I have never had the greatest affinity for the classical arts and "culture". I do however find that the odd operatic performance can be quite moving; a top rate performance of Nessun Dorma would be a great example. Paul Potts BGT audition version on YouTube has over 80 million hits so I guess I am not alone there though I have to say personally I prefer Pavarotti with a mere 12 million hits [but man oh man is the maestro badly in need of a trip to the barber shop]; check out the tone in his voice at a minute 26 and the power and duration of the final notes. You might want to check out his Ave Maria as well once the video ends.
Having said that the idea of sitting though a whole opera puts me in mind of sitting on the back patio and watching the weeds grow - there are things I would prefer to do. Ballet does nothing for me; I can accept that the dancers are probably supreme athletes but honestly, effeminate men in tights prancing about like nancy boys and heavily muscled women that would be more at home in a music box. I don't think so. Perhaps the symphony, not really. Like opera there are snippets of classical music that can be very stirring but in my world music is for listening to while doing something else not for watching [anyone for the back patio again]. Maybe art galleries; heck no. The art world is a complete mystery to me; paintings that look like the subject I can appreciate at times but get into Picasso like stuff that a chimp could have done or the "modern art" world of piles of bricks or plastic water bottles and you have lost me completely.
So is there a cultural or "arts" medium that can melt the philistine heart of the Grumpy Old Limey? Despite being a British expat I cannot say there is anything from the old country that I genuinely miss but if I was forced to pick a few things I could get into then I have to confess I would probably return to my roots for some real "culture".
What could I possibly be referring to - check it out after the jump!
