“Oh, what a tangled web we weave . . . when first we practice to deceive.”
Sir Walter Scott
I’ve been thinking about Sir Walter Scott over the past few days. I’ve always loved his tale of Ivanhoe, of course. I’ve read it at least twice, as well as — it was a humorous gift from one of my sons — once in Arabic translation. And, lately, I’ve been reading Quentin Durward.
On Wednesday night, with some friends, my wife and I attended a Utah Opera performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s 1835 Lucia di Lammermoor. It was, by the way, a fine performance. Remarkably so, really, and for the following reason: The title role was to have been performed by the lyric soprano Nicole Haslett. But she became ill (I’m told) on opening night. So Abigail Rethwisch, a very young singer from Iowa who is currently a member of the Utah Opera Resident Artist Program, was asked to step in. And she was superb. She received a standing ovation from the audience at the end, and repeated calls of “Brava!” throughout. It’s the kind of thing — see the biography of Leonard Bernstein — that makes careers.
Anyway, the opera is based upon Walter Scott’s 1819 Gothic novel The Bride of Lammermoor, which is set in Scotland. (To put things mildly, with its narrative of oppression, deceit, murder, and madness it was nowhere near as funny as Tuesday night’s Peter and the Starcatcher.) That’s why I’ve been thinking about Sir Walter.
The quotation from him above, which I’ve sometimes heard misattributed to Alexander Pope, reminds me of a sentiment from the first-century educator and rhetorician Quintillian that has often been repeated by such folks as Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln: “A liar should have a good memory.” It’s fairly easy to keep true stories, real memories, straight. They have objective existence outside the mind. But it takes real effort to keep lies straight and consistent. Too much trouble, say I. (As if there weren’t other arguments against a life built upon deceit!)
Posted from Newport Beach, California
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