The long running saga of roof repairs is reaching its terminal stage with scaffolding now up on the last blocks, including mine. Mind you it may take a little while for the presence of roofers to succeed that of scaffolders.
It's amazing what can be done with scaffolding and it's even more amazing what can be done with pianos, as has been illustrated often by Pianodrome. I was at a show in their Granton warehouse last night. The Strawmoddie Theatre Company presented a superb production of Peter Schaffer's Amadeus.
The tiered amphitheatre made from old pianos had a grand piano at its centre. The action took place around, on and below the grand and overflowed onto steps and into exits. From my front row seat I was never more than a couple of feet away from the actors, a vantage point that reveals all performance flaws. There were none. The acting really was terrific with Ben Blow (Salieri) and Caitlin Carter (Mozart) outstanding. Costumes were gorgeous and Dug Campbell's sound magnificent in both its design and implementation.
The SNJO teamed up with Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu in a concert of his music, some of it very jazzy and some not. He can do wonders with a tin bucket of water. Leaving that novelty to one side we had some fine solos from SNJO players. Konrad Wiszniewski seldom disappoints and provided a lovely melodious stretch of saxophone smoothness. Somewhat surprisingly Tommy Smith showed us what a fine player he is with a similarly musical solo on his first time up but subsequently reverted to his favoured style of rapid racing up and down the instrument stretching it to its limits. It's undeniably brilliant but not always a comfortable listen.
I spent a weekend with a bunch of slightly less accomplished saxophonists at Strathallan School where we have found refuge from the financial uplift that The Burn has found it necessary to implement. lt's not a bad substitute, a little bit spartan and in bad weather moving around from one building to another as we had to would I fear advance from irksome to miserable. But the musical activities were ample compensation.
They do good business in the holidays. Apart from us there were around 100 from the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, maybe the same number from Tennis Scotland and an American Football team from East Kilbride.
Because of that weekend I was unable to attend The RSNO's Friday concert in the Usher Hall but I was keen to hear Jess Gillam play Anna Clyne's sax concerto and the Shostakovich symphony that was also on the programme so I went up to Dundee where they were playing on the Thursday. The concert was great and I'm glad I went but the journey home left much to be desired.
From seeing a train pull away as I approached the platform to delays to subsequent trains and a rerouting of the train I eventually got on I didn't get to Waverley until half past midnight and just caught the last bus down to Elm Row.
When I had my lounge and hall redone last year I thinned out my bookcases and laid aside some Italian stuff from my time as a U3A group leader intending to offer it to a friend who was then running a U3A Italian class. Time passed without action until I bumped into Maureen and her husband at an NGS talk. She's still running a class so the other day I popped along to her flat and passed the material on. Job done at last.
The NGS talk concerned was called The Villa Rusticus: Ancient Roman Villas and the Garden Ideal. I had expected lots of slides showing the likes of Hadrian's villa and its policies but instead Dr Alley Marie Jordan focused much more on the philosohical ideas of the Romans in relation to their gardens and their way of life. It was a lively and entertaing presentation that I enjoyed very much. I don't expect I will ever read Alley Marie Jordan's book but she was such a enthusiastic and witty speaker that I think it deserves a shout out. Classical Taste in the Architectural World of Thomas Jefferson. If someone can persuade Trump to read it the world might be a better place. For a squint at the writer try here.
Watching TV one evening I saw that well known historian Lucy Worsley presenting a programme about the persecution of witches in Scotland centred around events in East Lothian. She visited St Mary's church in Haddington during the programme which encouraged me to have a wee outing to Haddington the following day. I took one of the more circuitous bus routes which I enjoyed and had a good potter around Haddington. I didn't get into the church. It was locked which churches didn't used to be but I had a good day and an excellent three course lunch plus a G&T for just under £20. I don't think you will find that value in Edinburgh.
The BBC announced their limited coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships and I stuck it in my diary. Then I discovered that the whole thing was being streamed live on Youtube. I didn't watch it all by any means but I did see a lot and it was fabulous. Apart from seeing Britain get its first world level medal since Torvill and Dean won Olympic gold in 1984 there was lots to enthuse about. The women's figure skaing medalists Alysa Liu (gold) and Kaori Sakamoto (silver) I found particulary wonderful. You can still see it all if you search Youtube.
I enjoyed it so much and was so disappointed by the options and prices offered to me for the 2026 Winter Olympics that I promptly booked myself a week in Sheffield at the European Championships in January for very little money. I hope to see our ice dancing pair Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear come out on top.
