'Rivers of London' by Ben Aaronovitch
28 June 2018
I’ve really enjoyed reading Ben Aaronovitch’s novel, ‘Rivers of London’, which I read as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Kobna Holdrook-Smith. This is a contemporary, carefully-researched and realistic police procedural detective story, told by a London police constable who is seconded to the Metropolitan Police’s secret division of wizards dealing with magic and supernatural crimes. The blend of real-world policing and fantasy is clever, thrilling and very funny. ‘Rivers of London’ acknowledges the influence of Harry Potter but this is a very knowing, adult novel with sex, violence, bad language and ghosts. PC Peter Grant is a droll first person narrator, thrust into a baffling world of magic and desperately trying to apply all his standard police training to increasingly impossible situations. It’s a very entertaining tale, with a literary link between the serial killer’s seemingly random crimes that is very satisfying when you discover it. Best of all this is the first in a series of Peter Grant novels by Ben Aaronovitch: I’m looking forward to reading them all.
Baltic Cruise
28 June 2018
We spent the last two weeks on the Cunard ship Queen Elizabeth on a wonderful Baltic cruise – with calm seas and glorious weather almost the whole time. We visited seven countries, calling at capital cities (Oslo, Helsinki and Riga), small towns and countryside (Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland and Klaipeda in Lithuania), the spectacle of St Petersburg and the beautiful medieval city of Gdansk in Poland. It was fascinating to be in Russia during the early stages of the World Cup: visiting some of the royal palaces outside St Petersburg we saw football fans from a variety of countries, and we drove past the stunning new football stadium in St Petersburg. We enjoyed all the places we visited but we were particularly taken by the pretty old town in Gdansk – much of which was carefully recreated after the destruction of World War II. You can see a small selection of my holiday photos at:
http://culturaloutlook.blogspot.com/search/label/Baltic2018 Labels: Holidays
'Orchestral Music, Volume One’ by William Wordsworth
8 June 2018
It’s been a good day for Northampton Symphony Orchestra conductor John Gibbons. A tireless champion of under-rated British composers, John has programmed Charles Villiers Stanford’s ‘Symphony No 6’ for our NSO concert next Saturday, 16 June, at St Matthews Church in Northampton. Remarkably, it appears this may be the first public performance of this lovely symphony for more than 100 years. It’s a really enjoyable piece – reminiscent of Glazunov’s ‘Symphony No 5 (The Heroic)’ which we played with NSO last year (reviewed here in March 2017) and with elements of Richard Strauss. It has been great to get to know the symphony over the last few weeks, even though I am not able to play in the concert (the first NSO concert I have missed for some years). This morning Petroc Trelawny played the first movement of Stanford ‘Symphony No 6’ on BBC Radio 3 and gave the NSO concert a plug. Coincidentally John Gibbons’ new CD with the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra was favourably reviewed by Andrew Clements in today’s Guardian, see:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/07/william-wordsworth-orchestral-music-volume-i-cd-review-forgotten-voice-of-quiet-assurance. ‘William Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Volume One’ is the first in a new series of recordings from Toccata Classics. This William Wordsworth (1908-88) was the great-great-grandson of the poet’s brother Christopher. John’s CD features Wordsworth’s 4th and 8th symphonies together with his ‘Divertimento in D Major’ and the playful ‘Variations on a Scottish Theme’. Wordsworth’s music is tuneful and romantic – easy to listen to but with enough complexity and depth to be worth getting to know. Sounds like it would be fun to play ...
Labels: Albums, Music
‘Education, Education, Education’ by The Wardrobe Ensemble
1 June 2018
On Tuesday we were at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton to see ‘Education, Education, Education’ by The Wardrobe Ensemble. This play takes place in a comprehensive school on the day after Labour’s landslide general election win in May 1997. Looking forward to the prospect of massive new funding for schools, it highlights the state of education at the time and enjoys its 1990s pop-culture references. With a cast of seven playing both the teachers and the pupils, often talking directly to the audience, it reminded me of John Godber’s ‘Teechers’ (reviewed here in September 2010). The adults playing children was also similar to 'Blue Remembered Hills' by Dennis Potter (reviewed here in June 2013). While the script of ‘Education, Education, Education’ wasn’t as sophisticated as either of those other plays, The Wardrobe Ensemble’s physical movement was excellent. It was a really slick ensemble performance with brilliant timing. In the end it felt more like a fairly conventional school story, rather than having much to save about the politics of education funding, but it was really enjoyable and drew a ratpurous reception from the Royal Theatre audience.
Labels: Drama, Theatre
'Nigel Slater's Toast' by Henry Filloux-Bennett
1 June 2018
On Saturday we were at The Lowry in Salford for Week 53 – The Lowry’s ‘Festival for the Compulsively Curious’ which focuses on using the building in unusual ways and giving the audience access to areas that are normally out of bounds. We were there to see Henry Filloux-Bennett’s new adaptation of Nigel Slater’s ‘Toast’ – the chef’s ever-popular childhood memoir, told through a series of short food-based episodes (reviewed here in November 2009). This fringe-scale drama was being performed in the main Lyric Theatre but with the auditorium closed off and both audience and actors on the stage (much like the Royal Theatre Northampton production of ‘Private Fears in Public Places’ by Alan Ayckbourn, reviewed here in July 2009). Unfortunately technical problems delayed the start of the performance for more than an hour, testing the patience of the audience. This late start, combined with the interval taking place in a pop-up bar in the theatre’s scene dock which meant a visit to the toilets required a long walk out of The Lowry, along the quay and back into a deserted part of the building – made for a bizarre evening at the theatre. Fortunately Jonnie Riordan’s production of ‘Toast’ brilliantly won us over – not least by feeding the audience with a constant supply of sweets and cakes (all carefully chosen to relate to particular moments in Nigel Slater’s story). The energetic cast of five playing multiple parts really brought this evocation of childhood to life. The cartoon kitchen set (by Libby Watson) added to the dreamlike recollections from the perspective of the nine-year old Nigel (excellently played by Sam Newton). And the mixture of humour and poignancy was nicely judged, with the actors occasionally breaking the fourth wall but not over-using this device. This was a very physical production with some beautifully choreographed movement. ‘Toast’ is a charming, sad, funny book and the stage adaptation really did it justice.
Labels: Drama, Theatre
