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.

'John Adams'

27 February 2009

I’ve been catching up with the wonderful HBO drama series ‘John Adams’. Having heard much praise for this tale of the early years of American independence I had high expectations and was a little disappointed at first to find it a fairly conventional historical drama. As the series progressed, however, I began to appreciate how well done it was. The acting was intelligent and subtle – particularly the central relationship between Paul Giamatti’s Adams and his wife Abigail, played by Laura Linney. The gradual character development over a period of more than 20 years was engaging and believable. There were key roles for a number of British actors including Tom Hollander (a brilliant cameo as King George III), Rufus Sewell, Stephen Dillane and a show-stealing turn by Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin. With hindsight it was very clever to show us some of the key events of the period through the eyes of the ever-present, but often peripheral, Adams rather than focussing more obviously on George Washington. It has certainly improved my knowledge of the history of the period – and the scenes in the pre-revolution French court were a hoot. 

'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour' by Tom Stoppard and André Previn

20 February 2009

In 1974 André Previn told Tom Stoppard that if he ever wanted to write something that needed a symphony orchestra, well he had one (the LSO). After some discussion they agreed to create a play involving an orchestra as one of the characters. ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Favour’ received its debut – a one-off performance at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Previn – in July 1977. The play is set in a Russian psychiatric hospital and tells the story of two men – one a political dissident incarcerated in the hospital, the other a real psychiatric patient who believes he has his own orchestra with him in the room. This leads to the juxtaposition of a serious condemnation of the abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union with a farce of misunderstanding and talking at crossed purposes. And, of course, we the audience can see the imaginary orchestra in the room performing Previn’s score – with the deluded patient playing the triangle (which in turn allows for a very Stoppardian dissection of Euclidian geometry!). I first came across this understandably rarely performed work nearly 20 years ago when I was working for the Royal National Institute for the Blind and we were asked to record the text for a visually impaired student. So I was familiar with the brilliant dialogue (the triangle player continually asks the political prisoner what instrument he plays, assuming he must have come to join the orchestra: at one point, after a few seconds thought, he asks “if I were to strike you over the head with your instrument, would you need a welder, a carpenter or a brain surgeon?”). But I had never seen the piece performed so I leapt at the chance to see the revival directed by Felix Barrett and Tom Morris currently playing at the National Theatre. Using the massive Olivier stage, Barrett and Morris have made ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Favour’ more theatrical and less of a concert hall piece. In this production the players of the Southbank Sinfonia are integrated into the action in a range of inventive and surprising ways. Toby Jones and Joseph Millson are great as the two patients but this is an ‘ensemble’ work in every sense of the word, with a cast of around 60 people. It only lasts just over an hour, without an interval, but it was one of the most exciting, entertaining and though-provoking theatrical experiences I’ve had for a long time. My understanding and enjoyment was enhanced by attending a pre-show talk: on most occasions when you go to the pre-show talk you find yourself amongst a handful of people sitting at the front of a large auditorium but on this occasion the enormous Olivier theatre was packed, with people standing at the back, to hear Tom Stoppard himself talking about the writing of ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Favour’. Stoppard is a thoughtful, careful speaker – self deprecating without false modesty – and it was fascinating to hear his insights into the creative process.

Bellowhead at the South Bank Centre

20 February 2009

On Saturday we were at the South Bank Centre in London to hear everyone’s favourite folk big band, Bellowhead (reviewed here in October 2006 and July 2008), performing as part of the ‘Imagine’ children’s literature festival. This free performance in the huge Clore Ballroom space was great fun, slightly hampered by the fact that the set of bookshelves framing the stage meant that most of us couldn’t actually see the band. That didn’t stop us dancing while we craned our necks to see the Bellowhead heads appear above the bookshelves as the band themselves bounced up and down in time to the music – you can’t beat a band that dances to its own tunes. In a sort of English folk music ‘Mamma Mia’ a storyteller wove a fantastical tale to incorporate most of Bellowhead’s repertoire – with occasional vital contributions from the children in the audience (which resulted, for example, in the scary giant having purple hair and black fingers but wearing a ‘I love New York’ t-shirt!). An uplifting, inspiring performance from one of the best live acts of the moment – even when you can’t see them!

‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ by Lily Allen

12 February 2009

One of the benefits of using Spotify is that, even when you’re snowed in, you can try out the latest musical releases free of charge and completely legally. This week I’ve been listening to ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’, the new album by Lily Allen, which was released on Monday. And it’s actually rather good. Extremely catchy electronic pop tunes which have been playing continuously in my head. Witty and playful lyrics – though often quite crude (definitely post-watershed). On ‘Him’, an irreverent  speculation on the nature of God, she sings: “I don’t imagine He’s ever been suicidal. His favourite band is Creedence Clearwater Revival.” – great lyric. Lily Allen sings in a cool, quiet, laid-back semi-spoken style. It took me a while to work out what this reminded me of but I finally traced the sound back to the Pet Shop Boys, particularly their wonderful 2002 album ‘Release’. 

'The Eyre Affair' by Jasper Fforde

6 February 2009

Regular readers will remember that I have been paying homage to the surreal complexities of Jasper Fforde’s ‘Thursday Next’ novels by reading the series in reverse order. I have now reached the end/beginning: ‘The Eyre Affair’ introduces us to literary detective (LiteraTec) Thursday Next. But my expectation that this first novel would be a simpler tale, from which the confusing later books developed, was unfounded. ‘The Eyre Affair’ throws in a large, five-star hotel’s worth of kitchen sinks – time travel, cloning, dodos, Neanderthals, fictional characters coming to life and much, much more. And it’s all set in a parallel reality where the Crimean War has lasted a hundred years and Wales is an independent socialist republic (tourist board slogan: “not always raining”!). It’s inventive and very funny and Fforde cleverly plants seemingly insignificant characters and plot devices in the early chapters that reliably return to play key roles in the climax. But I still think the bizarre comic style Fforde plays with through the Thursday Next novels finds a more complete home in his ‘Nursery Crime’ series – where a more conventional whodunit plot drives the surreal nonsense on with more pace. If you haven’t tried Jasper Fforde yet start with ‘The Big Over Easy’ (reviewed here in April 2007).

‘The Tenderness of Wolves’ by Stef Penney

28 January 2009

1867, Canada: the setting for ‘The Tenderness of Wolves’, the debut novel by Stef Penney. When it won the 2006 Costa Book of the Year prize there was some media fuss about the fact that Stef Penney had never actually been to Canada (let alone Canada in the 1860s!). Well, call me old fashioned but I’ve always thought it an asset for a fiction writer to be able to make things up! ‘The Tenderness of Wolves’ is a gripping tale told from the various viewpoints of an engaging cast of Dickensian characters. It opens with the discovery of a murder in a remote community of Scottish settlers in Ontario and the narrative follows various trails through the snowy wilderness to unravel this and several other mysteries. And throughout there is the constant sense of being watched by the lurking, unseen menace of wolves. The story is revealed through chapters which each take the perspective of one of the principal characters – all in the third person with the exception of the first person narration of the central figure, Mrs Ross. The alternating viewpoints reminded me of Matthew Kneale’s wonderful novel ‘English Passengers’ though the humour of ‘The Tenderness of Wolves’ is more restrained. The Dickensian tone and unravelling of family mysteries also made me think of ‘The Little Friend’ by Donna Tartt – another recent favourite. I liked the way the reader’s understanding of what happened grows only in line with the characters whose viewpoints we have been following – meaning that at several points we think we have discovered the truth, only to have to adjust our understanding again later. While some key puzzles are resolved by the end of the book, there are plenty of remaining loose ends which help to avoid the story seeming tool artificially neat and tidy (or leave you frustratingly scouring the internet for answers!). And there’s a small, final twist which alerts you to a further mystery that you haven’t noticed was there all along, lurking in the shadows with the wolves. A very impressive, gripping and entertaining debut.

Spotify

23 January 2008

This week I’ve discovered ‘Spotify’ – a new online music streaming service. If you’ve got a broadband connection and you’re willing to put up with listening to a very occasional advert you can listen to a massive catalogue of recorded music completely free of charge. You download a small program which handles the streaming (without any of the buffering delays you get with most streaming audio) and the interface looks very like itunes. It works remarkably well and the choice of popular, classical and world music seems pretty good. At the moment you can only sign up for the free service by invitation but, if you’re interested, you can get an invitation by using this link: tinyurl.com/spotifylink