Monday, February 07, 2011
Sacconi quartet
The people at Dorking have gone for a younger quartet this year so we got to hear the Sacconi Quartet (http://www.sacconi.com/home) on Saturday, the first of their series of three. And very good they were too, bringing a bit of youth and zap to the proceedings. But not so youthful that the viola player didn't wait to start a second movement until a presumably older gent. in the back row had stopped mumbling. Programme went small, medium, big rather than the more usual medium, small, big. So we started with Wolf's Italian Serendade (never heard before), then Smetana's String Quartet No. 1 (never heard before) and finished with the reasonably familiar (but not too old to hear something new each time) Beethoven's Op. 59 No. 1. A musical feast of climbing. Wolf started a bit jerky - at least it seemed so to me - but settled down to something rather good. Smetana good and Beethoven the business. Although the joined up, last two movements seemed to sag a little: perhaps I was getting tired. Or perhaps the glass of cheap wine (sold in small bottles with uninteresting labels; not as posh as what you used to get in BA club class) was a mistake.
Yesterday, a swing through a part of the Sussex countryside we do not know so well, not even to the point of knowing whether it was east or west. Never mind hawk from hacksaw. Vaguely east from that nest of mixed holies at East Grinstead, through Forest Row and Groombridge, ending up for our penultimate stop at the Beacon in Tea Garden Lane (http://www.the-beacon.co.uk/). Interesting place with a grand site and grand beer - Landlord again plus some more local stuff which I was not able to sample on this first occasion. I imagine they do good food. Villages on the way were an odd combination of twee, old and shabby. Quite a lot of pubs which had expanded into the gastro/hotel business. Quite a lot of large leylandii. Perhaps there is a top-notch breeder in the vicinity. Generally, a good mix of mature trees, suggesting that there is money in the vicinity too.
Home to a spot of Rotman's group theory. Odd how after all these years, turning the pages of Penrose on the secrets of the universe and Yau on the shapes of the universe has stirred the mathematical juices again. Humbling to realise how little of what there is I learned at university.
This morning, the first swing out on the bike for a while. Half hour run round Horton Lane. Cold wind but no ill effects so far. We will see what the story is at the end of the day.
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Cultural affairs
Sunday afternoon to the third and last outing for the Sacconi Quartet to Dorking, for this year anyway. Despite being in the middle of the afternoon and by no means full, good atmosphere for this excellent concert. BH very happy with her afternoon out.Started off with the Mozart, probably new to me and certainly a flavour of Mozart I don't recall hearing before. Rather good. Followed by the younger brother of the quartet called the 'Kreutzer Sonata' mentioned on 28th February. So I was close to achieving full house on that front on this occasion; hopefully there will be another before too long. The 'Intimate Letters' we did get was a strange but impressive piece, themed on the same adulterous lines as the 'Kreutzer Sonata' and which followed on nicely from the Mozart. 'Excellente continuation!' as unctuous waiters in pretentious restaurants in France might murmur respectfully in one's ear as one orders. At least they might according to Houellebecq.
In the warm up talk back at the conert, the cellist told us that they had played it as part of some dramatisation of the life of Janáček involving an important luvvy called T. West. They had been very impressed by the difference between his very relaxed rehearsal mode at home, glass of the vino rosso in paw, and his highly energised performance mode; I suppose as performers themselves they would be sensitive to such things. Must try and find out what the show in question was.
Wound up with rather superior & serious business in the form of Rasumovsky 3. Tremendous stuff, improved in my case by a couple of run throughs the day before.
The pork pies (March 11th) were of attractive appearance, but despite this good start were only adequate in taste, texture & so on & so forth. Pastry tasted a bit fatty - fair enough in the sense that raised pastry is made with a lot of lard - but it should not taste fatty none the less. Meat inside in mince form rather than lump form; very little jelly wrapping. My advice to the cook would be to put effort into the ingredients proportionate to the effort that had been put into raising the pastry.
