LSO playing mahler at the beacon…

I went to the Bristol Beacon last night with my good friend Ed to hear/see the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO)(conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano) performing Mahler’s Symphony no.1 and Walton’s Cello Concerto (soloist: Rebecca Gilliver).
I love Mahler’s music and last night’s performance was wonderfully impressive… so brilliant to witness the sight and sound of a large orchestra at full tilt.
I was less familiar with the Walton piece, but very much enjoyed Rebecca Gilliver’s mesmerising performance.
A really excellent evening.
PS: Somewhat embarrassingly, the last time I was at the Beacon (or Colston Hall as it used to be) for a concert of classical music was in May 2018 – to see the wonderful Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla conduct the CBSO… although I’ve attended other classical concerts elsewhere in the meantime.
PPS: Although Walton’s Cello Concerto isn’t my favourite cello piece, the cello IS almost certainly my favourite classical instrument. It reminded me of the time I first remember hearing/watching Elgar’s ‘Cello Concerto’ played ‘live’. I’d been invited to a special concert at St Hilda’s College, Oxford (I designed some student accommodation for the College during my time working for The Oxford Architects Partnership). The world-famous cellist Jacqueline Du Pré was an Honorary Fellow at St Hilda’s College. She was forced to stop performing in 1973, due to Multiple Sclerosis, and died in 1987, aged 42. The Jacqueline Du Pré Music Building was subsequently built in Oxford and opened in 1995 (St Hilda’s had been one of the joint fundraisers). That concert probably took place in 1973/4 - over 50 years ago (I know!) - and I still have goose-bumps when I recall the sound of the cello that night (the last performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto I attended – at St George’s, Bristol in 2019 – brought tears to my eyes… soft man that I am). I think I need to attend another performance of that Elgar piece before I die! 

a complete unknown…

Moira and I went along to the Watershed yesterday to see James Mangold’s ‘A Complete Unknown’ – about Bob Dylan’s rise to become one of the most iconic singer-songwriters in history. The 19-year-old from Minnesota arrives in New York in 1961 with his guitar and is destined to change the course of American music.
I recall my schoolboy days in 1962 when, in order to try to look ‘cool’ and ‘keep up with the music scene’ (I’m pretty sure I was the first person to actually discover The Beatles!), I used to subscribe to ‘Disc’ magazine or what later became ‘Disc Weekly’… and so began my fascination with Mr Dylan and his music. “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” 1963 album has always been my favourite.
As my good friend Tony suggested (after he’d seen the film last weekend), watching it was an exercise in ‘nostalgia’… in a very positive way. He was absolutely right. Unsurprisingly (on a Tuesday afternoon!), the vast majority of the pretty much capacity audience comprised lots of old couples in their 70s (like us!) – reliving their youth.
I feared that it would all be very disappointing… a number of people acting out and singing parts of some of my heroes. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I thought the actors were absolutely excellent: Dylan (played brilliantly by Timothée Chalamet); Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro); Pete Seeger (Edward Norton); and girlfriend Sylvie Russo (pictured on the ‘Freewheelin’ album cover photograph)(Elle Fanning).
In the film, Dylan somewhat predictably (and convincingly) comes across as an arrogant, thick-skinned, selfish musical genius. The film includes the time of Dylan’s appearance at the 1965 Newport folk festival – where he rejects the traditional folk traditions in favour of rock and blues-inspired electric guitars… and I can well remember my own disappointment/disbelief of that time. But, hey, music is something of a journey – and Dylan is still going strong despite his 83 years (and thank goodness for that).
I’d strongly recommend that you see this film. It brought back lots of memories.
PS: Of course, I’ve been re-listening to Dylan albums all over again since seeing the film!
PPS: I think my favourite Dylan song is “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”… and its lyrics are featured in Mark Edwards+Lloyd Timberlake’s brilliant book “Hard Rain: Our Headlong Collision With Nature” (published in 2006)… a stunning photographic essay. I absolutely treasure this book. It’s sadly sobering that the book’s major theme – our headlong collision with nature and the pressing issues of climate change, environmental degradation and world poverty – applies even more today than it did then, 19 years ago… and Dylan’s lyrics (which at the time were inspired by the threat of nuclear meltdown) remain scarily prophetic – 62 years later. 

steve knightley at the beacon lantern…

I first saw Steve Knightley/Show of Hands more than 20 years ago. I certainly remember seeing him with my brother at the Bromyard Folk Festival in 2004 when he was appearing with Phil Beer in their ‘Show of Hands’ guise. Together, they are one of the leading forces in British folk (Peter Gabriel has described them as “one of the great English bands”). Knightley has aged at about the same rate as me (he’s 5 years younger!) – but he can still write songs, play lots of instruments and sing, superbly (unlike moi!).
Last night, he performed solo and was absolutely excellent. His songs frequently talk about the hardships and realities of West Country life – the sadness and the struggles; the declining industries; the broken lives; and the ordinary people – but also about love, families and the beauty of the natural world. He’s a wonderful story-teller and he’s a very funny man.
It was a really brilliant evening – played to a virtually full-house in the Lantern Hall… and with an audience of fans who knew most of his songs and didn’t hold back whenever they were encouraged to join in (which happened frequently!).
On a really difficult day (ie. trying to cope with the Trump vote!), it somehow restored my faith in humanity and decency.
Photo: Steve Knightley performing last night.

john martyn project…

I can’t quite believe that British singer-songwriter John Martyn died as long ago as 2009. I first came across him shortly after we came to Bristol in 2003 – thanks to the recommendation from my great mate Si Smith. I got to know his music pretty well - although, sadly, I never got to attend one of his concerts.
So, last night’s gig at St George’s felt both appropriate and important (for me) – even though it obviously couldn’t be a substitute for the man himself – and it was spectacularly good.
This special project was started in 2018 when six musicians (Blythe Pepino, Kit Hawes, Pete Josef, Sam Brookes, John Blakeley and Jon Short) came together to celebrate the music of John Martyn at the Camden Jazz Café. The sell-out show inspired the group to take the project on tour around the UK and mainland Europe… as well as bringing Martyn’s music back to the festival circuit.
Last night’s show was also a sell-out… and rightly so. Each of the band members were wonderful in their own right (and I loved that Blythe Pepino sang some songs from her armchair!). They performed altogether, but often just two or three would join up for particular songs (Martyn’s music ‘catalogue’ of 23/24 albums meant there was lots to choose from!).
Fittingly, for their encore, the six of them stood together at the front of the stage and sang the Martyn classic ‘Over The Hill’ – and the entire audience joined in (beautifully!). Quite a wonderful end to a brilliant evening.
Photos: Some quick photographs from the evening (apologies that I managed to decapitate a couple of band members!).

mahler: symphony no.1 at st george’s…

I went along to St George’s again last night to see/hear the Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra tackle Mahler’s Symphony no.1 (I love Mahler!). My great mate Ed was one of the seven(!?) horn players featured in this full orchestral rendition. 
There’s something very impressive about witnessing a large orchestra (70+ performers?) in full voice… and last night was a bit special.
The two other works performed last night were: Cécile Chaminade’s ‘Callirhoë Suite’ and the world première of ‘Selene's Awakening’ featuring Sophie Stockham on solo saxophone.
All in all, a really magical evening.
Photo: orchestra view from my seat (needless to say, I didn’t quite manage to fit everyone in!)…

talking heads: stop making sense…

When I grow up, I want to be David Byrne.
I love ‘Talking Heads’ and, back in 2007, owned a DVD of one of their December 1983 gigs given away free with ‘The Observer’. I played it all the time and loved it…
Tragically, following our house move two years ago, I can no longer find it. I gave away LOTS of my CDs etc (free-to-collect on the pavement outside our house), but was careful to retain all my ‘absolute favourites’… and, SURELY, SMS wasn't among them? It was just in a cardboard CD envelope as opposed to a hinged-plastic case… perhaps I put it in a ‘special place’? If so, where on earth was that?
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I went along to the Watershed last night to see the ‘Stop Making Sense’ concert film (filmmaker Jonathan Demme’s new and complete 4K restoration for the film's 40th anniversary) on the big screen - David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison, alongside an ensemble of supporting musicians and singers. The live performance was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre and featured the band's most memorable songs including ‘Burning Down the House’, ‘Psycho Killer’ and ‘Once in a Lifetime’.
It felt somewhat weird for me to be going to the cinema at 8.30pm (me being an ‘old codger afternoon regular’!). The cinema was packed (it was a sell-out) and the evening didn’t disappoint. Wonderful, evocative music; wonderfully energetic and passionate performances; and, of course, David Byrne was absolutely mesmerising throughout.
The age-range of the audience was interesting – half were old fogies like me (I was probably the second oldest member) and the other half were probably all under 40. Some were no doubt re-living their youth and others probably checking out the musical tastes of their parents!
An utterly compelling evening. I absolutely LOVED it (and the rest of the audience did too!).
PS: On New Year’s Eve in 1967(?), at a somewhat drunken party, I was asked if I would like to join a newly-formed group as their lead singer (we called them ‘groups’ in those days, not ‘bands’). They’d clearly never heard me sing. I gracefully declined…
I appreciate that Talking Heads weren’t formed until 1975, but I’m pretty sure that, if I HAD agreed to embark on a musical career, it’s just possible that I might have become the Byrne-before-Byrne legend of the pop world… (we will never know!).
Oh, what might have been?!
PPS: These days, cinemas (even the Watershed) encourage people to take their bar drinks into the auditorium… which is fine, BUT (last night) it did mean that there was a CONSTANT stream of people (of all ages!) making their way from their respective seats, squeezing past fellow audience members in their rows on their way to the loos!

o’hooley+tidow at st george’s…

Rosa and I went along to St George’s last night to see O’Hooley+Tidow (I think it was the third time I’d seen them). Sadly, Heidi Tidow was ill and was unable to take part and so Belinda O’Hooley performed alone… which was a great shame, because the combination of their voices and characters is crucial to who they are and what they can give to audiences.
But, hey, Belinda and St George’s beloved Steinway piano is a brilliant combination and she didn’t let the audience down!
She was absolutely excellent!
O’Hooley+Tidow were booked to perform at St George’s as part of this year’s Bristol Folk Festival and I suppose ‘folk’ music is the appropriate classification… and yet they’re much more than ‘folk singers/musicians’. Indeed, there were times last night that I felt that O’Hooley and her exquisite piano playing reminded me of a ‘female Rufus Wainwright’ in the breadth and depth of her songs.
Anyway, although we all missed Heidi Tidow’s presence, Belinda O’Hooley went down a storm last night… and the audience loved her (and Rosa was also duly impressed!).
Photo: From last night’s performance (including when she sang unaccompanied and ‘un-miked’… and the audience watched/listened ‘spellbound’… stunning!).

three cane whale at st george’s (again)…

Last night, I went to the Three Cane Whale concert at St George’s, Bristol. I think I’ve seen them/Paul Bradley perhaps ten times over the past 10 years. They really are an extraordinary, ridiculously-talented group of musicians (and very nice blokes too).
They often like to associate their music with ‘Place’ and have recorded a number of their pieces ‘on location’ – in barns, old chapels, on hillsides and even next to main roads (A303 being one example!).
The three musicians (Alex Vann, Pete Judge and Paul Bradley) play an incredible, eclectic range of instruments – last night, I counted thirteen of them!!
I first came across the band in December 2013 when I was part of a pop-up Christmas shop at The Architecture Centre here in Bristol… heard their (beautiful) song “Sluice” and listed it in my top music of the year blog reflections. Within a matter of minutes of posting my list, my lovely friend Mark Louden had posted the following message: “So glad you like Three Cane Whale. My dear old friend Paul Bradley is one of the three. You should listen to the amazing Bristol Kitchen Radio podcast which he and his fabulous wife Ellen Hughes do from their house in Redlands. Always featured an improvised song or two from Paul”.
Mark, his wife Ellen, Moira and I were part of our ‘Foundation’ church community at the time. Last night’s concert was the first Three Cane Whale concert I’ve attended since Mark’s sad death a couple of years ago. I duly raised my glass to them last night. Special memories, special man. I chatted briefly to Paul at the end of the concert and he pointed out that his and Mark’s friendship went back to 1979.
Last night’s concert – in the perfect venue - was quite exceptional… brilliant, beautiful, intricate, uplifting and joyful.
Photo: from last night’s concert.
PS: This YouTube clip gives a flavour of their music.
PPS: Last night’s support band, ‘Firelight Trio’, were also excellent… my one criticism was that they went on for perhaps two songs too long! 

advent conspiracy 15

As much of the country is wearing the first snowfall, this seems appropriate. Today Bob Fraser treats us to a lovely song written with his wife Val. We’ll let him tell you about it…
(By the way, Bob has a long history of making fantastic music, including writing songs still being sung in churches up and down the country).

Eaglesham in the Snow by Stewart Macfarlane is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0
 
There are a few songs that I’ve written that can only really be sung at certain times of the year. They just don’t seem relevant if I sing them outside their seasonal references.
 
One such song is Snow on the Roof, with lyrics written mainly by my wife Val, with a few lines and the tune added by me. It was written during a time when, amongst other challenges, we were both going through the decline and eventual loss of parents. The lyrics I added were in what song-writers refer to as the Middle 8 – ‘Joy and pain run side by side, like ebb and flow of time and tide. Friendship matters and family too, so here in my heart I remember you’.
 
This resonates with the comments by Graham Peacock in Advent Conspiracy 11 when he refers to older hymns saying ‘they seem to hold joy and pain together better than any other form of song that I know’. The video Val created to go with Snow on the Roof tried to capture those feelings of joy and pain running in parallel, together with the importance of family ties and friendships in our lives.
 
This season, and the songs that accompany it, can lead to a kind of mellowing, a melting of hearts hardened by life’s challenges. We remember Christmases of old, sometimes all the way back to our own childhood, grieve once more for the folks who are no longer with us, and huddle around the fire to feel warmth and comfort from those close to us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8p3gNgu1Kg 

ellie gowers at st george’s…

I went along to St George’s again last night for a concert by folk-singer, song-writer Ellie Gowers. Living so close to St George’s, it’s great to be able wander out from our apartment and, within 5 minutes, be at this lovely concert venue.
Actually, I felt something of a fraud to be attending the concert… I’d never previously come across Gowers, but was initially attracted for three reasons(!): a) the gig tickets were only £10, b) it was being held in the Glass Studio (I’d not previously been to a concert there), and c) watching a couple of videos on Gowers’ website called to mind the voice of an English Joni Mitchell/Judy Collins (I know!).
In the event, it was an absolutely beautiful concert (in front of an audience of some 70 people?)… I was hugely impressed. Gowers – from Warwick, but who studied Music at Bristol for 3 years – is an incredibly gifted musician. A wonderful, pure voice. She plays the guitar quite beautifully… and she can write some rather wonderful songs (and perform other people’s songs probably far better than they can).
She sang for some 75 minutes and she was very, very good.
A really lovely evening.
PS: Check out her website/videos here: https://elliegowersmusic.com/
Photo: Pics from last night’s Glass Studio. 

moonage daydream…

Having attended a Ricky Ross concert at St George’s on Tuesday night, it seems a little strange to have ventured to the Watershed the following day to watch a documentary on David Bowie (directed by Brett Morgen)… although music is important for me, it doesn’t usually feature quite so regularly as this!
It’s a rather brilliant documentary film - told through kaleidoscopic, never-seen-before footage, performances and music - exploring the creative, musical, and spiritual journey of one of the most iconic rock stars of all time. Bowie has always been something of an icon – both in terms of his music, his appearance and the wealth of his innovative work (including art, sculpture, dance, acting, writing, thinking and design), but through the film I found myself mesmerised by the utter wealth of his creativity, his ideas and his constant need to ‘move on’ to the next project/persona/challenge. I was familiar with most of it and yet, seeing it put together in a 140 minute documentary felt quite mindblowing.
I was always a lover of Bowie’s music and bought at least three of his CDs (including Blackstar, the last album before his death in 2016). The film reminded me just how much I like his music and I’ve now resolved to find the playlist I created (and played endlessly) when he died.
As Mark Kermode (in his 5-star review) put it: it’s a “truly psychedelic fever dream of a film that captures Bowie as performer, artist and thinker”.
I think you need to see it.

ricky ross at st george’s again…

Last night my good friend Maria and I attended a wonderful concert at St George’s given by Ricky Ross. It’s been five years since I went to his last concert at this lovely venue.
Previously, I recall blogging that “when I grow up, I want to be a singer/songwriter and play a grand piano… just like Ricky Ross”. Well, I feel exactly the same way(!)… nothing changes (except that I’ve got older)!
He performed his songs, unaccompanied, for nearly an hour and a half – just him and St George’s wonderful grand piano (and a couple of songs on guitar) plus him reading extracts from his book “Walking Back Home”. Obviously(!), I queued with perhaps another 70 people at the end of the concert and obtained my autographed copy and exchanged a few words with him (this morning, he’s probably telling all his friends that he actually shook my hand!).
The concert was simply brilliant.
I just love the sound of a single voice and a piano together. I’ve been listening to a lot of Ross’s music again over recent weeks (his “Short Stories, Volume 1” and “Short Stories Volume 2” formed the basis of the concert) and, for me, Ross certainly has a way of capturing profound, evocative, sad, uplifting, powerful emotions in his words and music.
It was a truly uplifting evening and a thankful reminder that there ARE some positives in the world, despite all the other depressing stuff.
Photos from the concert. 

‘both sides now’… and me

It’s some 53 years since I first listened to Joni Mitchell singing “Both Sides Now” (and subsequently purchased the ‘Clouds’ LP)… and was utterly captivated.  She’s continued to be my favourite singer/songwriter ever since… (as has the song).
So, this afternoon, as I was sketching and listening to old playlists on ‘Spotify’, “Both Sides Now” (the 1969 version) came on… and, for some reason, it just stopped me in my tracks.
Maybe it was because it reminded me of first meeting Moira at College (“Tears and fears and feeling proud…To say, ‘I love you’ right out loud”)… perhaps it was because it resonated with us meeting up with a few old friends recently… perhaps it was simply because it reminded me how long I’ve loved this song and that we’ve all become old in the process?
Whatever it was, I found myself in floods of (happy) tears.
It actually made me stop listening to ‘Spotify’ and to check out the YouTube footage of Mitchell singing the song at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival… and the crying continued.
And, finally, I watched+listened to the YouTube recordings from the 2022 Newport Folk Festival… and, of course, I cried again.
Music can be magical.
Thanks for the memories. 

karine polwart in concert…

I went to see Karine Polwart in concert at St George’s tonight – my first concert for nearly two years. I first saw her at Greenbelt in 2005 and, apparently (according to my blog – which, essentially, I only keep as a memory-jogger!), have now seen her seven times.
It proved to be another wonderful evening. The last time I saw her was in 2018 and at that time I wrote: “Powerful, intelligent, thought-provoking, political, tender, poignant music at its very best. She’s an eloquent poet (and she’s frequently funny too). She’s a person who reminds you that small voices are important. She’s an inspiration.
At this time when so many of us are disenchanted by politics and what’s happening in the world, last night was a wonderful reminder that there ARE decent, inspiring people who demand to be heard.  
May it be so”.
I absolutely love her music and have come to realise over the years that, for me, Polwart is probably second only to Joni Mitchell in my list of favourite singer/songwriters. The evening was a mixture of new and old songs… and I found the older, familiar ones, in particular, very poignant (memory-joggers) and I even found myself feeling quite emotional at times (but, hey, that’s probably just me in my old age!).
The audience clearly loved her and, hopefully, she’ll be back in Bristol again very soon.
PS: The only negative aspect of the evening was that Iris wasn’t able to attend (it would have been her first ‘real’ concert); she’d had her first Covid jab the day before and spent today feeling on the verge of being physically sick and therefore, very reluctantly, decided she couldn’t leave home. Hopefully, we’ll be able to sort out another concert in the foreseeable future.
I was particularly sad about Iris missing the concert because I sense that Polwart – having studied politics and philosophy at university and being a strong advocate for women, the environment, climate change and the like – represents a potential role model for Iris… and we all need good role models in life!
Photo: Karine Polwart in concert tonight at St George’s. 

o’hooley+tidow at st george’s (again)…

Ruth and I went along to St George’s last night to see/hear Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow perform their eclectic mix of thought-provoking songs and intricate harmonies. This was the third time I’d seen them over the past seven years and, once again, I came away feeling very impressed.

They’ve established themselves as gifted singer-songwriters and they frequently write about difficult, painful subjects such as racism, animal cruelty, poverty, vulnerability and child abuse with remarkable, understated clarity. Over the past year or so, they’ve attracted additional admirers after their song “Gentleman Jack” (written in 2012 about 19th Century diarist, writer, traveller, mountaineer, rural gentlewoman, and industrialist Anne Lister) was featured in the BBC drama series of the same name. O’Hooley is a highly-talented musician (piano and accordion), whilst Tidow ‘limits herself’ to foot percussion and kazoo!

They both come across as rather lovely people - compassionate, sincere, down-to-earth and very amusing.

Another lovely evening… in an excellent concert venue.

Photo: O’Hooley+Tidow at last night’s concert (as you can see, we were in the gallery!)

romantics anonymous…

Moira and I went along to the Old Vic last night to see Emma Rice’s/Wise Children’s stage musical “Romantics Anonymous” (a musical adaptation of Jean-Pierre Améris’ 2010 film "Les Emotifs Anonymes" - which I haven’t seen). Rice’s show premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2017.The story focuses on two people who struggle with debilitating, cringe-worthy shyness – they’re overwhelmed by life; they’re hugely insecure and awkward; they avoid eye-contact… and, as far as possible, other people. In fact, ‘Romantics Anonymous’ is a real-life help group that helps people with such shyness and screenwriter/director Jean-Pierre Améris, a highly emotional person himself, had attended real EA (Emotions Anonymous) meetings.

The evening proved to be an intoxicating mix of tender melancholy, joy and hope. It’s touching, funny and uplifting. The cast (led by the perfect Carly Bawden, playing Angélique, and the excellent Marc Antolin, playing Jean-René) were all rather wonderful – and genuinely seemed to be enjoying themselves (which in itself is quite intoxicating).Although I’m not a massive lover of stage musicals, last night demonstrated (yet again!) how wrong I frequently am to form such ‘rigid’ opinions. The songs (and the musicians) were consistently very good and ALL the singers excellent (especially Bawden). I also loved the set design, the wealth of neon signs and the incidental, beautifully-choreographed ‘extras’.
Yes, it all made for a delightful, feel-good, joyful (even hopeful!) evening of theatre - magical theatre at its very best… and greeted by last night’s enthusiastic audience with a standing ovation.A perfect answer to the January blues!
PS: I also loved that, towards the end of the interval (and completely in the spirit of the production), the cast entered the packed Foyer and singing a worthy lament (accompanied on accordion, guitar and the like)… which ended up with the words “right, now get back into the theatre you lot and we’ll carry on with the show” (or words to that effect!).
PPS: Wise Children is a relatively new theatre company, created and led by artistic director Emma Rice and based in Bristol. We saw their wonderful “Wise Children” production (based on Angela Carter’s novel) last February – which proved to be my favourite piece of theatre last year).
PPPS: Sorry, but I think the photograph is from the Shakespeare Globe's 2017 premiere.

three cane whale at st george's (again)...

Last night, I went to the Three Cane Whale concert at St George’s, Bristol. It must be perhaps the sixth time I’ve seen them perform and they really are an extraordinary, ridiculously-talented group of musicians (and very nice blokes too).
Their music is difficult to categorise (well, for a non-music person like me)… Bristol 24/7 described them thus: ‘their delicate acoustic constructions combine ancient folk and contemporary classical ideas to weave an entirely original new musical tradition‘… which seems to sum it up perfectly. They often like to associate their music with ‘Place’ and have recorded a number of their pieces ‘on location’ – in barns, old chapels, on hillsides and even next to main roads (A303 being one example!).
The three musicians (Alex Vann, Pete Judge and Paul Bradley) play an incredible, eclectic range of instruments, including: mandolin, bowed psaltery, bouzouki, zither, banjo, dulcimer, trumpet, cornet, dulcitone, harmonium, lyre, glockenspiel, tenor horn, acoustic guitar and miniature harp(!).
It proved to be a wonderful, magical, uplifting evening in a perfect venue… and believe me, at the present time (with Brexit, General Elections and Trump in full swing), it was something I – and probably quite a few others in the audience - desperately needed.
PS: The support ‘band’ were pretty amazing too! Methera (on their FB page, Three Cane Whale describe them as a ‘contemporary traditional’ string quartet)(fiddle, fiddle, viola and cello). Talented and joyful!
Photo: Three Cane Whale ‘in action’ last night.

bristol metropolitan orchestra at st george’s (again)

I went along to St George’s, Bristol last night to see/hear the Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra perform a programme of three pieces: Elgar’s ‘Cello Concerto’; Stravinsky’s ‘The Firebird Suite’ and Louise Farrenc’s ‘Overture in E minor, Op 23’.

This was the third time I’d heard the BMO perform (conductor: Michael Cobb). None of the orchestra’s players is a professional musician (they have diverse working backgrounds – including anaesthetists, paediatric nurses, engineers and IT developers), but the quality of their playing is consistently excellent.

Last night’s programme was ideal for my taste: I was very familiar with ‘Firebird’ (or, at least, so I thought… but, during the course of the evening, realised that there were quite large chunks that I’d forgotten!); I knew nothing about the little known (to me) female composer Farrenc – but am always ‘up’ for listening to something new (I wasn’t disappointed); and the Cello Concerto is one of my very favourite pieces of classical music.

The soloist for the Elgar piece was British cellist Ariana Kashefi (I think she’s just 29 years old). I’d never heard of her before last night, but my good friend Ed Kay (himself a member of BMO) had known her for more than 10 years and assured me (with a glint in his eye) that she was ‘very, very good’.
And so it proved… but for ‘very, very good’ read ‘absolutely amazing’!

Kashefi was simply outstanding. Within the first 10 seconds, you just KNEW that you were in for a huge treat! I’m no connoisseur, but she seemed to have ‘everything’ in terms of musical gifts. Her performance was electrifying – commanding (and yet incredibly sensitive); arrogant (and yet completely captivating and self-contained); and all done with wonderful, natural musical technique and skill.

Kashefi’s performance was utterly mesmerising.
This may sound ridiculous (who me?), but the Elgar piece actually brought tears to my eyes. It was so, SO beautiful. It made me recall that the last time I had seen/listened to the ‘Cello Concerto’ played ‘live’ had been when I’d attended a special concert at St Hilda’s College, Oxford (I designed some student apartments for the College in Stockmore Street, Oxford during my time working for The Oxford Architects Partnership). That was some 45 years ago(!) and, strange as it may seem, it made me wonder if I would ever again witness hearing/seeing the piece performed ‘live’ again in my lifetime.
Anyway, the evening was a bit special and the BMO are definitely worth following (their next concert will be Sunday 22 March at St George’s – featuring works by Beethoven and Liszt).
PS: The world-famous cellist Jacqueline Du Pré was an Honorary Fellow at St Hilda’s College. She was forced to stop performing in 1973, due to Multiple Sclerosis, and died in 1987, aged 42. The Jacqueline Du Pré Music Building was subsequently built in Oxford and opened in 1995 (St Hilda’s had been one of the joint fundraisers).
PPS: As an encore, Ariana Kashefi performed a short piece entitled “Song of the Birds” - a traditional Catalan Christmas song and lullaby. The song was made famous outside Catalonia by Pablo Casals' instrumental version on the cello. After his exile in 1939, he would begin each of his concerts by playing this song. Kashefi played it superbly… and I cried again (I know!). This YouTube recording doesn’t quite do it justice (IMHO), but it’ll give you a sense of Kashefi’s musical ability.

blinded by the light…

I went along to the Watershed this afternoon to see Gurinder Chadha’s film “Blinded by the Light”. Adapted from Sarfraz Manzoor’s memoir “Greetings from Bury Park”, it‘s a poignant comedy about Sarfraz’s youthful obsession with US rock legend Bruce Springsteen and how the power of music and words changed his life.
The background is Luton, in 1987, and schoolboy Javed (played by Viveik Kalra) simply wants to escape the dreary town – awash with its racism, the economic turmoil of the time and its lack of opportunity. Javed wants to become a writer, but sees little hope of being able to achieve his goal – his domineering father expects him to pursue a ‘sensible’ career to bring money into the struggling family. That’s when a classmate introduces him to the music of “The Boss” (Springsteen) and Javed – despite being accused by some of his colleagues as now being a lover of “Dad-Rock”(!) - immediately sees parallels to his own working class life. Springsteen’s music and powerful lyrics become the outlet for his own pent-up ambitions.

There’s huge irony (in my view at least) that Javed, inspired by Springsteen’s songs, sees America as the nation to which we should all aspire – and certainly in both music and opportunity. Thirty years later, in these depressing ‘Trump times’, Springsteen made these comments last November: “These are times when we’ve also seen folks marching, and in the highest offices of our land, who want to speak to our darkest angels, who want to call up the ugliest and most divisive ghosts of America’s past… And they want to destroy the idea of an America for all. That’s their intention... Trump has no interest in uniting the country, really, and actually has an interest in doing the opposite and dividing us, which he does on an almost daily basis. So that’s simply a crime against humanity, as far as I’m concerned. It’s an awful, awful message to send out into the world if you’re in that job and in that position. It’s just an ugly, awful message… It’s a scary moment for any conscientious American, I think.”

Anyway, I digress… It’s certainly not a brilliant film, but it is evocative, charming, hopeful and even inspiring in its way. Very definitely a ‘feel-good’ film (although rather over-doing the sentimental ‘pulling at the heartstrings’ in my view). Obviously, Springsteen’s brilliant music provides most of the film’s soundtrack (and pretty successfully at that) and the lyrics frequently appear on the screen to reinforce the message.

It wasn’t a film I expected to enjoy (especially having read a 2-star review in The Guardian beforehand) but, actually, I rather enjoyed it.  

marianne and leonard: words of love…

I went along to the Watershed yesterday afternoon to see Nick Broomfield’s “Marianne+Leonard: Words of Love”. It tells the beautiful, yet sad, love story between musician Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen. They first met on the Greek island of Hydra in the early 1960s and became inseparable.
The film takes the form of a documentary, starting with the young struggling Cohen on the island of Hydra, amongst a community of foreign artists, writers and musicians, with dreams of becoming an author. Here, he meets Ihlen (13 years older than him) – alone with her young son, after a failed marriage – who ultimately played a huge role in transforming Cohen from a struggling novelist and poet into the influential singer and songwriter he became (with a little additional help from Judy Collins).
Cohen – in his younger days, at least – was a selfish, self-centred, self-obsessed (almost narcissistic?) man who clearly felt he was something of God’s gift to women (and huge numbers of women seemed to agree!)… but also a complex man who struggled with depression and drugs.
The film contains footage of him talking about his time with Marianne… revealing how, at first, he spent six months of the year in Hydra with Ihlen, and the other six months in Montreal. Then it was four months a year, then two months, then two weeks as his career took off. Marianne Ihlen (unlike “Suzanne”, incidentally) emerges as someone of enormous gentleness and dignity, even coming to one of the huge concerts that Cohen did in his old age when he was enjoying a huge second wave of popularity.

The album “Songs of Leonard Cohen” (1967) was/is one of my all-time favourites (but, obviously, Joni Mitchell is the singer/songwriter I worship!) – featuring the iconic tracks ‘So Long, Marianne’ and ‘Suzanne’… at the time (and since!), some people couldn’t understand why I absolutely loved songs that were so bleak. Yes, I loved Cohen’s poetry, his voice… and his bleakness.

The relationship between Marianne and Leonard lasted some 8 years (off and on) and their friendship until their deaths (she died in July 2016 and he died just four months later). When he was advised of her impending death, Cohen sent her this poignant message:
“And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road”.

Clearly, for me, the music is a nostalgic reminder of my student days in Oxford from 1967 onwards… and of songs that I keep returning to, even more than 50 years later.

This isn’t a great film, but it does provide a vivid snapshot of the early 1960s and of a complicated, tender love story.