It began with the latest summer blockbuster at Tate Liverpool entitled Mondrian and his Studios and was an exploration of De stijl and the early work of Mondrian.
The summer months have brought more challenges and food for my intellect and soul.
It began with the latest summer blockbuster at Tate Liverpool entitled Mondrian and his Studios and was an exploration of De stijl and the early work of Mondrian.
Featured was a reconstruction of Mondrian's Paris studio with all of its blocky discomfort.
What can I say? Yes, the work is impressive. But, to be perfectly honest, once you've seen one room of grids and bright colours, I couldn't find much more to get excited about. I think Mondrian must be another of those artists best taken in small quantities.
While the Philharmonic Hall is closed for some renovation work, the musicians are working with difference venues. St George's Hall Concert Room is already used for the Chamber Music series but it was good to hear music for chamber orchestra forces in the space.
Simon Trpčeski curated a programme which included an orchestration of Brahms' String Quintet No2 which I could have done without and a delightful rendition of Elgar's Serenade for Strings.
I love Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes in its stark version for six players - here with larger forces it sounded lugubrious and not to my taste.
And the performance of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No1 with its extensive part for trumpet just sounded far too loud and clangorous in the smaller space.
So, overall disappointing but not wholly unpleasant.
I enjoyed the cinecast of English National Opera's new production of Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini directed by Terry Gilliam.
I remember, many moons ago, noticing an advert in a 1975 Proms programme for the forthcoming Royal Opera season and seeing that it included an opera called Benvenuto Cellini. I had never heard of the work and was intrigued. And so I went and heard Colin Davis conduct with Nicolai Gedda as Cellini.
The next time I heard the work live was at a concert given by London Symphony Orchestra once again conducted by Colin Davis. I think that I concur with my view on that occasion that it is simply not a very good work, uneven and unclear in its purpose.
Edward Gardner conducted and kept the proceedings alight and Michael Spyres was absolutely sensational as Cellini.
I don't feel that I need to try my hand with any other production of this work.
Another summer's concert at St George's Hall and, this time, curated by James Clark who is the current leader of the RLPO. We had a programme of music written solely for strings.
I liked the lithe textures of Stravinsky's Concerto in D for string orchestra and the elegaic quality of Strauss's Metamorphosen with its drooping cadences and quotation from the funeral march of Beethoven's third symphony as the imperial life of Berlin, Dresden, Munich and Vienna went into the flames in 1944/5.
Grieg's Holberg Suite and Dvořák's Serenade for Strings both felt somewhat glutinous afterwards. So a pleasant evening in gorgeous surroundings but not outstanding.