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 ...

The summer season of culture continues... Whilst at our Welsh Proms concerts in July, M and I spied a poster advertising a concert by the National Youth Orchestra of Wales on 11 th August. Flat rate of £10 per seat, so it was also an opportunity to get some good seats for a change! The programme: Arwel Hughes Prelude for Orchestra Tchaikovsky Swan Lake Ballet Suite Mahler Symphony No. 1 The Arwel Hughes piece was quite interesting (new to our ears); according to the online information about the concert, this piece was commissioned for the Orchestra and is dedicated to the youth of Wales. The Swan Lake Suite was perhaps the most popular of the evening's programme , perhaps unsurprisingly, and it was played well. Our favourite (or at least, mine anyway) was Mahler's Symphony No 1, especially the third movement, as until it started I had completely forgotten that it was based on the song Frère Jacques. For a first time, I was suitably impressed by the Orchestra. From that to ...

That is, musical highlights! Firstly, M and I went promenading at 2 Welsh Proms concerts. The first, on Monday 20th July, was the Revolutionaries Prom. Most obvious revolutionary - Beethoven (the concert featured his 'Overture, Les Franc Juges' and the Third Symphony (Eroica), famously almost dedicated to Napoleon. Those pieces were appreciated, & well played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales , although we were bored by the other work, Berlioz' suite of songs 'Les Nuits d'ete'. Maybe this piece was the reason why the Revolutionaries Prom had not sold that well - plenty of empty seats. A much better atmosphere, and indeed, interesting set of works, on Friday 24th for the Romantic Prom. The Philharmonia this time, playing Beethoven's 'Overture No 3 Leonora', Dvořák's Cello Concerto and Sibelius' Symphony No 5. The Cello Concerto was excellent (reminiscent of a previous Welsh Proms cello performance -Saint-Saëns' Concerto No 1), fe...

Something different for a day: as part of the National Museum of Wales' Cerdd/Music 09 (year of music), on Saturday 20th June, the National Museum Cardiff showcased a performance of Erik Satie's 'Vexations'. The 'Vexations' consists of 840 repetitions of a short work, with 1 repetition composing of theme-variation1-theme-variation2, of which the score is below. Full details of the performance are on the museum's website here . The performance also served as the anniversary of the first Welsh performance of the work in Bangor in 1969, with Saturday's rota of artists including 6 of the original performers. The full 840 repetitions lasts around 18 hours, but I stayed for around 45-50 minutes (until repetition 360). In that short time, I still found Vexations both very interesting and strangely hypnotic - it also fitted in well with the surroundings of Gallery 12 (the Realist and Impressionist part of the museum's collection). I may try and play 1 or 2 ...

Summer finally seems to be on its way, along with 2 excellent shows in a week! Another first on Tuesday 19 th - a concert in the Cardiff University School of Music 's hall. Originally booked as a 'why not' kind of thing, the recital by Emma Johnson (clarinet) and Pascal Rogé (piano) was very interesting. The set (courtesy of the CUSM website): Weber – Sylvana Variations Debussy – Rhapsodie Brahms – Sonata op. 120 no. 1 in F minor Bernstein – Sonata Stravinsky – Three pieces for clarinet solo Debussy – La Cathedrale Engloutie (from Preludes Book 1) Aaron Copland – Nocturne Milhaud – Scaramouche Suite Personal favourites from the evening, both Debussy pieces and the encores, which were Debussy's 'la fille au cheveux de lin ' and a Benny Goodman solo (not sure which) on the clarinet. The hall was fairly full and show well received, so all in all a good warm up for the duo's later concert at Cadogan Hall, London on 28 th May. Back to something a l...

After the unfortunate closure of The Point , there is happily a new live music venue in Cardiff. Last night I went to my first show at The Globe . The building used to be a cinema but has now been renovated into a live music venue. Its smaller than The Point, but seems after 1 visit to be very cosy and intimate. The show? The sensational William Elliot Whitmore . I don't know much about him; the recommendation came to me from the staff at Spillers' Records. An excellent recommendation -Mr Whitmore has a sound similar to that of Seasick Steve . A similarly enthusiastic following, as well, judging by the crowds at The Globe. Woop! The support bands were good too. The first were good but rather forgettable, but the second was much better. Solo show from Christopher Rees (who is back at The Globe on 5th May), whose lyrics and tunes were to me reminiscent Johnny Cash. I may go back again for a second dose. As an aside, I'd also recommend the new Bat for Lashes album Two Suns....