PrettyInScarlett

Last week I finally had the opportunity to visit Oslo with M. Amongst all the sightseeing and visiting friends, we managed a couple of musical activities. By way of an odd prologue, Thursday evening (autumn equinox) there was a torchlit riverside walk along the Akerselva river into downtown Oslo, complete with random but interesting sound, light and music installations along the way, including a few singer-songwriters, choirs and fire-eaters! light installation on Akerselva Friday evening we went to the Oslo Konserthus to see the excellent Oslo Philharmonic featuring Janine Jansen performing Britten's Violin Concerto Op. 15. From our cheap seats behind the orchestra, we enjoyed the Concerto - including the odd macabre bits - and the opening work, No 1 from Leó Weiner's Hungarian Folk Dances Op 18. For our ears the concluding work, Dvořák's Symphony No 8 was something of a let-down - too formulaic and predictable after Britten. No negatives from Saturday af

Continuing my week of excellent piano music, last night I logged on to Skype to attend a special meeting of  Ottawa Piano Group , featuring a masterclass by performer and teacher Jenny Regehr . Jenny started the session with a short introduction on the themes of what one wants to say musically and how to say it, focusing on alignment and the importance of listening to what one is playing. She touched on the 'vibrancy' of the OPG - it seems the group has developed quite a reputation! The three brave students for the afternoon were: Christopher, playing Milonga del Angel by Piazzolla; Nick, playing Schubert's Impromptu Op 142 No 2 ; and Julie, playing the 2nd movement from Beethoven's Sonata Op 10 No 1 . All excellent performances, and the common themes from Jenny's analysis included comments on the melodic line and buoyancy in chordal playing - the emphasis being on constant movement and flow. It was certainly an entertaining and informative few hours' c

Since moving to Durham I have been looking for fellow amateur pianists, with some success: the inaugural 'Durham Amateur Pianists' group met earlier this month and another meeting is scheduled for October. I also attended 2 other amateur piano events. Chris Jolley on the Yamaha piano First up on Wednesday was Gateshead Piano Workshop , a montly event held at Caedmon Hall in Gateshead Library. The established workshop features teacher and performer Venera Bojkova . The programme, pre-announced about 2 weeks beforehand, included Brahms' Op.117 Intermezzo in Eb ; andante from Sonata in C K545   and adagio in B minor from K540 by Mozart; and the last 4 from Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky. A really friendly and informative evening! Something slightly different yesterday, as I went to Manchester for the UK meeting of online group The Piano Cloud . The Piano Could is a SoundCloud and Facebook group whose members encompass all genres and abilities including