If there was a moment when Shakespeare came alive for me, it was in an English classroom in the late 1960s, when I and the other 12-year-olds gazing glassy-eyed out of the window were listening to a recording of King Lear, being played for us by a trendy teacher desperate to get something into our thick skulls.
Don’t get me wrong. I was bored to tears and far more interested in the boats sailing past on the nearby river. But then I made the kind of accidental connection that can transform the ordinary by placing it into a fresh context.
It was Act 4, Scene 2, in which Gloucester’s disguised son Edgar slays Oswald, steward to King Lear’s duplicitous daughter Goneril. My ears pricked up when I heard Edgar describe Oswald as “a serviceable villain; as duteous to the vices of thy mistress as badness would desire ...”
I had heard those words before – and Gloucester’s “What, is he dead?”, followed by Edgar’s “Sit you down, father; rest you”.
To my delight I realised I was listening to words I had heard towards the end of The Beatles' song I Am The Walrus, a track on the recently released double-EP Magical Mystery Tour.
I had played the song over and over – especially the ending, with its crazy jumble of dark, hypnotic chanting – and had often wondered about those words.
There was some deliciously symmetrical irony at play here. Later, it emerged in a book by a journalist who was present while the song was being written that John Lennon had penned nonsense lyrics – “Semolina pilchard, climbing up the Eiffel Tower”, etc – with the express intention of bamboozling school teachers who obliged their pupils to seek deeper meaning in The Beatles’ words.
The version of the play I had heard in class had happened to be playing on the radio in the studio during the recording, and Lennon had tossed it into the mix for good measure.
After that, I listened to Shakespeare with different ears.
Now the Bard of Avon finds himself on record again, this time as part of a curious project that takes the words of some of his sonnets as lyrics for pop songs, played on instruments from the Elizabethan period but composed and sung in a modern, folksy idiom.
The recording of 11 of Shakespeare’s sonnets was conceived to dovetail into the Cultural Olympiad, running parallel to the London Olympics, and part of which is the World Shakespeare Festival, dedicated to bringing his work to a wider audience.
But if that is the intent, then perhaps the job would have been better left to the likes of Kanye West, Jay Z or Lupe Fiasco, rather than Robert Hollingworth. Hollingworth, a former choral scholar at New College, Oxford, is without doubt a great musician, albeit one who, by his own admission, lives “entirely in the 16th-century world”.
His usual thing is belting out madrigals with I Fagiolini, a singing group he formed at Oxford and named as a self-mocking “student joke referring to the apparent connection in the 1980s of early music with vegetarianism”.
Who knows what possessed Hollingworth to turn his hand to writing what he calls “pop songs” – something, perhaps, to do with the sort of self-belief that is standard-issue for Oxford graduates – but turn it, he did. “I’m not sure you ever need an excuse to work on Shakespeare, but 2012 does seem a very good time,” he said in a recent interview. “There’s a lot of Shakespeare that’s going to be happening [this year], so we thought, ‘Why not the sonnets, but with a twist?’”
Yep, it must have seemed like such a good idea: vocals written during the reign of Elizabeth 1 re-imagined for the reign of Elizabeth II. And yet ...
Turn away and cringe now. The effect is at once anachronistic, patronising and wide of the mark, the musical equivalent of a deluded middle-aged man getting down with the kids in a nightclub and thinking they are laughing with him, rather than at him. To be fair, Hollingworth's tunes are passable pastiches, sung in the main by Robin Scott, an inoffensively competent singer. The problem, however, is that they are pastiches of a long-gone musical era.
The composer’s reference point for “pop music” appears to be trapped somewhere within an infernal triangle defined by Ralph McTell (think Terminus, off the 1969 album Spiral Staircase), early Billy Joel (think You’re My Home, off 1973’s Piano Man) and The Corrs (try not to think at all). The most resonant track in this bracket is Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?, sung by Irish folk singer Cara Dillon). Not that listening to these 11 songs is without entertainment value. After all, it isn’t in every “pop song” that one hears such lines as “And nothing ’gainst Time’s scythe can make defence”, while the abundance of haths, arts, thys and thous certainly makes an interesting change to the normal pop-lyric staples of yeahs, blues, loves and babies.
Curiously, these songs are not saved by their lyrics, “the most precious words ever written about love”, which themselves are diminished by the setting – like a series of perfect diamonds set in a mediocre crown.
If nothing else, the album does offer an opportunity to look again at the British obsession with Shakespeare who, as anyone familiar with Stratford-upon-Avon and London’s South Bank will know, is today as much an industry as a real person.
We know very little about William Shakespeare – from the perspective of documentary evidence, nothing more, in fact, than that he was baptised, married, paid taxes, bought property, sued a couple of debtors and died.
There is no evidence he even went to school, one of the factors that fuels conspiracy theorists who question the authorship of the 34 plays, 155 sonnets and a handful of other poems attributed to him.
Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died in 1616. Most of his plays are believed to have been churned out in a 20-year period, after which the tap was turned off, three years before his death at what in Elizabethan England was the grand old age of 52.
Even more mystery surrounds the 155 sonnets, most of which are dedicated to a man – the “fair youth” – and the rest to a woman – the “dark lady”.
No one knows who either of them were, the identity of “W.H.” (the “onlie begetter of these insuing sonnets”, to whom the volume was dedicated) or even if the publisher, Thomas Thorpe, produced it with the author’s
permission. No matter. Whoever wrote them, these words, and the plays similarly ascribed to their supposed author, are doubtless gems of the English language – and therein lies the difficulty with mucking about with them.
For instance, pinching the odd sonnet here and there and presenting it in non-sequential isolation disconnects it from its complex roots.
Take the track Against That Time, If Ever That Times Comes. It is also known as the 49th sonnet, so numbered in strict reference to its place in the canon in homage to the Elizabethan obsession with the number seven, which was deemed to have near-magical qualities.
Forty-nine, the seventh multiple of seven, was a "climacteric", or critical, number for the Elizabethans, who were thrilled when their queen reached the age of 63 – nine times seven – and suitably superstitiously awed when she died at 70, the 10th climacteric.
In the sonnets, numbers 49 and 63 are evocatively linked, as signposted by the use of the same word at the start of each. Here, however, 49 appears alone, one half of a matching pair, stripped of much meaning.
What would Shakespeare have made of it all – of seeing his name on the songwriting credits: Shakespeare-Scott-Hollingworth?
“Give every man thy ear,” I like to think he would have muttered as he removed the headphones and tossed the iPod to one side, “but few thy voice”.
Jonathan Gornall is a former senior features writer for The National.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
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%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E6-cylinder%2C%204.8-litre%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E5-speed%20automatic%20and%20manual%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E280%20brake%20horsepower%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E451Nm%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh153%2C00%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Takreem Awards winners 2021
Corporate Leadership: Carl Bistany (Lebanon)
Cultural Excellence: Hoor Al Qasimi (UAE)
Environmental Development and Sustainability: Bkerzay (Lebanon)
Environmental Development and Sustainability: Raya Ani (Iraq)
Humanitarian and Civic Services: Women’s Programs Association (Lebanon)
Humanitarian and Civic Services: Osamah Al Thini (Libya)
Excellence in Education: World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) (Qatar)
Outstanding Arab Woman: Balghis Badri (Sudan)
Scientific and Technological Achievement: Mohamed Slim Alouini (KSA)
Young Entrepreneur: Omar Itani (Lebanon)
Lifetime Achievement: Suad Al Amiry (Palestine)
88 Video's most popular rentals
Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.
Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.
Racecard
6.35pm: The Madjani Stakes – Group 2 (PA) Dh97,500 (Dirt) 1,900m
7.10pm: Evidenza – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,200m
7.45pm: The Longines Conquest – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 2,000m
8.20: The Longines Elegant – Conditions (TB) Dh82,500 (D)
8.35pm: The Dubai Creek Mile – Listed (TB) Dh132,500 (D) 1,600m
9.30pm: Mirdif Stakes – Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,400m
10.05pm: The Longines Record – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,900m
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Saudi Cup race day
Schedule in UAE time
5pm: Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Cup (Turf), 5.35pm: 1351 Cup (T), 6.10pm: Longines Turf Handicap (T), 6.45pm: Obaiya Arabian Classic for Purebred Arabians (Dirt), 7.30pm: Jockey Club Handicap (D), 8.10pm: Samba Saudi Derby (D), 8.50pm: Saudia Sprint (D), 9.40pm: Saudi Cup (D)
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Racecard
2pm Handicap Dh 90,000 1,800m
2.30pm Handicap Dh120,000 1,950m
3pm Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
3.30pm Jebel Ali Classic Conditions Dh300,000 1,400m
4pm Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
4.30pm Conditions Dh250,000 1,400m
5pm Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
5.30pm Handicap Dh85,000 1,000m
The National selections:
2pm Arch Gold
2.30pm Conclusion
3pm Al Battar
3.30pm Golden Jaguar
4pm Al Motayar
4.30pm Tapi Sioux
5pm Leadership
5.30pm Dahawi
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae
PAKISTAN SQUAD
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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What is 'Soft Power'?
Soft power was first mentioned in 1990 by former US Defence Secretary Joseph Nye.
He believed that there were alternative ways of cultivating support from other countries, instead of achieving goals using military strength.
Soft power is, at its root, the ability to convince other states to do what you want without force.
This is traditionally achieved by proving that you share morals and values.
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner AF Nashrah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Mutaqadim, Riccardo Iacopini, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Jose Santiago, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner AF Almomayaz, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dalil Al Carrere, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Jayide Al Boraq, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
Sukuk
An Islamic bond structured in a way to generate returns without violating Sharia strictures on prohibition of interest.
Company profile
Name: The Concept
Founders: Yadhushan Mahendran, Maria Sobh and Muhammad Rijal
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 7
Sector: Aviation and space industry
Funding: $250,000
Future plans: Looking to raise $1 million investment to boost expansion and develop new products
Company%20profile
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