Picasso, Reich, Glass...and me (Uncut)

 
Some more from Francoise Gilot's "Life With Picasso".

Picasso is painting Guernica. Dora Maar is with him. Marie-Thérèse Walter appears on the scene saying, "I have a child by this man", and the two women begin arguing. Over to Picasso, as related by Gilot:

I kept on painting and they kept on arguing. Finally Marie-Thérèse turned to me and said, "Make up your mind. Which one of us goes?". It was a hard decision to make. I liked them both for different reasons: Marie-Therese because she was sweet and gentle and did whatever I wanted her to, and Dora because she was intelligent. I decided I had no interest in making a decision. I was satisfied with things a they were. I told them they'd have to fight it out themselves. So they began to wrestle. It's one of my choicest memories". And to judge from the way he laughed it was.

Fud.

Here's a picture of Steve Reich from Fri 1st May in Glasgow.

  
I had just watched him being interviewed where he had graciously enough answered my question about how he embarks on new work (does he wait for commissions that inspire him or does he come up with initial concepts and ideas? The answer was a bit of both). However he could have been slightly more gracious with a young questioner who asked him what he thought of minimalist sculpture. Hmm.

Philip Glass was affable in his preceding interview. No one seemed to ask him a question he didn't seem to approve of (I asked him to talk about working with Woody Allen and he obliged) so his toys stayed in the pram.

Later that night I attended a 4-hour performance of "Music In 12 Parts". I loved it for different reasons not least its heads down perversity and relentlessness. My 6 year-old son once described an excerpt as sounding "like a miracle is happening and a robot is dancing for it".

Here's The Philip Glass Ensemble taking their well-deserved fourth curtain call.

So it's General Election time. Please read this.

Andy finally, Esther...

Uncut magazine called my album "Moistly melancholic minimalism". Erm...thanks?