Isomatic UK Weblog

This evening we went to the Bournemouth Pavilion for the BSO performance of 'Movie Classics', conducted by Pete Harrison (pictured). Works Performed were

1. Steiner : Gone with the Wind
2. Korngold : The Sea Hawk
3. Steiner : Casablanca
4. Rozsa : Quo Vadis
5. Alford : Bridge on the River Kwai
6. Moross : The Big Country
7. Hermann : North by Northwest
8. Rozsa : Ben Hur
9. Bernstein : The Magnificent Seven
10. Rota : La Dolce Vita
11. Jarre : Lawrence of Arabia
12. Bernstein : The Great Escape
13. Jarre : Doctor Zhivago
14. Barry : Born Free
15. Rota : The Godfather
16. Barry : Out of Africa
17. Williams : Raiders of the Lost Ark
18. Badelt : Pirates of the Caribbean.

I have to confess that my memories of the performance are rather overshadowed by thoughts of the two young women sitting in front of us, obviously lovers. One had short hair and wore flat-heeled boots, while the other had long blonde hair, short skirt, high heels and very boldly patterned tights. We wish them all the best !

Labels: Concerts

This evening we went to the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne to see Peter Donegan performing with the Lonnie Donegan Band, comprising Paul Henry (Lead Guitar), Chris Hunt (Drums), Sticky Wicket (Percussion) and Eddie Masters (Bass). Peter sang and played keyboard, Acoustic Guitar, Banjo, Harmonica and Mandolin. It was a great evening combining old 1950s skiffle numbers with Peter's own compositions.
My favourite was the blues number Rocks in my Bed perfomed on this link by Lonnie Johnson. Paul Henry played superbly in a more modern blues style, drawing applause from the audience.
Selina preferred Mule Skinner Blues, the link being to an early Lonnie Donegan version with Denny Wright on guitar.
The Tivoli is a beautiful old theatre from 1936, lovingly restored after being closed for many years. Tonight's audience were almost entirely of an age for whom the 1950s were full of great musical memories. They sang along whenever invited, requested numbers (unsuccessfully) and one even asked Peter to confirm that his guitar was a Martin.
We will surely visit the Tivoli again; but will we get another opportunity to see the Lonnie Donegan Band ?

Labels: Concerts

This evening, for Selina's birthday treat, we went to the Bournemouth Pavilion to see the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra with Laura Parfitt & Robin Tritschler singing operatic arias. The programme covered Rossini, Mozart, Bellini and Donizetti, the first two being familiar to us but not the second two. This was our first time at the Pavilion and our first taste of the BSO. We will definitely do it again.

Labels: Concerts

This evening Brian Hicks, Selina and I went to a concert at the Musical Museum in Brentford. This featured the recently restored Mighty Wurlitzer (console pictured), played by experts from the Cinema Organ Society. Our intention had been to have dinner in the pub across the road but this proved impossible due to the time of day. Instead we ate in Cafe Rouge near Kew Bridge.
The concert started with Simon Gledhill playing:
'It's Delightful, It's Delicious, It's D'lovely';
'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' by Jerome Kern';
'Rotten Row' by Angela Morley;
A medley from 'Guys and Dolls' by Frank Lessor.
Then David Shepherd played some Joseph Seal arrangements for organ:
'Wurlitzer Fanfare March';
'Romantic Princess', original composition by Donald Philips;
'These Foolish Things', original composition by David Strachey;
'Playboy';
A 'down memory lane' selection, starting with 'In Love For The Very First time';
Ending with 'Goodnight Melody'.
After the interval, the Wurlitzer was set to automatic, playing a piano roll of 'Pale Lou, An Indian Love Song'.
Dave Lowe then played:
'Something's Gotta Give';
'Moving South' by Richard Johnson;
'Little Brazilian Soldier';
'Skylark' by Hoagy Carmichael;
'El Adobe' ?
Finishing with a 1932 medley.
This was followed by Richard Hills playing:
'ABC March' by Richard Fort;
'Horse Box' by Vic Hammett;
A selection from Ivor Novello's 'The Dancing Years'.
We were then treated to two duets from Richard on Piano and Simon on Wurlitzer:
'On a Spring Note' by Sidney Torch;
'Legend of The Glass Mountain' by Nino Rota.

Labels: Concerts

This afternoon Brian Hicks, Selina and I went to a concert at the Musical Museum in Brentford. This featured the recently restored Mighty Wurlitzer (console pictured), played both by a musician and from piano rolls. We also had recitals from a pianola, a female singer and a piano-accordion. Bucks fizz was included in the price. Our intention had been to have lunch in the pub across the road but this proved impossible due to the absence of the chef. Instead we ate in Cafe Rouge near Kew Bridge. The food and wine were excellent, although we had to tolerate a blast of cold air as the main door was frequently opened.

In the evening the three of us went to the Berrylands Hotel in Surbiton, for Brian White's Magna jazz band, with Keith Brown (drums, pictured) replacing Rex Bennett. Numbers that we particularly enjoyed were as follows:
'The Old Stack o' Lee Blues', original composer unknown, celebrating the murder of William 'Billy' Lyons by Lee Shelton in 1895;
'The Georgia Grind', by Spencer Williams in 1915;
'Goody, Goody', composed by Matty Malneck in 1936 with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, sung by Brian with the usual standing ovation by his fans enhanced by me standing on my chair (Alan Dandy's suggestion);
'Shimmy-Sha-Wabble' again by Spencer Williams;
Alan Dandy's feature, combining 'Ghost of a Chance', about which we know nothing, with 'Willow Weep for Me', composed in 1932 by Ann Ronell. This is the number that Fred Hunt played as his solo feature at every performance of the Alex Welsh band that we ever saw, and there were many.

Labels: Concerts, Eating out, Jazz

This morning we went to the Wigmore Hall to see Midori (violin) with Jonathan Biss (piano) and Johannes Moser (cello), performing Schumann's Piano Trio in F Op.80 and Beethoven's Piano trio in B flat Op.97 'The Archduke'. I fear that our many years of attendance at the Wigmore could be coming to a close because:
1) Travelling to London and back is so tiring; even on a Sunday it is 'ordeal by traffic lights'.
2) Cost is excessive; this was the cheapest event available, the Sunday Morning coffee concert but, with two glasses of wine each costing 6.5 pounds, we still spent 33 pounds without eating anything.
3) Most of the music, including that of today, is hard for musically-naieve people like us to follow.

Labels: Concerts

This morning we went to the Wigmore Hall to see the Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen perform:
Haydn Fantasia in C HXVII:4;
Mozart Fantasia in C minor K. 475;
Couperin Ordre No. 27 from Book IV of Pièces de Clavecin;
and
Ravel Le tombeau de Couperin.
All the pieces were enjoyable, albeit difficult to remember.

Labels: Concerts

This evening we went to The Barbican concert hall for a performance by The London Phiharmonic Orchestra. The programme comprised Rossini's 'William Tell Overture', Tchaikovsky's 'Swan lake Suite', the 'Mendelssohn Violin Concerto' and Dvorak's 'Symphony No. 9 - From the New World'. All good music, i.e. "Nothing you can't hum there" to quote Victoria Wood. The violin soloist was

On Sunday morning we went to London's Wigmore Hall to see a performance by Baiba Skride (violin) and Lauma Skride (piano). They played three wonderful pieces; Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, Ravel's Violin Sonata and, best of all, Ravel's Tzigane.

Labels: Concerts

On Saturday evening we went to London's Wigmore Hall to see a saxophone special featuring Gerard McChrystal, supported by Mary Dullea & Tom Blach (pianos), the Smith String Quartet and Craig Ogden (guitar). Unfortunately for us, the programme included several world and UK premieres; otherwise known as modern or contemporary music, i.e. not to our taste. We only liked the pieces by dead composers. What does this say about us; old-fashioned, musically naieve, perhaps, but we need both melody and rhythm before we consider a piece to be music. This applies to popular music (rap has no melody), jazz (contemporary jazz loses the melody after a few bars) and serious music (modern pieces having neither melody nor rhythm).

Labels: Concerts

On Saturday evening we went to London's Wigmore Hall to see a performance in words and music of the life and works of Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann. The narrator was Simon Callow and the piano, featured throughout, was played by Dénes Várjon. Our favourite piano solo was C Schumann's Romanze in A minor Op.21 No.1. The performance was billed in the name of Steven Isserlis (pictured) although he was only involved in two pieces, our favourite of the evening being his arrangement of R Schumann's Intermezzo from the 'F-A-E' Sonata, composed jointly with Brahms. Other artists involved were Jennifer Frautschi (violin), Rachel Roberts (viola) and Cora Burggraaf (mezzo-soprano). Hearing the story behind the music certainly added to the enjoyment of the evening.

Labels: Concerts

On Saturday evening we drove to London's West End, had an excellent, if expensive, meal in the Wigmore Hall restaurant and then saw Amanda Cook on classical guitar. She performed beautifully, despite a cold, playing a wide selection of pieces from Scarlatti through to William Lovelady, who was in the audience. As we booked months ago we had centre front row seats, despite a packed hall. It is hard to select a favourite piece from such a varied programme but I guess the two Peruvian dances, one played as an encore, just pipped the Mozart Adagio K540 in B minor.

Labels: Concerts

On Sunday evening we saw Peter Katin giving a piano recital at the Wigmore Hall. He played an all Chopin programme; very enjoyable. It was particularly pleasing to see so many young people in the audience to see such a 'mature' performer.

Labels: Concerts

On Wednesday evening we went to The Barbican concert hall for a performance by The London Phiharmonic Orchestra. The programme comprised Rossini's 'Overture to the Barber of Seville', Handel's 'Music for the Royal Fireworks', the Grieg Piano Concerto and Beethoven's 'Pastoral Symphony'. All good music, i.e. "Nothing you can't hum there" to quote Victoria Wood.

As we had time to spare, we preceded the concert with a visit to Stanfords the world's greatest map shop. Parking in Long Acre can be tricky so I was pleased to find a space only a few yards from the ticket machine. I put a 2 pound ticket behind the windscreen, bought a map of Andalucia in about 10 minutes and emerged to find a fixed penalty notice on the car. I had inadvertently parked in a 'residents only' bay, in a street that is not residential. This is another example of how evil local authorities like Westminster trick the innocent into providing them with money. There is no clear division between one sort of parking bay and another.

Labels: Concerts, Parking

This evening, Tuesday 27 December (UK public holiday), we are going to the Barbican Concert Hall for the Mozart by candlelight concert. We have opted for cheaper seats this time as an experiment, 26 GBP each instead of 31 GBP. This is still expensive by our standards.

It will be interesting to see if the venue is better organised than last year, which suffered from chairs/tables on a separate floor from coffee/snacks plus staff not allowing the paying customers into the auditorium at the appointed time.

Labels: Concerts

On Monday 27 December (UK public holiday) we went to the Barbican Concert Hall for the Mozart by candlelight concert. A great, if rather expensive, evening.

The disorganisation and inefficiency of the Barbican is worse than ever, e.g. why are the seats and tables on a different floor from the coffee and sandwiches ?

Labels: Concerts

Yesterday evening we went to a concert given by the LSO Chamber Orchestra at The Barbican. Five concertos were played, featuring violins, cello, double base, trumpets and bassoon.

Labels: Concerts