BBC Young Musician 2010

21 May 2010

I said here in May 2006 that "I love the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition" but in May 2008 I felt it was a major disappointment “that the impact of this landmark musical event should be so watered down in its thirtieth anniversary year”. So I approached the BBC Young Musician 2010 with some nervousness to see whether full coverage of the competition had been restored after the debacle of 2008. Overall I was pleased and greatly relieved: the extensive coverage of the five category finals on BBC4 showed plenty of the actual performances, mostly uninterrupted, and the concerto final was broadcast live and in full. But clearly the wonderfully indulgent concert of five concertos is something that no longer warrants clearing the schedules, and the price of live classical music on BBC2 was a pruning of the format to only allow for three finalists. This meant the introduction of a semi-final in which the five category winners reprised their solo recitals in order for three to be chosen to perform concertos with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. I really felt for the two unsuccessful semi-finalists, who in any of the previous competitions would have taken their place on the final stage with the orchestra. It was very disappointing that, for the first time in 32 years, the final didn’t include a brass concerto. Nevertheless it was a wonderful concerto final with three fine performances and a clear and worthy winner. Regular readers will be amazed to learn that, for the first time in the history of the BBC Young Musician competition, I correctly predicted the winner! (Though I was only picking from three, rather than five contenders of course.) And all the broadcast performances were beautifully presented and excellently filmed – the BBC really does the visual presentation of classical music brilliantly well. In 2010 the BBC Young Musician competition regained a sense of dignity and I suspect it will long be remembered for the truly wonderful, astounding performance of Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 by the 16-year-old winner Lara Ömeroğlu. See for yourself at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s3fk5

‘Yes, Prime Minister’ by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn

21 May 2010

We returned to the main house at Chichester Festival Theatre for the opening night of ‘Yes, Prime Minister’ – a new play by the writers of the original BBC sitcom, Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. David Haig and Henry Goodman took on the roles of Prime Minister Jim Hacker and Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby in a story which brought the action up-to-date with Hacker the leader of a coalition government in a hung parliament attempting to deal with a massive recession. There was some good fun to be had with the real political theatre of the previous few days with the insertion of a few last-minute gags, but in the main this was an enjoyable nostalgia trip back to the glory days of ‘Yes, Minister’. All the familiar elements were present – Sir Humphrey’s lengthy, erudite, obfuscating soliloquies (all the more impressive delivered live and flawlessly by Henry Goodman) and the naïve bewilderment of private secretary Bernard Woolley (here played by Jonathan Slinger). The addition of a modern ‘special advisor’ (played by Emily Joyce) and a few references to Blackberrys didn’t really alter the feeling that we were back in the 1980s. It felt like ‘The Thick of It’ had never happened (despite David Haig having appeared in the latest series). But it was good fun and there was a carefully constructed plot which made it feel like a proper 2-hour play. Haig and Goodman were both excellent but with neither attempting (quite correctly) any sort of impersonation of Paul Eddington or Nigel Hawthorne, I wondered why it was necessary to retain the original characters in this updated setting. I think the play would have worked as well with Haig as a different Prime Minister and Goodman as another variant on the long-serving civil servant (‘Sir Rupert’, perhaps). And I would have loved to see the two actors cast against type with David Haig as the civil servant and Henry Goodman as the politician.

'Bingo' by Edward Bond

21 May 2010

Our first ever visit to the Chichester Festival Theatre was to the smaller Minerva auditorium to see Patrick Stewart as William Shakespeare in Edward Bond’s 1974 play ‘Bingo’ which looks at Shakespeare’s final days in Stratford-upon-Avon. It was a high-quality production with an impressive cast but I wasn’t overly taken with the play. I was left with the feeling that I might have missed the point of what appeared to be a fairly miserable, factual tale. The historical detail was interesting but I found it to be a production to be admired rather than enjoyed. The high point was the appearance of Richard McCabe (who I last saw as Sir Toby Belch in ‘Twelfth Night’ reviewed here in November 2009) who stole the show with a single scene cameo as a Falstaffian Ben Jonson at the beginning of the second act.

‘I, Malvolio’ by Tim Crouch

21 May 2010

We concluded our visit to the Brighton Festival with a late night performance of ‘I, Malvolio’ – a one-man show written and performed by Tim Crouch. We’ve seen Tim Crouch a few times in Edinburgh and he is a completely compelling performer. Most of his work seems to blur the boundaries between actor and character and involves extensive interaction with the audience. He manages to be likeable, extremely funny and deeply unsettling. ‘I, Malvolio’ is his fourth exploration of Shakespearean characters, telling the tale of ‘Twelfth Night’ from Malvolio’s point of view – while constantly slipping in and out of character. An amazing, hilarious and strange theatrical experience – take any opportunity to see what Tim Crouch does next.

Brighton Youth Orchestra concert

21 May 2010

Our brief sampling of the Brighton Festival started with a great concert by the Brighton Youth Orchestra at St Bartholomew’s Church. Conducted by the indefatigable Andy Sherwood, the BYO were in fine form, opening with an impressive performance of the ‘Overture to Candide’ by Leonard Bernstein. But the concert was dominated by two very different soloists. The legendary bass, Sir John Tomlinson, joined the orchestra for the premiere of ‘Midnight Skaters’ by local composer Peter Copley – a beautiful, thoughtful piece. This was followed by the fascinating spectacle of Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe’s ‘Earth Cry’ for orchestra and didgeridoo. The didgeridoo soloist Steve Heath (originally from Portsmouth rather than Australia!) created an amazing range of sounds and demonstrated an incredible feat of circular breathing. Sir John returned after the interval to sing excerpts from Mussorgsky’s ‘Boris Godunov’ – a powerful climax to a very enjoyable evening.

West Sussex

21 May 2010

We had a lovely week in West Sussex: we stayed at a cottage in Middleton-on-Sea and took advantage of some very good weather to do lots of walking, both along the coast and across the South Downs. We particularly liked the pretty towns of Arundel and Midhurst and small Cathedral City of Chichester and managed a brief excursion across to Brighton.

‘A Prayer for Owen Meany’ by John Irving

7 May 2010

I first discovered John Irving’s 1989 novel ‘A Prayer for Owen Meaney’ through the excellent BBC Radio 4 dramatisation last year, in which Toby Jones created the distinctive voice of Owen Meany (which in the book is always IN CAPITAL LETTERS). Reading the novel for the first time I felt the ‘present day’ (1987) passages focussing on the Reagan administration and the Iran-Contra affair – which were largely omitted from the radio abridgement – seemed strangely dated and irrelevant in a way in which the main ‘historic’ story, told in flashback, didn’t. The various impacts of the Vietnam War on the principal characters – perhaps originally intended to sew warnings about Reagan-era foreign policy – now seem much more the centre of attention. ‘A Prayer for Owen Meaney’ is a great comic (and tragic) novel with some brilliant set-piece scenes (the Nativity Play is a beautifully-constructed and hilarious passage). Irving plays around with time, flashing forward and back as he gradually moving through the characters’ lives in chronological order. And he teases the reader remorselessly, constantly hinting at what is to come and drip-feeding key details to build the final picture. The final revelation takes so long to come that the anticipation almost becomes irritating but it’s so worth waiting for you finish the book in awe and with a smile on your face.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

28 April 2010

Arriving at the final afternoon rehearsal for last Saturday’s Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert, we were expecting to face the challenging prospect of playing the ‘Cello Concerto by Samuel Barber – an interesting but tricky piece which I suspect had been new to most of us. What we were presented with, however, was a challenge of a different nature: our ‘cello soloist had been taken ill and it had proved impossible to find a replacement who knew this rarely performed work. So, at the last minute, the violinist Irmina Trynkos, who is due to play with us in our next concert, agreed to perform the Bruch Violin Concerto. At 2.15 pm the music was handed out to the orchestra for the first time and by 8.30 pm we had completed a stunning performance of this much-loved concerto. It was an exciting, edge-of-the-seat experience – not without a few hairy moments but very enjoyable. I’m now really looking forward to hearing Irmina play the ‘Poeme for Violin and Orchestra’ on 19 June. The rest of Saturday’s concert was an American affair including ‘Three Dance Episodes from On the Town’ by Bernstein, ‘Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo’ by Copland and what I thought was a really good performance of Gershwin’s ‘An American in Paris’ – a complex circus of a piece which came together wonderfully – and the car horns were great!

‘Dead Guilty’ by Richard Harris

23 April 2010

We had a few days in sunny Dorset last week and managed to fit in a visit to the Bournemouth Little Theatre Club to see a performance of ‘Dead Guilty’ by Richard Harris. This clever, psychological thriller was extremely well acted – a very high quality production – and kept us guessing to the end. Good to see BLTC, which has just celebrated its 90^th anniversary, going strong.

Phil Hammond

23 April 2010

Phil Hammond is a GP who has carved out an extensive second career as a comedian with regular appearances on Radio 4, a column in Private Eye and even a stint in the dictionary corner on Countdown! We saw him at the Maltings Arts Theatre in St Albans at the beginning of a new national tour. He is a very slick performer: the material about his childhood and medical training seemed to be delivered with a speed and confidence that suggested it was far from the first time he had used it but it was still very funny. Phil Hammond is not a stand-up comedian who happens to be a doctor: almost all of his material is about the medical profession or the absurdities of the NHS. He clearly feels passionately about many of the current problems in the health service but at times his more serious rants sat slightly uncomfortably next to some of the comic set-pieces. Nevertheless he was impressive, assured and very funny.

'Here Lies Love' by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim

8 April 2010

One of the most bizarre aspects of visiting the Vigário Geral favela in Rio de Janeiro was spotting, on the wall of a small family restaurant in the heart of the favela, the signature of former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. I suppose it wasn't that surprising, knowing that Byrne is a good friend of Brazilian Tropicália singer Caetano Veloso and that Veloso is a key supporter of our hosts, Grupo Cultural AfroReggae, but it still seemed an incongruous intrusion in the extreme surroundings of the favela. I guess nothing should really surprise me where David Byrne is concerned: his latest album, launched this week, sees Byrne collaborating with Fatboy Slim to produce a disco song cycle about the life of Imelda Marcos - a concept that sounds as if it should have been released on 1 April rather than 6 April! Nevertheless the result is fabulous: 'Here Lives Love' features 22 (mainly female) guest vocalists taking turns to tell the story of the life of the former First Lady of the Philippines, and the woman who raised her, through the medium of disco - a reference to Imelda Marcos' love of nightclubs. And those vocalists include some of my favourite singers such as Natalie Merchant, Martha Wainwright and the sublime Allison Moorer. I've always appreciated David Byrne's taste in collaborators since learning that the backing vocals on his wonderful 1989 album 'Rei Momo' were by another personal favourite, Kirsty MacColl. The cast list on 'Here Lies Love' also features Cyndi Lauper, Tori Amos, Florence Welch, Róisín Murphy, Camille and Steve Earle as Ferdinand Marcos! The succession of female vocalists playing particular parts reminded me of 'God Help the Girl' (reviewed here in August 2009). But 'Here Lies Love' is unmistakably a David Byrne creation with the disco beats underpinned by his beloved Latin rhythms. A surreally infectious treat.

AfroReggae

30 March 2010

The favelas of Rio de Janeiro are desperate places – shanty towns where the rule of law is absent, dominated by drug traffickers and gangs, made even more shocking by their proximity to some of the most opulent parts of the city. In 1993 police killed 21 innocent people from Vigário Geral, one of the poorest favelas, in retaliation for the shooting dead of 4 policemen. In response to this tragic event, Grupo Cultural AfroReggae was created to offer young people from the favelas an alternative to a life of drugs and violence. AfroReggae began as a newspaper but soon started offering workshops in dance, percussion, circus skills and a host of other cultural disciplines. Controversially working with some of the major drug traffickers while also attracting major commercial sponsorship from companies including Santander and Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, AfroReggae has grown into a large and extremely successful organisation. We visited three of Rio’s favelas as guests of AfroReggae, being met and escorted at the entrances to each favela by some of the most brilliant samba drummers I have seen. We saw performances of dance, circus skills, percussion, drama, reggae, rock and orchestral music and had a question and answer session with AfroReggae founder Jose Junior. But the climax was undoubtedly a performance by the original Banda AfroReggae – now an internationally acclaimed group making a rare appearance back in the Vigário Geral favela. Banda AfroReggae are a mighty band – big, loud, funky and incredibly cool. Their music incorporates pop, rock, reggae, hip-hop and rap with Brazilian percussion: it’s fast, catchy and irresistible. Hearing Banda AfroReggae for the first time in a private performance in a small studio in the AfroReggae centre was an amazing experience – I’m a fan! You can see a report and photos on our visit to AfroReggae at http://www.afroreggae.org.br/2010/03/25/nucleos-de-vigario-complexo-e-lucas-recebem-visita-de-diretores-britanicos/, listen to AfroReggae on Spotify and see their remarkable story in the 2005 film ‘Favela Rising’.

Jards Macalé and Jorge Mautner

30 March 2010

The best known protagonists of the Tropicália movement are the musicians Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil – both exiled to London in the late 1960s by the Brazilian military dictatorship. While we were in Sao Paulo we were lucky enough to catch a concert by two of their contemporaries Jards Macalé and Jorge Mautner at Sesc Pompéia. Both singers are now about 70 years old and are clearly revered by what was a packed and enthusiastic audience. The Tropicália movement was based on ‘antropofagia’ – cultural cannibalism, taking in influences from a range of genres and creating something new and unique. Though undoubtedly revolutionary at the time I’m afraid that, to me, the music now sounds a little tame – gentle, beautiful and soothing like bossa nova without the beat. Not being able to understand the Portuguese lyrics is clearly a major hindrance in listening to songs with a strong political message. But it was fascinating to watch the rapturous reaction of the crowd who were mouthing the words to many of the songs and quick to their feet to give a standing ovation to these two legendary performers.

Hélio Oticica exhibition

30 March 2010

I arrived in Sao Paulo just in time to attend the opening of an exhibition on Hélio Oticica at Centro Cultural. Hélio Oticica’s installation ‘Tropicália’, recreated in this exhibition (complete with live parrots!), gave its name to the famous Brazilian art movement of the late 1960s. Entering the packed crowd of paulistas observing and engaging with the works of art was an exciting, intriguing and slightly intimidating experience. It was hard, at times, to distinguish between performers and audience, particularly as many of the pieces by, or about, Hélio Oticica were intended to be worn. Like much conceptual art it was easy to dismiss some pieces as pretentious or provocative, particularly without being able to read the (Portuguese) explanatory text, but it was an entertaining and intriguing afternoon.

'Hobo' by Charlie Winston

18 March 2010

I saw Charlie Winston, the troubadour from Suffolk, perform at Womad last July but I’ve only just managed to get hold of his excellent album ‘Hobo’. Winston sings catchy tunes with a confident swagger and tongue firmly in cheek. His voice reminds me in its occasional mock-opera moments both of Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy (reviewed here in September 2005 and July 2006) and David Byrne. These are upbeat, rhythmic and wryly amusing songs: I particularly like ‘My Life As A Duck’ but there are plenty of memorable tracks on the album.

‘Daughter of Fortune’ by Isabel Allende

18 March 2010

I’ve been reading ‘Daughter of Fortune’ by Isabel Allende, a family saga/epic thriller which starts in Chile in the 1830s before telling the story of the California gold rush. It’s a broad canvas which is historically fascinating and filmic in scope but I’m afraid it didn’t grab me and it’s taken me an age to finish it. Isabel Allende has a tendency to undercut the tension by suddenly flashing forward to the characters reminiscing about the current events many years later. I also felt there were odd changes in pace throughout the novel. I enjoyed the well-drawn characters and the settings but I feel I may have missed something.

Orchestra of St John's concert

8 March 2010

We were at Kings Place in London on Saturday for a concert by the Orchestra of St John's. The programme included 'Cantata No 51' by J S Bach, featuring the excellent young soprano Louise Wayman, and Haydn's 'Symphony No.44 - Trauer'. And it was very interesting to hear Handel's 'The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' contrasted with Alec Roth's 'Departure of the Queen of Sheba'. Written in 1999, Roth's work uses material from the familiar Handel piece to create a beautifully moving wordless dialogue between the Queen (oboe) and King Solomon (cor anglais). It's a lovely, gently romantic piece of music and it was great to see the composer in the audience on Saturday. The small Orchestra of St John's (featuring only 19 players at this concert) were very impressive: tight, clear and precise, demonstrating how exciting classical music can be.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

3 March 2010

For the past few weeks my personal soundtrack has consisted of Rachmaninov’s gorgeous 3^rd Piano Concerto playing almost continuously in my head in preparation for last Saturday’s Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert. It’s a fantastic and fiendishly difficult piece of music and it was very exciting to be accompanying the amazing young Italian pianist, Marco Fatichenti, who gave an incredible performance on Saturday at the Spinney Hill Theatre in Northampton. Marco played many of the most challenging passages of the concerto incredibly fast and his thrilling unpredictability gave the orchestra and our conductor, Alexander Walker, some nerve-wracking moments. But it was a wonderful performance and Marco’s cadenza at the end of the first movement deserved a standing ovation on its own. Tchaikowsky’s ‘Symphony No. 1, Winter Daydreams’ seemed a little tame by comparison but, having conquered the challenge of the Rachmaninov concerto, I felt the orchestra relaxed a little in the second half of the concert and gave a very good account of the symphony.

‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ byTennessee Williams

23 February 2010

We were at the Novello Theatre in London’s West End on Saturday to see ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ by Tennessee Williams. This was a great production, directed by Debbie Allen, with an excellent cast including Adrian Lester, Sanaa Lathan and Phylicia Rashad (Allen’s sister). But even amongst such impressive company it was undoubtedly James Earl Jones as Big Daddy who stole the show. Jones is a compelling physical performer, appearing to change body shape with the moods of the character. It was fascinating, for example, just to watch how he used his arms. And it was wonderful to hear his iconic, deep, booming voice fill the theatre.

Victoria & Albert Museum Medieval and Renaissance galleries

23 February 2010

On Saturday we visited the new Medieval and Renaissance galleries at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The exhibits are beautifully presented – there’s lots of space and light much like the refurbished Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (reviewed here in November 2009). I felt there was less of a coherent narrative than at the Ashmolean: the V&A tends to present historic objects as art. But the new galleries are visually stunning and there are some real gems to discover.

Five Star Swing

23 February 2010

Last Friday we were at Toddington Village Hall to see ‘Five Star Swing’ – an excellent five-piece jazz band including former members of the Herb Miller Orchestra and the Ivy Benson band. They played a mixed menu of swing and jazz standards including helpings of Sinatra, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and much more. The band had a good line in banter and it was a very entertaining evening.

Tess May Tribute Concert

17 February 2010

Tess May was a French horn teacher who worked in the Milton Keynes area for more than 30 years. Tess died suddenly last year as a result of a stroke and last Saturday her friends, family, colleagues and pupils, past and present, gathered at Ousedale School in Newport Pagnell for a tribute concert to celebrate and remember Tess and to raise funds for the charity Headway and for a Milton Keynes Music Service Horn Scholarship. I played in a choir of massed French horns, including just about every horn player in the area. The concert also featured the Tess May Olney Brass Band and a full orchestral brass ensemble. Tess’s sons Tim and Peter played trumpet and euphonium solos and joined their father, Laurence, for an emotional encore. The climax of the evening was a performance of ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ by Mussorgsky with everyone who had taken part in the concert playing ‘The Great Gate of Kiev’ – one of the loudest musical experiences you will ever hear! It was a wonderful evening – entertaining, eclectic and very moving: a great way to remember Tess. It was a privilege to be involved.

‘Roam’ by the Tom Dale Company

17 February 2010

Last Friday we were at the Trestle Arts Base in St Albans to see ‘Roam’ – a new piece by the Tom Dale Company. Choreographed by Tom Dale with specially commissioned tracks from maverick producer/composer Shackleton and drum&bass outfit Sion (“a captivating journey into a world of swinging sub bass and complex percussion”) and incorporating the work of poet Rick Holland, ‘Roam’ was a serious, impressive performance. The five young dancers demonstrated truly amazing athleticism. Not being fluent in the language of modern dance, I don’t really have the vocabulary to do the piece justice but it was clearly of a very high standard. As a musician, I found those sections that were more obviously rhythmic and related directly to the music easier to appreciate though I was impressed that even the slower, more abstract movements contained tiny muscular twitches that acknowledged the music’s beats. I’m not sure I fully grasped all the references to the desire to roam, which (according to the programme) explored the relationship between “intellectual roaming and more animalistic roaming for food and shelter”. But it was great to see something so different, thought-provoking and cool. You can see an extract at: http://vimeo.com/6879374

'Cello recital by Robert Foster at Toddington Music Society

12 February 2010

On Saturday evening we made the short journey to our neighbouring village for a concert presented by the Toddington Music Society. Robert Foster is a young ‘cellist (currently doing his GCSEs at a school in Dunstable) who won the Toddington Music Society Young Musician Competition in 2009. His prize was a solo recital in the Wilkinson Church Hall in Toddington – though the phrase solo recital is slightly misleading as Robert brought with him a host of friends to create an eclectic evening of high quality music-making. We heard piano and guitar solos and Robert played several pieces with a group of young string players as well as a variety of pieces for solo ‘cello and piano accompaniment. As well as the inevitable ‘cello perennials (‘The Swan’ from Saint-Saens’ ‘The Carnival Of Animals’ and the ‘Prelude’ from the first ‘Cello Suite’ by J.S. Bach) it was great to discover some more unusual offerings such as a piano piece by the Japanese film and video-game composer Nobuo Uematsu. But the highlight for me was a ‘cello duet by Friedrich August Kummer (a contemporary of Schubert) which Robert Foster played with his elder brother David, himself a former winner of the Toddington Young Musician Competition. It was a really enjoyable evening and wonderful to see such a high standard of young musical talent so close to home.

'Far' by Regina Spektor

5 February 2010

Regina Spektor is a singer who tends to get filed under ‘acquired taste’ but is definitely a taste worth acquiring. Moscow-born Regina Spektor grew up in New York where she studied classical piano. Her piano-backed pop/rock ballads remind me of Nerina Pallot (reviewed her in May 2006) with similarly clever lyrics. But Regina Spektor’s childlike voice is very much in the Kate Bush/ Joanna Newsom vein. Her latest album ‘Far’ is less earnest and more upbeat than Joanna Newsom (reviewed here in November 2006): jaunty but wistful.

‘Light a Candle’ by Forró in the Dark

29 January 2010

Forró in the Dark are a band formed by four New York-based Brazilian ex-pats who have taken forró (“the hip-swiveling, dancefloor-filling, rural party music of Brazil’s northeastern states”) and created from it a cool, modern, urban, infectiously catchy sound. Their album ‘Light a Candle’ is a varied set of songs in a number of languages (including English) which are cheery, upbeat and very danceable. Electric guitar, saxophone and flute are to the fore, accompanied by the ever-present syncopated tingle of the triangle. It’s music with a smile – easy to like if a bit indeterminately ‘international’ rather than distinctively Brazilian. At times Forró in the Dark sound remarkably like the German world music fusionists 17 Hippies (reviewed here in October 2007). Cheer-yourself-up music.

'Ed Reardon's Week' by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds

22 January 2010

I was a late convert to the joys of 'Ed Reardon's Week', the wonderful BBC Radio 4 comedy by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds which has just started its sixth series, but like many late converts I'm now zealously enthusiastic. These thirty minute tales of the life of the eponymous curmudgeonly writer (played by Douglas) and Elgar, his faithful feline companion, are beautifully crafted with a host of subtle literary references and running jokes. Each episode manages to give the impression that nothing has happened while actually carrying the listener through a nicely rounded plot with a satisfying comic twist. I can relate to the local references, being not too far from Berkhamsted, and increasingly to Ed's constant railing against the '12-year-olds' in charge of running the modern world (badly). The show has a great cast including Stephanie Cole, John Fortune, Philip Jackson and Geoffrey Whitehead - though the best character is definitely Ed's literary agent's dippy Sloane Ranger assistant Ping (now played by Barunka O'Shaughnessy). 'Ed Reardon's Week' is currently on Radio 4 on Monday morning's at 11.30 am (and available on iPlayer). And in the best Ed Reardon tradition I'm grateful to Wikipedia for its help in writing this review.

‘The Life of Lilly’ by Ruth Notman

15 January 2010

As I’ve struggled to get in and out of Eversholt through the severe wintry weather this week, I’ve been keeping my spirits up by listening to the wonderful second album by my favourite young English folk singer, Ruth Notman (reviewed here in February 2007, April 2009 and August 2009). ‘The Life of Lilly’ continues the mix of traditional songs and original compositions that characterised her debut album ‘Threads’. There’s a similar variety of arrangements and moods: I particularly like the beautifully moving title track and the cheeky jollity of ‘Johnny Be Fair’. ‘The Life of Lilly’ is another classy album dominated by Ruth Notman’s gorgeous and distinctive voice. If you haven’t discovered her yet make, it your New Year resolution to do so!

Lea Singers Christmas Concert

8 January 2009

The Lea Singers Christmas Concert in Harpenden was the perfect way to start our Christmas break. This excellent amateur chamber choir (of just 21 singers) entertained a packed audience with a mixture of carols and Christmas songs from around the world including a fiendish arrangement of 'Jingle Bells' by Ben Parry which shaves a quaver off the length of a bar each time the chorus comes round. This was the first Lea Singers Christmas Concert for the choir's impressive new conductor, James Sherlock, and his enthusiastic contribution, together with the return of the wonderful young tenor soloist, Nicky Spence, made for a light-hearted, cheeky and extremely high-quality performance.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

17 December 2009

This year’s Northampton Symphony Orchestra ‘Christmas Cracker Concert’ was the first for our new conductor, Alexander Walker, and had a slightly different focus from recent years. An all-Russian, festive programme included part of Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Christmas Eve Suite’, the ‘Rose Adagio’ from ‘Sleeping Beauty’ by Tchaikovsky and the whole of Prokofiev’s ‘Lieutenant Kije Suite’. We were also joined by the Russian singer and multi-instrumentalist Serge Pachnine & the amazing balalaika player Bibs Ekkel for a series of traditional Russian folk songs, arranged for orchestra and soloists by Alexander Walker. What at first appeared to be a more serious programme than our previous Christmas Cracker Concerts, turned out to be huge fun with fantastically entertaining performances by Serge and Bibs much appreciated by a large, enthusiastic and appreciative audience. You can see Bibs in action at http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&feature=player_embedded&v=AYN17QvR6P0

'Piano Concerto No 1' by Wilhelm Stenhammar

11 December 2009

I had never heard of the Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871 – 1927) until I read a newspaper review of a new recording of his two piano concertos a few weeks ago, but I’m now a big fan. I’ve been listening, in particular, to his epic Piano Concerto No. 1, written in 1893. It’s a gloriously romantic work with more than a hint of Brahms: anyone who likes the piano concertos of Rachmaninov would find much to admire here. It’s tuneful, passionate and very moving. It also reminded me of the two wonderful, but similarly neglected, piano concertos by Herbert Howells. You can judge for yourself by exploring quite a few recordings of Stenhammar’s works (for free) on Spotify. I’m now looking forward to getting to know his three symphonies.

‘Annie Get Your Gun’ by Irving Berlin

4 December 2009

Last Saturday we were at the Young Vic in London to see Irving Berlin’s ‘Annie Get Your Gun’. It was a marvellous evening: I left the theatre grinning and whistling the tunes (which is more difficult than it sounds!). I hadn’t seen ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ before but I was very familiar with many of the songs which have become standards. It’s hard to believe that ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’, ‘Anything You Can Do’, ‘I Got the Sun in the Morning’ and ‘Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly’ all came from this one show. Irving Berlin certainly knew how to write a good tune and had the knack of creating musical comedy that was genuinely funny: there are some great laugh-out-loud lyrics. The Young Vic production was lots of fun: it’s a relatively small theatre so you get to see the cast close-up and, while there was some very witty use of fairly low-tech props and stagecraft, the gimmicks were used sparingly so that the focus was on the acting and the singing. Jane Horrocks as Annie Oakley is a real star: it’s hard to take your eyes off her even during the ensemble pieces. Her face, movement and voice are excellent: she’s a compelling performer and it was great to see her in such an intimate venue. Jason Carr’s musical arrangements for four upright pianos which buttress the front of the stage conjured up the atmosphere of a Wild West saloon and the singing was excellent. A really enjoyable evening in the theatre.

'Mostly Harmless' by Douglas Adams

27 November 2009

When I was reading the reviews of Eoin Colfer’s official ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ sequel, ‘And Another Thing’, I realised that I had never got around to reading ‘Mostly Harmless’, Douglas Adams’ fifth and final volume in his Hitchhiker ‘trilogy’. I’ve now just finished ‘Mostly Harmless’ and, while it was great fun to re-immerse myself in Adams’ brilliantly witty prose, it’s a bit of a downbeat ending to his wonderful sci-fi saga. As I read it I realised I was already familiar with the plot of ‘Mostly Harmless’ from Dirk Maggs’ radio version. It lacks a lot of the pace and humour of the earlier books, partly I think because he keeps the main characters apart for most of the story. And I understand (from Douglas Adams’ own reflections in ‘The Salmon of Doubt’, reviewed here in October 2009) that he wrote ‘Mostly Harmless’ at a time when he wasn’t at his most cheery – which might explain his compulsion to kill off most of his major characters. Or maybe, perversely, it's the absence of the depressive Marvin the Paranoid Android from this book that actually makes it more depressing? Nevertheless there’s lots of great ideas, set-pieces and carefully planted gags. Now bring on ‘And Another Thing’ …

Staff Benda Bilili

19 November 2009

Staff Benda Bilili are an amazing band – one of the most exciting live acts I have seen for ages. They are a group of Congolese street musicians who live around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa – where they recorded their debut album in the open air. Four of the musicians use wheelchairs and a fifth appears on crutches but this doesn’t prevent some of the most exuberant dancing you’ll ever see on a stage. The music is upbeat, catchy, funky and infectiously danceable. A fantastic, young drummer plays a kit which appears to be constructed from blocks of wood and tin cans that might have been found in a skip. But the star of the show is eighteen-year-old Roger Landu who plays the ‘satonge’ – an instrument he constructed from a condensed milk tin, coat hanger and a piece of wire, connected to an amplifier to create a soaring electronic sound which is part Stylophone, part theremin, part Jimi Hendrix! It’s quite hard to adequately describe the effect of seeing Staff Benda Bilili – who we saw at the Stables in Wavendon on Sunday. At first you worry that their disabilities and wheelchairs are being exploited as a gimmick but soon their musicianship, raw enthusiasm and zest for life makes you forget the disabilities and see the personalities. It was a truly brilliant performance – the album, ‘Très Très Fort’ is good but nothing like the experience of seeing the band live – do catch them if you have the chance. Take a look at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaTZ5gAzkCY.

‘Shakers’ by John Godber and Jane Thornton

19 November 2009

On Saturday we made a first visit to the marvellous Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds – the only surviving example of a Regency theatre in the country. The original Georgian building is now supplemented by a modern atrium – in a similar way to the Ashmolean extension. We were there to see the Hull Truck Theatre Company production of ‘Shakers’ by John Godber and Jane Thornton. ‘Shakers’, written in 1985, is a companion piece to Godber’s 1977 hit ‘Bouncers’ with four female actors playing four waitresses in a cocktail bar and all their customers from opening time to closing time. Like a lot of John Godber plays, it’s very funny but also achingly poignant. I first saw ‘Shakers’ many years ago – a great amateur production but at the less architecturally inspiring setting of the South Holland Centre in Spalding (before its Lottery-funded facelift) – quite a contrast from the Regency splendour of the Theatre Royal! This production, directed by John Godber, was excellently acted and enthusiastically received by a sell-out audience.

The Ashmolean Museum

19 November 2009

It’s been a week for first visits: on Friday I made my first trip to Britain’s oldest museum, the Ashmolean in Oxford which has just reopened after a massive refurbishment. It’s a fascinating building, with the modern extension seamlessly integrated into the classical original. I loved the apparent randomness of the layout: you wander from small, low-ceilinged galleries into vast, cavernous rooms and you can see through glass panels from one gallery to the next, enticing you onwards. Just walking around the building creates a sense of exploration. The thematic grouping of displays – rather than a traditional chronological approach – adds to the feeling of eclectic channel-hopping. I worried a little that I was drawn more to the text and graphics than to the actual objects on display. It was particularly interesting to finish the day by looking at the displays on Ancient Egypt which are the one part of the museum yet to be refurbished and now appear extremely old-fashioned: the display cases are crammed with huge numbers of objects and cards containing masses of very small text and the galleries feel quite cramped and claustrophobic compared to the airy modernity of the rest of the museum. You can easily spend a whole day in the Ashmolean (and entry is free). And if the queues in the basement café are long I can recommend popping across the road to the café in the foyer of the Playhouse Theatre.

Galliard Ensemble

19 November 2009

Regular readers may have noticed that I don’t go to a lot of chamber music concerts: I’m not sure why, because those few occasions I have been persuaded to attend have always been really enjoyable. Last Thursday I made my first visit to Bedford Music Club to hear the Galliard Ensemble – a wind quintet who came to prominence through the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme. They were brilliant – precise, delicate, impressive and extremely entertaining. Their programme – inadvertently themed around composers called Paul! – was varied and interesting. We were treated to the world premiere of ‘Pealing Out’, a short celebratory piece written by local composer Paul Whitmarsh to mark the fortieth anniversary of Bedford Music Club. And Paul Whitmarsh was one of two composers in the room (both called Paul!) as Paul Patterson introduced his 1972 ‘Comedy for Five Winds’ which closed the concert. I was interested to hear ‘Kleine Kammermusik’, an early work by Paul Hindemith, but I particularly enjoyed Samuel Barber’s ‘Summer Music’. It was a wonderful concert.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

12 November 2009

When I hear any orchestral music on the radio, while I may not be able to identify the piece or the composer, I can almost always tell instantly whether or not I have played it. And, even listening to it on the radio, I still get that nervous pain in my stomach when hearing the few bars that immediately precede a horn solo or an exposed entry that I once agonised over playing. I suspect the closing moments of the first movement of Rachmaninov’s third symphony will now forever conjure up that mixture of excitement and terror after my experience of playing the horn solo at the start of the second movement with the Northampton Symphony Orchestra last Saturday. In a rare excursion into the NSO first horn hot-seat, I faced the daunting prospect of creating the only sound at the quiet opening of the slow movement. To be fair it’s more of a duet with the harp than a solo and I was very grateful for the reassuring presence of our excellent harpist Daniel de Fry. And, between you and me, it’s not a particularly difficult series of notes to play. But the pressure of such an exposed and fleeting moment to get it right or wrong, after many weeks of rehearsal, does make you incredibly nervous. As far as I can remember it went okay, and I did enjoy the experience, but I suspect that the joyous opening of the final movement of the symphony will now always be synonymous for me with a feeling of relief and relaxation. Rachmaninov’s ‘Symphony No 3’ is a subtle, complex and beautiful piece of music – not one that I was previously familiar with and I have enjoyed getting to know it. I think we gave a pretty good performance in a programme which also included ‘Francesca da Rimini’ by Tchaikovsky and Lucy Parham playing Mozart’s ‘Piano Concerto No 24’. There’s nothing better to relieve stress and nerves than to listen to Lucy playing Mozart.

'Toast' by Nigel Slater

6 November 2009

Years ago someone (was it you?) told me to read 'Toast' by Nigel Slater and it's taken me ages to get around to it: now I wish I'd read it earlier! Slater's childhood memoir, told through a series of short food-based episodes, is entertaining, nostalgic, funny, moving and very sad. Most of the chapters are no more than a couple of pages long and many would stand alone as effective short stories. His delicate descriptions of food from prawn cocktail to jammie dodgers to space dust really bring the tastes and smells to life. And the detached, naïve, voice of his younger self creates a subtle portrait of family life seen through a boy's lonely eyes.

'Twelfth Night' by William Shakespeare

2 November 2009

Although I was looking forward to seeing Gregory Doran's new RSC production of 'Twelfth Night' at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, I was surprised, having seen another production of the play quite recently at Woburn (reviewed here in August 2009), at the extent to which I was completely gripped by the plot. Most of the publicity for this production has centred on Richard Wilson's RSC debut as Malvolio. His was a fine performance but Malvolio is not the main focus of the play and, for me, the two stars were the female leads: Nancy Carroll as Viola and Alexandra Gilbreath as Olivia. I was also impressed by Richard McCabe and James Fleet who I think were the best Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek I have seen. The 'letter scene', dominated by a towering and particularly box-like box tree, was a real highlight. The thrust stage of the Courtyard Theatre brings the actors much closer to the audience, making the live experience particularly exciting and it was wonderful to see such excellent acting so close up.

'The Pitmen Painters' by Lee Hall

26 October 2009

On Saturday we were at the Milton Keynes Theatre to see 'The Pitmen Painters' by Lee Hall. This is the inspiring story of a group of miners who started attending a WEA art appreciation class in Ashington, Northumberland in 1934, where their tutor decided the best way to help them understand art was to get them to try creating their own pictures. The Ashington Group - many of whom had left school at the age of 10 to start working in the mine - became nationally recognised and collected and were friends with some of the most famous artists of their day. When I met the new Chief Executive of Northumberland County Council recently he proudly pointed out an Ashington Group painting he had bought for the wall of his office. Lee Hall's play is wonderful - entertaining, thought-provoking, moving and extremely funny. The group's meetings in a YMCA hall, an old army hut, seemed reminiscent of 'Dad's Army' - with a similar cast of characters. Their pictures are projected across the back of the stage enabling us to follow their critical discussions in detail. The actors in this National Theatre/Live Theatre touring co-production are the original cast from the premiere at the Live Theatre, Newcastle, in September 2007. It's a great night in the theatre but it also carries a very important message. Writing in the programme Lee Hall points out "the idea that art is somehow a commodity, that culture is something one consumes rather than takes part in, is, of course, a very modern notion. The idea that an artist is someone who makes things to be bought and sold is part of this ideological shift and it is important to remind ourselves that art might indeed mean something more than this". I urge you to see 'The Pitmen Painters' if you get the chance.

'Spring Storm' by Tennessee Williams

26 October 2009

'Spring Storm' was Tennessee Williams' first play, written in 1937 but only now receiving its European premiere at the Royal Theatre in Northampton. It's an interesting early work with some rough edges but hints of the greater plays that were to follow. Laurie Sansom's production features a wonderful ramshackle set - a pile of driftwood thrown together by the Mississippi from which the actors construct the essential elements for each scene. There are a couple of great set-piece scenes towards the end of the play and there's some fantastic acting throughout, particularly from Liz White as Heavenly Critchfield and Jacqueline King as her mother.

'Home Time' by Emma Fryer and Neil Redmond

23 October 2009

I've been completely hooked on 'Home Time' the BBC2 sitcom by Emma Fryer and Neil Redmond which ended its first series last night. At the age of 17 Gaynor ran away to London leaving her childhood behind in Coventry: 12 years later she returns sheepishly to her family home where her parents and best friends pick up where they left off, treating her as if she is still a teenager. As she revisits her childhood haunts an embarrassed Gaynor continually bumps into people from her past (as she walks down the street in the opening episode, both the burglar emerging from a window and the police officer who then apprehends him pause to look up and say "Hi Gaynor - you back then?"). Dark, poignant and very funny, the series is incredibly well-written (I liked the line "at our age we still have the rest of our lives in front of us"). The characters are great, particularly the star of the show, 'Cov' itself. You can still watch all 6 episodes on BBC iplayer - catch it while you can.

‘Keepsakes’ by Sam Carter

16 October 2009

I’ve been enjoying ‘Keepsakes’, the debut solo album by Sam Carter – one of the members of the folk big band Bellowhead (reviewed here in October 2006). As with fellow Bellowheader Benji Kirkpatrick (reviewed here in April 2009) it’s great to hear Sam Carter’s virtuoso playing in the spotlight. His delicate finger-picking guitar playing accompanies a series of gentle, contemplative self-penned songs. I particularly like the wistful, haunting melody of ‘Captain’ – a song about driving through the night between gigs which captures beautifully a feeling of being exhausted but happy.

'The Salmon of Doubt' by Douglas Adams

8 October 2009

This seems the right time to be returning to Douglas Adams: Stephen Fry and Mark Cawardine are currently retracing the steps Douglas and Mark took 20 years ago in 'Last Chance to See' (Sundays on BBC1), a third 'Dirk Gently' radio series is in production (following the wonderful radio versions of 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency', reviewed here in October 2007, and 'The Long, Dark, Tea Time of the Soul', reviewed here in October 2008) and we are approaching celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the original radio broadcast of 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (which is to be marked by the publication of an authorised Hitch Hiker sequel by Eoin Colfer). I've been reading 'The Salmon of Doubt', a collection of unpublished writings, short stories, newspaper columns and speeches rescued from the hard drive of Douglas Adams' Mac after his untimely death in 2001. It's been wonderful to 'hear his voice' again – like rediscovering a long lost friend. This odd collection of pieces acts as an extremely entertaining, randomly constructed autobiography, demonstrating Adams' growing fascination with computers, evolution, conservation etc. and how his fiction gradually incorporated each of these themes. The real gem here is eleven chapters of his final, unfinished, Dirk Gently novel which are great. Somehow the fact that the convoluted plot and mysterious happenings they introduce may never be resolved doesn’t seem to matter – wonderful stuff. And there’s also a very funny story about a packet of biscuits that will be familiar to anyone who was at the opening of the NALGAO conference in Swindon yesterday …

‘The Warm Heart of Africa’ by The Very Best

2 October 2009

I’m really enjoying ‘The Warm Heart of Africa’ – the debut album by a group modestly calling itself The Very Best. The Very Best are the Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and two producers from France and Sweden who met in a second-hand shop in London where one of them had gone to buy a bicycle. The music they have created is varied, catchy, extremely hard-to-describe, like nothing you have heard before but also strangely familiar. Blending electronic dance music, African influences and much more the album features Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend and British rapper MIA. Read Charlie Gillett’s review for The Observer here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/sep/06/very-best-warm-heart-africa and listen to the album for free on Spotify.

'Moon' by Duncan Jones

21 September 2009

Visiting the magnificent Regent Cinema in Lyme Regis is like stepping back in time so it was appropriate that, although we were there to see a science fiction film, it had an old-fashioned feel to it. ‘Moon’ is a low-budget British film, written and directed by Duncan Jones which recalls some classic science fiction movies of the sixties and seventies. Sam Rockwell stars, almost single-handedly, as an astronaut coming to the end of a three-year solitary stint on a mining station on the moon. The plot, pace, suspense and mystery are beautifully handled to create an unusual, intelligent and enthralling human drama with little action and hardly any special effects.

Dorset

21 September 2009

We had a lovely week in Dorset in a cottage outside Thorncombe, close to the borders with Devon and Somerset. We had some glorious weather, particularly towards the end of the week, and did lots of walking. Highlights were the walk up the coastal path to Golden Cap (the highest point on the south coast of England), the beautiful National Trust gardens at Barrington Court, the fascinating tiny volunteer-run museum in Sherborne and the exhibition of Tudor portraits from the National Portrait Gallery at Montacute House.

‘Home Truths’ by David Lodge

4 September 2009

In 1998 we went to Birmingham Rep to see ‘Home Truths’, a new play by David Lodge which explored notions of fame and celebrity through the subject of a newspaper celebrity interview. Queuing at the box office to collect our tickets we realised that the man in front of us, in a dishevelled cardigan, was the author (much shorter in real life than he appears on the television!). Lodge later rewrote ‘Home Truths’ as a novella which I read at a single sitting last Sunday. The form of the book reminded me of the shorter works of Alan Bennett, such as 'The Uncommon Reader’ (reviewed here in November 2008) and, like all David Lodge’s books, it deals with complex themes and emotions in a very accessible and humorous way. It was fun to be reminded of the play, and of how our preoccupations with celebrity haven’t changed much in the past eleven years.

‘When Will There Be Good News’ by Kate Atkinson

4 September 2009

‘When Will There Be Good News’, Kate Atkinson’s third Jackson Brodie novel maintains the structure of its predecessor ‘One Good Turn’ (reviewed here in February 2008). The story is told in the third person but the point of view rotates, chapter by chapter, in this case around three main characters. Atkinson has some fun in occasionally keeping you guessing as to whose eyes you are seeing a scene through – particularly when several of the ‘narrators’ are present. Once again former policeman and private detective Jackson Brodie is thrown into a crime story that refuses to follow the conventions of crime writing. After a stunning opening chapter, a host of misunderstandings and coincidences gradually contrive to resolve the principal mysteries but leave several loose ends. Extremely readable and very enjoyable.

Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich concert

4 September 2009

In the early 1980s I was one of several winners of a schools classical music quiz sponsored by General Accident. My prize was to be a VIP guest of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at a concert at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson. On arriving (by chauffeur-driven car) at the concert, I discovered that most of the other prize-winners were familiar faces from the Manchester Youth Orchestra. The concert included the ‘Emperor’ Piano Concerto by Beethoven played by John Lill and Mahler’s ‘Symphony No. 4’. Memories of this occasion came flooding back on Saturday as we were at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London to see the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, conducted by David Zinman, perform Mahler’s 4^th Symphony with the American soprano Dawn Upshaw. It was a magical performance by a great orchestra and reminded me how delicate and moving this symphony is – much less brash and bombastic than other Mahler symphonies. The concert also included the UK premiere of ‘She Was Here’ – a new setting for soprano and orchestra of four Schubert songs by the Argentine-born composer Osvaldo Golijov. I thought this a beautiful piece, though some reviewers (perhaps more familiar with the original songs) found it a bit too saccharine.

'Twelfth Night’ by William Shakespeare

24 August 2009

We made a final visit to this year’s open-air Shakespeare in the gardens of Woburn Abbey last Friday to see ‘Twelfth Night’ performed by The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. It was an excellent production with an exuberant all-male cast holding the attention of a large audience as the sun sank. Seeing the female parts played by men (as they would have been originally) strangely seemed to make more sense of the conceit of girl dressed as boy – perhaps because here the emphasis of the actor playing Viola as ‘Cesario’ was to persuade us that he was female, whereas a female actor has to convince us that Viola is sufficiently masculine to pass as a boy. I’m not sure whether that makes sense but it worked and was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with Shaun McKee as Viola and Joe Marsh as Olivia particularly impressive and Tom Micklem’s Feste had a great singing voice.

'Rumba'

24 August 2009

We were back at the Rex cinema in Berkamsted last week to see the recent French film ‘Rumba’. Written by, directed by and starring Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon, ‘Rumba’ tells the story of two schoolteachers who are also award-winning ballroom dancers and their struggles with adversity. It’s a very physical tragic-comedy with hardly any dialogue – very much in the Jacques Tati style. Indeed the scenes on a beach were a clear homage to ‘Mr Hulot’s Holiday’. The film’s cartoon-like surreal world reminded me of the dark comedy of ‘Delicatessen’ or the animated ‘Belleville Rendez-Vous’. The humour is very bleak and often cruel but it maintains an innocent charm and is extremely funny. Variety described it as being “like an episode of "Sesame Street" scripted by Luis Bunuel and helmed by Jacques Tati”. A quirky treat.

‘The Brutal Art' by Jesse Kellerman

24 August 2009

I’ve just finished reading ‘The Brutal Art’ – an excellent novel by Jesse Kellerman. A clever interweaving of detective story and family saga, I thought it got the balance between predictability and completely unexpected twists spot on. ‘The Brutal Art’ is the tale of a New York art dealer who, through the discovery of an epic work of interlocking cartoon drawings by an unknown artist (the description of which, for me, sounded a lot like the work of Alasdair Gray) is drawn into trying to solve a confusing murder mystery. An intriguing and gripping read.

‘Si Tu Dois Partir’ by Ruth Notman

14 August 2009

I am grateful to Steve Heap who let me have an advance copy of Ruth Notman’s new single ‘Si Tu Dois Partir’ – a French language cover of Bob Dylan’s “If You’ve Gotta Go, Go Now” which was a hit for Fairport Convention exactly 40 years ago. I loved Ruth’s debut album, ‘Threads’ (reviewed here in February 2008), and while eagerly awaiting the follow-up (due this autumn) I’ve been playing ‘Si Tu Dois Partir’ over and over: the sound of summer 2009. You can download it for just 79 pence from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Si-Tu-Dois-Partir/dp/B002G6HVUI/ref=dm_ap_alb2?ie=UTF8&qid=1247757506&sr=301-2

‘God Help the Girl’

14 August 2009

Another recent near-concept album which I like a lot is ‘God Help the Girl’ – a project created by Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian. Intended to become a musical film, the album comprises fourteen standalone songs that follow several recurring characters, each sung by a specific singer. The mainly female cast includes Catherine Ireton, Murdoch himself, Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and internet contest winner Brittany Stallings. This is light, cheerful, pop music which incorporates influences from 1960s girl groups, stage musicals and 1980s indie.

‘The Liberty of Norton Folgate’ by Madness

14 August 2009

I’m very much enjoying the new album by Madness, ‘The Liberty of Norton Folgate’. This is the first new recording by Madness for nearly ten years but it’s been acclaimed by many critics as their best work. The songs take us on a tour of London, sailing close to forming a concept album or even a potential rock opera. Catchy tunes, a variety of styles, idiosyncratic lyrics and the unmistakeable voice of Suggs make the album an easy listen that bears repeated listening. The Word Magazine described it as "Peter Ackroyd writing for The Kinks, it's Sherlock Holmes in Albert Square, it's a Mike Leigh movie of Parklife, it's Passport To Pimlico meets Brick Lane, and it is Madness's masterpiece."

'Man of the Moment' by Alan Ayckbourn

5 August 2009

We were back at the Royal Theatre in Northampton on Saturday to see the final play in the Royal's 'Ayckbourn at 70' season - the 1988 play 'Man of the Moment' directed by Alan Ayckbourn himself. 'Man of the Moment' is not often performed because it requires a fairly substantial swimming pool on stage. Chekhov famously said "if in Act I you have a pistol hanging on the wall, then it must fire in the last act" and surely any play featuring a swimming pool will inevitably involve someone falling into it: 'Man of the Moment' does not disappoint with a couple of hilarious comic set-pieces and some very wet actors! The play looks at the nature of celebrity and particularly our tendency to turn villains into celebrities (inspired in part by the Great Train Robbers). In 'Man of the Moment' a television crew are filming the reunion, after nearly thirty years, of a violent bank robber turned TV presenter and the have-a-go hero bank clerk who thwarted him. They meet at a villa in Spain in Ayckbourn's only play to date set in a foreign country. The framing device of the TV filming allows Ayckbourn to question the nature of truth and reality. Typically poignant but considerably less bleak than the other plays in the Northampton season, it was a really enjoyable evening and very funny with a great performance by Kim Wall as the unassuming Douglas Beechey.

WOMAD 2009

30 July 2009

2009 was one of the best WOMAD Festivals I can remember. The weather was (mostly) kind - sunny but not too hot until the rain finally arrived on Sunday afternoon - and there were some wonderful performances. I saw 18 full sets and caught snatches of several others and there were many highlights. I liked the female vocal harmonies of the folk fusion band Acetre whose modern take on the traditional music of the Extremadura region halfway down the Spanish/Portugese border reminded me of both Värttinä from Finland and, particularly, the Warsaw Village Band (reviewed here in September 2008). It was a privilege to see both the outstanding Wassalou divas of Mali in one weekend - Rokia Traore (reviewed here in February 2008), and Oumou Sangare (reviewed here in March 2009) both producing stunning performances culminating in joyous dancing that never wanted to end. It was fascinating to see the legendary Ethopian singers Mahmoud Ahmed and Alemayehu Eshete as part of an all-star showcase of the Ethiopiques series (reviewed here in November 2007). And I was entranced by the amazing three-octave voice of the Azerbaijani singer Gochag Askerov. Great to see Berlin's 17 Hippies (reviewed here in October 2007) live at last. Peter Gabriel performed specially to promote the charity Witness.org - ending with a powerful rendition of 'Biko' in memory of the Russian human rights activist, Natalia Estemirova, who was killed in Chechnya two weeks ago. Peter Gabriel also sang a movingly slow version of Paul Simon's 'The Boy in the Bubble' accompanied by strings. But after much deliberation my pick of the weekend has to be the French group Caravan Palace who play the gypsy jazz swing of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli to pounding high-tempo electronic beats. It's infectiously uplifting - doing for the Hot Club De France what Gotan Project did for tango but much less earnestly. Caravan Palace are playful and cheeky without ever being anything less than stylish. Their stage performance is compellingly theatrical and had everyone in the massive Siam tent dancing. Best known for inspiring Christopher Walken to dance his way round a hotel lobby (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mahYSenVRPM) Caravan Palace's eponymous album (which you can listen to free on Spotify) is guaranteed to cheer you up and get you moving.

'The Duckworth Lewis Method'

22 July 2009

I've never had any interest in cricket - I think it's just too English for me! - but I'm nevertheless hooked on 'The Duckworth Lewis Method' - the new cricket-themed album by Neil Hannon (of The Divine Comedy) and Thomas Walsh. Incredibly catchy (pun intended!) tunes and brilliant lyrics. You can't help but smile at a song that includes the lines: “Always denied entry/ By the English gentry/ Now we're driving Bentleys/ Playing 20/20".

'A History of Modern Britain’ by Andrew Marr

22 July 2009

I suspect most of us have an historical blindspot covering the ten years or so either side of our birth – the period that is too recent to be taught to us as history but of which we don’t have our own clear memories and understanding. I’ve been filling in the gaps in my knowledge by reading Andrew Marr’s ‘A History of Modern Britain’ (based on his TV series which I missed). Over the course of more than 600 pages Andrew Marr tells the story of post-war Britain, divided into 5 main periods. Within each period he addresses a range of topics (including economics, fashion, culture, housing and industry) thematically in short (mostly 2 or 3 page) chapters. These chapters take us forwards and backwards over the period in question as each theme is tackled, but maintain an overall chronological momentum. The central spine of the book, however, is politics (unsurprisingly for a former BBC Political Editor). I thoroughly enjoyed piecing together events of which I had previously only a sketchy knowledge and wallowing in nostalgic remembrance of my own childhood. I think I enjoyed reading about the more recent years less – perhaps because I felt that Marr’s own opinions and prejudices seemed more dominant, which may just have been because I have clearer opinions myself about the eras I encountered as an adult. But it was fascinating to look back with the benefit of hindsight over 60 years of politics and see the great extent to which major changes to our way of life have resulted from political luck and accident!

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

17 July 2009

The final concert of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra’s 2008-09 season was a Sunday afternoon thank-you to the Friends of the NSO. We played a light programme of Sibelius, Dvorak, Brahms, von Suppé and Johan Strauss. But I think the highlight was a lovely performance of Bruch’s ‘Romanze’ for viola and orchestra played by the NSO’s own Becky Dyson who is about to leave us to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

'Home' by David Storey

17 July 2009

Last Thursday we were at the Theatre Royal in Bath to see David Storey’s 1970 play ‘Home’. The original Royal Court production starred John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson as two elderly men sitting in a garden, passing the time of day. These parts were taken in this production by David Calder and Stephen Moore with Nichola McAuliffe and Lesley Joseph as the two women who provide a jarring contrast to their conversation. It’s a fascinating play which takes some time to reveal itself, while being very entertaining from the start. At first it feels like theatre of the absurd – the early exchanges between the two men could have come from ‘Waiting for Godot’ (reviewed here in May 2009). Then the real nature of their situation becomes clear and very poignant. But, throughout, the play is actually reflecting on a changing country as England searches for its new identity in the modern world. Very enjoyable and thought-provoking.

Wimbledon 2009

1 July 2009

On Tuesday we braved the heat on Wimbledon’s Centre Court where we saw the quarter final matches between Dinara Safina and Sabine Lisicki, and Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. We had the best seats we’ve had in many years of going to Wimbledon – five rows up from the court, just beside the scoreboard (and just in front of a commentary box containing John McEnroe!). We had a wonderful view and saw some great tennis: the Safina/Lisicki match was the most exciting though we also enjoyed seeing the men’s doubles number one seeds, Bob and Mike Bryan, who beat Kevin Ullyet and Bruno Soares. It was incredibly hot all day without a cloud in the sky and there were times when we would have welcomed the closing of the roof!

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by William Shakespeare

1 July 2009

On Saturday we paid our annual visit to the gardens of Woburn Abbey for some open-air Shakespeare. This year we saw ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ performed by Chapterhouse Theatre (whose ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ we saw at Woburn two years ago, reviewed here in July 2007). Although I was fairly familiar with lots of aspects of it, I realised that I had never seen a production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. This was the perfect setting though the opening of the play, at the end of what had been a beautiful sunny day, was heralded by an enormous clap of thunder. As the evening progressed the storm seemed to circle us, with thunder and lightning moving gradually round but thankfully the rain missed us altogether. Outdoor performances present a variety of challenges, from the need for substantial voice projection to holding the attention and focus of a large, widespread and mixed audience. The actors accomplished all this impressively and the comedy, in particular, worked very well.

‘Private Fears in Public Places’ by Alan Ayckbourn

1 July 2009

Last Friday we caught up with the second play in the Royal Theatre, Northampton, ‘Ayckbourn at 70’ season (following ‘Just Between Ourselves’, reviewed here in May 2009). ‘Private Fears in Public Places’, written in 2004, is a slightly unusual Ayckbourn play, consisting of 54 short scenes without an interval. Laurie Sansom’s production gave us a different view of the Royal Theatre, placing all the audience on the stage amongst the action. The set created seven small performance spaces with the audience forming part of the backdrop. Those sitting beside the hotel bar were at cabaret tables or on high bar stools, while other audience members sat on a hillside of sofas in Stewart’s living room. We were in a section of the audience sitting on office chairs and filing cabinets in an estate agent’s office and the remaining floor space was covered with a range of colour-coded cushions. Royal & Derngate staff and volunteers were on hand to direct us to the relevant seating: most people emerged onto the stage intrigued and confused about where to go but, as we took our seats, one lady who had clearly paid attention to the careful explanation given by the box office strode onto the stage proudly declaring “we are a cushion”! ‘Private Fears in Public Places’ is a very sad exploration of loneliness without any big comic set-pieces – thoughtful and poignant – very well acted and excellently cast.

Milton Keynes Sinfonia concert

22 June 2009

It was good to be playing again with Milton Keynes Sinfonia on Saturday in a concert that included 'Danse Macabre' by Saint-Saens and an impressive performance from Jacqueline Johnson of the 'Cello Concerto' by Lalo. The main attraction, however, was the mighty 'Symphonie Fantastique' by Berlioz - a 'big' work in every sense: five long movements requiring a massive orchestra. (Berlioz stipulates, for example, that it should be performed with "no fewer than six harps": we only managed to find two harpists but they did sound wonderful!) It was interesting, however, after having been playing Mussorgsky/Ravel and Richard Strauss for the past few months, how 'classical' the 'Symphonie Fantastique' feels - very much closer to Beethoven's symphonies (though this is Beethoven "turned up to 11"!). It's also a very programmatic piece (originally entitled 'An Episode in the Life of an Artist') with movements including a 'Ball', the famous 'March to the Scaffold' and the 'Witches Sabbath'. It's a very exciting piece to play - albeit one requiring a high degree of concentration - with a (literally) breathtaking ending. It was great fun and I think we gave a very good account of this challenging work. The concert was dedicated to the memory of Mrs Zillah Knight (the mother of the orchestra's conductor David Knight) who sadly passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

19 June 2009

Last Saturday I played in a great concert with the Northampton Symphony Orchestra. The suite from ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ by Richard Strauss was a real challenge but lots of fun – a wonderful piece of music. I enjoyed (as a spectator) the ‘Violin Concert No. 3’ by Saint Saens: soloist David LePage created a wonderfully rich sound so that every delicate harmonic seemed to fill the room. We finished with a very exciting performance of Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’. It was a really enjoyable evening.

‘Notes on an Exhibition’ by Patrick Gale

18 June 2009

‘Notes on an Exhibition’ by Patrick Gale is another novel that owes something to Jonathan Franzen’s ‘The Corrections’. Gale’s family portrait of elderly parents and their three grown-up children has much in common with ‘A Spot of Bother’ by Mark Haddon (reviewed here in June 2007) but particularly reminded me of 'The Promise of Happiness' by Justin Cartwright (reviewed here in January 2008) – perhaps because of its Cornish setting. ‘Notes on an Exhibition’, however, starts with a death and uses an episodic, non-linear, structure to gradually fill in the family’s story (which also reminded me of 'The Time Traveller's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger (reviewed here in September 2005)). Looking back over the life of abstract painter Rachel Kelly, Gale writes chapters which are each loosely based on one of her artistic works and show key events through the eyes of different members of her family. As the jigsaw picture begins to become clearer there is much satisfaction in anticipating the various revelations in her story. But Gale avoids the book becoming too predictable by laying a few false trails and impressively avoiding ending the novel where you would expect – with subtle restraint rather than melodramatic dénouement.

Belgium and The Netherlands

18 June 2009

We had a lovely week in Belgium and the Netherlands, spending a couple of days in each of Bruges, Ghent and Utrecht. All three are charming, medieval, towns with cobbled streets and tree-lined canals. Bruges is beautiful but more of a tourist trap than the other two and feels like an historic theme park. Ghent has a much younger feel with a big student population. The historic centre of Utrecht has more residential accommodation and the narrow streets were much busier: it’s quite an effort to avoid being mown down by thousands of bicycles as you stroll along! We enjoyed a concert of music by Monteverdi given by the Anima Vocalis choir in Bruges, an exhibition about the wonderful Belgium impressionist painter Emile Claus in Ghent and a big band concert in Utrecht. We also loved the museum of automatic musical instruments in Utrecht ('Museum Van Speelklok tot Pierement: From Musical Clock To Street Organ') – fascinating guided tour and demonstrations.

'The Moonstone' by Wilkie Collins

2 June 2009

Having been enthralled by Kate Summerscale's 'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House' (reviewed here in April 2009) I turned to one of the fictional works the case inspired. 'The Moonstone' by Wilkie Collins was the first great English detective novel and it's ambitious, inventive, entertaining and amusing. It's no simple re-telling of the Road Hill case - the crime here is theft rather than murder and, despite the familiar country house setting we seem to be in quite a different story. But every now and then, as a film director might pay homage to classic movie by recreating an iconic scene, Collins inserts a recognisable element of the Road Hill case. I found 'The Moonstone' surprisingly readable - much easier-going than Collins' contemporary and friend, Charles Dickens. The narrative structure tells the story through a series of accounts written by some of the principal characters and the lack of an authorial voice occasionally made me forget I was reading a Victorian novel rather than a modern work set in the 1840s. At times this style of first person narration reminded me of Adam Thorpe's 'Pieces of Light' (reviewed here in July 2008) for example (though this might also reflect Thorpe's skill in recreating an authentic period voice). Collins' detective, Sergeant Cuff, plays an oddly peripheral role for much of the book - not yet really the hero of the story - but the scenes in which he and the family steward, Betteredge, investigate the crime (seen through Betteredge's eyes) were a clear precursor of Holmes and Watson. 'The Moonstone' is gripping, intricately plotted and very funny, never going quite where you expect it to: a real gem!

'Educating Rita' by Willy Russell

1 June 2009

The Open University at Walton Hall in Milton Keynes looks remarkably like a typical, leafy university campus, with one major exception - there are no students. Apart from a few postgraduates, OU students never actually visit the university's headquarters, giving you the impression, as you stroll between the faculty buildings, of a permanent vacation. Nevertheless Walton Hall does its best to resemble any other university - with sports facilities, bars, a refectory and a host of university societies, including a choir and amateur drama group. The Open University is currently celebrating its 40th birthday and I can think of few better ways to mark the occasion than to watch the Open Theatre Group in the Old Lecture Theatre performing Willy Russell's 'Educating Rita' - as we did last Friday. Once derided by some at the OU as poking fun at the Open University, 'Educating Rita' is now seen more as a celebration of the kind of universal access to further education that the OU was established to provide. And it's a fantastic play. As someone with just a vague recollection of having seen the film starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine, I was impressed by how substantial, complex, funny and moving the play is. The Open Theatre Group production was excellent with brilliant performances by Laurie Lazard and Richard Walker.

Championship Play-Off Final

29 May 2009

On Monday we made our first visit to the new Wembley Stadium to watch Jeannie's team, Burnley, in the Championship Play-Off Final playing Sheffield United for a place in the Premiership. Wembley is magnificent: despite being very high up and towards the back we had a wonderful view and it was very exciting to be part of a crowd of 80,000. And even better to witness Wade Elliott's brilliant goal which took Burnley back to the top division for the first time in 33 years. Burnley is the smallest town to be represented in English football's top tier since the advent of the Premier League: there are more people inside Old Trafford for each Manchester United home game than the entire population of Burnley! It may prove to be a brief flirtation with elite status but we're looking forward to next season. 

'Just Between Ourselves' by Alan Ayckbourn

26 May 2009

The Royal Theatre, Northampton, is celebrating its 125th anniversary and the 70th birthday of Alan Ayckbourn by presenting three classic Ayckbourn plays featuring the same company of actors. On Saturday we saw 'Just Between Ourselves' - a typically bleak comedy from 1976. Ayckbourn has written 72 plays but I seem to keep choosing to watch those that I have already seen. As soon as I saw the car on stage I remembered that we had seen 'Just Between Ourselves' before - in August 2002 at the Theatre Royal in Bath. Then, the irrepressibly cheerful Dennis was played by Les Dennis while in Northampton the part was taken by Kim Wall. But I was amazed to discover that we had seen Matthew Cottle play Neil in both productions and that Dorothy Atkinson who was playing Dennis's wife Vera on Saturday had been Neil's wife Pam seven years ago in Bath. Ayckbourn cleverly manipulates your emotions with great set-piece scenes (particularly I think where he shows characters sharing a meal) that manage to be both hilarious and painfully sad. 

Mark Steel

18 May 2009

On Sunday evening we were at The Stables in Wavendon to see the comedian Mark Steel. Last time he visited The Stables he was touring his 'Vive La Revolution' show examining the comic potential of the French Revolution (reviewed here in June 2006). This time we were treated to more straightforward stand-up encompassing the 2012 Olympics, the tyranny of supermarkets and (inevitably) MP's expenses. But there's always slightly more to Mark Steel than meets the eye as, for example, a series of funny but seemingly unconnected rants about the absence of humanity in call centres and shops turned out to have been a carefully constructed illustration of Karl Marx's theory of alienation. Steel is clever, likeable and extremely funny and, unlike many other contemporary comedians, his cultural references don't pass me by (when he launched into a parody of Radio 4's 'thought for the day' I knew we were on the same wavelength!). And you always get good value for money when you see him live - a lengthy and varied set.

 

Imam Baildi

15 May 2009

Imam Baildi are two Greek brothers, Orestis and Lysandros Falireas, whose wonderful eponymous CD takes old Greek tunes from the 40's, 50's and 60's (from their father's collection of 78s) and adds modern instruments and beats to create music which is cool, mysterious and incredibly catchy. Sounding not quite like anything else I’ve heard, the music of Imam Baildi has really stuck in my head this week – particularly the track ‘O Pasatebos’ which I’ve been playing over and over. Listen to them for free on Spotify.

'Waiting for Godot' by Samuel Beckett

5 May 2009

When it comes to Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot', I've been spoiled. I first encountered the play as a teenager - when the hidden meaning in its absurdity comes most easily. And that first encounter was with the seminal 1980 Manchester Royal Exchange production starring Max Wall and Trevor Peacock. My second experience of Godot was a 1991 West End production with Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson. Mayall and Edmondson were extremely good but hampered by an audience that had come expecting a different kind of comedy. While I was working for the Royal National Institute for the Blind in the early 1990s I helped with a recording of 'Waiting for Godot' which gave me a chance to examine the text of the play in detail. And this week I've been at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, to see Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart as Estragon and Vladimir with Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup as Pozzo and Lucky. As you would expect, the acting was wonderful: I particularly enjoyed the movement - McKellen and Stewart both demonstrating a range of subtle gesture and the occasional dance step to suggest an earlier existence for their characters as a music hall double act. I enjoyed the clear positioning of Vladimir and Estragon on a path between Laurel and Hardy and 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'. But coming to the play again a little older, and with such fond memories of previous performances, I found it less inspiring than I remembered. (It was interesting to see so many young faces in the packed, enthusiastic audience.) There were still some lovely moments and great lines and it was wonderful to see such a stellar cast in a serious play. There was a satisfying sense of completeness when I discovered from the programme that Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart also appeared together in the 1977 Royal Festival Hall premiere of Tom Stoppard's 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour' - a play which we also recorded at RNIB and which I saw at the National Theatre only a couple of months ago (reviewed here in February 2009).

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

28 April 2009

On Saturday I was at St Matthews Church in Northampton to play with the Northampton Symphony Orchestra in a concert which included Dvorak’s gorgeous ‘Symphony No. 8’ – one of my favourite pieces of music. We started with the ‘Peacock Variations’ by Kodaly, a work I hadn’t come across before and one that took me a few weeks to get to grips with – though well worth the effort. Zoltan Kodaly wrote interesting, tuneful music which is often tricky to play but well orchestrated and very enjoyable – an often underrated composer. Our concert also included Mozart’s fourth (and most well known) Horn Concerto played by Katrina Lauder. Katrina is now a freelance professional horn player and teacher but was an amateur member of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra between 1991 and 1994 and was taught by our principal horn David Lack. She gave a great performance of the Mozart concerto, leaving us fellow horn players particularly envious of her effortless lip trills! It was a lovely concert and a good programme to work through with our new conductor Alexander Walker, after our excursion into film music in March.

‘Inspector Drake and the Black Widow’ by David Tristram

24 April 2009

On Saturday we were back at the TADS Theatre in Toddington to see ‘Inspector Drake and the Black Widow’ by David Tristram – a very clever spoof 1920s country house murder mystery. Surreal, meta-textual and extremely silly, the play works because it has, at its core, a bona-fide mystery plot with a final twist (in a similar way to Jasper Fforde’s ‘Jack Spratt’ novels such as ‘The Big Over Easy’, reviewed here in April 2007). There’s a rather high body count – though the majority are killed accidentally by the police investigation of the original murder. Great acting from Kevin Birkett as the plodding sergeant, Joe Butcher as the mercurial Inspector Drake and Janet Bray as everyone else. A good example of amateur theatre demonstrating its ability to be ‘excellent’.

Benji Kirkpatrick

17 April 2009

Last night we were at the stables to see fretboard wizard Benji Kirkpatrick. A member of the brilliant folk big band Bellowhead (reviewed here in October 2006), Benji plays guitar, bouzouki and banjo and was joined by Sam Norman on double bass and the ace percussionist Cormac Byrne. They played a very rhythmic, muscular folk/rock which sounded a lot like Seth Lakeman (reviewed here in April 2006) – with whom Benji Kirkpatrick has toured. Catchy, upbeat music including traditional English songs, Kirkpatrick’s own compositions and, slightly bizarrely, numbers by The Band and Jimi Hendrix (‘Voodoo Child’ played on the banjo!). 

‘Spyski or The Importance of Being Honest’ by Peepolykus

17 April 2009

Last Friday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see ‘Spyski or The Importance of Being Honest’ by the Peepolykus theatre company. Starting, apparently, as a production of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, after a few minutes the actors came out of character to tell us they had stumbled upon the murder of a Russian secret agent in London. They wanted to tell us the details but were being watched by the British security services and would have to switch back to ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ if they spotted a British agent in the theatre. This premise framed a complex, incredibly silly but completely logical tale of murder, intrigue and mistaken identity – which kept occasionally lapsing back into Oscar Wilde. Coincidentally, the spy story ended up with a baby being left in a handbag at Victoria station – you get the idea! At times the actors were playing themselves on an earlier occasion playing the Wilde characters – but it all seemed to make some sort of sense. Great fun, very silly and remarkably clever.

'First Among Sequels' by Jasper Fforde

10 April 2009

Having reached the beginning of Jasper Fforde's series of Thursday Next novels I have now leaped forward to the end, reading the latest instalment 'First Among Sequels'. This book was written much later than the previous four and is set in 2002, fourteen years after its immediate predecessor 'Something Rotten' (reviewed here in August 2008). Literary detective Thursday Next is still coping with the demands of policing both in the 'real' world and within fiction but now has the added pressures of family life and pretending to her husband that she works in a carpet shop. The usual Fforde mix of parallel universes, time travel and surreal nonsense with a nonetheless logical plot are all here - and I think this is one of the better Thursday Next books. I was a little disappointed to spot a couple of plot lines that don't appear to be resolved (unless I missed something) but it's all good fun - with an menacingly dark side as Thursday gets mixed up in cheese smuggling over the Welsh border.

 

St Osyth, Essex

7 April 2009

We had a relaxing week at St Osyth, near Clacton-on-Sea in Essex. We had good weather and did some very nice walks. The seaside resorts (Clacton, Walton-on-the-Naze etc) are quaintly old-fashioned - though most have seen better days. We preferred the villages north of Colchester, towards the Suffolk border, particularly Dedham and Castle Hedingham which are extremely picturesque. And we crossed the border into Suffolk to revisit Constable's Flatford Mill - the site of 'The Hay Wain'. A quiet, restful week.

'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House' by Kate Summerscale

6 April 2009

On 30 June 1860 a child was murdered in a country house in Road, Wiltshire. This crime was to become a national cause célèbre that would influence the fledgling art of detection, policing methods and the judicial system and would launch a new literary genre. The Road Hill House case was the original 'country house murder' - the first in a line leading through Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple to Inspector Morse. 'The Moonstone' by Wilkie Collins, generally considered to be the first real English detective novel, was published in 1868 and was modelled on the Road Hill murder - with Collins' Sergeant Cuff taking the role of the real Detective Inspector Jonathan Whicher. Echoes of the Road Hill case also occur in 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' by Charles Dickens and Henry James' 'The Turn of the Screw'. Kate Summerscale's remarkable book 'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House' describes the investigation of this horrendous crime in forensic detail. Although it is written in the now familiar murder mystery form, 'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher' is not fictionalised. Kate Summerscale has written a wholly factual documentary, drawing on contemporary newspaper reports, police records and other sources. Dialogue is quoted verbatim and everything is carefully referenced. The book starts on the day the murder is discovered and the chapters step chronologically forwards, revealing only what was discovered by the police at each stage. The level of detail at first appears overwhelming and I worried that I would not be able to retain enough too follow the unravelling of the story. But within a few chapters I was completely gripped and could not put down this compelling tale. Without ever dropping the thread of the murder investigation, Kate Summerscale manages to weave a social history of Victorian Britain, encompassing class, employment, politics and the influence of Darwinism. 'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher' is an amazing story, brilliantly told: I urge you to read it.

Ruth Notman

6 April 2009

'Threads', the debut CD by young Nottingham folk singer Ruth Notman, was one of my favourite discoveries of 2008. So I leapt at the chance to hear Ruth live at The Stables. The new 'Stage 2' performance space was absolutely packed: we got the last two seats on the front row and later arrivals were turned away. The music was wonderful - most of the songs from 'Threads' plus some from Ruth's second album (due to be released in July), impeccably performed. Ruth Notman has a great voice - distinctive and characterful - and plays guitar and piano impressively. Her repertoire is catchy and varied - including traditional tunes and modern songs drawing on the folk tradition. Her's is not precious or intense folk music: it's full of vitality and often rather jolly. Like that other young English folk singer (who actually sings backing vocals on 'Threads') Bella Hardy (reviewed here in March 2008), Ruth Notman benefits from a more experienced musician accompanying her and helping guide her through the challenge of developing her stage presence and between-song patter. In this case the older hand is Saul Rose on melodeon and Ruth was also joined by Hannah Edmonds on 'cello. Unfortunately, the number of times she filled the silences with "so" or "right" and the occasions when the performers ended up talking to each other and ignoring the audience were a bit distracting. I am sure her concert presentation will improve with experience. There was no sign of nerves or lack of confidence in Ruth Notman's singing, however. She did not disappoint and I'm really looking forward to her new album.

‘Cider with Roadies' by Stuart Maconie

23 March 2009

Having enjoyed ‘Pies and Prejudice’ – Stuart Maconie’s exploration of the North of England (reviewed here in June 2008) – I was keen to read his earlier book ‘Cider with Roadies’. This is Maconie’s memoire of growing up in Wigan, failing as a rock star and succeeding as a music journalist – and a chronicle of the changing face of popular music over his lifetime. Very much in the Nick Hornby mode, it’s an entertaining, self-deprecating and very funny tale. Inevitably the best bits were where Stuart Maconie’s musical experiences coincided with my own but his main childhood enthusiasms were a bit before my time and his discoveries as a music journalist came mostly after my own enthusiasm for pop music had waned. Nevertheless I found much to reminisce over and his brushes with stardom are so modestly dealt with they never feel like mere name-dropping. If you like this kind of thing I would also recommend ‘Lost in Music’ by Giles Smith.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

17 March 2009

On Saturday I played in the Northampton Symphony Orchestra 'Film Night' concert at the Derngate in Northampton. It was fitting that an event showcasing storytelling music had so many stories to tell itself. Dr Peter Robertson played viola in the NSO for more than 30 years. When he died last year he left a bequest to the orchestra which funded this ambitious concert in his memory. The occasion also marked the start of violinist Harold Colman's 50th year playing in the orchestra: Harold was presented with a framed copy of the programme from the first NSO concert in which he performed - in 1960. And Saturday's concert was the NSO debut for our new conductor, Alexander Walker. Alex is an exciting, young, professional conductor who is a regular guest conductor with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, works regularly at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and is a regular guest conductor with the Mikkeli and Lappeenranta City Orchestras in Finland, and of the Esbjerg Ensemble and the Vestyjsk Sinfonieorkester in Denmark. This film music programme, including 'Superman', 'The Dambusters', 'Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom', 'Back to the Future' and 'The Great Escape' was a different kind of challenge for Alex. During his first rehearsal, in January, he peered at the score for 'Themes from 007' at one point and commented "it says 'medium rock tempo' - not a phrase I have encountered much in my professional career!". But Alex and the NSO rose to the challenge and it was a wonderful evening - including what I thought was a particularly impressive performance of 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' by Paul Dukas. It was very exciting to play to an enthusiastic audience of what must have been nearly 1,000 people. A magnificent, overdue return to the Derngate.

‘Seya’ by Oumou Sangaré

11 March 2009

It’s fascinating how, despite the universality of music, some countries produce a disproportionately vibrant musical culture: it must be something to do with a happy coincidence of tradition, conditions, politics etc. With centuries of musical tradition, Mali in West Africa is today one of the most musical places on Earth. One of the stars of modern Malian music is the Wassalou singer Oumou Sangaré, whose new album ‘Seya’ I have been enjoying this week. Oumou Sangaré is an amazing person – superstar, political campaigner and entrepreneur. Her music is beautiful, joyous and extremely funky. Using a combination of traditional African and modern Western instruments, she is less experimental than fellow Wassalou diva, Rokia Traoré (reviewed here in December 2008) but manages to create a sound which is contemporary without becoming bland Western pop music. And whereas Rokia Traoré’s vocals are almost whispered, Oumou Sangaré’s voice soars over the music. ‘Seya’ is varied, catchy, moving and distinctively Malian.

Mahler's 5th Symphony in Leighton Buzzard

2 March 2009

Keith Saunders is a keen amateur violinist who plays with Milton Keynes Sinfonia. As he approached his 50^th birthday Keith wanted to do something special to mark the occasion and decided to take part in a sponsored Everest Base Camp Trek to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation. On Sunday, to give a focus to his search for sponsors and to fulfil another ambition on his birthday itself, Keith and his friends gathered together, at Vandyke Upper School in Leighton Buzzard, a massive orchestra made up of players from Milton Keynes Sinfonia, Bedfordshire Symphony Orchestra, Northampton Symphony Orchestra, Buckinghamshire Chamber Orchestra and others to play Mahler’s 5^th Symphony. Mahler 5 is a wonderful, mammoth, crazy, challenging work which would stretch the forces and ability of most amateur orchestras. At the end of a one-day workshop, conducted by David Knight, we managed to produce a very passable informal performance. It was great fun – a lovely day with excellent catering by Keith’s family and a rare chance to get to grips with an amazing piece of music. You can contribute to Keith’s British Heart Foundation appeal at www.justgiving.com/keithsaunders  

'Brief Encounter' adapted for the stage by Emma Rice from the words and music of Noel Coward

2 March 2009

Had the phrase ‘kitchen-sink drama’ not already been used to mean something else I would have been tempted to employ it in relation to the brilliant Kneehigh Theatre whose productions tend to involve everything and the kitchen sink! On Saturday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see the Kneehigh production of Noel Coward’s ‘Brief Encounter’. Very much as she did (with Tom Morris) with the National Theatre/Kneehigh production of ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ (reviewed here in May 2007), director and adapter Emma Rice has taken an iconic film and created a stage production which draws out much more than you realised was in the original. Working with Coward’s screenplay, Rice has added an onstage band and a serious of music-hall turns – all featuring Noel Coward songs. The show also features an integration of live action and film, dance, puppetry, juggling and interaction with the audience – and, while there isn’t actually a kitchen sink, there is an ever-present coal fire smouldering at the back of the stage. Some comic touches reminded me of Patrick Barlow's stage adaptation of ‘The Thirty Nine Steps’ but Laura and Alec’s heart-breaking relationship at the centre of ‘Brief Encounter’ is played straight. The familiar strains of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto are used very sparingly – creating a very powerful effect when the achingly romantic theme is finally heard in full. Inventive, entertaining and extremely moving – a great theatrical experience.