'The Rain Before It falls' by Jonathan Coe

26 August 2008

Jonathan Coe is one of my favourite contemporary authors: I loved his novels 'What a Carve Up!', 'The House of Sleep', 'The Rotters' Club' and its sequel 'The Closed Circle'. Coe's latest novel, 'The Rain Before It Falls' is quite a different kind of book. It feels more conventional and straightforward though it does use an interesting narrative device: most of the story is told as the main character reflects on her life by describing a series of twenty photographs. This creates an episodic telling of a dramatic family saga focusing mainly on mothers and daughters. It's a sad tale without any of the set-piece comedy or the political links to current events of Coe's earlier books. The story kept my attention and was very moving but I was hoping for something more. After finishing the novel I began to wonder whether I was missing a subtle twist. Were we not supposed to trust the narrator through whose eyes we have been looking? Was there something she wasn't telling us? Or was this simply what it seemed - a well-written, gripping, melancholy tale?

Edinburgh Festivals 2008

26 August 2008

Despite the endless rain and the notorious box office software failures, we had a really good week in Edinburgh. We packed in 25 shows in 6 days and saw some wonderful things (and only one turkey!). Particular highlights included: Prokofiev's second violin concerto played by Leonidas Kavakos with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev at the Usher Hall - stunning; 'Are There More of You' - a one-woman play written and performed by Alison Skilbeck (who a very long time ago was Polly Perks in The Archers!) at the Quaker Meeting House; and I am very grateful to Kelly Donaldson for pointing us towards 'Pericles Redux' - an amazing production of Shakespeare's play by physical theatre ensemble Not Man Apart at The Pleasance - enthralling, beautiful, hysterically funny and moving to the point of tears - totally brilliant! We also enjoyed the one-woman shows 'One Day I'll Go To Compostela' and 'Another Kind of Silence' (about the environmentalist Rachel Carson) - both at Hill Street Theatre - and 'ABFCAP: the life and rhymes of Ian Dury' at The Zoo. We always try to take in a concert at the Festival of British Youth Orchestras at Central Hall, Tollcross, and saw a great performance there by the RSAMD Junior Academy Orchestra. We were lucky enough to get tickets to see Denis Healey - a week before his 91st birthday - speaking in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament about his life in politics as part of the Festival of Politics. Lord Healey is still a very entertaining raconteur and had some interesting reflections on current political issues. It was fascinating to be sitting in an audience with many well-known faces including Tam Dalyell, Clive James and Brian McMaster (who we saw at several shows during the week - I think he is following me!). And no visit to the Fringe is complete for us without starting the day at the Spiegel Tent in George Square Gardens to see the live broadcast of BBC Radio Scotland's 'MacAulay & Co' - a great way to see the best bits of this year's comedy shows, without the swearing.

'Bleak Expectations' by Mark Evans

15 August 2008

I was delighted to see the return of 'Bleak Expectations' - Radio 4's wonderful Dickens spoof by Mark Evans which started a second series last week (listen again at www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/bleakexpectations). Mixing its metaphors and Dickensian clichés in an enormous Victorian cauldron of gruel, Bleak Expectations creates a hilarious surreal world that could only exist on radio. Our hero Pip Bin is now a wealthy man - having made his fortune inventing the waste paper bin - but is still being pursued by the dastardly evil, and erroneously named, Mr Gently Benevolent - with only his one remaining sister, Pippa, and his best friend, the eternally optimistic Harry Biscuit, to help him. This week Pip and Harry find themselves building an entire railway network in their bid to catch Benevolent. Harrumble!

'Low Culture' by Jim Moray

7 August 2008

Jim Moray is one of the young stars of the current English folk music revival. I enjoyed his 2003 debut album, ‘Sweet England’: armed with his fine folk voice and a laptop computer he reinterpreted some of the best known traditional songs in a very modern way. What seemed like the natural reaction of someone from a generation that grew up with rock and pop provoked some controversy amongst folk ‘purists’. In his new album, ‘Low Culture’, Jim Moray takes this approach further, including electronic beats, rock drums and a rapper. But coming after some of the pillars of the folk establishment entered similar territory in The Imagined Village (reviewed here in August 2007) the shock value has diminished and Moray can be appreciated for his honest attempt to make traditional music relevant today. ‘Low Culture’ is a more varied and interesting album. It features an eclectic mix of styles and instrumentation – including strings and brass that make some tracks sound remarkably like Bellowhead (reviewed here in October 2006). Moray includes the song ‘Three Black Feathers’ by Bella Hardy (reviewed here in March 2008) – fast becoming a modern folk classic. And having made traditional folk songs sound like rock music, he stunningly reverses the trick with a re-interpretation of XTC’s ‘All You Pretty Girls’ which transforms Andy Partridge’s pop classic into a centuries-old sea shanty – joyous, rhythmic and incredibly catchy, I can’t get it out of my head.

World Music Celebration Prom

1 August 2008

On Wednesday I was back at the Royal Albert Hall in London for the World Music Celebration Prom – a concert by five of the winners of this year’s BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music. It was a very hot evening but one which built in musical intensity as the temperature cooled. We heard slick Latin-flavoured African pop from Mayra Andrade from Cape Verde and dramatic flamenco from Spain’s Son de la Frontera (including the most amazing display of flamenco dancing from Pepe Torres). China’s rising star Sa Dingding gave a visually spectacular performance – though I would rather have heard more of the traditional Chinese instruments and less drums and synthesisers. The ‘culture crossing’ award winners, British rock guitarist Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara from Gambia who plays the riti (a one-string fiddle) showed that ‘fusion’ need not be a bland dumbing down. Their music is a genuine partnership – uncompromising, infectious and rhythmic – dominated by the other-worldly sound of the riti. I recommend their album ‘Soul Science’. But the night belonged to Bassekou Kouyate and his band Ngoni Ba (reviewed here in December 2007). Winners of both the Africa and ‘album of the year’ awards, they provided a wonderful finale – virtuoso playing, joyous dancing, a fantastic sound – they brought the house down. (The Independent called them “the best rock'n'roll band in the world”) You can watch the World Music Celebration Prom on BBC4 on Monday 4 August and Monday 11 August or catch it on iPlayer.

'Something Rotten' by Jasper Fforde

1 August 2008

Having really enjoyed Jasper Fforde’s ‘Nursery Crime’ novels featuring Inspector Jack Spratt – ‘The Big Over Easy’ (reviewed here in April 2007) and ‘The Fourth Bear’ (reviewed here in October 2007) – I turned to Fforde’s other series of novels. These feature the literary detective Thursday Next and I’ve been reading the latest, ‘Something Rotten’. Whereas the Jack Spratt books create a surreal parallel world – familiar yet inhabited by characters from nursery rhymes, Greek gods and aliens – ‘Something Rotten’ takes things considerably further. This felt more like Terry Pratchett than Douglas Adams (which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your point of view). I was amused, confused and exhausted by the combination of characters from fiction, characters in fiction, time travellers, Neanderthals, clones, genetic experiments, dodos and much more. It probably didn’t help that I had started with the fourth book in the Thursday Next series but it did feel like Fforde was throwing in everything including the kitchen sink. Having decided not to bother trying to make sense of it all and just going with the flow, I began to enjoy the journey – and it is very funny. And as we headed towards the dramatic conclusion it gradually all began to make some sense. Despite the silliness, Jasper Fforde is a master plotter and it is very satisfying when numerous early episodes and references return towards the end of the book and fall into place. Whereas Jack Spratt lives in a version of Reading, Thursday Next is based in a kind of Swindon. It was the weirdest experience, last weekend, to be reading the chapter about Leigh Delamare services on the M4 being a hidden gateway to the underworld while sitting in Leigh Delamere services! Don’t worry, I didn’t cross to the ‘northside’ …

WOMAD 2008

29 July 2008

The weather was the star at this year's WOMAD Festival at Charlton Park in Wiltshire. After the rain and mud of last year we enjoyed a very hot weekend of almost unbroken sunshine. At first the positioning of the BBC Radio 3 stage in the arboretum, with a tree directly in front of part of the stage, seemed bizarre. But by Saturday afternoon, as the temperature soared, this leafy shade was much appreciated. Everything seemed to work effectively this year and it became apparent how much more room there is at Charlton Park compared to the previous festival site in Reading - a much more pleasant experience all round.

Pacing myself more carefully than in some previous years (it was hot!) I still saw 12 full performances and dipped in and out of many more – seeing a total of 28 bands in 3 days! Highlights included the wonderful Israeli Ladino singer Mor Karbasi, Malian diva Mamani Keita, the mighty Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba (reviewed here in December 2007) and the legendary Orchestra Baobab. It was a great nostalgic thrill to see recently reunited Squeeze singing 'Up the Junction', 'Cool for Cats', 'Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)' etc. And Martha Wainwright gave an amazing performance on Saturday evening: very much the rock star, looking like Debbie Harry and sounding like The Pretenders - I'm really enjoying her new album, 'I know you're married but I've got feelings too'. But my pick of the festival were the six-piece male polyphonic vocal group from Marseille, Lo Cor de la Plana - unaccompanied singing (except for a collection of hand drums, foot stomps and hand claps) in the Occitan language of southern France. Their close harmony singing and solos with drone-like accompaniment are reminiscent of the singing shepherds of Sardinia (reviewed here in June 2007). Lo Cor de la Plana are incredibly rhythmic and exciting, weaving a trance-like quality into songs that build ever more frantically to thrilling conclusions.

BBC Proms Folk Day

21 July 2008

The last time I saw Bella Hardy she was performing to an audience of 18 people in the bar at the Queen's Theatre in Barnstaple (reviewed here in March 2008): on Sunday she was standing in the middle of the Royal Albert Hall singing, unaccompanied, to an audience of thousands. We were in London for the BBC Proms Folk Day - an enjoyable and varied innovation in the Proms calendar. Firstly we joined the crowds in Kensington Gardens to see live music on the bandstand, dancing round the maypole and much more, culminating in an electrifying performance from the wonderful Bellowhead (reviewed here in October 2006). Bellowhead went on to conquer the Albert Hall in the Sunday evening Prom (broadcast live on BBC Four and available on iPlayer) but being part of the crowd dancing in the sunshine in front of the bandstand to 'London Town' was very special. We then crossed the road to the Albert Hall for the free afternoon Prom which featured a huge cast of performers including Bella Hardy, the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta conducted by Martyn Brabbins, the mezzo-soprano Monica Bacelli and the amazing Hungarian folk group Muzsikas. The concert compared and contrasted traditional performances of folk melodies (by Bella Hardy and Muzsikas) with classical settings of the same tunes by Vaughan Williams, Grainger, Berio and Bartok. I particularly enjoyed Monica Bacelli's theatrical approach to Berio's hauntingly sparse 'Folk Songs' and the perfect joins between the Muzsikas insertions in the London Sinfonietta's performance of Bartok's 'Romanian Dances' (with the orchestra augmented by young musicians aged 14 - 18 from the Camden and Hertfordshire Music Services). Muzsikas were fantastic - amazingly precise and polished performers of a very rough village folk band sound. But the show was stolen by the young players of Folkestra - an ensemble of 13 - 19 year olds based at the Sage, Gateshead. Their set was the most exciting thing on the programme - toe-tapping, virtuosic and fascinating to watch - with wonderful clarsach playing by Emily Hoile and a thrilling moment when Sarah Norris put down her whistle and, amid the frenzied playing of her colleagues, walked slowly to the small dance square at the front of the stage to add her clogs to the frantic rhythm of the piece - magical. The concert finished with the premiere of 'Confluence' - a work for the joint forces of the London Sinfonietta, Muzsikas and Folkestra by Folkestra's Musical Director, Kathryn Tickell. It was a super day.

'The Damned Utd' by David Peace

21 July 2008

David Peace's novel 'The Damned Utd' is an unusual book: it tells the tale of Brian Clough's ill-fated 44 days in charge of Leeds United Football Club in 1974, reimagining events through Clough's eyes in a first person narration that reads like a very candid diary or autobiography. This narrative is interspersed with Clough's back story (bizarrely told in the second person) taking us from his playing days, through his early managerial experience, forward to meet the main story in 1974. Peace brings the familiar character of Clough back to life so vividly it is often difficult to remember you are reading fiction. The short alternating sections gripped my attention and whipped me through the book in two sittings. There is an enormous amount of swearing, drinking and smoking and anyone who is not interested in football might find it hard-going but, for me, it was completely compelling. Read alongside Gary Imlach's wonderful 'My Father and Other Working-Class Football Heroes' (reviewed here in January 2007) and Nick Hornby's 'Fever Pitch', 'The Damned Utd' completes a detailed social history of football in England. In Brian Clough, David Peace creates (or re-creates) that most fascinating of characters - someone who is unredeemably unpleasant and unlikeable but for whom you find yourself totally rooting. Early 1970s football is just beyond my childhood memories and though I had a vague idea of the sequence of events in Brian Clough's career there was much for me to fill in. The structure of the book made for a very satisfying experience as the pieces gradually began to fall into place as I raced towards the bitter-sweet conclusion. An amazing book.

'Dangerous Obsession' by N J Crisp

21 July 2008

It's Summer Rep time again at the Little Theatre, Sheringham so we made our annual pilgrimage to North Norfolk last week to see 'Dangerous Obsession' - a thriller by N J Crisp. The ingredients suggested familiar territory - a three-hander with comings and goings through the French windows - but this was cleverer and more thought-provoking than it first appeared. Well cast and well acted by Georgina Carey, Richard Sandells and Andrew Castell.

'Pieces of Light' by Adam Thorpe

21 July 2008

Adam Thorpe first came to my attention when his incredible debut novel 'Ulverton' received glowing praise from the critics. This tale of an imaginary English village over centuries of history through a series of 'discovered' documents is a tour-de-force but I'm afraid the painstaking use of historically accurate dialect made many sections of the book unbearably difficult for this reader to plough through. It was with some trepidation, therefore, that I approached Adam Thorpe's third novel 'Pieces of Light' - but I needn't have worried. 'Pieces of Light' starts as the story of a young boy growing up in a English missionary family in Cameroon in the 1920s. This is an interesting, if fairly unremarkable, tale but when the narrative shifts at the end of the first section you realise you're entering a much more complex and satisfying work. Without the difficult-to-read dialect to wade through I realised how much I had forgotten about the strengths of 'Ulverton': Thorpe is an intricate plotter and can be very funny. In 'Pieces of Light' he continues to use the narrative device of 'found documents' so, while the novel is all told in the first person, you begin to appreciate that it is very important in each section to work out who is telling the story and when they are telling it. It reminded me at times of 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell (which it pre-dates). 'Pieces of Light' is maybe a bit long (nearly 500 pages) and drags a little in the middle but I found it compulsive reading - desperate to try to work out its riddles before being left puzzled by its remaining ambiguities. Now I want to read it all again! In particular Thorpe very cleverly evokes both the confused world-view of a young boy and the adult's less than perfect reinterpretations of mis-remembered childhood events.

Wimbledon 2008

8 July 2008

We've been extremely lucky in the Wimbledon ballot for the last few years but this year was even better as we landed centre court tickets for the Ladies' Singles Final. Knowing that this chance might not come around again for some time creates a fair amount of anxiety as you scour the weather forecasts to see whether your big day is going to be wiped out by rain. Again we were remarkably lucky and were treated to six and a half hours of continuous tennis. The Ladies' Final between Venus and Serena Williams was high quality, hard-fought and extremely close with Serena initially looking like she would walk it before Venus found her form and began to edge ahead. The Men's Doubles Final was exciting but dominated by strong serving with Daniel Nestor and, particularly, Nenad Zimonjic worthy winners. And as the light started to fail we were treated to the most entertaining match of the day as the Williams sisters returned to claim the Ladies' Doubles title. My centre court debut was a brilliant day - I hope to be back next year.

'The Winter's Tale' by William Shakespeare

8 July 2008

The only thing I knew about 'The Winter's Tale' was "exit pursued by a bear" so it was great fun to discover unfamiliar Shakespeare last Friday - and the bear was great fun too! For a second year running we were very fortunate that our visit to the open-air Shakespeare in the gardens of Woburn Abbey benefited from wonderful weather. This year we saw the Globe Touring production of 'The Winter's Tale'. The team at Shakespeare's Globe know a thing or two about acting in the open-air and the there was a high standard of acting throughout and a welcome volume of projection. A very silly plot but a very enjoyable evening.

Danesborough Chorus concert

1 July 2008

On Saturday we were at Woburn Church for the Danesborough Chorus summer concert. It was a lovely evening and a very enjoyable concert - with an extended interval for a picnic outside the church. I particularly enjoyed the 'Berliner Messe' by Arvo Pärt. Pärt creates a very distinctive, delicate, ethereal sound which must be very difficult for the singers but the effect was hauntingly beautiful. We were on easier ground in the second half with John Rutter's 'Magnificat'. Rutter always looks like great fun to sing and is invariably tuneful, varied and enthusiastically received. Ian Smith and the Danesborough Chorus were joined by the Milton Keynes City Orchestra and the excellent Soprano, Claire Seaton.

Slovenia

27 June 2008

We had a brilliant week in Slovenia – it’s a fantastic country. We spent a few days at Lake Bled in the North West of Slovenia – a fairytale lake overlooked by a clifftop castle – beautiful scenery reminiscent of Austria or Switzerland. We then headed to the capital, Ljubljana, a beautiful old city, small enough to walk around but with plenty to see. We had a day trip to the medieval town of Piran on the Adriatic coast where everything is bilingual Slovene/Italian. Slovenia is the size of Wales – and has a similar dislike of vowels in its place names! The people were friendly and helpful and English is spoken almost universally. It’s a confident, proud and modern young country. We’ll be back …

'Pies and Prejudice' by Stuart Maconie

27 June 2008

Stuart Maconie comes from Wigan and is therefore a ‘pie-eater’. In his very funny and fascinating travel book ‘Pies and Prejudice’ he revisits Wigan and everywhere else between Merseyside and Tyneside to cut through the clichés and paint the real picture of the North of England. Bill Bryson fans will recognise Maconie’s style – though like Bryson he sometimes wears his research on his sleeve and tends to ramble engagingly from one topic to another leaving this reader amazed by a myriad of incredible facts but almost completely unable to remember any of them! I particularly enjoyed his accounts of the places I already knew but the real strength of the book is the clear distinction drawn between places that too many Southerners tend to lump together as ‘The North’.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

27 June 2008

Our latest Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert included the ‘Tuba Concerto’ by Vaughan-Williams featuring our regular tuba player, Nick Tollervey. Because he had been preparing for this solo performance, Nick has not been attending rehearsals but came along a couple of weeks ago for the orchestra’s Annual General Meeting which was held at the start of a rehearsal. At the end of the AGM, under ‘any other business’, Nick stood up to make a plea for the orchestra to improve its communications with members. Over the past year, Nick said, he had often turned up at rehearsals to be told he wasn’t required as we were rehearsing a piece with no part for the tuba. Couldn’t we make sure that players were told what pieces were going to be rehearsed each week to avoid them making unnecessary journeys. Having been in the same position myself on several occasions I agreed wholeheartedly with Nick and was very pleased he had brought this up. The AGM finished and Nick made his way to a seat at the front of the orchestra so that we could rehearse the tuba concerto – at which point I thought “hang on a minute, I’m not in this!” and had to sit for half an hour twiddling my thumbs: the revenge of the tuba! Nevertheless I really enjoyed Nick’s magnificent performance in our concert of English music which also featured the wonderful ‘Peterloo Overture’ by Malcolm Arnold, ‘Song of Summer’ by Delius and Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’. A less ambitious programme than some of our recent concerts and I think this paid off with one of our best performances for some time.

'Wild Wild Women' by Nola York and Michael Richmond

10 June 2008

At the end of a week where I had been pre-occupied with arguing that the voluntary arts can be excellent, it was a delight to attend an amateur performance that was one of the funniest and most enjoyable evenings in a theatre I've experienced in a long time. On Saturday we were at the Trestle Theatre Space in St Albans - home of the celebrated Trestle Theatre Company - to see local amateurs MeMe Productions perform 'Wild Wild Women' - a musical by Nola York and Michael Richmond. This Romeo & Juliet story set in the Wild West in the 1880s was great fun with some wonderful individual performances and big set-piece ensemble numbers. The show itself was a little varied in tone and the music was mainly in a 1980s rock-ballad style. There were a few problems with balance - some performers being drowned out by the musicians. But none of this detracted from a splendid romp that had me smiling throughout. And the show stealing performance from Dawn Travell as Sister Priscilla included a hilarious death scene to rival Sam Hayward in Little Me (reviewed here in August 2007). Excellent!

'Laurel and Hardy' by Tom McGrath

3 June 2008

On Saturday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see Tom McGrath's 1976 play 'Laurel and Hardy'. Ben Fox and Christian Patterson gave wonderful performances as Stan and Ollie re-telling the story of their careers - with the assistance of Greg Palmer at the piano. Incorporating affectionate and impressive impersonations of the duo's screen personas alternating with the real world Stan and Babe literally at the drop of a hat. A touching story but also genuinely funny - slapstick truly never dates! There were recreations of some of their most famous routines - all the more impressive for being performed live on stage without the benefit of re-takes - wonderful physical comedy. But best of all ending with a perfect copy of the dance from 'Way Out West' - ridiculous, serious, graceful - a joy!

'Olivier Messiaen: Chamber Works’ by the Hebrides Ensemble

29 May 2008

I first encountered the ‘Quartet for the End of Time’ by Olivier Messiaen many years ago in a hot, packed hall in the Pump Rooms during the Bath Festival. It was a mesmerising experience. The quartet was written in a German prison camp in 1940 for a performance by the composer (on piano) with three of his fellow prisoners (a clarinettist, a violinist and a ‘cellist). The eight-movement work was premiered in the camp in front of 5000 prisoners. It is a difficult, serious, quiet and extremely moving piece of music – not easy listening but completely compelling. Best listened to as part of a massive audience holding its collective breath. The marvellous Hebrides Ensemble make their Wigmore Hall debut tomorrow with a performance including the ‘Quartet for the End of Time’. Unfortunately I’m not able to be there but I have been enjoying their new CD ‘Chamber Works’ by Messiaen, marking the composer’s centenary – more details at www.hebridesensemble.org.uk