Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

15 June 2014

I don't think I've ever opened an orchestral concert by playing an unaccompanied horn solo, before last Saturday's Northampton Symphony Orchestra performance - and it's not an experience I am particularly keen to repeat! Have a listen to the start of Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Suite from the film 'On The Waterfront' on Spotify or YouTube and you might appreciate the terror I experienced on first seeing the music. The solo horn passage occurs three times in the piece and I can take some comfort from the fact that I think I played the second (slightly easier) solo perfectly, but my high notes in the other two solos came out strained and warbled. This being the opening piece of the concert, I can't blame any lack of stamina - it was pure nerves. I was slightly embarrassed to be asked to take an individual bow at the end - particularly as there were several other people (including Mara Griffiths, Kathy Roberts, Simon Cooper, Sian Bunker, Stephen Hague, Peter Dunkley, Ben Drouit and Naomi Muller) whose far more impressive solos in Saturday's concert did not receive such recognition. 

Fortunately, my trials and tribulations were completely overshadowed by a remarkable performance by the stunning young Latvian pianist, Arta Arnicane, whose playing in two Gershwin pieces, 'Rhapsody in Blue' and the 'I Got Rhythm' Variations for piano and orchestra, brought the house down. Her encore, 'The Serpent's Kiss' - a Rag Fantasy by William Bolcom drew gasps, laughter, rapturous applause and a standing ovation. Do take a look at this recording of Arta Arnicane playing 'The Serpent's Kiss' to get an idea of what we experienced on Saturday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s08a4OeB_YY. 

The American composer Ferdy Grofé is best remembered for being the orchestrator of the most commonly played version of Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' and for his lovely 'Grand Canyon Suite'. I first discovered the 'Grand Canyon Suite' in 2002 when we were driving from Washington State in the North West corner of the United States, through Idaho to Montana, with nothing to listen to in the car. We stopped at a service station and bought a cassette of American orchestral music which we played over and over on this long journey. Although it wasn't the terrain Grofé was writing about, I will always associate the 'Grand Canyon Suite' with the stunning scenery of Montana. We finished Saturday's concert with an impressive performance of the 'Grand Canyon Suite' with the donkey leading us 'On The Trail' recreated by a violin, a bass clarinet and two halves of a coconut. 

'A Small Family Business' by Alan Ayckbourn

13 June 2014

On Thursday we were at Cineworld in Milton Keynes to see the NT Live broadcast of Adam Penford's National Theatre production of 'A Small Family Business' by Alan Ayckbourn. This performance, live from the stage of the Olivier Theatre in London, was simultaneously broadcast to 1100 cinemas in 40 countries around the world - the largest audience yet for a NT Live screening. We first saw 'A Small Family Business' about 20 years ago in an amateur production at Uppingham Theatre, produced by our friend Brian Stokes who had himself taught the young Ayckbourn. The National Theatre production faithfully recreated 1987 period details which felt all the more real in the close-ups on the cinema screen. The kettle, phone and other household items were incredibly recognisable and nostalgic. Though surrounded by a large cast, this is Nigel Lindsay's play. Lindsay, who we last saw as Henry Bolingbroke in Greg Doran's RSC production of Richard II (reviewed here in December 2013), demonstrated a very believable descent, in the space of the week in which the action of the play takes place, from honest upright citizen to criminal Godfather. There appears to be a rule that all professional productions of Alan Ayckbourn plays have to involve Matthew Cottle. We have seen him in Ayckbourn’s ‘Just Between Ourselves’ at the Theatre Royal in Bath in 2002, in the same play at the Royal Theatre Northampton (reviewed here in May 2009) and in Ayckbourn’s ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ at the Palace Theatre in Watford (reviewed here in March 2012). In the National Theatre production of 'A Small Family Business' Matthew Cottle played the incredibly creepy private detective Benedict Hough - it was an uncomfortably sleezy performance. The other standout performance was Alice Sykes, perfect as the stroppy teenage daughter. Like many of Alan Ayckbourn's plays 'A Small Family Business' starts with the appearance of a straightforward farce but gradually reveals a much darker, more serious tone. The final poignant image, as the lights fade to black, has stuck in my mind from that Uppingham production 20 years ago and was just as affecting this time.

Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté

11 June 2014

I wrote here in May 2008 about the Malian kora virtuoso Toumani Diabaté who represents the 71^st generation of a line of griots that has passed on songs forming the oral history of the Mandé Empire of West Africa from father to son. Last Thursday I was at The Stables in Wavendon to see this remarkable hereditary process in action, as generations 71 and 72 performed together – Toumani playing kora duets with his son Sidiki Diabaté. Sidiki is already a star in his own right – a hip hop performer who regular plays to crowds of 20,000 or more in football stadia in Mali. But he is also a very accomplished kora player and the interplay between father and son was fascinating. The 21-string kora is a delicate, mesmerising instrument but recordings sometimes feel a bit tame compared to the excitement generated by a live performance. I had been listening to the new 'Toumani & Sidiki' album but seeing them playing the pieces at The Stables was a completely different experience. Toumani is an extraordinary performer – surely one of the greatest musicians in the world today. The concert ended with a standing ovation – it was a stunning performance.

'Glow' by Ned Beauman

4 June 2014

I'm a big fan of the young novelist Ned Beauman: his second book 'The Teleportation Accident' (reviewed here in July 2013) was my Pick of the Year for 2013 and I also really enjoyed reading his debut 'Boxer, Beetle' (reviewed here in September 2013). So I eagerly pounced on his latest novel 'Glow' as soon as it was published last month and I have just finished reading it (as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Jamie Parker). It felt wonderful to be back in the company of Beauman's idiosyncratic authorial voice and it was great to spot some similar themes and characters from his earlier books. 'Glow' is set mainly in contemporary London and is a complicated tale of recreational drugs, a pirate radio station, appallingly powerful multinational companies, unusual sleep patterns, fakes and replicants – and foxes. The prose is careful, precise, complicated and very funny and there are numerous plot twists and an excessive number of underlying themes. 'Glow' is more of a straightforward thriller than the previous books but is still a complex read. I loved it while I was reading it but, on reflection I don't think it was quite as successful as his earlier novels. If you haven't experienced Ned Beauman yet I would urge you to start with 'The Teleportation Accident' but I'm really looking forward to whatever he writes next.

Miles Jupp

4 June 2014

I was familiar with the comedian Miles Jupp from his numerous BBC Radio 4 appearances and his role in Tom Hollander and James Wood's excellent BBC Two sitcom 'Rev'. On Sunday I got a chance to see his stand-up show at the Alban Arena in St Albans. He performed a very slick, polished set, playing on his posh accent and public school education. Self deprecating, with constant asides and digressions, he focused mostly on domestic, observational humour and was very impressive, building to a nice set-piece finale.

'Dealer's Choice' by Patrick Marber

4 June 2014

I first saw Patrick Marber's debut play 'Dealer's Choice' in an excellent student production at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2000. It's a cleverly constructed drama with the muscular masculinity of Harold Pinter, tempered with humour and poignant sadness that could have come from an Alan Ayckbourn play. It was great to re-encounter 'Dealer's Choice' last weekend in Michael Longhurst's new production at the Royal Theatre, Northampton. The play gathers six men around a poker table to explore dreams, addiction and friendship. This production had a universally strong cast who made you care about a set of characters who, on the face of it, are not the most likeable. In particular Cary Crankson gave the irrepressibly cheerful Mugsy a loveable vulnerability and was very funny.

Julie Fowlis

30 May 2014

Regular readers will be aware of my crush on the Scottish Gaelic folk singer Julie Fowlis. I recommended her first album 'Mar A Tha Mo Chridhe (As My Heart Is)' here in February 2006, just a few months after it was released, and I have written about her here several times since. On Thursday I made the short journey to The Stables in Wavendon to see Julie Fowlis and her band who are currently touring to promote her new album 'Gach Sgeul (Every Story)'. It was an excellent concert. Julie Fowlis has an amazing voice – beautiful, delicate and precise – which gives slow ballads a haunting, ethereal quality (enhanced by the sibilant Gaelic consonants). She is also an impressive performer of traditional Gaelic mouth music, creating a bewildering chain of rapid-fire percussive rhythms with her voice. And then she picks up a tin whistle and demonstrates incredible technique that would be worth the price of admission on its own. She also surrounds herself with amazing musicians, including her husband Eamon Doorley and Tony Byrne on guitars. Byrne's playing in particular was exquisite. And it was a fantastic bonus to discover that her band includes the Scottish fiddle player Duncan Chisholm. I wrote here about Duncan Chisholm in December 2010. He creates a velvety melancholy sound from his violin and his excellent albums 'Farrar' and 'Canaich' are two of my favourite folk recordings of recent years. Chisholm has the ability to make the fiddle sound like a human voice while Julie Fowlis can make the voice sound like an instrument: the combination of these two effects was truly magical.

'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' adapted by Simon Stephens from the novel by Mark Haddon

30 May 2014

When I heard that Mark Haddon's novel 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' was to be made into a stage play, my first reaction was that it felt like a mistake. Haddon's novel seemed a perfect miniature masterpiece, showing the world through prose written by a fifteen-year-old autistic boy and playing with the format of the written word story. Any stage adaptation would surely dilute the effect and end up as a poor substitute for the original novel. So I didn't get around to seeing the National Theatre production of Simon Stephens' adaptation. But last week I was persuaded to watch the NT Live cinema broadcast of the play (at Cineworld in Milton Keynes) and quickly realised the error of my lazy assumptions. This was an excellent theatrical experience, played in the round with a very clever set (by Bunny Christie), inventive use of physical theatre and movement (by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly) and wonderfully directed by Marianne Elliott. The play managed to be true to its source while inventing a theatrical frame for the story. I think this succeeded because the temptation to break the fourth wall was indulged very sparingly: most of the action was a careful and precise portrayal of events from the point of view of Christopher. Similarly, some brilliant moments of humour were all the funnier for their scarcity, with a serious tone set from the opening tableau of the eponymous dog impaled on a garden fork, brutal in its reality. The cast were all very strong and worked extremely hard in a variety of individual roles and crowd scenes but Luke Treadaway's performance as Christopher deservedly stole the show – 'A' star!

BBC Young Musician 2014

19 May 2014

This is the fifth time I have written here about the biennial BBC Young Musician competition. Reading through my previous posts (you can read them all at: http://culturaldessert.blogspot.com/search/label/BBCYoungMusician) I think I have probably done enough moaning about the TV coverage. I have some sympathy for the points made in this article in The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/bbc-young-musician-2014-forget-the-format-give-us-the-music-9364814.html but, apart from my ongoing sadness that we are no longer treated to five concerto performances in the final, I really enjoyed this year's competition. Possibly for the first time, I managed to watch every minute of the coverage on BBC Four (which is no mean feat if you want to be ready to watch the concerto final live!). And my record of spotting the winners is improving: this year I picked three of the five category winners, correctly predicted the three who would make it through to the final and identified the overall winner before the start of the semi-final. More importantly, the 2014 concerto final was the best I can remember. All three performances were worthy of winning the title and all were immensely enjoyable – showcasing three teenagers with a very special blend of technical virtuosity, personality, musicality and emotion. It's a cliché but it is incredibly difficult to compare Elliott Gaston-Ross's performance of the percussion concerto 'African Rise/Manhattan Rave' by Dave Heath, Sophie Westbrooke playing Gordon Jacob's 'Suite for Recorder and Strings' and Martin James Bartlett performing the 'Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini' by Rachmaninov. But I think the young pianist was the correct winner – an astounding performer in an outstanding concert.

'The Shock of the Fall' by Nathan Filer

19 May 2014

'The Shock of the Fall' by Nathan Filer, which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Oliver Hembrough, won the Costa first novel award last year. Matt, a young schizophrenic is conducting his own writing therapy by typing the tale of his life. Gradually, through a non-linear series of episodes and digressions, his story becomes clear to the reader and we learn how the death of his brother defined Matt's life. It's a sad tale, beautifully written. Matt's voice is totally believable and his narrative is often very funny. 'The Shock of the Fall' reminded me of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' by Mark Haddon, 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' by Lionel Shriver (reviewed here in August 2006), 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' by Ken Kesey and ‘Stuart: A Life Backwards’ by Alexander Masters (reviewed here in August 2010). It's not always a comfortable read, but it is a cleverly constructed book and is, ultimately rather uplifting. 

'Henry IV Part 2' by William Shakespeare

16 May 2014

On Thursday we were back at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon to see Greg Doran's RSC production of 'Henry IV Part 2'. Seeing the play in sequence after 'Richard II' (reviewed here in December 2013) and 'Henry IV Part 1' (reviewed here in April 2014), the historical backdrop was much clearer. But I was struck by the fact that 'Part 2' is a play without much plot and which is not remembered for its poetry. What it does, perhaps better than any other Shakespeare play, is to provide a deep and searching exploration of character. While 'Part 1' is Hal's play, in 'Part 2' Falstaff dominates, with a series of opportunities, alone on stage, to address the audience directly. Anthony Sher's Falstaff was wicked and mischievous, funny and despicable, with an earnestly precise diction suggesting his frustration at having to address a bunch of idiots. Sher is a brilliant physical actor and Falstaff became a hobbling, unsteady presence, constantly shifting from one leg to the other, as if trying to balance himself on the rolling deck of a ship. Falstaff can sometimes be a very unfunny clown, but the scenes where he was reunited with Justice Shallow (the ever-wonderful Oliver Ford Davies) were hilarious (with an unnervingly odd performance from Jim Hooper as Silence adding to the effect). I must also mention the amazing physical performance by Leigh Quinn as Wart (one of the members of Falstaff's Scarecrow Army), bent into the most remarkable shape but still managing to move around the stage. This RSC production used a sparing stage set but created a series of realistic worlds through incredibly imaginative lighting and sound design (by Tim Mitchell and Martin Slavin, respectively). It was a very impressive production and the climax, where the newly crowned Henry V publicly rejects Falstaff was a stunning moment.

'The Cuckoo's Calling' by Robert Galbraith

16 May 2014

I really enjoyed 'The Cuckoo's Calling' – J. K. Rowling's first foray into crime fiction, written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Though set in contemporary London, it's quite an old fashioned private eye novel. The detective, Cormoran Strike, takes his place in a line descending from Sherlock Holmes through Philip Marlowe and Dirk Gently. 'The Cuckoo's Calling' is in a very similar vein to Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels, such as 'Started Early, Took My Dog' (reviewed here in April 2011). Both detectives have an army background, a troubled love-life, an assistant who is more capable than they expect and a strong sense of moral justice. The plot of 'The Cuckoo's Calling' is a little more conventional than Kate Atkinson's multi-strand narratives, and it's not the most literary detective novel, but it was a very enjoyable puzzle. Best of all 'The Cuckoo's Calling' obeys my first two rules of detective fiction – 1. The Reader should not know any more than the detective and 2. The detective should work out 'who done it' from the clues they unearth, rather than being handed the solution on a plate by a turn of events. I look forward to the next Cormoran Strike novel which is due to be published this summer.

Antwerp

9 May 2014

We had a lovely holiday in Antwerp last week. Antwerp is Belgium's second largest city and the de facto capital of Flanders. It was also the main port in Northern Europe until overtaken by Amsterdam. The historic centre of the city is very pretty and the main square, Grote Markt, has a lot of similarities to the Grand Place in Brussels (which we visited in May 2013) and the main square in Bruges (which we visited in June 2009). Antwerp was the home of the painter Peter Paul Rubens and it was interesting to see several of his works in their original setting in Antwerp Cathedral, and to visit the Rubenshuis museum to see the building where he lived and worked. We also visited the Antwerp Opera House to see the Vlaamse Opera production of Bela Bartok's one-act opera 'Bluebeard's Castle' combined with a staged version of Schubert's 'Winterreise'. This was a spectacularly bizarre evening in the theatre, which demonstrated the incredible visual imagination of the director, Kornel Mundruczo. It incorporated close-ups of the singers captured by an actor with a video camera and projected on a large screen at the back of the stage, an impressive model railway, two large flying fish and a huge stage set which gradually exploded into its constituent parts. It was fascinating to watch but somewhat distracted from the music – which was excellent. All three singers (Stefan Kocan, Asmik Grigorian and Toby Girling) and the orchestra (conducted by Martyn Brabbins) were very impressive. Antwerp is also known for its restaurants and we had some excellent meals, sampling French, Italian and Flemish cuisine in some amazing old buildings. We also enjoyed a visit to Antwerp Zoo which sits directly alongside the fantastic Antwerp Central Station – one of the most beautiful railway stations in the world and the setting for that brilliant 'Sound of Music' flashmob performance in 2009 (well worth another look at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k).

'Henry IV Part 1' by William Shakespeare

25 April 2014

On Wednesday I was in Stratford-upon-Avon, as a guest of the Royal Shakespeare Company, to celebrate Shakespeare's 450^th birthday. The evening culminated in a spectacular fireworks display outside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre after we had watched Greg Doran's production of Henry IV Part 1. Many people (including The Guardian's Michael Billington) claim Henry IV Part 1 is Shakespeare's greatest play. I'm not really in a position to judge but I have had a soft spot for the work since I studied it for 'O' level. Watching it again for the first time since seeing the National Theatre production in 2005 (which featured Michael Gambon as Falstaff) I thought about what makes this Shakespeare so special. Comparing it to the other history plays, I think the balance between the macro political story and the personal development of the characters is more even. The contrast between the scenes at court and the inn scenes is so stark they sometimes seem to have come from different plays. This makes the crossover between these two worlds particularly fascinating and, for all the inevitable focus on the wonderful character of Falstaff, this is Hal's play. In the RSC production, Alex Hassell showed us a very convincing transition between the playboy prankster and the warrior prince, maturing before our eyes. In contrast, Trevor White's peroxide blonde Hotspur was a manic, grinning adolescent – easily over-excited and bouncing all over the stage. It was interesting to see Henry IV so soon after watching Greg Doran's Richard II (reviewed here in December 2013). Jasper Britton, as Henry, started proceedings on Wednesday by placing the crown upon his head as the shadowy figure of Richard (with David Tennant's flowing locks) appeared briefly on a balcony, before fading from view – reminding us of Henry Bolingbroke's violent coup at the end of the previous play. But it is Falstaff who is naturally the centre of attention in Henry IV Part 1 and Anthony Sher's portrayal of the portly knight was compellingly brilliant. Sher managed to make Falstaff both incredibly funny and unnervingly unlikeable. The battlefield scene in which he offers a desperate unarmed Prince Hal the loan of his pistol, only for Hal to discover that the holster merely contains a bottle of sack, was truly chilling – with Falstaff's childish giggling completely out-of-place with the Prince's frustrated fury. Anthony Sher is an electric presence on a stage and it is very hard to take your eyes off him. But he makes Falstaff more than a mere clown, giving us a much more complex character – one we long to see again whilst also despising him. 

'An Intervention' by Mike Bartlett

22 April 2014

I worried a little when I discovered that Mike Bartlett's new play 'An Intervention', which we saw at Watford Palace Theatre last Saturday, runs without an interval, takes place mostly in front of curtains (“like Morecambe and Wise or Abbott and Costello”) and has just two characters, designated 'A' and 'B' – who “can be played by actors of any age, gender or ethnicity”. But 'An Intervention' is a very accessible, clever and impressive piece of theatre. It's a funny, thought-provoking and disturbing two-hander – excellently acted by Rachael Stirling and John Hollingworth in a Paines Plough and Watford Palace Theatre production, directed by James Grieve. We last saw Rachael Stirling in Mike Bartlett’s contemporary version of ‘Medea', also at Watford Palace Theatre (reviewed here in November 2012), and she is a wonderful stage actor. 'An Intervention' looks at what happens when you hate your best friend. Can friendship survive when one of you supports the proposed military intervention in a Middle East conflict and the other is on the anti-war protest? And how much of the ensuing argument is really personal rather than political? Mike Bartlett's play has plenty of dark humour and a contemporary everyday ordinariness that reminded me of Patrick Marber's 'Closer', but it is a serious work that looks at its themes in a very theatrical way. Intriguing and entertaining – an excellent production.

Feydeau's 'Every Last Trick' in a new version by Tamsin Oglesby

22 April 2014

I first encountered the inspired lunacy of Spymonkey through their wonderfully silly stage show 'Oedipussy' (reviewed here in February 2012). Last Friday I was back at the Royal Theatre, Northampton, to see two of the four members of Spymonkey tackling a classic Feydeau farce in a new version by Tamsin Oglesby. 'Every Last Trick' was a Royal and Derngate production, directed by Told by an Idiot's Paul Hunter. It was a very impressive combination of physical theatre, clowning, dancing and singing. There were some incredibly funny moments (and some hilarious corpsing!). But 'Every Last Trick' felt a little like a work in progress and I wonder whether there were simply too many creative cooks involved in its preparation. The strict rules of farce seemed to get a bit lost along the way. Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable experience which was rapturously received by a packed audience.

'Longbourn' by Jo Baker

17 April 2014

Jane Austen's novels must have generated more sequels, prequels, parodies and imitators than any others, but Jo Baker's wonderful novel 'Longbourn' stands out from the crowd. 'Longbourn', which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book narrated by Emma Fielding, revisits characters and scenes from 'Pride and Prejudice' from the point of view of the Bennetts' servants. As with Tom Stoppard's 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead', for everyone familiar with the original, there is great pleasure to be had from discovering what happened in between the bits we know. And Jo Baker is very good at demonstrating how little those below stairs notice or understand about events which appear so momentous in Austen's story. But 'Longbourn' succeeds so well because it is a complete novel in its own right, with a self-contained plot – an achingly painful love story – that would make it an enjoyable and satisfying read even if you had never heard of 'Pride and Prejudice'. 'Longbourn' is a very modern novel, but completely true to its period setting. It is beautifully written, without succumbing to the temptation to imitate Austen's prose style. Jo Baker evokes the harsh realities of a servant's life and explores some of the darker questions beneath the polite society of Jane Austen's world. Revealing that Mr Bingley's wealth comes from sugar, she explores the role of slavery – which makes for interesting comparisons with those in service in England. The arrival of the army in Meriton takes us on a journey into the horrors of an ordinary soldier's experiences in the European wars. But all this is done without any knowing, contemporary sneering: 'Longbourn' tells it how it was and allows the readers to draw their own conclusions. One of the most intriguing revelations concerns the relationship between Mr and Mrs Bennett. From 'Pride and Prejudice' (and more so in many of its film and TV adaptations) Mr Bennett appears to be a saint, while his wife is an incredibly irritating comic character. It is tempting to wonder how they ever got together. Jo Baker paints a much more sympathetic portrait of Mrs Bennett and shows a darker, but sadly believable, side to her husband. 'Longbourn' is a clever, fascinating and moving novel – highly recommended. 

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

11 April 2014

Accompanying a soloist in a concerto is always a difficult discipline for an orchestra. Maintaining balance often requires considerable restraint from the orchestra and the need to follow the soloist's fluctuations of speed can be a significant challenge for the conductor. In the Northampton Symphony Orchestra's concert last Saturday we had the privilege of accompanying the amazing violinist Clare Howick in a performance of Elgar's 'Violin Concerto'. Less well-known but very similar to the Elgar Cello Concerto, this romantic and dramatic work twists and turns the tempo in almost every bar. Clare Howick gave a stunning performance, and it was very exciting to accompany her, but the concentration required throughout the concerto (which lasts nearly 50 minutes) was exhausting. In the second half of the concert we performed Brahms' 'Symphony No. 1', a very 'classical' symphony that feels like supercharged Beethoven. There is a deceptive simplicity to the piece which reveals more and more as you get to know it and builds to a very exciting finale. I think we gave a very strong performance and it was an extremely enjoyable concert.

Milton Keynes Sinfonia workshop - ''Sinfonietta' by Leoš Janácek

3 April 2014

As regular readers may remember, I first came across the 'Sinfonietta' by Leoš Janácek in 2007 (reviewed here in October 2007). Last weekend I finally got the opportunity to play the Sinfonietta, in a workshop day at the Open University, organised by Milton Keynes Sinfonia. Following the success of last year's workshop on 'The Rite of Spring' (reviewed here in May 2013), players from Milton Keynes Sinfonia and other local orchestras gathered on Sunday morning to tackle the very different demands of the Janácek work, under the guidance of conductor David Knight. It was a very enjoyable and sociable day – with plenty of tea and cake! - and it was lovely getting to know this wonderful piece of music better by playing it. We finished the afternoon with a very passable informal performance of the Sinfonietta. I'm looking forward to the next MKS workshop.

The Lake District

3 April 2014

We had a lovely week in the Lake District. The weather was cold but mostly sunny and we enjoyed some stunning walks. We were staying in a cottage in the village of Uldale, near Caldbeck, North of Keswick, so we mainly explored the Northern parts of the Lake District. We walked around Buttermere and up Sale Fell, overlooking Bassenthwaite Lake. We did a coastal walk at Silloth and visited the popular tourist haunts of Grasmere and Rydal. We particularly enjoyed driving over the spectacular Honister and Kirkstone passes. We also enjoyed some wonderful meals and would recommend the Quince & Medlar vegetarian restaurant in Cockermouth and the Overwater Hall Hotel restaurant near Ireby.