'Moving' by Jenny Eclair

28 July 2016

We first saw the comedian Jenny Eclair at the South Holland Centre in Spalding about a year before she became the first female solo winner of the Edinburgh Fringe Perrier Comedy Award in 1995. We saw her stand-up show a few times over the next few years and have since enjoyed her appearances on radio and television but, until now, I hadn’t read any of her books. Her latest novel, ‘Moving’ (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Judith Boyd, Clare Willie and Andrew Wincott), is a surprisingly melancholy family tale in three parts. The first section of the book focuses on Edwina who is about to sell the house she has lived in for more than 50 years. As she shows the estate agent each room she is reminded of episodes from her family life, gradually building up a jigsaw-puzzle narrative of Edwina’s marriages and children. Moving from room to room with a series of flashback stories provides an intriguing structure but feels more like an extended Radio 4 Afternoon Play than a novel. The middle section of the book plunges the reader into the more straightforward story of a student at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre in the early 1980s (clearly drawing on Jenny Eclair’s own experience). But the fact that the protagonist here is not one of Edwina’s children but someone more obliquely connected to her family makes the novel much more interesting as the reader tries to work out how the events and characters are going to connect. Some apparently far-fetched coincidences turn out to have more believable connections that were subtly planted in the early chapters. The final section of the novel shifts to another previously peripheral character’s perspective and brings the narrative back to the present day. Echoing the structure of the novel’s first section, photographs in an album prompt memories that fill in another angle to many of the events covered in the first two parts of the book. Jenny Eclair cleverly makes us care about a previously unsympathetic character by showing us the story through his eyes. ‘Moving’ is an impressive and intriguing novel – carefully plotted and a sadder, more serious story than I had expected.

'Sense and Sensibility' by Jane Austen, adapted by Laura Turner

22 July 2016

On Wednesday we took advantage of the hot weather to watch an open-air theatre performance at Wrest House in Silsoe. It was a beautiful setting for Chapterhouse Theatre's production of 'Sense and Sensibility', adapted by Laura Turner. We had actually seen this production before (reviewed here in September 2011) but it was still very enjoyable second time round – with a fresh and enthusiastic young cast and a packed audience on the tiered lawns beside the Orangery. When Marianne Dashwood was caught in a thunderstorm (leading to her development of a 'putrid fever') there was a moment when we all wondered whether the recorded thunder sound effect was the actual weather finally breaking but fortunately we stayed dry as the sun sank behind the trees.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

20 July 2016

The annual Northampton Symphony Orchestra Friends' Concert is an opportunity for us to say thank you to the Friends of the NSO for their support over the past year. It is also a chance for the orchestra to play a variety of shorter, lighter pieces that wouldn't necessarily fit into our main concerts. This year's Friends' Concert – the first with our new conductor John Gibbons – featured waltzes by Johann Strauss and Aram Khachaturian, 'Entry Of The Gladiators' by Julius Fucik and two pieces by Eric Coates ('London Suite' and the 'Dambusters March'). We also played a suite of music by Nigel Hess written for the 2004 film 'Ladies in Lavender' with NSO leader Stephen Hague – who actually appeared in the film – playing the solo violin part. Our concert programme also included 'On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring' by Delius and Dvořák's 'Slavonic Dance No 1'. It was a lovely concert – followed by a wonderful buffet!

'Vinegar Girl' by Anne Tyler

15 July 2016

Anne Tyler said that 'A Spool of Blue Thread' (reviewed here in March 2015) was to be her last novel, so it was great to be able to discover a new Anne Tyler book in the form of 'Vinegar Girl: The Taming of the Shrew Retold', which I have just read as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Kirsten Potter. 'Vinegar Girl' is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series in which contemporary novelists are invited to re-imagine Shakespeare plays. This being Anne Tyler, her 'Taming of the Shrew' is set in modern-day Baltimore and focusses, like most Anne Tyler novels, on the slightly quirky domestic life of a relatively normal family. In the manner of most Anne Tyler protagonists, Kate Battista contemplates a radical step that would change her comfortable, familiar life for ever. 'Vinegar Girl' is a fairly short novel which succeeds by concentrating on character development rather than slavishly following Shakespeare's plot. It's a gentle and very enjoyable book – an unexpected treat for Anne Tyler fans who feared there was no more to come.

Wimbledon 2016

15 July 2016

We made our first visit for three years to the All England Tennis Championships at Wimbledon last week. We were very lucky to get Centre Court tickets for Ladies' semi finals day and had the best seats we have ever had – just three rows from the court. It was an incredibly hot day and we had a wonderful view of the action. Unfortunately neither semi final was a great match: Serena Williams' win over Elena Vesnina was so one-sided it felt like a first round match. The second semi final, between Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber, was more competitive but the result never really seemed in doubt. We did, however, get a great men's doubles semi-final which saw the eventual champions, Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, triumph over Max Mirnyi and Treat Huey in five tight sets. It was amazing seeing the lighting-fast rallies between all four players at the net so close-up. You can see a selection of my Wimbledon 2016 photos at: http://culturaloutlook.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Wimbledon2016

'The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047' by Lionel Shriver

29 June 2016

It's a long time since I read Lionel Shriver's stunning novel 'We need to talk about Kevin'. Writing here about it in August 2006 I said “I found it completely compelling – very clever and well-written – a gripping and emotional ride that made me feel like I had been holding my breath throughout – and made me burst into tears after finishing the final page – brilliant!” So my expectations were high in approaching Lionel Shriver's new novel 'The Mandibles' (which I read as an unabridged audio book, narrated by George Newbern). 'The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047' explores the economic crises of recent years through an inventive fantasy that follows the lives of a wealthy American family through a dystopian future in which the dollar crashes resulting in the unravelling of civilisation and the rule of law across the USA. Shriver has lots of fun imagining Mexico imposing border controls to stop US citizens fleeing South and Americans providing cheap labour to the new Chinese superpower. But the author's extensive research is rather blatantly displayed. This is a novel of ideas in which characters who are desperate for food and other essential supplies seem happy to spend most of their time having long intellectual conversations about economic theory and the role of cash in society. 'The Mandibles' often feels like one of George Bernard Shaw's more didactic plays, with far too many dinner party scenes of unrealistically eloquent expository debate. Strangely, for a story whose events span the breakdown of Western civilisation, there doesn't seem to be enough plot: the dramatic incidents tend to happen 'off-stage' (even a scene where the family is robbed at gunpoint descends into a theoretical discussion with the gunman). 'The Mandibles' is an interesting exploration of economic theory but ultimately a somewhat stilted novel.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

21 June 2016

The Cornish composer George Llloyd was born in 1913 – the same year as Benjamin Britten. In his heyday Lloyd was revered (with Britten) as one of England's two great contemporary composers. But his traumatic experiences while serving with the Arctic convoys in the Second World War led him to give up composing for some years and today he is largely overlooked. George Lloyd's 'Symphony No 9', which we performed in the Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert at St Matthew's Church in Northampton last Saturday, was written in 1969. The symphony shows a composer responding to the horrors of the 20th century by deciding to focus on the cheerier aspects of life. The music feels like a, sometimes odd, mixture of the seriousness of Vaughan-Williams and the jauntiness of Eric Coates. But, over the weeks we have been rehearsing it with our conductor John Gibbons who is a great champion of British composers, I think most members of the orchestra have grown very fond of the work and many of us are now beginning to listen to George Lloyd's other symphonies. The final movement of the ninth symphony is a tour de force for tuned percussion, requiring two xylophones, marimba, glockenspiel, vibraphone, tublar bells and celeste, and the NSO percussionists gave a truly stunning performance: congratulations to Keith Crompton, Ben Lewis, Oliver Lowe, Alex Taylor, William Thallon, harpist Alexander Thomas and Chris Henderson on timpani. The concert also featured a beautifully delicate performance of Rodrigo's 'Concierto de Aranjuez' for guitar and orchestra by Graham Roberts. Our programme (of pieces linked to various holiday destinations) also included Malcolm Arnold's 'Four Cornish Dances', 'L'Isle Joyeuse' by Claude Debussy, George Gershwin's 'Cuban Overture' and John Barry's theme from the film 'Out of Africa'. Like the Lloyd symphony, the concert as a whole felt like an odd mixture but proved hugely enjoyable for both orchestra and audience. There were some wonderful solos by Graham Tear (flute), Rob Reid (clarinet) and Nick Bunker (trumpet) in the Debussy, Gershwin and the slow movement of the symphony. But my main memory of the concert will be the thrilling finale of George Lloyd's 'Symphony No 9' with its rapid-fire xylophones. If you want to get an idea of the piece there is a recording of the symphony's premiere on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWCls9RNfxM

Iberian cruise

17 June 2016

We had a wonderful holiday on board the P&O cruise ship Oriana, visiting Spain, Portugal and Morocco. We enjoyed two weeks of consistently glorious sunshine and remarkably calm seas. It was great fun exploring some beautiful cities, including Lisbon, Cadiz, Malaga and Porto. Visiting Tangier in Morocco was a fascinating, if slightly intimidating, experience. We wandered through the crowded, narrow alleyways of the Medina with its myriad of shops and stalls selling leather goods and spices, getting lost several times as we tried to retrace our steps from the Kasbah at the top of the hill back to the harbour. Another highlight was our first visit to the Frank Gehry's amazing Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao – an incredible building that has helped to transform an ailing industrial city into a major tourist destination.

You can see a selection of my holiday photos at: http://culturaloutlook.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/IberianCruise2016

'Juliet, Naked' by Nick Hornby

27 May 2016

The writer Nick Hornby is well known for his fascination with popular music – from his brilliant first novel 'High Fidelity' (1995) to his compelling non-fiction book '31 Songs' (2003) (which leaves you desperate to listen to Stevie Wonder's 'Songs in the Key of Life'). In October last year I saw Hornby interviewing Elvis Costello at the Royal Festival Hall in London (reviewed here in October 2015). So I was fascinated recently to discover Nick Hornby's 2009 novel 'Juliet, Naked' which focusses on an obsessive fan of fictional singer-songwriter, Tucker Crowe – a hybrid of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen who mysteriously disappeared into obscurity more than 20 years ago. I had somehow missed this Nick Hornby novel which came out before his tale of 1960s television 'Funny Girl' (reviewed here in January 2015). 'Juliet, Naked' is familiar Hornby territory, dealing with fandom, obsession and relationships. It's an easy, enjoyable and funny read which smuggles in some serious themes. It felt like a more mature work than some earlier Nick Hornby novels – with fewer hilarious set-piece comic scenes and not afraid of leaving some loose ends dangling. The ending left me wanting more but maybe that is a sign of the author's success.

'A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Play for the Nation' by William Shakespeare

19 May 2016

In September 2008 the Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Festival, Michael Boyd, gave an interview to The Stage in which he spoke about his desire to use the 2012 World Shakespeare Festival to break down barriers between amateur and professional theatre. The following day we contacted him to ask how Voluntary Arts could help make this happen. The programme we set in motion – which became known as Open Stages – led me, nearly 8 years later, to The Barbican in London last night to see a group of amateur actors from the Tower Theatre Company stealing the show in a RSC production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Erica Whyman's production, subtitled 'A Play for the Nation', is a remarkable undertaking by the RSC. The show is touring to 14 theatres across the UK as a co-production with 14 amateur theatre companies who are providing local actors in each location to play the rude mechanicals alongside a professional RSC cast, with children from local schools playing Titania's fairies. A total of 84 amateur actors and 580 child actors are taking part. Achieving this logistical feat is clearly very impressive but there was always a risk it might have been merely a worthy enterprise. Magically, the show is also an artistic triumph. Erica Whyman has set 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in a dilapidated theatre with costumes that suggest Britain in the 1940s – a decade, as she points out in the programme, that saw the founding of the Arts Council, marking the beginning of “a fundamental split between the amateur and professional worlds” in the theatre. This narrative of amateur and professional going their separate ways for more than 60 years and now gradually starting to come back together has been the constant theme of the RSC Open Stages programme and it was wonderful to see this landmark production acknowledging it. It's a witty, playful production with a mesmerising Puck – played by a constantly grinning Lucy Ellinson, barefoot in black suit and top hat, moving with the grace of a dancer and bringing to mind Joel Grey in 'Cabaret', Marcel Marceau and the Child Catcher from 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'. The lovers' quarrels also had some amazingly acrobatic choreography and credit should be given to the show's Movement Director, Sian Williams. But the highlight of the evening was the performance of 'Pyramus and Thisbe' by the Tower Theatre Company actors, led by John Chapman as Bottom and directed by David Taylor. This play-within-a-play climax was achingly funny: people around me in the audience were squealing hysterically. It was one of the funniest things I've seen on stage for years. The amateur actors were clearly having a ball and were in total control of the situation. The final dance, involving the whole massive cast, was glorious and joyous – a life-affirming ending to a brilliant performance. Speaking in November 2009 at the RSC/Voluntary Arts Creative Planning Weekend at Stratford-upon-Avon where we first designed the Open Stages programme, Michael Boyd talked about doing something culture-changing. He said “something very radical is happening in theatre in this country … the combined forces of professional and amateur theatre provide potentially a massive engine of social cohesion and social intelligence”. This Thursday at The Barbican we saw this in action and I'm very proud to have played a small part in this magnificent journey.

'Broken Harbour' by Tana French

18 May 2016

All too often crime novels seem to sacrifice good writing for plot. Many years ago I saw Ian Rankin speaking at an Edinburgh Fringe event at which he said his motivation to start the Inspector Rebus novels had been to see whether he could bring his literary novelist skills to the world of crime fiction. Surely murder mysteries don't have to be badly written? So I was delighted recently to come across the novels of Tana French – a superior set of detective stories. Tana French has written a series of novels featuring members of the Dublin Murder Squad. Rather than focussing on a single detective, each novel  has a different investigating officer, drawn from the Murder Squad pool. Characters from previous novels appear in the background but the main focus shifts each time. I've just finished reading 'Broken Harbour' (as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Hugh Lee). It's an intriguing police procedural which follows most of Robin's rules for detective fiction. The reader only sees events through the eyes of the main detective: so we have the same chance of solving the mystery as the police. And the puzzle is solved by detection and deduction, rather than some lucky turn of events that presents the answer on a plate. After the initial discovery of a gruesome and bizarre crime scene there are no further melodramatic twists or revelations, just a painstaking piecing together of the evidence. The resulting explanations of the murderer's method and motivations were plausible though I wasn't completely convinced by the way the detective chose to wrap up the investigation. But as well as working as a crime plot, 'Broken Harbour' is beautifully written with poetic descriptions, believable characters and a haunting melancholy. I look forward to reading more by Tana French.

BBC Young Musician 2016

18 May 2016

This is the sixth time I have written here about the biennial BBC Young Musician competition – a competition I have followed avidly since it started in 1978. You can read all my previous posts at: http://culturaldessert.blogspot.com/search/label/BBCYoungMusician. Two years ago I proudly boasted that I had correctly managed to pick three of the five category winners while watching the category finals. This time I am even more smug, having correctly predicted all five – though I should acknowledge that if you watch the TV coverage very carefully you begin to pick up subtle clues from the cautiously non-committal comments of the presenters and judges after each performance. No such clues were necessary however to spot that, from his first appearance in the strings final, 'cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason was clearly going to win the whole competition. Like another young 'cellist, Laura van der Heijden in 2012, there was something special about his performances – passionate, thoughtful, intelligent and incredibly mature for one so young. And his off-stage shyness, politeness and humility only made him an even more likeable winner. The 2016 BBC Young Musician competition felt like one of the best ever, with a concerto final at The Barbican in London that included a horn player for the first time in many years (Ben Goldscheider playing the 'Concerto No 2' by Richard Strauss) and a remarkably charismatic performance by the first saxophone player ever to reach the final, Jess Gillam from Ulverston in Cumbria (who played 'Where the Bee Dances' by Michael Nyman). But Sheku Kanneh-Mason's outstanding performance of the 'Concerto No 1' by Shostakovitch was a fitting climax to a wonderful competition.

'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare

18 May 2016

It took 50 years for our local amateur theatre group, TADS, to pluck up the courage to perform a Shakespeare play. Now Shakespeare has become a regular part of their repertoire. After tackling the Bard for the first time in 2012, with a magnificent production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (reviewed here in May 2012) and repeating the feat with 'Henry V' (reviewed here in July 2014), they have added a third Shakespearean triumph with Sue Sachon's production of 'Romeo and Juliet' which we saw at the TADS Theatre in Toddington last Saturday. This 'Romeo and Juliet' is set in modern day Verona (with a magnificent set designed by Andrew Naish and David Sachon). Some years ago we saw an open-air 'Romeo and Juliet' (reviewed here in August 2006) in which the Montagues and Capulets wore colour-coded football shirts with the characters' names on the back. In the TADS production the two families were identified by T-shirts showing their allegiance to rival gyms – which provided the justification for their interest in fencing. There was some impressive sword-play, with incredibly realistic fight scenes choreographed by Jon Sachon. The lead actors – Steve Loczy as Romeo (who was a great Lysander in TADS' 'A Midsummer Night's Dream') and Jenna Kay as Juliet – were excellent, but the show was almost stolen by Peter Carter-Brown's Mercutio. In the 2014 TADS production of 'Henry V' I said “Peter Carter-Brown's performance as the King would not have been out of place at the RSC. There is little comedy in 'Henry V' but Peter Carter-Brown showed a lightness of touch in the occasional comic moments to suggest it would be fascinating to see him tackle a Shakespeare comedy”. As Mercutio he gave a wonderfully physical comic performance, standing out in a universally strong cast. And I should give a special mention to Unami Tenga as Benvolio – a really impressive performance from a 19-year-old actor. I liked the idea of showing Romeo as an aspiring poet, constantly scribbling his romantic thoughts in a notebook. This gave an explanation, in this modern setting, for his poetic pronouncements as he rehearsed phrases he would then write down. It also provided the opportunity for his parents to discover the notebook by his body at the end of the play and begin to piece together what had happened to him from his writing. At nearly three and a half hours this was an immense undertaking for an amateur theatre group but TADS pulled it off impressively. Once again they made their Shakespeare production feel like a significant event in the history of the company.

'Cymbeline' by William Shakespeare

11 May 2016

On Tuesday we were at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon to see Melly Still's new RSC production of 'Cymbeline'. I had only previously seen this rarely performed Shakespeare play once – in a 1993 touring production by Compass Theatre Company which I saw at Stamford Arts Centre. It's a peculiar, complex but very entertaining play: the final scene includes some 30 denouements which tend to baffle an audience unsure whether to cry, laugh or applaud each revelation. The RSC production was spectacular, moving and funny. Anna Fleischle's design places this tale of ancient Britain in a dystopian future of concrete and graffiti. In this production Cymbeline becomes a queen rather than a king, played with battle-hardened determination by Gillian Bevan. Many of the cast are also currently in Simon Godwin's production of Hamlet (reviewed here in April 2016). Hiran Abeysekera (Horatio) plays the flawed hero Posthumus Leonatus, but unusually for Shakespeare this play has a female lead. Innogen has the most lines and the greatest time on stage and Bethan Cullinane (Guildenstern) made her a compelling character – playful, tempestuous, distracted, brave and clever. There was great use of back projection, which allowed the scenes in Rome featuring a Dutchman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and two Italians to be performed multi-lingually with surtitles. The interaction between Britain and Europe in 'Cymbeline' feels remarkably topical with its battle between the Britons and the imperial army of Rome. It's an odd work which contains many echoes of more famous Shakespeare plays but the RSC production is great fun.

'The Complete Deaths' adapted by Tim Crouch

10 May 2016

When I last wrote here about the extraordinary theatre-maker Tim Crouch (reviewing his show 'I, Malvolio' at the Brighton Festival in May 2010) I said “take any opportunity to see what Tim Crouch does next”. He is a really interesting and unusual writer, performer and director who specialises in breaking down the fourth wall and creating entertaining, provocative and unsettling theatre. I was intrigued, therefore, to be at the Royal Theatre, Northampton, on Saturday to see the results of his new collaboration with the superb quartet of clowns that is Spymonkey (who I reviewed here in February 2012 and April 2014). Produced to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, 'The Complete Deaths' – adapted and directed by Tim Crouch and performed by Spymonkey (in a co-production with Brighton Festival and Royal & Derngate, Northampton) – re-enacts all 75 onstage deaths from Shakespeare's plays. Crouch's research into Shakespeare's deaths (23 stabbings, 12 sword fights, 5 poisonings, 12 suicides etc) is impressive. The production fuses Crouch's tendency to blur the boundaries between actor and character with Spymonkey's trademark stepping out of character to portray a company at war with itself. The use of video cameras and projection is a familiar Tim Crouch trope and Spymonkey's excellent physical slapstick is well-used. There are some very funny moments as the deaths are ticked off, with a large digital display counting them down. But I'm not sure the conceit completely worked as a show and I found my attention wandering at various points. 'The Complete Deaths' was a little too close to the Reduced Shakespeare Company's version of 'The Complete Works', with elements of the National Theatre of Brent and the self-imposed challenge aspect of Chicago's 'Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind' (30 plays in 60 minutes). But I'm still looking forward to seeing what Tim Crouch and Spymonkey do next.

'Kiss Me Quickstep' by Amanada Whittington

6 May 2016

On Saturday we were at Oldham Coliseum Theatre to see 'Kiss Me Quickstep' – a new play by Amanda Whittington co-produced with the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, directed by Theresa Heskins. The play opens with a young man walking into an empty ballroom, gazing around awestruck and uttering a single word: “Blackpool”. This is the story of three couples competing at the British Amateur Ballroom and Latin Championships in the Empress Ballroom at the Blackpool Winter Gardens. It's a fairly slight tale but nicely told with a good balance between humour and poignancy – and the dancing was excellent. The action takes place on two consecutive days – the interval neatly dividing the ballroom from the Latin, and providing the opportunity for a complete change of costumes. When you know your dance steps, watching actors pretending to ballroom dance can be excruciating but the cast of 'Kiss Me Quickstep' were clearly all very accomplished dancers. The lead actors were joined by a community cast of local amateurs to provide several spectacular dance sequences which filled the Coliseum stage. Amanda Whittington's research (at Blackpool Dance Festival) was meticulous: even the conversations about dance steps and routines felt believable. And her script is very witty: at one point local girl Nancy insists that a rival couple whose car has broken down and can't get home must stay the night at her house. Nancy says “We'd be delighted to have you … Cos that's what we do here. We're Blackpool.” To which her father quickly adds “Well, strictly speaking, we're Lytham.” 'Kiss Me Quickstep' is a feel-good celebration of ballroom dancing, described by its author as “life caught in a mirrorball light”.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

26 April 2016

Last Saturday was the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death and the Royal Shakespeare Company marked the occasion with a star-studded gala performance at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, hosted by David Tennant and broadcast live on BBC2. I was thrilled to receive an invitation from the RSC but quickly remembered that I was already committed to playing in the Northampton Symphony Orchestra's own Shakespeare celebration – 'The Bard's Birthday Bash' – the same evening. Our Shakespeare-themed concert opened with music from Prokofiev's ballet 'Romeo and Juliet' followed by 'The Magic Island' – a piece by Northampton-born composer William Alwyn which was inspired by 'The Tempest'. Alwyn's score quotes Caliban's speech 'Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises' – the words spoken by Kenneth Branagh at the start of Danny Boyle's London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony and which I used in ‘Island Race’ – the short choral piece I wrote with Robin Osterley and Evan Dawson to celebrate London 2012 (see: http://culturaloutlook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/island-race.html). But the main event in Saturday's NSO concert was a performance of William Walton's music from the 1944 Laurence Olivier film of 'Henry V', arranged by Christopher Palmer as 'Henry V: A Shakespeare Scenario' – in which the music is interspersed with key speeches from the play. For our performance actor Graham Padden and NSO Conductor John Gibbons had added even more of Shakespeare's text to turn the piece into a one-man performance of the play, accompanied by 80-piece orchestra. It was great fun to play and Graham Padden did an amazing job of conjuring up Shakespeare's scenes and characters. The shunning of Falstaff by the King was a really poignant moment, Henry's wooing of the French Princess was playful and touching and the Battle of Agincourt was powerful and brutal: 'Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'. There were many great woodwind solos, a mysteriously wandering off-stage trumpet and an army of percussionists. With a series of short movements carefully co-ordinated with narrative cues it felt more like playing for a show than an orchestral concert but it was a really enjoying and satisfying experience. I'm glad I decided to celebrate the Shakespeare anniversary with the NSO: when you've got Graham Padden, who needs David Tennant?

Milton Keynes City Orchestra concert

22 April 2016

It feels quite old fashioned to start an orchestral concert by playing the national anthem but this week's Milton Keynes City Orchestra concert coincided with the Queen's 90th birthday on Thursday and the whole audience was on its feet singing 'God Save The Queen'. The concert, in the magnificent new auditorium at 'The Venue' at Walton High in Milton Keynes, featured 'Haydn's Symphony No 103 (The Drumroll)' followed by the 'Violin Concerto No 5' written by the 19-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and played exquisitely by the young violinist Aleksandra Li – a winner of this year's Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe competition. The performance finished with Prokofiev's 'Symphony No 1 (Classical)' – a short symphony written in 1916 that draws on the classical tradition of Haydn and Mozart but adds twentieth century harmonies. I hadn't heard the Classical Symphony for years and was reminded what a perfect piece it is. Hearing a small orchestra playing it at close quarters was really exciting. It felt like the professional players of the MKCO, precise and comfortable in the Haydn and Mozart, were much more on the edge of their seats for the Prokofiev: it was a thrilling and charming performance under their new Musical Director, Damian Iorio.

Heliotrope Chamber Ensemble concert

13 April 2016

On Saturday I made my third appearance with the Heliotrope Ensemble (following previous concerts reviewed here in April 2013 and May 2015). Once again we were at Abington Avenue United Reformed Church in Northampton to perform a programme of chamber music for large wind ensemble. The first half of the concert featured Mozart’s ‘Serenade for 13 Wind Instruments’ (the ‘Gran Partita’) – a legendary summit for wind players to climb. I've played the Gran Partita twice before – at a Music in the Brickhills concert in 2011 (reviewed here in May 2011) and last summer at Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire (reviewed here in July 2015). It's a beautiful piece but the horn parts are fairly straightforward: the intricate solos are in the oboes, clarinets, bassoons and basset horns and my Heliotrope colleagues gave an excellent performance, ably led by conductor Peter Cigleris. In the second half of the concert we tackled the 'Sonatina no. 2 for 16 Winds' by Richard Strauss ('From the Happy Workshop'). This rarely performed work is one of the last Strauss wrote and was intended as a tribute to the wind music of Mozart. There are many similarities and references to the Gran Partita but one of the most obvious differences from Mozart is the writing for the four horns, which is magnificent. I found the first horn part a major challenge – incredibly high, fast and intricate – but huge fun to play. I think our performance went really well: the decision not to rehearse on Saturday afternoon, as we normally would, left me with enough stamina to get through the concert. Any mistakes were down to lack of concentration rather than stamina. There was some brilliant playing throughout the ensemble and it was a privilege to be asked to be part of it. I look forward to the next Heliotrope project.

'Super' by Pet Shop Boys

8 April 2016

It's always a pleasant surprise to discover that the Pet Shop Boys are still going. I've been enjoying their new album, 'Super', which is a good example of their ability to combine criminally catchy choruses, serious dance music, intelligent lyrics and a gentle wistfulness. On 'Happiness' Neil Tennant sings “it's a long way to happiness and when we get there is anybody's guess” and you realise it would be quite a shock to see the Pet Shop Boys exhibiting signs of happiness. Theirs is a dead-pan, straight-faced delivery that makes you want to dance whilst simultaneously contemplating the sadness of the universe. 'The Pop Kids' is an excellent exercise in nostalgia for early 90s clubland: “They called us the Pop Kids 'cause we loved the pop hits and quoted the best bits so we were the Pop Kids”. 'The Dictator Decides' evokes the melancholy of a reluctant tyrant “The joke is I'm not even a demagogue – have you heard me giving a speech? My facts are invented, I sound quite demented, so deluded it beggars belief. It would be such a relief not to give another speech”. Super.