Second and third, I met up with Anne and her friend Debbie for dinner and a concert. We went to Rusticana on Hanover Street and shared a bottle of wine, some bruschetta, garlic bread and each partook of a tasty pizza.
Debbie had procured tickets for a concert by the Orchestra of the Scottish Opera in a beautiful old church (St Andrew’s and St George’s) on George St. The first half consisted of pieces for a thirteen-member wind ensemble, of which Anne’s cousin’s husband happened to be one of the clarinet players – Anne’s cousin plays bassoon in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, so quite the musical couple…
The first piece was the overture from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Iolanthe” which got things off to a bright start. Then a Concert Waltz by the Russian composer, Glazunov, who once counted Prokofiev amongst his pupils and who fled the Soviet Union to France in 1928.
Gabriel Faure’s “Dolly Mixture” was next – it’s one of those pieces, which you immediately recognise as soon as it starts, but you’d never have guessed it was going to be that just from seeing the title in the programme.
A piece by Mozart written in the year of his death, 1791, followed. This was his “Fantasia For A Mechanical Clock” which was based on the tune played by a mechanical organ, which was situated in a mausoleum.
The first half ended with a stirring and bawdy arrangement of Handel’s “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba”.
At the interval we descended into the Undercroft of the church for a cup of coffee, which was provided free of charge – a nice touch and a welcome refreshment.
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