Oh my dear lord. I've just realised that 1791-1756= 35.
Which means that in three weeks time, I shall be older than Mozart ever managed to be. And I'm not going to look up his birth or death day, because I might already have overshot him.
I've dealt with the rites of passage as they come. It starts with tennis players, moves on through Olympians to football (thank God for Mark Schwarzer, the only Fulham first team player who has had the decency to be born before I was) and then you find yourself moving into compromises like politicians.
But Mozart, that's a bad one. Obviously he was writing operas at 11, and all that kind of thing, so he had the advantage of an early start, but I don't think my few telly sketches and my critically-acclaimed Horatio in the Highlands really look that good when set against, you know, The Marriage Of Figaro. I haven't felt this pointless since Schubert (33) and Jesus (also 33, maybe).
I'm going to hold on to dear, dear Shakespeare, who gave us all hope by hanging in there until he was 52. And ignore the fact that by my age he'd already written Hamlet.
2 comments:
Schubert, Jesus and La Cieca, crikey.
Now, either you don't get notified of comments to old posts - I recently left one under the entry in which you mentioned the radio serialisation for which I guessed, though I missed it, you used the Messiaen; or it's a case of 'Cheers' - *backs away' (as you once said of rabid Harry).
Anyway, again I stop myself from Parterreing but I wanted to say here a couple of things about Peter Mattei. One is that I know he's magnificent now, since I saw that gobsmacking Salzburg Onegin. The other is that - and I may repeat myself - before that I wondered if his career might be scuppered since I caught him 'cancelling his contract' in concert with Sir Col when he couldn't get through Kullervo's last big solo. Stopped, started again, stopped. We never got the end of the third movement as there isn't an orchestral continuum under him, only punctuating chords. Must be a bugger to sing, though.
Anyway, as before - do reply on mine if you feel like it. Up and running again after some months' lacuna.
All best,
David
I don't get notification of comments full stop, so this was a nice surprise. I kind of never expect to get any.
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