Buckingham Music Festival

16 July 2026

On Wednesday, we made a first visit to the Buckingham Music Festival at the Radcliffe Centre, a lovely converted church concert venue in the middle of Buckingham (where we previously saw the Adderbury Ensemble, reviewed here in October 2024). In the morning we saw a piano recital by Craig Greene which featured three early sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 3 was composed in 1775 during his early years visiting Munich. Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 1 was composed in 1795 and dedicated to his teacher, Joseph Haydn. And Brahms' Piano Sonata No. 1 was his Opus 1, composed in 1853 when he was just 20. It was fascinating to hear the contrast in these early works by the three composers, brilliantly played by Craig Greene, and to hear the development in the use of the piano over a relatively short period of time from the 1770s to the 1850s. The hall was packed for this morning recital. After lunch, we returned to the Radcliffe Centre for a performance by Oxus, a string quartet from Oxford, who presented a programme 'From the Steppes of Central Asia', inspired by the peoples and vast landscapes of the Caucasus and beyond. This featured movements from string quartets by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and Borodin, which drew on local folk music across Russia and Ukraine. They also played arrangements of traditional pieces, including a Ukrainian folk song, music collected in Kazakhstan, an Armenian traditional tune, and finishing with a medley from 'Fiddler on the Roof'. It was a very entertaining and varied programme, nicely introduced by the members of the quartet. A very pleasant way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

14 July 2026

Our traditional, season-ending, short, Sunday afternoon Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert for the Friends of the Orchestra, is always a lovely way to mark the start of the summer. It's also a great opportunity for the orchestra to play repertoire that wouldn't fit into one of our normal concerts. It's a chance for us, and our audience, to explore shorter pieces for a smaller orchestra. At this year's Friends' concert at Christchurch in Northampton on Sunday we played Schubert's 'Symphony No. 8' (the 'Unfinished Symphony'). I hadn't played this popular work for many years and had forgotten what a lovely piece it is. There is something very satisfying about playing a classical symphony that is so cleverly constructed and beautifully written but less technically challenging than some of the repertoire we usually play, providing the opportunity to play much more carefully and precisely. I would agree with our percussionist, Keith Crompton, who said to me after the concert that he thought the Schubert was the best the orchestra had played for a long time. Conductor John Gibbons drew a lovely, rich sound from the orchestra and kept the rhythms clear and steady. We continued our tradition of featuring the latest Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust soloists competition winners. Amy played the final section of the Glazunov 'Saxophone Concerto' very impressively. And Stan gave a stunning performance of the last two movements of the lovely 'Concertino for Trombone' by Ferdinand David. When Felix Mendelssohn was asked to compose a trombone concerto he declined due to time restraints but passed the task to the leader of his Gewandhaus Orchestra, Ferdinand David. The resulting Concertino was dedicated to the Gewandhaus trombonist Karl Traugott Queisser, who first performed it, with Mendelssohn conducting, in 1837. We also played the catchy 'Folk Song Suite' by Vaughan Williams and we finished the concert with the Rossini overture ‘The Thieving Magpie’ which featured excellent solos by Harriet Brown (oboe), Helen Taylor (flute), Rob Reid (clarinet), Sian Bunker (bassoon) and Ian Jones (horn). 

'Four Last Songs' by Linda Hutcheon and Michael Hutcheon

14 July 2026

I have written here several times (particularly in November 2010 and November 2024) about my long personal connection to the 'Four Last Songs' by Richard Strauss. I am grateful to Lindsey Jackson for remembering this and giving me a copy of Linda and Michael Hutcheon's 2015 book 'Four Last Songs' which explores aging and creativity by looking at the late works of four composers: Verdi, Strauss, Messiaen and Britten. The Hutcheons are academics at the University of Toronto (a literary theorist and a physician). As they both entered their sixties they became increasingly interested in continuing creativity in older age, and their book felt a very timely read for me as I started my retirement. By examining the later lives of the four composers, they look at whether their last compositions try to sum up their lives and their achievements or to point forward through an unexpected change in style. Verdi, famous for his very successful tragic operas, deliberately chose to end his career by writing a comic opera, 'Falstaff', to send a message to other Italian composers warning against the increasing 'Germanism' of Italian opera. The late works of Richard Strauss, including the 'Four Last Songs', seem to reject his previous exploration of modernism and revert to 'being Strauss'. Messiaen decided to spend his last years writing his first opera - the incredibly ambitious 'Saint Francois d'Assise'. Britten's last opera 'Death in Venice' deals specifically with aging, creativity and death. The Hutcheons' short book is fascinating - fairly academic in tone but with plenty of background about the context of the composers' later years - and made me want to listen more attentively to their (and other composers') late works.   

'The Barbecue at No. 9' by Jennie Godfrey

9 July 2026

Having enjoyed Jennie Godfrey's debut novel 'The List of Suspicious Things', in which a young girl in West Yorkshire in the 1970s attempts to identify the Yorkshire Ripper (reviewed here in July 2025), I was intrigued to learn that her new book is set in 1985 on the day of the Live Aid concert - a period that could have been my Mastermind specialist subject. 'The Barbecue at No. 9', which I read as an unabridged audio book (narrated by Gemma Whelan, Josh Dylan, Raffey Cassidy and Stephen Mangan) uses Live Aid as a backdrop and timeline for a gathering of neighbours. The Gordon family have invited all the other inhabitants of Delmont Close - many of whom have never previously met - to a barbecue in their garden to celebrate the occasion of the charity concert. At first I found it difficult to take in the substantial cast of characters (particularly listening to the audio book where it is difficult to skip back to check the names and house numbers). But soon I realised that the four narrators represented the four principal characters whose stories were going to be explored in depth. As with 'The List of Suspicious Things', Jennie Godfrey's writing reminded me of the novels of Joanna Cannon (including ‘The Trouble with Goats and Sheep’, set in the long hot summer of 1976, reviewed here in January 2022). The alternating stories of multiple, otherwise unconnected, individuals united in a moment also reminded me of Liane Moriarty's novel 'Here One Moment' (reviewed here in January 2025). You can tell there are going to be some twists and revelations but it took me a while to work them out. 'The Barbecue at No. 9' is enjoyable, entertaining and satisfying and I'm pleased to report that the Live Aid references were obviously well-researched.

Wimbledon 2026

4 July 2026

We had a lovely day at Wimbledon yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, but not too hot, with temperatures going up to 25 degrees and an occasional gentle breeze. We had tickets for Court 3 where we saw three entertaining third round singles matches. We watched the No 11 seed Belinda Bencic play Anna Kalinskaya, seeded 19 (who we saw playing doubles with Sorana Cirstea at Wimbledon last year, reviewed here in July 2025). This was an enthralling three set match with both players making plenty of mistakes. But Bencic always looked the better player and ended up pulling through. 

We then watched one of the most bizarre tennis matches we've seen at Wimbledon. Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany beat the No 8 seed, Daniil Medvedev, in straight sets, despite Medvedev leading 4-1 in the second and 5-2 in the third. Medvedev seemed to lose the match by getting increasingly frustrated, going through a phase of exaggerated gestures, followed by a period of sarcastic mutterings as he struggled to beat the huge, Struff serve. But he continued to play brilliantly on occasion, and just when we thought Struff would pull ahead in the face of Medvedev's dips, Struff's first serve appeared to desert him with both players struggling to close out the third set. Arguably the match was won on one amazing moment: Medvedev appeared to have played a brilliant winner with the ball legitimately going around the side of the net and back into court. But Struff asked for a video replay and, after several minutes delay, the replay on the big screen clearly showed that the ball had gone past the other side of the net post, through a gap in the net and out the other side, giving the point to Struff. 

Finally, we watched Karolina Muchava, the No 10 seed, playing Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand, the world number 164 who was appearing in her first Wimbledon, having only played one Grand Slam before this, the 2026 Australian Open where she went out in the first round. She had got through to the third round at Wimbledon having beaten Maja Chwalinska, the recent French Open finalist, on the way. At first, we feared this match might be incredibly one-sided, as Muchova took an early lead. But Sawangkaew showed no fear and played very impressively, pushing the second set to a tiebreak before departing to huge cheers.

Suntou Susso and the Gambian Superstars

2 July 2026

Last Friday we were at The Stables in Wavendon to see Suntou Susso and the Gambian Superstars. Suntou Susso is a Gambian griot in the tradition of the hereditary musicians whose songs chronicled history and tradition across the Mandé Empire of West Africa (like the late great Malian kora virtuoso Toumani Diabaté, reviewed here in May 2008). Suntou Susso is a singer, songwriter and kora player with a very likable personality. He had the audience up dancing, almost from the start, on one of the hottest days of the year. He was backed by a very impressive six piece band of brilliant musicians, playing a mixture of traditional and contemporary instruments, who are clearly having lots of fun. It was mostly fast and frantic dance music: one tune with a slightly slower reggae beat provided a nice contrast. I also particularly enjoyed the couple of more contemplative solo pieces with Suntou Susso accompanying himself on kora. It was a very enjoyable evening that left the audience and the band smiling.

'Small Things Like These' by Claire Keegan

26 June 2026

I'm grateful to Gavin Stride for giving me a copy of 'Small Things Like These' by Claire Keegan. This very short novel (just over 100 pages long) was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize. Set in New Ross, a small town in County Wexford in Ireland, in 1985, it tackles the appalling history of the Magdalen laundries. Now infamous as a shameful period in the history of Ireland and the Catholic Church, in 1985 the practice of incarcerating unmarried mothers and separating them from their babies was still largely unknown. (Ireland's last Magdalen laundry wasn't closed down until 1996). Claire Keegan tackles this difficult subject through the eyes of one man who starts to become aware of what has been happening under his nose. Her writing is sparse and poetic with every word carefully chosen. The opening paragraphs, which conjure up the town and its inhabitants, made me think of 'Under Milk Wood' by Dylan Thomas. This is also clearly Colm Tóibín territory: New Ross is just 20 miles from Tóibín's Enniscorthy and the careful period description of an Irish small town reminded me a lot of  'Long Island' by Colm Tóibín (reviewed here in July 2025). Keegan brilliantly gives you a perfect understanding of the relationship between two characters through the briefest exchange of dialogue, particularly (like Colm Tóibín) by what is not said. I also loved the quiet, understated symbolism of a new pair of shoes. 'Small Things Like These' is an almost Dickensian Christmas short story which never becomes whimsical or twee. It's a beautiful miniature that explores a dark subject with gentleness and hope.

'These Precious Days' by Ann Patchett

24 June 2026

I'm very grateful to fellow Ann Patchett fan Jess Plant for giving me a copy of 'These Precious Days' - Patchett's 2021 collection of non-fiction essays. I discovered Ann Patchett somewhat belatedly in 2023, reading her brilliant 2001 novel ‘Bel Canto’ (reviewed here in December 2023). Since then I have read and enjoyed her five subsequent novels (reviewed here, January 2024 - June 2025). 'These Precious Days' is an engaging and enjoyable collection of pieces on a variety of topics which gives you a rounded picture of the author, her personality, childhood, career, family and friends. Some of her pieces reminded me in their structure and tone of the comic essays of David Sedaris (reviewed here in June 2015). There are some very moving essays in 'These Precious Days' and Ann Patchett is particularly thought-provoking on the difficult topic of mortality. She is also very interesting on the business of being a writer and on her writing process. When I wrote here about her 2007 novel 'Run' (reviewed here in June 2024) I noted that Ann Patchett reminded me of the great contemporary American novelist Anne Tyler. So it was satisfying to discover, in the essay 'Cover Stories', that the publisher of Patchett's first novel hired the artist who had painted the cover illustration for Tyler's 'Breathing Lessons' in the hope of attracting Anne Tyler fans. Thirty years later Patchett says people still tell her that her novels remind them of Tyler's. Reading Ann Patchett's essays certainly makes you want to visit her book shop, Parnassus Books in Nashville. And I'm now really looking forward to reading her recently published tenth novel 'Whistler'.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

23 June 2026

I've been a member of Northampton Symphony Orchestra for 26 years but last Saturday was the first time I can remember us dedicating a whole concert to a single piece of music. Any Gustav Mahler Symphony is a significant undertaking for an orchestra, but Mahler's 'Symphony No 3', which we played at St Matthew's in Northampton, brings some particular challenges. As well as being the longest of his symphonies, its six movements lasting around 95 to 110 minutes, it requires a massive orchestra, a mezzo-soprano soloist, a ladies choir and a children's choir. It was an amazing experience being one of 160 performers on Saturday (including an orchestra of more than 100 players).

NSO rehearsing Mahler 'Symphony No 3' in St Matthew's

I wasn't familiar with the 3rd symphony until we started to rehearse it and I found it quite difficult to appreciate at first. While there were clearly some beautiful, brilliant (and many seemingly impossible) passages, playing through one or two of the movements at a time they felt as if they came from completely different pieces. But as I got to know the symphony better I began to spot the use of common thematic material across the very different feeling movements and the work as a whole began to make more sense to me. Again I was reminded that there is no better way to understand and appreciate complex music than by playing it.

Flugelhorn solo from the balcony

Although there are plenty of tricky passages for the first horn player, Mahler 3 doesn't feature the substantial horn solos that terrified me when we played Mahler 6 in 2011 (reviewed here in November 2011). In the third symphony, while challenging solos throughout the orchestra were impressively conquered by NSO players, the limelight belongs to three instruments that have lengthy, exposed solos. John Whittall gave a fantastic performance of the commanding operatic trombone solo in the first movement. And Dan Newitt's beautiful Flugelhorn solo in the third movement, played from high up in the balcony at the back of the church, was stunning. But I would also like to praise the incredibly delicate, quiet bass drum solos that punctuate several sections of the symphony, played carefully and precisely by Henry Taylor.

Mezzo-soprano Rachel Roper was wonderful in the fourth and fifth movements. And the children's choir from the Malcolm Arnold Academy and ladies' chorus from the Northampton Bach Choir, directed by Simon Toyne, added a magical feel to the fifth movement.

NSO conductor John Gibbons deserves huge congratulations for pulling this enormous piece together and guiding us through a very impressive performance - and for conducting the whole symphony with one hand, with his left arm in a sling following a recent accident.

I suspect any performance of Mahler's 'Symphony No 3' feels like a significant event. It was amazing to be in the room to hear it live, let alone to play a part in the performance, and it was wonderful to be part of a brilliant horn section of nine players. I think our realisation of this massive undertaking was a triumph and I really enjoyed it.

NSO Horns

Afterwards, one member of our audience told us she was overwhelmed, saying "It's my absolute favourite piece of music and I never thought I would hear it live." This is an important reminder of the role amateur orchestras play in sharing lesser performed music with local audiences. While our performance of Mahler's 'Symphony No 3' definitely included a few minor mistakes (from me at least), it was much more exciting to hear it live than to listen to a recording.