[.ca] The Grand Prix of Gibraltar

Ustinov treatement for Vintage GP? I must be in Heaven!!:
Sir Peter Ustinov is one of the greatest performers I know, a breathtaking genius who always leaves me slack jawed with his incredible ability to identify the most essential aspect of something and, off-the-cuff, rip off a cutting, incisive, insightful skit about it that is not only hilarious and intelligent but also utterly unique. Never again would what you saw be repeated, and at no other time would it have happened. Sir Peter is a glorious pleasure and a comedic genius in the performing arts completely without equal. So when Stirling Moss, asked what CD would be in his car player, answered The Grand Prix of Gibraltar by Peter Ustinov, of course I just had to have it. I learned that it had been reissued, and lo! It was listed on Amazon.com! I was still in India at the time but I placed the order anyway and then counted the days till I could get back to the US and get my hands on it. I knew very little about it and, in keeping with my policy of never reading about a performance before I experience it, I kept myself in the dark about it. I have experienced it and I want to share it with other people. I might warn you that unless you have an interest in grand prix racing, particularly vintage GP, and unless you are familiar with the times and the personalities of racing of the '50s, this performance may not mean much to you. You need to sit back for an hour and surrender yourself to Ustinov. If you want to do other things alongside or are looking for a 3 minute compressed version, forget it. This needs your attention and your patience. Its enormously entertaining, but I think only for people who love vintage GP racing and Ustinov. I sit here listening to it trying to write a review and I find myself failing entirely. I always try to make the reader feel something what I felt, but in this case, I fail. I may be able to write about cars, but I cannot write about a performance about Sir Peter. Nothing I say will make you experience this performance vicariously through me. So I have decided not to write a review for now. I will instead exhort you to buy it. The only sounds heard on the disc are created in the throat of Sir Peter. All of the personalities, nationalities, engines, racing sounds, national anthems that appear on the disc are his voice. The racing teams and personalities of the times, national stereotypes, and just about everything surrounding racing is woven into the satire. And incredibly, it was all unscripted and done in ONE DAY!! I do not expect most people to understand or appreciate this effort. But if you know who the Commendatore was, if the names of Alfred Neubauer, Stirling Moss, Gordini, Fangio are well know to you, if you have a feeling for their times and efforts, and are eager for a look at all that from Sir Peter Ustinov in his inimitable style, you MUST buy this CD. Peter Ustinov performing about GP racing? What impossible alignment of stars brought this about? Whatever it was, this disc is one of the most wonderful possessions I have related to my motor mania, a timeless masterpiece that I hope to own and appreciate forever.

• Prologue
• Interviews With: Von Grips, Attbauer, Orgini, Fandango, Foss, ...
• Drivers' Meeting
• Governor's Speech
• Mans Start
• Arrival of the Duke
• Race: Fanfani Pit Stop, Wildfowl Pit Stop, Orgini Pit Stop, ...
• Epilogue