Grotesque Obsession: Uffizi Revisited

Here is a beautiful video of one of my favorite spots in Florence, featuring the grottesca ceilings in the East Corridor of the Uffizi.

Last year, while touring the Uffizi by wheelchair (being dutifully pushed by my butler)  I noticed my perspective of the ceiling was different, wider.  Erling gave me his video camera and we tried making a slow tracking shot of the corridor ceilings.  That didn't work very well because every time we rolled over a seam in the marble floor the camera jostled.

We returned, several times, and Erling shot the ceiling again using a handheld gimbal.  And then he edited this lovely video and added some music from his opera A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil.  Thank you, Maestro!

Video and music by Erling Wold
Uffizi East Corridor Ceilings   Read more about these painted ceilings in this previous post:
A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil   a chamber opera by Erling Wold

Lynne Rutter Studio

Ravennae Inundata

mosaics circa 535 AD,  presbytery vault, San Vitale, Ravenna

“Ostrogoths” I said, punching Erling on the arm. As we entered the Basilica of San Vitale we heard music, and I froze on the spot. At first I thought it was in my head, because that’s not terribly unusual for me, but the magnificent tenor voice was coming from small well-placed speakers which filled the entire church with sound. Not plainsong or medieval chant, but a contemporary Russian choir singing a credo. Theatrical, yes, and compelling. We soon found ourselves overwhelmed by 5th century mosaics glittering with symbolism. 
Traveling with Erling is always good in these instances because like me he has a thorough education in Christian history and further, he is fascinated with it. Lunchtime conversations may involve intense discussions about transubstantiation or the Arian heresy. 

The walls of the Basilica di San Vitale are clad in book-matched marble imported from Constantinople

 
In such a place where there are so many brilliant buttons for my mind to push, my brain is flooded with words and phrases.  So passed this day...
   
geometry... fondo oro... iota... filioque... cosmatesco... horror vacui... clean-shaven Jesus... gammdia... bookmatched marble... octagons... conventional design... the Empress... archaic symbols... peacocks... palm trees... acoustics... recycled roman mosaic... roman mosaic... opus alexandrinum... opus sectile... Persian flaw... matroneum... pulvino... space ships... eunuchs... ecce homo... consubstantial... homoousios... transubstantiation... transfiguration... schism... spaceships...  Ostrogoths...

 mosaic in the apse features a youthful Jesus and an uncountable number of gold glass tiles

The floor of San Vitale was raised and repaved in the 13th century and again in 1599 with cosmateque mosaics.  The original 5th century floor is about 5 feet below and completely under water

counting the border elements under the Justinian panel (547 AD) and shoes...

This border is of  Roman design and references the Trinity. or spaceships.

The famous ceiling of the "Masoleum" of Galla Placidia (d. 450) and an obvious Persian Flaw

Mosaic ceiling of the 5th century Arian baptistry

All photos in this post by Lynne Rutter  Ravenna, 2018

Listen: Credo Universale (youtube)  New Liturgical Chant of the Russian Orthodox Church  Moscow Patriarchal Choir with Ilya Tolmachevy Natalia Haszler

Livia Alberti - fascinating report on the restoration of the mosaics of San Vitale

Lynne Rutter Studio

Waltzing through Life

Erling Wold composed these two waltzes for me. This performance of the SFCCO, conducted by the Maestro himself, at Old First in San Francisco.
*sniff* I think I'll keep him.

Lost in Translation

I am accompanying the maestro to Japan, where he will be attending the Tokyo Performing Arts Market this week.
I just love this brochure designed to present Erling's work to the Japanese. "Libertine" is here translated as "freethinker."

Erling in the Pink

Maestro Erling Wold, has today been made just a bit more famous, in this swell feature by Joshua Kosman in the San Francisco Chronicle.
You can find this in the Sunday May 18 Datebook "Pink Section"

There is also this great photo of our renown tenor John Duykers, rehearsing his role as Edvard Mordake, in a spectacular orientalist robe by Kathleen Crowley.



PS Erling's boots are actually PINK .

update! rave reviews are pouring in.
Joshua Kosman's review in the Chronicle
SF360

The Fantastic World of Edvard Mordake

two painted roomscapes which will form Mordake's bedroom

Mordake, Erling Wold's latest opera, tells the story of the 19th century aristocrat, Edvard Mordake, who was driven mad by his twin sister - a female face on the back of his own head.
I was asked to help visualize the setting- a suite of rooms fit for a Victorian gentleman.

I found plenty of inspiration at Richard Reutlinger's lovingly restored Victorian house in San Francisco, especially in the master bedroom, which features a Dresser-inspired frieze painted by my late friend and mentor, Larry Boyce.
I photographed some rooms, and made a Thurber-esque line drawing, as well as a simplified gouache painting of the bedroom (above) which are all to be computer- modified by Erling and German visual artist Freider Weiß, and then projected on stage to create Edvard's world. The large mirror I left blank, as they will be adding some invented reflections there. The set will alternate between photos, video, drawings, and paintings, to create varying levels of reality and fantasy.
And I hope Larry won't mind that in making my paintings of this room, I filled in his rather glaring persian flaw, so as to leave room for one of my own.

Mordake by Erling Wold, a solo performance with tenor John Duykers, premiers May 22 and runs through June 7, 2008

More information and musings on this subject can be found on Erling's blog.

Mordake is featured on the cover of Theater Bay Area this month!

Lynne Rutter Studio

Missa Beati Notkeri Balbuli Sancti Galli Monachi

interior of the Cathedral of St Gallen

After an incredibly lovely train trip from Milan through the Alps we arrived in St Gallen, Switzerland, for the premier of Erling Wold's mass, which he named for one of St. Gallen's most beloved monks, Notker the Stammerer.

Nearly 500 people attended the concert held in the choir of the Dom Cathedral. Erling's beautiful and moving music was brought to life by soprano Kim Brockman, whose voice really does remind one of angels, and the rock star of organists, Willibald, who handled the cathedral's 300+ year old instrument like it was a turbo-powered sports car.
The applause lasted over 10 minutes.

A recording of the concert is here.

Albrechts Flügel

This week we are in Vienna!

Yesterday Erling Wold and I went to Albertina, notable for its print collection and works on paper, including those by Albrecht Dürer.

Years ago Erling wrote some music for a Jon Jost film called Albrechts Flügel. Though the film was never finished, the piano piece, played here by Marja Mutru, is among my favorite of Erling's compositions.
mp3 at erlingwold.com 






.