Boxed set

There is a tendency these days for classical music concerts to go in for complete sets, a variation on the boxed sets we consume at home. So last week it was off to the RFH to hear Richard Goode, not heard by us before, do Schubert's three last piano sonatas; D.958, D.959 and D.960. With us having heard two of the three just about a year ago, from Daniel Barenboim. See references 1 and 2. With the third having been heard just a few months ago at the Wigmore Hall. See reference 3. Scattered mentions in the other place, that is to say http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.co.uk/. So all in all, all three have been heard a bit - but I was still a bit worried about attempting all three in one sitting, worries which turned out to be unfounded as it all went very well.

Started off with news on the train that, given the movement at the Chelsea Flower Show from traditional to conceptual displays, some of which move about, Damien Hirst has been appointed artistic director on a five year contract at an undisclosed salary. Hard to see how he can pull any more punters into the circus than they get already, but no doubt we will hear all about it this time next year.

On past all invisible exports going up at Vauxhall, providing topical background to more news in the free newspapers about how awful it was that this or that public service had not provided this or that particular public service. When will people learn that something has to give if we live beyond our means and decline to pay our taxes?

Into the RFH to come across a young foreigner tucking into a large tub of some red pastary goo - goo which I do not suppose he had bought on the premises. Pretty much on a par with the chap noticed at reference 4. House fairly full, at least downstairs, with the audience somehow seeming oddly shabby, down to and including one young man who saw fit to appear in the front row in his vest.

But none of this detracted from Goode, who was very good indeed. I was particularly taken on this occasion by the scherzos. Goode also had very good stage manners, of the quiet not flamboyant variety, apart, that is, from a fair amount of mouth action.

Not for the first time I wondered about the occupation of page turner, an occupation which requires good long range score reading ability. Is it the sort of thing a wannabee pianist could be seen doing? Are there keen young pianists queuing up to be given the chance to do it? I associated at this point to stories about actors who don't care to be known to have taken understudy roles on the grounds that it is bad for their professional standing. Also to a concert I had been to where a musician told us how exciting it was to be on stage with a fellow musician (see reference 5). How much you could learn by being up close and personal with the action. Which seems entirely plausible in the case of page turning, except that in my case I think I might get so interested in the music that I would get careless about turning the pages.

Out to a lot of unpleasant noise in the Clore Ballroom, which rather jarred. A pity that they could not have arranged for there not to be noise as we left the main hall.

And onto the very handy off-license at the top of Platform 1, where they did me two shots of red, 175ml each, plus plastic cup, for £6. Past Master Boris rules about drinking on his trains notwithstanding.

PS: there must be a more geekfull way of getting text into an image file. You do seem to be able to paste from Word into Paint, but I could not deal with the image size problems on arrival, and was reduced to reducing the font so that the Word document fitted onto a page, then scanning it back in as an image file. All very clumsy and not very satisfactory at all - but a warm review.

Reference 1: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/part-1-of-2.html.

Reference 2: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/part-2-of-2.html.

Reference 3: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/mainly-schubert-1.html.

Reference 4: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/more-soprano.html.

Reference 5: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/portuguese-connection.html.