Thursday, August 16, 2007

The full monte(verdi)...

Playlist
Freddie Hubbard – Sky Dive
Stamitz – Symphonies Vol 1
Purcell – Dido & Aeneas

Managed to fit in two shows tonight and a pizza...

First to the basement of the Jekyll & Hyde pub for a free show, one third of which starred my old chum, drummer, accidental ankle breaker and stand up comedian Jim Park...

We’d not seen Jim perform since the end of January and he seems to have a new confidence in his delivery...

The crowd was small but appreciative and in a difficult setting for stand up (a strangely shaped space in the late afternoon without much aid of alcohol for the audience) Jim gave us a fine set...

You can sample his current show on his website by listening to the wav of a recent set at The Stand in Glasgow – where he was off to after his show today to perform at their “Best of the Fringe” night...

Good to see Mr Mark Dance again, albeit briefly. Mark is a legend in our five-a-side circles – mainly for his propensity for saying “this is rubbish” and giving up halfway through a game if he was losing and spending the rest of the time walking around moodily with his hands on his hips – or blootering the ball out of the park at Meadowbank onto the nearby railway line. A very nice guy though, and a big music fan.....

A swift pizza at a nearby Italian and then we walked up along George St and Lothian Road to the Usher Hall for Jordi Savall’s performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers...



A great performance with the second half possibly outshining the first. The performers moved around the stage and swapped places depending on the make up of each part of the piece being sung or played...

At the end, as they took their bows (at least 5 minutes ovation) many made their way outside to avoid the rush and ended up missing a lovely 5 minute piece written by Arvo Part...

Maestro Savall explained that he’d commissioned a piece from him on the theme of peace in the world but heard nothing back for almost a year – until the Madrid bombings, around a week after which, the newly completed manuscript appeared on his fax machine...

Back home, there was just time to watch tonight’s taped “My Name is Earl”, the middle episode of a three parter and, as ever, choc full of superb comedy...

And to listen to today’s CD – a selection of symphonies by Mozart’s contempory, Johann Stamitz – I love an 18th Century symphony or two...

And then, in preparation for the upcoming show, “Dido & Aeneas” by Purcell...

Tasty...

Highlight of the Day : Monteverdi

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