Seeing her in Leeds this evening. Your report has just made me look forward to it more.
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Creeper rock The Old Fire Station, Carlisle. Very noisily too. A melodic Cradle of Filth or a rocked up Depeche Mode? Noisy either way…and highly enjoyable.
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We were at Cadogan Hall just off Sloane Square in London last night for a performance of Jamie Powe’s Gun Mass followed by Verdi’s Requiem.
PERFORMERS
Rachel Nicholls soprano
Jess Dandy contralto
Robert Lewis tenor
Blaise Malaba bass
The Aubrey Singers
The Fourth Choir
New London Singers
Putney Choral Society
British Sinfonietta
Jamie Powe conductor
A rare treat to hear the Verdi live, the more so as three friends were singing in the choirs.
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Daniel Avery on the 2nd April at the Queen Margaret Union in Glasgow. Avery is best knwn for his techno recordings and DJ sets but his most recent album (Tremor) features songs with a wide range of collaborators. I find that despite being old I’m made welcome at events like this one. After the fabulous show Avery was hanging out at the merch stall chatting in a gracious and humble way with fans.
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Saw “Teeth ‘n Smiles’ with Rebecca Lucy Taylor on Friday. I have a fondness for the play. Maybe because it’s roughly my generation, and putting a rock band on the stage in 1975 (written that year, although it takes place in 1969) was still rare. From the outset, I described it something of a mess, but an interesting one (at least to me).
I bought the script based on the cover photo (my avatar) and helped get the rights for the first NYC production. I was quite involved with that production. Our version starred Ellen Greene, a different type of singer but with a great voice. (She was Audrey in the stage and film versions of the musical “Little Shop of Horrors.”) Below is the first paragraph of the generally favo[u]rable review we got in the New York Times.
“DAVID HARE, one of the most provocative of the younger British playwrights, combines a sense of contemporary history with a moral vision, both of which are indirectly at work in his “Teeth ‘n’ Smiles.” Unlike his most recent play, “Plenty,” which deals with the cataclysmic social, political and personal upheavals caused by World War II, the earlier “Teeth ‘n’ Smiles” deals with the lesser subject of rock-and‐roll. It is about the breakup of small provincial band, the breakdown of its lead singer, and the decline of the 1960’s.”
But I had never seen another production. This one is not quite what I had in mind, but that was inevitable. (And I have to say, I’m glad I was familiar with the script; otherwise, as an American, half the lines would have zipped right by me.)
I’m glad to have seen it.
Trivia note - Hare was commissioned to do a screen adaptation (never produced), which I read at the time. If I recall correctly, in that version, the band was opening for Queen. And before anyone asks, the film version may have been set at a later date.
Second Trivia Note - this is about the night Keith Moon asked to join the band.
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Phish at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Second time after seeing them here in ‘24. Still an absolutely amazing venue. The sound continues to set the bar and the visuals are mind melting. It sadly makes other forms of entertainment seem dull in comparison.
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I never pass up on the Verdi Requiem! 
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I hope they did The Wolfman’s Brother.
Yannick Nezet-Seguin + Jan Lisciecki + Rotterdam Philharmonic
Program
Wagner
Siegfried Idyll
Mendelssohn
First Piano Concerto
Schumann
Third Symphony ‘Rheinische’
Terrific concert with two very capable Canadians at the De Doelen, Rotterdam.
I have heard that Wagner pieces many times but Yannick really made something very memorable. Ultra expressive and spot on timing. OTOH, I have never heard the Mendelssohn PC1 live before. It is Mendelssohn’s earlier piano concert effort and was written in just a few days. I think that this is mainly to showcase soloist’s technical ability as not much going on deep in terms of human emotions. So it can get somewhat mechanical ( like Yuja Wang/Lang Lang ) but each pianist still can add som extra and keep it interesting ( like Rudolph Serkin ) I have not heard Lisciecki live but he sure delivered it both in technical ability ( no missplaying ) and creative touches to keep the score moving. Integration with the orchestra/Yannick was perfect and he was having a great time playing it.
The orchestra/Yannick scored the ace on Schumann’s 3rd. I can see all the musicians were smiling and I got the feeling really love working with Yannick. ( I do think personally he is waaay better than their current music director ) We were sitting behind the contrabass section and this diminutive young girl was keeping perfect time through out giving the score a solid anchor. I always get impressed with this orchestra when Yannick is in town. Never with Lahav Shani. Audience also is familiar with him as he was their Music Director and it was nice to see some banter amongst them. Love was in the air. 
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We saw this a couple of weeks ago, coming at it from really liking RLT/SE and enjoyed her Cabaret performance, but not aware of the play beyond the PR for this. We found the band performances very good, but the plot is rather thin. RLT was excellent playing a troubled lead singer, including the acoustic guitar number. The bass player was clearly having a lot of fun. Glad we went but we wouldn’t rush to see it again. Will RLT do more theatre rather than albums now?
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I hope you enjoyed the Leeds gig as much as I did the London one.
Yes we did. She is a very engaging character telling the stories behind the songs which my wife always loved, and we thought the guitar and keyboard/violin accompaniment was suitably subtle and not overbearing. I bought the new cd today.
We also loved the venue which was new to us, the Howard Assembly Rooms. A beautifully modernised Victorian hall with great accoustics.
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Reference Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka Self Esteem) in ‘Teeth ‘N’ Smiles’:
That is a great story @jegreenwood, completes a circle nicely for you. Hope you liked RLT in the lead - I think she has a great voice and it was a pleasure to see her use it in this setting. As a strange link, if you look on You Tube, there is an interview of her with Roger Taylor of Queen in which RLT covers (in a very different way) one of Roger’s compositions!
@AntonSmith - glad you were similarly impressed with Rebecca’s vocals, I know you are a fan! I suspect her performance in this was a combination of her wanting to perform (in the broadest sense) and a need to be earning. It is a sad feature that artists of her standing don’t make much money and what they do make is often swallowed up in production costs etc.
Personally I am enjoying listening to the first two albums, both released before I had first heard of her. ‘A Complicated Woman’ is such an immense piece of work but the rawness of some of the first two releases is compelling. Will see her in York in the summer, really looking forward to it.
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All 18 members of the Ignition Big Band playing at the Ignition Brewery in Sydenham, London last night. A brilliant night based around songs written by trumpeters including Lee Morgan and Wynton Marsalis amongst others. They are all professional jazz musicians so the quality is top notch. They do it to raise awareness and custom for the brewery which is a social enterprise and helps train young adults with learning difficulties and/or neurodiversity.
The Ignition Big Band play on a Monday night once a month and the next is May 18th. It’s an Afrobeat special with songs from Fela Kuti and the like. Tickets (£11 !!!) available on Eventbrite if you search Ignition Brewery
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Not in the show we attended (I think they played it the weekend prior), but a great setlist overall.
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Chamber Orchestra of Europe + Simon Rattle
Program
Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz 106
Busoni: Sarabande, Molto sostenuto
Brahms: Symphony 4
The first time listening to this orchestra live. Their aggressive approach worked wonder for Bartok program. Super fast paced and spot on timing. but for the back of the program Brahms it was just too fast and in your face. Oddly over use of trinagle/chime in the piece sticking out like a cheap perfume. Very important flute solo sounded flat and lacking expressions. I certainly have heard it better. Busoni pice they played made no sense to me. I much perfer Rattle /Berliner set on Brahms 4.
So the back half of the program was disappointing but I sure enjoyed the Bartok piece.
@Koln Philharmonie
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A concert by the Jerusalem quartet in Kleinhans Hall, Buffalo, NY. Ravel, Ran (composed in 2025), Beethoven opus 130 with the Grosse Fugue original ending.
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We saw them several times playing Shosty in the NL. Excellent ensemble.
Czech Philharmonie/Bychkov + Sol Gabetta
Program
Dvořák
Carnival Concert Overture
Elgar
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 85
Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 (»Italian«)
What a difference from Chamber Orchestra of Europe we heard the day before in the same excellent Philharmonie Koln. Czech Philhamonie had a warm tone yet bold as well as a throwing a huge soundstage depth. Nimble, too under Bychkov. I have heard him conduct CSO many times and here he did an excellent job as a current music director of Czeck Phil keeping the band together. I was glad to see him well as I recall he cancelled a few concerts due to ill health in the past.
I have never got to see Du Pre play the Elgar Cello Concerto live but hearing Gabetta play this piece make up for it. I keep missing her concerts but finally got to see her in Koln Germany. Her playing made me realise how intricate and complex this piece to make sense of it especially sitting so close to her I heard/felt every note she played loud or soft. Bold and expressive and she did not get lost in the orchestra. Her playing was perfect and for sure this was one of the memorable meaningful concert I have ever heard of this piece. We have heard earlier this year Sonja Rummukainen play the piece and it sounded nothing like how it sounded in the hands of Gabetta.
This performance will be my reference from now on for the Elgar Cello CTO~
I also enjoyed Bychkov’s Mendelssohn, too. Chuffed to hear this excellent orchestra delivering top notch performance. Hope to see them again.
P.S. Icing on the cake was they happened to staying in the same hotel. Next morning when we went for the breakfast, Sol was sitting next to me! Sadly she was busy on the phone so I did not thank her for her terrific performance the night before.
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We had an evening at the Royal College of Music in Kensington last night for a programme of “Folk Heroes” consisting of Robert Baird’s Hearth & Home, Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria Von Weber, and last but certainly not least, Kodaly’s Hary Janos Suite, played by the RCM Philharmonic and conducted by Natalia Luis-Bass and Yi-Chuan Chen.
Highlight was the Kodaly - a piece I adore and special kudos to Elsa Bradley for taking on the cimbalom!
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