Tuesday 20th July 2021, 08.30, just getting out of bed!
Last night, after more or less a “day to myself”, my friend from The Festival contacted me to join him and two others for drinks at No. 6, the tea rooms in The Square. We occupied a table outside on the pavement (sidewalk) but still protected from any inclement weather. I had enjoyed a leisurely lunch at The Royal Oak and was thus not particularly hungry. These days, I do not drink anything other than water, tea and coffee. Soft drinks screw up my diabetes condition, and alcohol messes up my liver and can bring on depression! These days, I’m quite a “happy chappy!” Annoyingly, deserts other than fruit salad are “out”…..even ice cream. Nevertheless, life remains reasonable.
I wasn’t expecting to attend a concert given by the B.B.C. Philharmonic Orchestra last night. The programme struck me as (possibly) somewhat light-weight. Nevertheless, something (or someone!) caused me to have second thoughts. This may well have been the first post-lockdown symphony concert anywhere in the U.K. where, at the insistence of the musicians, lock-down restrictions were retained. I thought that my seat to one side of Buxton’s Octagon at the Pavilion Gardens would have been not very good. And while any speeches were inaudible from where I was seated, the music acoustics were perfect. And it was thrilling to hear once again, a symphony orchestra in “full flow.” The Octagon in the Pavilion Gardens is a superb venue for large scale classical concerts, the acoustics excellent from all parts (but not for speech!) Annoyingly, l left my phone at home so was unable, therefore, to take, surreptitiously, any photographs.
Wednesday 21st July
And the programme for the concert, now two days ago was well chosen, with, surprisingly, very little familiar to me. The concert opened with Overture to The Anonymous Lover, a work in three movements by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint Georges (1745 – 1799).
Tokyo born violinist Karen Gomyo joined the B.B.C. Philharmonic, under Ben German, for a spellbinding performance of the Max Bruch Violin Concerto. My flagging spirits were, by this time, lifting to familiar heights.
The interval gave me just enough time to walk to the car to ascertain whether I had left my phone in there. I hadn’t! There was also a precautionary trip to the loo, and being a sultry night, time to acquire a swig of water.
Presumably, the violinist was well on her way to distant lands by the time part two of the concert opened with Malcolm Arnold’s Sinfonietta No.3, Op. 31, an interesting more challenging (to listen to) work in four movements.
The acoustics were just right for Haydn’s Symphony No. 103, “The Drumroll”, also in four movements. I don’t recall ever having heard this penultimate symphony. Only the finale to the Max Bruch Violin Concerto was familiar. The joy of being at what may well have been the U.K.s first post-covid public symphony concert matched that of the Halle concerts I would attend from around nine years of age to my early twenties.
Although not credited in this year’s Festival programme book, for the first time since 2016, I joined the numerous volunteers in my previous role as “Festival Driver”. This involved ferrying various literary speakers to and from Macclesfield, where they had arrived from either London, or places usually south of Watford Junction. They, too, were all making their first public appearances since the U.K. went into lock-down in March last year. Each speaker was an absolute pleasure to meet, or take to his or her train. There are several of us who volunteer to “chauffeur” these writers; all with professional enthusiasm. If my travel plans do come to fruition next year, I shall only be around for the last few days of The Festival in 2022.
Yesterday, I attended a concert at St. John’s exclusively for members of the Friends of Buxton International Festival, provided by various artistes from the operas being staged. Again, this was an absolute pleasure as renditions of arias from well known as well as lesser well known works were performed.
Today, I attended an interview at which the interviewee was Andrew Marr, in conversation with Gerry Northam.
The weather remains unnaturally warm with high humidity. A welcome breeze has sprung up, but what might have been an hour or two sunning myself in the back garden, I chose to recharge my “flagging batteries” in my darkened bedroom. Later in the afternoon, around fifty Friends of the Festival gathered outside The Crescent for the annual Friends’ Dinner, for the first time in the magnificenty restored Assembly Rooms.
The dinner was a most enjoyable and convivial occasion. My request for alternative food was taken care of, but I was unconvinced that the “diabetic” cheese cake was a suitable dessert. I had requested fruit salad, and will insist on this at the Festival Weekend Dinner in October. As I have said before with great enthusiasm, the hotel restoration is magnificent, the rooms superb. But I have yet to see the presence of established management commensurate with a five star rating. However, I do accept the unknown effects of the continued pandemic. I rather think that staying at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto (and in York, England) may have spoiled me somewhat.
Rarely do the warm nights of summer keep me awake. This week, I have been kept awake for much of the night on three occasions. I rather hope that tonight, I “sleep for England.”
Many thanks for reading, David, 22.33hrs, 21/7/21.
David's Cruise 