Skip to main content

Vivacious Vivaldi

So, did you watch the Four Seasons Prom last night?  I was glued to the television from start to finish.  
The concert did not disappoint.  How could it?  I knew what it was going to sound like from hearing the radio transmission of the live performance, but to see it was just wonderful.  I have never sat through a whole televised prom before.  The musicians sit and play and it's all lovely but I fidget a lot and because I am at home I can get up and do something else at the same time.  There is not the extra dimension to keep me sitting on the edge of my seat as there was last night.
Nigel Kennedy's production was very different.  It was visual as well as wonderful to hear.  
The young Palestinian players, especially his 15 year old protege Mostafa Saad, were inspiring, especially when you consider the conditions under which they are trying to learn and develop their talent as serious musicians.  It's not something you can imagine is easily achieved alongside every day life in the Gaza Strip.  The experience of performing in the Royal Albert Hall must have been extraordinary for them and I was fascinated to watch their faces as the programme progressed.  
There was some singing in Arabic.  I have no idea what he was saying but his performance was riveting.  It was beautiful and haunting.  It brought to my mind the tragic souls suffering so much throughout the Arab world.  The young man's face, as he sang, was raptuous but also seemed sorrowful and indeed there is much to be heartbroken about in that region of the world.  I wonder if the audience felt the same.  Their applause was genuine and generous.
Magical.  The concert is saved on the Sky box and will be played many times over.  I just hope that someone brings out a recording on CD.  I've set my heart on it!





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

In a vase on Monday - colour

The intense colours in my vase this week come from nasturtiums, sweetpeas and a single glorious zinnia! Their beauty and love of life speak for themselves and need no further words from me! Enjoy!

Colonsay postcards - on arrival

The first thing I do, once we have unpacked our car, which has been groaning with all the stuff we need for a week's stay in the holiday cottage, is head for the outer gardens of Colonsay House. It is a place of wonder for me! I particularly love the leaves of the giant rhododendrons. There are many different varieties, all planted in the early 1930s. The outer gardens are generally overgrown, having had little tending over the decades. That makes them even more magical! The old woodmill falls apart a little more every year, but that's fine by me because I love corrugated iron and especially if it's rusted! And of course the bees. Colonsay's beekeeper, Andrew Abrahams, has one of his apiaries on the edge of the pine wood. So lovely - the hum of busy bees and the heady smell of the pines. We are here - finally! Delayed by four months by the wretched virus, but now I am on holiday! Hooray!

Found items IAVOM

I am on holiday on the Inner Hebridean island of Colonsay. It is my happy place. Thoughts of Colonsay rattle around in my head each and every day I am not here! I haven't got a vase to share this week but some lovely things I have found over the past few days, which are just as beautiful as a vase of flowers! I hope you agree! Here are some leaves of giant rhododendrons, growing in the outer gardens of Colonsay House. Some skeleton leaves of magnolia. The dried stem of a kelp seaweed. A couple of conkers (can never resist those!), and a branch heavily populated by a number of lichens. The air on Colonsay is so clean that lichens flourish here!