Bach, when complimented about his musical ability, supposedly said “There’s nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself”.
I am sure he is right, it’s just the right keys and the right timing that I have problems with! Just call me Eric Morecombe. (I’ve referred to him before but cannot find a link). Maybe I could distract from my hitting the wrong notes at the wrong times by dressing appropriately for the occasion? This link is well worth following just to see how stylish Nancy Litten she is when playing.
https://www.youtube.com/user/NANCYLITTEN
It’s known as method dressing, or dressing in character (as with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, all in pink, to promote Barbie). The recent film about tennis starring Zendaya lead to her wearing some unique shoes:
https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/zendaya-challengers-loewe-tennis-heels-law-roach
I’m a bit short of photos for this topic so I’ll show how cultured we are by adding a couple of shots from Vienna last year, of a gold statue of Strauss and a white plaque to Schumann. I think they composed film music? (Think about it).
Before I forget, I had promised you some erudite words in each blog post. Here are two we learnt on our recent Seychelles holiday: magnetoreception and kleptoparasitism. The first is the ability of animals to navigate by the Earth’s magnetic field (putting it VERY simply). If you want to know more look at this link.
https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn1745
The second is effectively taking food from other animals. In the Seychelles we saw birds with fish in their beaks being harassed by others until they dropped it who then took it for themselves. Next time someone steals my KitKats I’ll know what to call them! I thought we had an action shot (of birds stealing fish, not people stealing my KitKats. Maybe I need to set up a camera then I could show you the culprit?). There’s a lot more information in the next link, not just birds but (other) mammals as well.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/kleptoparasitism
I enjoy listening to other people playing musical instruments. We have been to quite a few concerts over the last few months that I have neglected to record so here they are. Last summer we went to a local production at If Opera (so called as they used to perform at Iford Manor but are now based at Belcombe Court in Bradford-on-Avon (near Bath). It’s take your own open-air picnic before the performance then all into a large tent which has a great atmosphere. As I forgot to mention them at the time, I can at least give you a couple of pictures.
https://www.ifopera.com/
Taking the others (roughly) in order, three at the South Bank in London (of course, can’t stay away from the place). In the first, jazz musician Julian Joseph played one of his own compositions then Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. After the interval, Anna Lapwood played the organ in Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3. Both incredible musicians showing how to play their instruments.
https://www.classicfm.com/artists/anna-lapwood/organist-conductor-biography-age-instruments
Before I managed to get this posted, I noticed that Anna Lapwood has won two awards recently, the first as “Best Classical Artist” in March at the Classical FM global awards, then this month as “Personality of the Year” in the BBC Music Magazine awards. When we saw her perform, she was encouraging children in the audience to go up and experience playing the Royal Festival Hall organ.
https://www.classicfm.com/global-awards/anna-lapwood-wins-best-classical-artist
The second was to see the Labeque sisters, Katya and Marielle. I hadn’t realised they are almost as old as JD! Their playing was superb and the jazz encore was such fun, you could see they were enjoying every moment. There are some recordings on this link if you’re interested to hear them. Just like Julian Joseph, two pianos on stage, but with no orchestra.
The third was Elgar’s Violin Concerto played by the LPO with their leader of violins, Frank Peter Zimmermann, as the soloist. Prior to the official concert was a (free) performance by students from the Royal Academy of Music on the stage. What an introduction for the hopeful future orchestra players. I didn’t get their programme notes but well worth listening to, you’d not know (well, I wouldn’t) that they were still students.
Back in Somerset, we heard the Korean soprano Hera Hyesang Park sing a mix of European and Asian works. She did two performances, Friday night and Sunday but we weren’t able to attend both. She’s another artiste who is well worth listening to.
Finally, in this round-up, last weekend we remained in Somerset and went to Ditcheat Village Hall, slightly more parochial than the other venues, to see Opa Rosa. They hail from Bristol and perform Eastern European music. Such energy! They had the audience clapping and dancing in the aisles. Here’s a professional review of one of their performances.
https://www.bristol247.com/culture/music/review-opa-rosa-the-jam-jar-they-were-extraordinary/
Something we’ve not heard live but sounded interesting on the radio was South African Amapiano, defined as “a subgenre of kwaito and house music”. Kwaito is itself a subgenre from Soweto. Try listening here and see what you think. There’s a documentary on the BBC about it but I can’t find it at the moment.
I think I’ve deprived you of cocktails all this year so here’s a couple. The first was two parts Campari and Cointreau, with one part each of Bacardi, Yogurt liqueur, red vermouth and vanilla liqueur. Quite a strong flavour, I’m not sure what I was thinking, of other than emptying a few bottles!
Another strong one is called Adjournment. A good place to stop for the day. Mix 60 ml gin with 22.5 ml of dry vermouth and 15 ml limoncello. Don’t drink more than one at a time, even if you have diluted it by this much.
George and John's boating trip no longer 