Myra Hess Day at the National Gallery

...It's today, and I'm not there. I should currently be listening to Piers Lane and the Doric Quartet playing the Elgar Piano Quintet on the spot where Dame Myra and her musicians sat during the years of the Second World War, when the gallery was cleared of most of its paintings and Hess moved music in instead to raise Londoners' spirits. Last year's day devoted to her memory - the first ever, unbelievably - proved so popular that someone listened to our calls for it to become an annual event, and Piers intended today's concerts to be a tribute in a wider sense, to music as a consolation in times of war.

They opened at lunchtime with a concert of Bach transcriptions for one and two pianos; at teatime, Anita Lasker Wallfisch gave an interview about her wartime experiences; and this evening the concert featuring the Elgar Quintet was to end with the Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time.

Annoyingly, I pulled a tendon in my leg at the gym earlier today and am hobbling about. So instead of being there, I am watching Dame Myra on Youtube. You can too. Here she is playing the Appassionata at the National Gallery in 1945.

Cheers

As from yesterday, our friends in the Netherlands can read Alicia's Gift in Dutch under the title Wonderkind.

LPO cup runneth over

I'd hoped to give a full report on the glittering party that followed the LPO's anniversary concert the other night: the fantastic big-band playing of its Renga Ensemble with Scott Stroman, the speech by arts minister Margaret Hodge, the dusky and charismatic figure of Vladimir Jurowski encircled by adoring fans, the champagne [sorry, Pliable! I've no intention of being at loggerheads with anyone; it takes all sorts, etc, and there's enough room on earth for Adorno, Cage, Rachmaninov and Moet & Chandon]...But we only caught about 10 minutes of it because we were backstage trying to force Tom's locker open. The key was bust and his wallet and sandwiches were on the wrong side of the door.

We also survived our first ride in a brand new RFH lift which took us to the top floor around 7pm and then didn't want to let us out. Again, all was well when it changed its electronic mind, but there was a worrying minute in which we thought there'd be an empty seat in the first violins.

Vladimir's account of the Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances, however, was an event that would surely have made Sir Thomas Beecham proud of the orchestra he founded 75 years ago. Vladimir is a spiritual type, interested in zen, meditation etc, and perhaps this comes across in his conducting in the moments of stillness, the intense focus, the darkness gathering invisible momentum in the background, ready to erupt. The final 'dance' seemed an apocalyptic evocation of a collapsing world.

I'm not going to write about the Mozart and Beethoven because I can never get past the mental image of a Cornflakes packet being thumped when I hear those 'authentic' 'period' drums. But here's a full review from The Telegraph's Matthew Rye.

Happy Birthday, London Philharmonic!

Seventy-five years ago today, the London Philharmonic Orchestra gave its first concert. On the podium was its founder, Sir Thomas Beecham. Tonight at the Royal Festival Hall the LPO is performing a celebration concert for its big birthday, with its new principal conductor, Vladimir Jurowski (left), and it's a programme to adore:

Richard Bissell: Fanfare for a 75th anniversary
Mozart: 'Prague' Symphony
Beethoven: Piano Concerto no.4 with Maurizio Pollini
Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances

Richard Bissell, by the way, is the band's very fine First Horn. There's no need to introduce Pollini, but I'd like to say that he's one of the pianists I have most admired and respected all my life. An interview I did with him a few years ago left me with the impression that he's a mensch: a person of absolute integrity who lives and works according to strong ideals. No pretence, no fuss, no nonsense: simply the real thing.

Should be an evening to remember.

Here's a more recent interview with Pollini by Richard Morrison (The Times, 28th September). And to inspire, here's the maestro playing the second movement of the concerto, with Abbado conducting.

mad props

First to a blog called International Listings which has to do with luxury real estate. Its proprietor has kindly seen fit to include JDCMB among the top 100 blogs suitable for the super-rich, classifying it under 'Odds and Ends'. It's a culturally interesting phenomenon, this, but the promotion is appreciated.

Also to The Official Blog of the Grateful Web, which liked the Brahms picture, points to a number of interesting blogs of all types and recommends a search engine which I keep meaning to try out.

Next, the estimable Stephen Pollard at The Spectator, who has kindly included JDCMB on a very elite blogroll. Different politics, but shared interests!

And last, but by no means least, to the Sunday Times, which last week named Beloved Clara as its audio book of the week. I was basking in Baden-Baden and missed it on the day. Tres drole.