PrettyInScarlett

From keys to strings, this time. Purely out of curiosity (and the love of wine), M and I went along to this year's Swiss Ambassador's Award Concert at the Reardon Smith Theatre in National Museum Cardiff . According to the inclusive programme, this is the 2 nd year of the Award, which is aimed at promoting Swiss culture and Swiss artists and involves, in the UK at least, 3 or 4 'tour' dates, Cardiff being the last for 2009. The winners, the Gémeaux Quartett , originated in Basel in 2003. A lot of the concert audience were local and other dignitaries , and we assume that the other tickets (i.e. for people like us) were sold for numbers and not aimed at profit! The programme: Haydn Quartet in C major Op.50 No.2; Bolens String Quartet 2006 ' Tempus Fugit ' and lastly Janáček Quartet No.2 'Intimate Letters'. By far the most interesting and enjoyable piece (for us, though I'm sure some of the older audience members would disagree) was ' Tempus

Something of a departure here. 2009 is the second year of the Radio 3 Pianothon ; this year's location was Leeds, to coincide with the final weekend of the Leeds International Piano Competition . Cue a bit of a mad 1 day cross-country escapade, but it was enjoyable! I arrived at Leeds University Clothworkers ' Centenary Concert Hall in time for the last 20 mins or so of the morning session, including the first of 2 'piano party' jam sessions -guest professional Noriko Ogawa and volunteers from the audience/performers, playing almost at sight. After a short break the afternoon session was under way, showcasing a wide variety of talent. From early/mid teens (some of the performers reminded me of myself 10 years ago) to physicists and others, the range was very impressive, some performers of an extremely high standard indeed. Radio 3's Sarah Walker was hosting and chatted to some of the performers beforehand, with Noriko Ogawa on hand to give out compliments and