Cruise to France and Spain
26 October 2023
We had a lovely cruise from Southampton to France and Spain last week on the MSC ship Virtuosa. We stopped at the beautiful old town of La Rochelle in France which has half-timbered medieval houses and Renaissance architecture, including passageways covered by 17th-century arches. It was wonderful to return to Frank Gehry's amazing Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, which we originally visited in 2016. Our planned stop at La Coruna in Spain was cancelled as bad weather made it impossible to dock but instead we visited Le Havre in France. Largely destroyed during the Second World War, the city was rebuilt by the architect Auguste Perret, giving it a very distinct, and uniform, modernist appearance. We really enjoyed the Museum of Modern Art André Malraux (MuMa) which has one of France’s most extensive collections of impressionist paintings. Finally we stopped at Cherbourg in France, from where we caught the train to the delightful medieval city of Bayeux to see the Bayeux Tapestry. The excellent Musee de la Tapisserie de Bayeux allows you to walk alongside the 75m embroidery with an audio guide which talks you through the story of the events that led to the Battle of Hastings and the battle itself - and the accompanying exhibition and film explore the making of the tapestry and the history it depicts.
Labels: Holidays
Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert
26 October 2023
The last time the Northampton Symphony Orchestra played Sibelius' 'Symphony No. 1', in 2008, I was impressed by the assured opening clarinet solo by Naomi Muller (reviewed here in April 2008). Performing the symphony again, in the recent NSO concert at St Matthews Church in Northampton on 14 October, Naomi’s reprise of her unaccompanied solo was even more stunning. And rediscovering the intricacies of the symphony after 15 years reminded me how much I like the music of Sibelius. The first symphony marked his move away from programmatic music that tells a particular story and brilliantly demonstrates the captivating power of ‘absolute’ or abstract music - creating a beautiful, powerful and emotional sound world that is uniquely Sibelius. Our NSO concert opened with the ‘Polonaise from Eugene Onegin’ by Tchaikovsky and featured the original version of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Variations on a Rococo Theme’ with the wonderful ‘cello soloist Florian Arnicans. We also played two works by Malcolm Arnold - his orchestral arrangement of the ‘Tango in D’ by Isaac Albeniz and his ballet music for the one-act dance-drama ‘Rinaldo and Armida’. I particularly enjoyed getting to know this rarely performed dramatic and tuneful work.
Labels: Concerts, Music, NSO23-24
'So Far We Have Come' by Tamsin Elliott and Tarek Elazhary
13 October 2023
I have been enjoying 'So Far We Have Come' - the debut album by Tamsin Elliott and Tarek Elazhary. The multi-instrumentalist Tamsin Elliot is a British folk musician and a co-founder of the folk-jazz fusion group Solana, while the Egyptian oud player Tarek Elazhary brings a background in traditional Arabic music. The combination of their musical styles results in an intriguing and gentle collection of tracks. The album features 16th-century English dance tunes and classical Arabic melodies, backwoods jigs and Cairo folk. The title track, ‘So Far We Have Come’ brings together accordion and oud in a slow, contemplative dance. I also liked the interplay between oud and harp on several tracks. 'So Far We Have Come' is an unusual and lovely album.
Labels: Albums, Music
'Politics On the Edge' by Rory Stewart
6 October 2023
I'm a regular listener to 'The Rest is Politics' - the political podcast presented by Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart - and I'm enjoying reading Rory Stewart's new book 'Politics On the Edge'. This memoir looks back at Stewart's political career as the Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border and in a series of ministerial roles in the governments of David Cameron and Theresa May. As a junior minister he served under three Secretaries of State - Liz Truss, Priti Patel and Boris Johnson. He unsuccessfully stood for election as the London Mayor and for the leadership of the Conservative Party, before being expelled from the party by Johnson. His account of this period is a tale of despair with our political system and serious concern for its future. Rory Stewart launches himself into each new ministerial post with a seriousness and dedication that is quickly frustrated by superiors who appear to be more interested in their popularity and image than actually tackling the problems. He is a self-deprecating narrator, highlighting his own political naivety and his embarrassment about the occasions when he was persuaded to toe a party line he disagreed with in order to seek advancement within the system. His description of his first days as an MP at the House of Commons is fascinating and his exasperation at being given insufficient time in each ministerial role before being moved to posts that he appeared to be increasingly unqualified for feels brutally honest. 'Politics on the Edge' is a revealing account of our recent political history that is very readable, entertaining and worrying.
Labels: Books
