It is spring in St.Petersburg, with the Lilac out in the Parks, that beautiful blue colour and the sweet aroma so evocative of Russia. The evenings are already starting to get longer as well, there is light still in the sky at 10:30pm. Its such a beautiful city in the spring, and the Russians also have operas for all seasons. Rimsky-Korsakov was in fact a military man, but still found the time to write 15 operas, although he is best remembered for his “Scheherazade”. However, although his operas are not so well known in the West, all of them remain in the Russian repertoire, which is a good thing as amongst all of the Russian composers, Rimsky-Korsakov was the greatest Orientalist.  He collected folk songs from the near and far east, and wove lyrical motifs into a great deal of his music. He also borrowed a lot of his stories from old Russian and Asian folk stories – and especially the Middle East.

(more…)

Sri Lanka has a treasure trove of antique cars, a legacy of both the British colonial era and a wise decision to categorize them as “National Treasures” meaning they cannot be exported. With import duties on all cars running at 100%, the country is also one of the few places worldwide where the value of second hand cars goes up. While seriously old vehicles such as this Peugeot may not be suitable for everyone, they can still be had relatively cheaply.  I paid USD7000 for this, and have spent about that again on a two year restoration. That’s not bad when one considers a second hand standard modern car is rather more.

(more…)

The Hakgala Botanical Gardens were created in 1861 as a scientific site to examine the properties and potential for producing a variety of tropical plants for use throughout the British Empire. Its first, successful experiments began with the cultivation of the Cinchona plant, whose Quinine extract was a useful malarial suppressant (see previous article).

(more…)

In the mid 1850’s, British plans to continue to both build and develop the Empire were facing a serious problem – malaria. Although many of Britain’s best and brightest were being sent overseas, far too many were succumbing to and even dying from this deadly disease. Those lucky to survive an attack would also find themselves prone to recurrences, debilitating attacks of chills and fever that drained the body of energy for weeks at a time.

(more…)

My Winter months are spent on the south coast of Sri Lanka, which is very beautiful and has amazing sea food, however as the year progresses can be prone to occasional hot, intensely humid spells. I have a swimming pool I can dip into, and the beach is just five minutes away, but its also good to have a complete change of scenery as well.  What I like to do at such times, much as generations of expatriate Dutch and British did before me (the colonial and seafaring Portuguese tended to stay coastal and didn’t venture much into Ceylon’s interior) is to get to higher ground, where the temperatures drop, the air is fresher, and the climate more appealing. In fact, Sri Lankas’ Tea Country can be almost European in atmosphere – not for nothing is the highest Hill Station, Nuwara Eliya, also known as “Little Scotland”, while roses are grown at these altitudes.

(more…)

It’s back to Sri Lanka after my Russian winter, and what better way to reintroduce myself to my second adopted home than immediately going on safari? Wilpattu National Park is in the North-West of the island, an area I haven’t been before. The Park is renowned for its diverse landscape, which includes over 60 lakes, also making it ideal for birdwatching, and especially during the migratory season. Its also famous for Leopard, having the highest concentration of Leopard in the world.

(more…)

Actually the title of this piece is somewhat misleading. In my opinion, only Gin should be used in a martini, with options for olives or lemon additions depending upon the characteristics of the Gin being used. For Purists, it should ideally be Plymouth, mixed 3-1 and with a dash of orange bitters, which is how the very first original Martini was made. But I digress. This is about Vodka, not Gin.

(more…)

Sergei Prokofiev is one of Russia’s greatest composers, having written seven acclaimed operas, seven extraordinary symphonies, eight ballets – including the famous “Romeo & Juliet” – nine piano sonatas, two violin concertos, a cello concerto amongst hundreds or other pieces.

(more…)

Rodion Shchedrin is Russia’s greatest living composer, born in 1932 and working both throughout the Soviet era and contemporary times. He has a special affinity with the Mariinsky, from whom several new works have been commissioned, even as he reaches his eighties. He married Maya Plisetskaya arguably the most talented and beautiful Soviet era ballerina, writing several works for her to dance, such as Chekov’s “Seagull”. The Maestro has long taken Russian literature as inspiration for his work, and this trend follows with this adaption for opera of Nikolai Leskov’s translation of Nemcova’s fairy tale, which is better known as “The Twelve Months”. In operatic form it becomes “A Christmas Tale“ and is another in the operatic canon of winter plays within Russia during this Festive season – both Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov wrote similarly titled works.

(more…)

I have been fortunate enough to be invited to a private New Years Party in St. Petersburg, which is one of Europe’s loveliest cities and probably has the most Palaces. This year, the venue was the Mikhailovsky Palace which handily, is just across the street from my apartment. It was built by Carlo Rossi, the Italian architect whose statue also graces the Square I can look down upon from my balcony, in 1819, with the intention of it being a 21st birthday present for Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. Today, it is the main building of the State Russian Museum, and as such contains a huge amount of important Russian artworks (the Hermitage focuses on foreign art).

(more…)