That Indian Summer is making an effort to put in an appearance. Although bright and dry for much of the time, any appreciable warmth has yet to materialise. I remain confident of one final brief period of shorts and exotic t-shirts acquired from far-flung corners of the globe.
Right now, BBC 2 has seduced me away from watching a pre-videoed episode of the acclaimed New York police series, Blue Bloods, with a Baroque Prom concert from my one-time favourite place to be, The Royal Albert Hall. I was there in August 1963 as a gob-smacked fourteen year old when Sir Malcolm Sargent conducted a biblical rendition of Balshazzar’s Feast, with buckets of artistic license! I actually met the composer, Sir William Walton, after a concert in Manchester some two years previously. Hans Schmidt- Isserstedt “out-Beethovened” Beethoven in the best 9th Symphony I had enjoyed before or since, again at the proms, some six years later.
Tonight, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment are playing the music of Handel, Vivaldi, and Bach. There is no audience, the players are socially distanced. I am, once again, extremely impressed by the enormous efforts of all those who collaborated to stage an “emergency version” of The Proms. When the season should have started at the end of July, the daily live concerts which couldn’t take place, were replaced each night on Radio 3 by previous concerts selected from the BBC archives. Live audience-less performances would complete the last two weeks of the 2020 season, mainly from the RoyalAlbert Hall. Tonight’s encore was the music as penned by Henry Purcell used by Benjamin Britten (who I also met after a concert in Manchester) for his still wonderful Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, the finale of which cannot be loud enough!
I have been “busying” myself with bits of house-tidying and small amounts of decluttering. Only two bedrooms are now uninhabitable, one fairly well organized as an archive room, the other, an embarrassing tip! Although slow, progress is discernible, just! But, I am feeling relaxed as I seem to have more space. Gradually, I am preparing the lounge for long overdue refurbishment.
I am still trying to exercise caution, in the alarming knowledge that the Covid virus is still very much with us. Rules and recommendations seem to change by the hour. Occasionally, I do venture into town, and meals out are a little more frequent now. But I have become quite reasonable at preparing a healthy meal at home; however, I don’t feel that my kitchen improvisations would qualify for entertaining guests at dinner, family members may-be!
Already it’s fairly late; that lovely concert finished three quarters of an hour ago. Time for Blue Bloods!
Thanks for reading, David, 22.28hrs.
David's Cruise 