11th May 2010 - Atheneum, Bucharest with Joshua Bell
Programme: Mozart Sonata K454, Beethoven Sonata in C minor
Ravel Sonata, Tchaikovsky Meditation, Sarasate Introduction and Tarantella. |
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Bucharest was the final city on our US/European tour and I couldn't have imagined a nicer way to finish.
I think it's possible, to some extent, to know from the first few minutes of arrival how a concert is going to be. Having met the concert promoter Alina Macarie at Bucharest's airport I immediately had the feeling this was going be a good one!
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Cruciada Culturii (The Crusade for Culture) is a concept conceived by Romania's Dream Management Agency along with the Romanian actor and rock star Tudor Chirila. Its mission is to fight for quality, integrity and beauty in the arts, against the rising tide of superficiality and vulgarity. As part of the crusade, the DMA promote high-profile concerts in Bucharest's stunning Atheneum (pictured above just before our recital). May their dreams long continue to come true! | |
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Having had a nice time chatting to members of the audience after the performance, the organisers took me the the old part of the city. We waked past the beautiful Stavropoleos Monastery, depicted here in a watercolour by Preziosi. Their choir sings Byzantine music, of which the monastery has the largest collection in Romania. Cold beers in hand, we spent a happy hour relaxing in the warm night air. |
Driving back to the hotel, Cosmin took a detour via the 'Palace of the Parliament'. He had warned me it was huge, but I still got a shock when I saw it. Ceausescu had ordered it to be built as his personal residence, from which his government was also intended to operate. Much of the historic part of Bucharest was demolished for the project - including 30,000 homes and 30 churches and synagogues. The dictator never moved in, being overthrown and executed on Christmas Day 1989.
I enjoyed flying with Tarom, sponsors of our concert. Both food and service were excellent. I look forward to booking my return flight!  | |
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My first publication! The Song the Penguins was published by Emerson Editions, the UK's largest publisher for wind instruments. You can hear a recording with its dedicatee Roger Birnstingl (also dedicated to his wife Penny) on my audio page.
Inspired by the film "March of the Penguins" it is a sad song for the Penguins to sing as they make their long and arduous journey to the breeding grounds.
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25 June - 17th July 2009 Indonesia
Solo Programme: Schubert Impromptus D899, Villa-Lobos The Dolls' Story, Chopin Scherzo No 1, Ballade No 4, Romance (arranged by me), Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise
Trio Programmes (with Katherine Spencer and Damien Ventula): Beethoven Clarinet Trio, Brahms Clarinet Trio, Bruch from 8 Pieces, Glinka Trio Pathetique |
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If only someone would hurry up and invent a Star-Trek transporting machine. Michio Kaku predicted in the Discovery Channel Magazine that similar devices would exist within a hundred years. It would be so nice to be able to pop over for tea with my new Indonesian friends.
In the meantime, Airbus's new A380 makes air-travel as bearable as possible. How on earth does it get off the ground?? As all 500 tons lumber down the runway, you get the feeling it never will.
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This time I stayed for a whole month during which I gave two chamber music concerts, several master classes and toured four cities with my solo programme. My warmest thanks to Mutia Dharma, with whom I clocked up nearly 30 hours on trains, playing "I spy", "20 Questions", and talking about her fascinating and illumating perspective on life as an Indonesian muslim.
I'd also like to express my gratitude to Leonard and Indre van Hien for their kind hospitality; to Shienny, Angelia and Novia for everything in their wonderful city Surabaya and to Anika, Ruth and Lendi at the Jakarta Conservatory of Music.  | |
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Two extremes for you... One of the most beautiful hotel pools in Jogja(karta) and one of the most tasteless hotels in Jakarta. The Twin Plaza has turned tastelessness into an artform. Brown, seventies chandeliers are reflected in mirrors adorned with tropical fish. Baroque ceilings descend into pillars decorated with planets. Neon coloured lights and liberally scattered television monitors provide the finishing touch.
Having said all this, I will be forever grateful to this ugly duckling of hotels. When Mutia and I first walked in we immediately decided to re-book to the Marriot for our last night. Were it not for the friendly staff and the delicious food of the Twin Plaza, we would have gone ahead and coincided with a deadly terrorist attack on the Marriot, in which nine people were killed.
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Keele lies in an area in North Staffordshire known as the Potteries. It was once home to over 1500 porcelain firms, including Wedgewood and Royal Doulton, both of which recently became victims of the ecomonic downturn. Once upon a time the whole landscape was dotted with pottery kilns (left), several of which still remain. One of my most cherished childhood possessions was a Wedgewood Peter Rabbit mug which still exists today, thanks to the power of superglue.
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Keele has one of the UK's biggest music societies and universities, which promote around 15 concerts a year in their Westminster Theatre. I was treated to two of my very favourite things - roast beef and yorkshire pudding in the university restaurant and later a bacon and tomato sandwich, courtesy of my kind hosts, Joan and Peter Holland. Many thanks to Alexandra Scott for organising such an enjoyable recital.
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Perth Concert Hall, the newest in Scotland, is simply stunning - as is the resident Steinway grand. Having eaten the wonderful selection of M&S food in my dressing room fridge after the recital, I retired to my lovely hotel, a mere two minutes walk away. Bliss! Many thanks to Mary Friday and the Perth Music Society and all the concert hall staff for one of the most enjoyable concerts of my career.
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My journey from London wasn't quite as wonderful, however! A whole centimetre (imagine!) of snow resulted in a hour's delay to my train, making me miss my connection in Edinburgh. A string of further delays ensued, our Perth train finally giving up and ejecting us onto a coach.
It is nice, though, how people seem to be more open to communication in the face of a common adversity. Strangers happily chatted and moaned to each other on the train - just as in London several neighbours of mine greeted me for the first time when we had all that snow recently. There was noticably more eye contact and smiling. I get the feeling people often want to talk to each other much more than actually they do - they just need some sort of pretext.  | |
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Indonesia - a country of staggering contrasts, natural beauty and statistics. It comprises 17,508 islands and is home to 234 million people, 23 million of whom live in Greater Jakarta. Java, the island on which Jakarta lies, has an average population of 2435 people per square mile. A motorcycle is sold every three seconds, something you can well believe as you drive around the city (or more likely as you sit in a traffic jam). Many will borrow money to buy a motorbike and set up a taxi business (left) to pay it off.
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The flight from London Heathrow was a nightmare. Perplexed by Damien's cello having its own seat (though it's not allowed any food), I was instructed to wait until the plane was fully boarded before being seated. The only possibility, I was then informed, was to be squeezed between two very fat men, one of whom had the fixed grin of a lunatic, stroking nearby passengers with a hand puppet. I couldn't bear the prospect of several hours trapped between them and at the last minute found another empty seat, though covered with bags. The charming gentleman in the aisle seat kindly asked why "I didn't have my own f****** seat" and made a point of sticking his elbows as far out as possible during the whole flight. Window-Seat-Man had a terrible cold, which he seemed very eager to share with me. We hadn't reckoned with extra stops in Colombo and Singapore and the whole ordeal ending up taking twenty hours. |  |
 | After this shaky start my first visit to Asia couldn't have been more wonderful. Leonard van Hien, himself an accomplished cellist, and his wife Indre hosted us in their beautiful home, complete with swimming pool and deer park. Having a bath, a delicious meal and sinking into bed in my air-conditioned room was nothing short of bliss.
Our first concert was in Bandung, organised by Mutia Dharma, who exemplifies the great warmth and generosity of the Indonesian people. There were many young people in the audience, which was encouraging. Her mission to bring classical music to Indonesia seems to be very successful.
The train ride back to Jakarta gave us our first glimpse of the beauty of the Indonesian countryside. |
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The second concert was in Jakarta's impressive Erasmus Huis Hall, which has an excellent acoustic. Our concert was sandwiched between visits to two luxury hotels - to the Mandarin Oriental for a bath (Leonard van Hien is country chairman of the company who owns it) and the Marriot for a post-concert buffet of incredible splendour.
I also gave masterclasses to several students from the music school. Amongst them were some incredibly gifted ten year-olds.
Our flight back was infinitely better with spectacular views over deserts and the Zogaso mountains in Iran. |  |
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Zwickau is a beautiful little Saxon town about three hours train-ride from Berlin. Robert Schumann was born 150 years ago in the house on the left, which is now a museum and concert venue. "Brücke" artist Max Pechstein was also born there.
My recital comprised works with a Schumann connection - Gade, Clara Schumann, Franz Xaver Mozart (Mozart's younger son), Chopin's Second Ballade and Liszt's B minor Sonata, both dedicated to Schumann. The main Schumann work in the programme was Faschingsschwank aus Wien, the autograph of which is kept in the museum. Many thanks to the director Thomas Synofzik for allowing me to examine it and to Dr Ute Bär for her kind help. Yesterday I also acquired a facsimile of the Liszt. It is fascinating to see the passages he finally decided to discard. For example, he initially ended the sonata with fortissimo chords (left) instead of fading away to ppp.
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My lovely neighbours Sylwia and Rüdiger share my passion for mysteries. Last autumn I set them a treasure hunt on the island of Tenerife and recently they did one for me, only much better! It all began with a secret wooden box which, when we eventually managed to open it, revealed a parchment with a wax seal. Their ingenious riddle lead us to Potsdam and the "little" Brandenburg Gate, through the Sanssouci park and finally to the "end of the rainbow" - a sparkling crystal, buried in a branch of an ancient Bignonia Catalpa tree.
I think music is a bit like a treasure hunt - if you keep on digging, there are many sparkling musical crystals to be unearthed! | 
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 | Burning with curiousity, I cycled down to the Brandenburg Gate where the famous Love Parade was geting into full swing. Walking down the Strasse des 17. Juni boulevard the crowds became thicker towards the Siegessaeule to the point where it was difficult to move. Like small ships the floats slowly plowed through a choppy sea of people, all possessed by several hundred watts of techno-music. I enjoy watching people who can move naturally to a beat. I want to dance too, but as I always end up being rather awkward and self-conscious I usually content myself with being an envious audience. |
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I recently left for Vienna from Berlin's sparkling new "Hauptbahnhof" (Central Station). I've always had a thing for railway stations and with its awe-inspiring glass construction, Berlin's new showpiece doesn't disappoint. When you arrive in Berlin by train now, you feel as if you've arrived somewhere very important! It has been interesting to witness the station's birth over the past three years. The grand opening was sadly marred by an idiot running around randomly stabbing people with a knife. |  |
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 | During the course of the nine hour journey I met a freelance journalist based in Prague who kindly offered to give me a whirlwind tour of his city on my return trip. It turned out to be an unforgettable few hours in one of the most magical cities I have ever seen. I can't wait to go back. Thanks, Kilian! |
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It was nice to meet old friends in Vienna and stroll around the city reminiscing about my student days. President Bush was in town - a fact difficult to overlook. Watched by circling helicopters, armed police on roof tops and the bemused Viennese public, he arrived at great speed amid hundreds of police cars, motorbikes, black "A-Team" vans and armoured trucks. The whole Hotel Intercontinental on Stadtpark had been sealed off and emptied for him. |  |
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The professional part of my visit consisted of a short concert at the British Embassy to present Prof. Guenther Bauer's book, "Mozart - a Lover of Games". Equipped with two giant foam dice, we played Mozart's Musical Dice Game with the audience, joining bars determined by the dice and a special chart. Grillparzer's tribute poem to Mozart's younger son Franz Xaver was read, followed by two of his polonaises. Ambassador John Macgregor and I also performed a Mozart piano duet. His previous duo-partner had been Condolezza Rice the week before! Many thanks to the Ambassador and to Munir Allahwerdi for having me to stay. |
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 | My parents have just returned to England having stayed with me for a week. I was happy that they were able to experience Berlin in the grip of World Cup fever. The influx of so many colourful and happy people from every corner of the globe created a wonderful carnival-like atmosphere in the city. The air was filled with agonised groans and elated shrieks as people sat riveted to the hundreds of outdoor screens. |
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Riding down the site of the "fan mile" on my bike yesterday I felt very sad to see everything being dismantled and taken away. The World Cup has undoubtably been a huge success for Germany and despite not being German, I feel quite proud. |
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I've been reading two fascinating blogs which have inspired me to write my own. The author of the first was homeless and sleeping in her car. Through her moving diaries she achieved a loyal readership and finally wrote herself out of trouble. The second chronicles the journey of a Dutch girl and her dog by tractor (!) from Holland to the South Pole. As she travels, she collects the dreams and wishes of the people she meets.
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