There's been no snow in my neighbourhood yet but out of town there's been a little. This is a snowy field in Roslin where I went to visit the chapel. I believe I'd been before but that was when I was a student over sixty years ago when it was in a fairly distressed condition. Now, partly thanks to Dan Brown's book, it's lovely. The carved interior is beautiful and they've built an excellent visitor centre.
Commissioned in the middle of the 15th century by William St. Clair, (William the Worthy), you'll learn from the official website of the family connection to Dysart. Those of you who know the area will think immediately of Sinclairtown. The progenitor of that branch of the family was known as William the Waster. I cast no aspersions on the good people of Dysart.
From a later period of Scottish history came a talk at the National Library, one of my favourite spots in Edinburgh, about James VI and I. This presentation of a new book about him was very interesting and entertaining. I enjoyed it but didn't lash out on the book. It's sure to have been snapped up by the library if I ever fancy reading it.
Later that evening I heard the SCO in a programme that featured Schubert's Mass in A♭ which was new to me and which was truly lovely choral singing. Other singing I've heard in recent weeks came from the RSNO chorus in James MacMillan's Oratorio and from their junior chorus in music from the Nutcracker Suite. Who knew that the latter had singing in it? Not me, and in truth the kids sang for only a few minutes and their singing consisted solely of the syllable "ah" in various pitches and durations. But by heaven it was heavenly and I daresay the presence of a hundred choristers brought in mums, dads, grannies et al to swell the receipts.
At another concert the RSNO welcomed a new principal cello by throwing him in at the deep end to play out front - Shostakovich's cello concerto - one of my many favourite pieces of music. He was able to relax in the second half of that concert and listen to his bandmates captivate the audience with their performance of Sheherazade.
I should note that thanks to an RSNO scheme to attract audiences I was able to give a friend two free tickets to a concert of their choice. Unfortunately their choice of MacMillan's Oratorio failed to be their cup of tea.
A pity it hadn't been tickets for the SNJO's Ellington concert. They were exceptionally well turned out in black suits, maybe not quite tuxedos, white shirts and black bow ties in the style of the dance band era. The music was excellent and the young singer who guested with them was very good. I'm sure we'll see her again.
The King's panto has a reputation for pulling in the punters and giving them a great evening. While the King's is undergoing refurbishment the panto is playing at the Festival Theatre and I was invited to a drinks and panto evening there. It's a glittering production whose lights, sound, pyrotechnics, costumes and general stagecraft are to be marvelled at. The cast go about their business with great gusto, especially the triumvirate of known names, and the chorus add great dancing to the mix. But it was not altogether my cup of tea so let's just say I'm glad I had a free ticket.
Absolutely my cup of tea was Leith Theatre's production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The novel is an absorbing story drawn from Muriel Spark's imaginative recreation of her Edinburgh childhood in the 30s. She portrays the interplay of the lives and relationships between teachers and between teachers and pupils against a background of the straitlaced attitudes of the time and the increasing tensions and political ideas that burst into warfare.
The play to my mind does justice to the novel and to its extravagant heroine whose influence over her pupils leads to tragedy and to her downfall.
This production was very very good. Was it as good as the production that Fiona and created in 1975? I'm very probably the only person in the entire world to have seen both productions and my word can't be relied upon so I won't answer my own question.
Despite its ultimate darkness there is plenty of humour in Brodie as there is in The Death of Stalin. Armando Iannucci's fertile imagination that produced this laugh a minute film that kept me out of my bed till 1a.m last night almost conceals the tragedy of the Stalinist period and indeed pretty much all periods in the USSR/Russia up to and including the present day. The end credits bring you back to reality.
I also enjoyed on late night TV a showing of The Wicker Man followed by a documentary about it. Despite it having been a cult movie for 50 years I'd never seen it. If you haven't, get onto iPlayer now. It's great.
