American Horror Story, Season One. Tate Langdon, played by Evan Peters as a Kurt Cobain throwback that reignited OC's latent lust for grungy boys with dirty, blond hair and banded fisherman sweaters with gnawed thumb-holes (and Jessica Lange, absolute perfection) -- but not necessarily for cold-blooded killers like tattooed Tate, above, who had fogive-me-father-for-I-have-sinned. (Act like you know and we'll gloss over favstar and snapchat -- OC promises to keeps you young, like her coveted YSL Forever Youth Liberator Serum).
During last week's London adventure, OC took in the 70th birthday concert for Sir John Eliot Gardiner with the LSO at the Barbican, birthday cake and Bollinger La Grande Année magnums swapped for Stravinksy's Apollon Musagète and Oedipus Rex (1926–27, rev. 1948).
Apollon Musagète, a half-hour amuse-bouche, the charming accompaniment to Balanchine-choreographed ballet, who must have been just as beguiled as we were when he choreographed it in 1928 (with Coco Chanel as costumiere a year later). With its chamber-like orchestra, the LSO's strings traipsed through Stravinsky's grave (but never dense) passages and shot back its chilling finale.
But the dark gem came post-intermission,
Oedipus Rex, neoclassical Stravinsky, unabashed and brightly brassy, his opera-oratorio in Latin (from Jean Cocteau’s take on Sophocles' Athenian tragedy) with the LSO, Fanny Ardant as the flamboyant narrator, four worthy soloists (Stuart Skelton as
Oedipus, Jennifer Johnston as
Jocasta and Gidon Saks as
Creon) and the excellently-unassuming Gentlemen of the Monteverdi Choir in face paint, greased-up as specters in Art Brut versions of Tate Langdon in all his pimply teen angst.
Lightly melodramatic, at times refined with crisply-punctuated brightness affected by the LSO's brass and horns, we loved the ne0-classical throwback paired with the ruthless drama of ancient Greek pagans and its infectious συνεργός, true synergy, under Gardnier's well-controlled gestures.
Rarely performed (although this summer's Bard SummerScape includes O.Rex bundled with Stravinsky's Perséphone), we have to wonder, well, why? With its bottled-up angst, interactive entreaties and calibrated flair, it's the perfect piece to draw the kidz into the concert hall.
Guess what else we did while in London? Aside from chilling with the ENO for a backstage beauty feature on Sinfini Music and pep talks with Cressida Bonas, we found the awesome, stocked classical music department at Foyles on Charing Cross Road.
We also ducked into the ROH's gift shop, and if we had more room in our luggage, we would have stocked up on the Royal Ballet's beauty line.
