the movie Haydn makes an appearance during the third movement. This did not happen in real life because Haydn was sick and depressed by his wife's death at this time. When the symphony is over, Haydn says: "Music will never be the same again after this. Beethoven has set himself instead of the music at the center of his symphony. He has made the composer the hero of his own music. He has revealed his soul to us - no wonder it is so noisy."

The Eroica was inspired by Napoleon and was dedicated "to Buonoparte" by Beethoven who thought that Napoleon was the Obama of his time - "The embodiment of the French Revolution's Liberté, Egalité et Fraternité, the destroyer of kings and the savior of the poor."

The movie ends (historically inaccurately but theatrically aptly) when, after the performance, Beethoven hears that Napoleon has crowned himself Emperor and furiously tears up the dedication page of the symphony.

The "sixth sex" - American actresses

While we were driving back to the farm from the trailer park yesterday, Andy and I were talking about movies on DVD to rent. He mentioned that he'd like to see "Mama Mia." I said I wouldn't mind as I like Abba but I can't stand Meryl Streep. Sorry, but that snooty prune face just shrivels my cojones and, when she starts with those phony accents, I break out in hives and want to call Joe the Plumber to unblock her nostrils.

We got talking about women. I said, "You can't live with them but you can't live without them." Then we talked about beauty. I told Andy that I always found Aries women sexy. There's just something bold and ballsy about them. Maybe "ballsy" is the operative word. As the lesbian writer Gertrude Stein said: "There are fives sexes: heterosexual men, heterosexual women, homosexual men, homosexual women and American women." Well, to me there's a sixth sex: "American actresses" and bold, "ballsy," bright-faced Aries actresses, to me at least, epitomize Stein's "American women."

I mentioned Aries Jane Fonda to Andy at which he groaned. But really Jane was a babe in Barbarella.























Before she got mixed up with the likes of John Kerry and became Hanoi Jane.





















To me, she's still a looker at the age of 70 and, in my mind, all she needs is a good spanking to teach her not to be such a naughty girl. (Oops - I guess I told you too much about my fantasies.) Hanoi Jane at Cannes last year aged 69. Hmmm - she's starting to look like her handsome father. Uh-oh - what does that say about me?























I then told Andy that I also thought that other Aries woman, also a commie, Susan Sarandon, was gorgeous.























Even when she starts looking like Bette Davis in "Baby Jane."





















Talking about "Baby Jane," Bette Davis was also an Aries woman and she also was beautiful in her youth but Andy's a puppy and only remembers her as an old hag.














































































































































Well, talking about Aries woman got me thinking so, when we got home, I Googled "Aries actress" and this is what I found.

Of course Andy does not even know who Mary Pickford was. (For his enlightnment: she was a silent movie star known as "America's Sweetheart." She was also a dynamo; a co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She married Douglas Fairbanks and their house, Pickfair, was famous for its dinners parties attended by Charlie Chaplin, George Bernard Shaw, Albert Einstein, H. G. Wells, Amelia Earhart, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Noel Coward and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.)

Here's Mary followed by all the other "Aries actresses" who turned up in my Google search. All of them gorgeous. Thank God I did not know any of them. I would have gone nuts. When my mom once asked me, "When are you going to get married?" I answered, "I don't know. It's hard to pick just one woman." I know they're probably all commies but they're cute and, even better, there's something fiery and independent about them that's very attractive.











Shirley Jones as Laurie in "Oklahoma!"













Doris Day.










And Doris with Ronnie.













Debbie Reynolds.













Jayne Mansfield whose daughter is Marissa Hargitay ("Law and Order") who was in the back seat of the car when her mom was beheaded in a freak accident and her head landed on her lap.













Ali MacGraw.











Claudia Cardinale.













Elizabeth Montgomery - "Samantha."













Ashley Judd.













Emma Thompson.













Jennifer Garner.













Kate Hudson.













Keira Knightley.










Reese Witherspoon.













Sarah Jessica Parker.













Sarah Michelle Gellar.

I just found my "home from home" restaurant

For Andy's birthday we treated ourselves to a new restaurant, Porta, in North Bend. It opened last year but I decided not to go because one of its waitresses was a tenant of mine whom I had to evict. That did not make a good impression on me but recently one of our friends (who is a North Bend city councillor - I would drop his name if it meant anything outside of our small pond) told us that it's his favorite restaurant. His wife owns and operates another of our favorite restaurants (to which we sold some of our restaurant dining-room furniture) and she's a terrific cook so we decided to try it.

Meantime some other friends of ours complained that it was too expensive. They said, "It cost $75 for two people without wine!" We said, "That's what it costs for one person in San Francisco." Mind you, these friends are what I call "refuellers" not diners. They have taken us to every one of the "best" and most expensive restaurants in the Bay Area since we moved here 5 years ago and, while all of them are good, they do not offer "fine dining." And they certainly aren't cheap; maybe $50 per person instead of $75 for three courses without wine.

So we made a 6pm reservation for Porta and kept our fingers crossed that we would not be disappointed. From the moment that I parked the car outside of the open kitchen door on the side street, I had high hopes because of the delicious aromas and, as soon as I set foot in the place, I was pleased. Simple decor, real flower arrangements, linen table-cloths and napkins, good glassware and silver and a huge wine list.

I did not recognize any of the California or French wines so I picked an Oregon Umpqua Valley Pinot Noir. For antipasti we had poached pears with prosciutto and white asparagus with Oregon black truffles. For the pasta course we tried the rabbit sugo over pappardelle as well as the fresh house-made gnocchi with a simple tomato basil sauce. (The gnocchi was made with potatoes as it should be instead of wheat dough - which shockingly is common in San Francisco.) For the fish dish we had a tutti frutti di mare of cod, mussels and clams cooked to perfection in a simple vegetable broth with a mirepoix base. (I don't know what the Italian name for mirepoix is.) For the main course we had the beef shoulder scallopini with porcini mushrooms and a second bottle of the Pinot Noir.

Since it was Friday night, it was very busy; packed with the Crème de la Crème of Bay Area society including the mayors of North Bend and Coos Bay. The latter also owns an Italian restaurant which is good but more middle-of-the-road American-style Italian.

(About the name-dropping: in San Francisco I was a very small fish in a very large ocean so I must confess that I love being a big fish in this small pond and knowing all the local movers and shakers. That's what happens when you invest a million bucks in a small town and I must say I like it a lot. So sue me and call me bourgeois.)

At 8pm a huge contingent of wine merchants and their guests arrived. By this time we had met the owners, the chef and his wife (who waited on us.) We told them about our restaurant and praised their food and service to the skies. They understood when we told them that we would not stay for dessert because they were already stretched to their limit. (Besides Andy had his own lemon cream pie at home waiting to be eaten.)

The bill came to $170 - one-third of which was for the wine. With a 20% tip that was $205 for a fabulous meal which would have cost twice as much or more in San Francisco and would not have been as fresh or clean or well-served. The size of upscale restaurants in San Francisco means that there is a lot less quality control and, let's face it, the best Italian restaurants (especially in Italy) are always those which are operated by the owners. In fact all the best restaurants are mom-'n-pop affairs. As the French say: "Husband in the kitchen; wife at the cash register."

We charged the meal to our business credit card and decided that, from now on, we will be holding our monthly business meetings at Porta. It's such a treat to find another cook in town as good as me or Andy and another dining-room as comfortable and well-appointed as ours.

PS The one flat note of the night is when I told the chef that his salting was perfect. He looked disappointed because of course his food was much more than salt. But he's young and has not yet realized the importance of the perfect amount of salt - not too little and not too much. No one should have to add raw salt to cooked food.

My favorite spot in winter

My rocking chair in front of the stove looking out of the windows at the robins on the lawn.

That's a "potjie" (pronounced poyky - a three-legged iron pot used by the Zulus and Boer Voortrekkers for cooking pot-roasts over an open fire) on top of the stove .

Our wild critters are getting cheeky

On Friday morning I was using the computer in my bedroom when I heard a bull elk bugle right outside my window. Well, it wasn't right outside my window. It just sounded like that. It was about fifty feet away on the driveway but an elk bugle is so powerful that it actually resonates in your chest almost as loud as a lion's roar. Then it leapt into the forest and was gone down the ravine to the north creek. The dogs had started barking before the elk bugled but they now went crazy.

I let the dogs out and they ran to the spot where it had been and sniffed excitedly. I made sure that they didn't follow the elk as a rutting bull can easily kill a dog. As big as a bull elk is, it is very light on its feet. The only evidence of its presence was where it had trodden the moss with its hooves as it launched itself into the forest.

Then yesterday morning we heard a chicken screaming which usually means an attack by a hawk. The hawks usually attack the chickens when they're out scratching on the front lawn. We've lost many chickens to hawks because we're usually too late to stop them. But this attack took place on the veranda (which is what I call the covered deck around the house) right outside the living-room windows. Chas got there first and saw the hawk grabbing a bantam hen in its talons and just about to kill it with its beak. He yelled and scared the hawk and the hen got away with some cuts and scratches and a few missing feathers.

The chickens and even the ducks spent the rest of the day cowering in the coop and they will not even come out to forage today. We figure this is a very hungry hawk to be so bold as to fly right onto the veranda. So far it has attacked nearly a dozen times this fall and winter.