SURGICAL NEWS

Winter Lifestyle
had requested Mozart’s Requiem
be played at his funeral service. As
sopranos were banned from Church
performances, an application was
made to Rome for dispensation - this
took two weeks and was granted
on the condition they sing behind
a black curtain at the back of the
altar (which is still hanging there).
Gabriel Fauré, Capellmeister at the
Madeleine whose heart rending
Requiem Op. 48 of 1893 was played
at Bob Marshall’s RACS memorial
service, was summarily sacked one
Sunday morning before playing the
organ at Mass - dressed in a bowtie
reflecting possibly a night of
wayward indulgence? History oozes
from every alcove there!
As a man of habit I returned again
to the antique bookshop ‘Alain
Brieux’ in Rue Jacob on the Left
Bank. Outside, ‘out of mothballs’, was
a ‘concourse condition’ DS21 Citroen
in preparation for the Concourse
d’Elegance to be held on May 23rd.
John Hueston, a Francophile, drove
his DS21 until the mid 80s. When this
aerodynamic vehicle was released at
the Paris Motor Show in 1955 it broke
all records with 12,000 ordered on
the first day. John had an innovative
mind and always on the lookout for
the latest surgical developments as
was reflected in this car’s engineering.
On the final hour of the final day at
the Madeleine I went to the KLIMT
exhibition showing his gold leaf
Kaleidoscopic, Luminescent Imagery,
Mirroring the Times. As art is a
reflection of life and thus a portrayal
of history I was beginning to
understand the origins of the Great
War. This exhibition reflected the
opulence of the Austria-Hungarian
Empire, with the bronze image of
the assassinated Archduke Franz
Ferdinand heir to the Empire clearly
on display. That Serbian National
on that fateful day 28th June 1914
assassinating the Archduke was the
catalyst for WW1. The ‘five week
war’ extended into almost a five
year conflict with the loss of nearly
10 million (and some say 8 million
horses). In 1914 the two main power
alliances in Europe were called
the Triple Entente aligning France,
Russian and the UK – all genetically
linked to Queen Victoria - and the
Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-
Hungary and Italy.
The recent release ‘A Woman in
Gold’ is a cinematic version of the
above.
Finally this commemorative
memorial plaque located below
Sacre Coeur de Montmartre recalled
the Gestapo invasion. It made my
wife recount her family’s experiences
in the Bordeaux region (where my
colleagues Jacque Baudet and Phillip
Pellesier operate) when the family
estate was sequestered by invading
forces.
Finally back home, in July I see
the French Consul awarded 25
senior Australians with the Legion
d’Honneur – Napoleon’s Knighthood
– for their war services in France.
Ave Atqeu Vale - Catullus.
The Champs-Elysees on Commemoration Day with prancing horses
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