I went to the Phil.
I'm trying to start getting out of the house more as the daylight hours increase.
We began with the world premiere performance of Edmund Finnis's Acts of Waves which created pleasant sound pictures of seascapes for about a quarter of an hour and then finished. Pleasant enough but not outstanding in any way. Next up was Mozart's Piano Concerto No20 given in bravura style by Kit Armstrong whose nimble fingers kept a classical sense of poise and clarity thoughout.
After the interval, Domingo Hindoyan conducted that glorious hymn to humanity, Nielsen's Symphony No4 Inextinguishable. There was an enormous surging momentum to the whole work. Hindoyan thinks in large scale paragraphs without losing sight of the various shifts of tone and mood within the work.
Roland and I wondered what impelled Nielsen wish to write such a life affirming work. Roland checked when the Inextinguishable was premiered and it turned out to be 1916. So, whilst Denmark was not an active participant in WWI, Nielsen may well have felt the need to counter the carnage and the brutality with something more positive.
I paid mum a visit at The Glade. She was in good spirits but thirty minutes just about did her.
She is now getting Attendance Allowance after having been there for six months. Hats off to Linda for seeing that one through.
My top of the head calculation makes me think that her State Pension and her Attendance Allowance now cover about 50% of the fees charged by The Glade which is good going. Linda's feeling is that, if the draw down on Mum’s money remains at just over £1K a month, then there are no problems with her staying at The Glade for the foreseeable future.
This was a funny sort of concert really. I'd chosen to go because of the soloist in the Mahler: Roderick Williams is a much loved artist. I didn't know the conductor, Mihhail Gerts, but I was willing to take a gamble.
Schubert's Symphony No2 began the proceedings nicely but didn't really have a lot to recommend it the way that Nos 3, 4 and 5 do. Then Mahler's Rückert Lieder were well played and sung. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen has to be one of my favourite pieces by Mahler. However, I do think that it's best performed by a mezzo though Roderick Williams sang with refinement and a taste for the words.
After the interval, we had Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending which is lovely but I don't feel that I need to hear. And we finished off with Sibelius' Symphony No7. And, suddenly, what had been an acceptable but ordinary sort of concert lifted to another level. Fabulous control of pacing and layering of the orchestral sounds. One of those "from the heart to the heart" moments.
It was also fun watching various parts of Liverpool turn up as Gotham City especially St George's Hall, which is where I saw the film crew eighteen months' ago.
I, however, was too tired to be a responsible audience member and fell asleep during the Prologue.
Roland and I have decided that we are not going to go to the forthcoming Sunday matinée performance of Peter Grimes. It would have meant a very early start to the day and a very late returning home thanks to Avanti's cancellation of most Sunday trains. Roland, however, did attend the Dress Rehearsal matinée and returned very impressed. He felt it was a very dark interpretation which left him drained. He's advocating that we attend the first revival whenever that may be.