Trio Gaspard at the Wigmore Hall

 

Having enjoyed the first time we went to a lunchtime concert at the Wigmore Hall in September, Alison searched through this year's programme and found yesterday's by Trio Gaspard. This was even better. Again, another packed auditorium for this marvellous combination of piano, violin and cello. These are top-drawer professional musicians, and the concert was broadcast live on Radio 3 and recorded for BBC Sounds. There were four pieces in Franz Schubert's Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat, composed in 1827. I was amazed when I found they had performed for an hour non-stop; the time flew by. Their reception was extraordinary. 

As the concert did not start until 1pm, we had time in the morning for a walk by the river. We arrived at Embankment Station and crossed the Golden Jubilee Bridge to the Southbank. I have normally crossed the river at Blackfriars for the National Theatre, etc., so this was a different route that took us to the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament. A stop along the way for tea and a croissant, and it was time to make our way to the Wigmore Hall. 

After the concert we made our way to Baker Street for an anniversary lunch at Bill's. We then thought about finding our way to Regent's Park, but the day had been quite cold, so maybe next time. I think the walk in the morning was enough.

Preparations for the Bedding Border

 

I had forgotten that I ordered thirty Antirrhinum "Madam Butterfly" bedding plants in February. So when they arrived this week, it was necessary to plant them now, and hopefully they will be OK when we go away at the beginning of June.

First of all, I had to cut back all the foliage of the daffodils that finished flowering weeks ago.

And clear it all to the compost bin.

The hardest part is always digging over where the plants will go.

And raking to a fine tilth.

Finally thirty small holes were made with a trowel and filled with compost, ready for planting. 

Maybe need some help next year.

Classic Movies on Sky Arts - Series 5 Episode 1 - The Story of Great Expectations

 

We are into series 5 of Classic Movies on Sky Arts. The same presenters are here: Ian Nathan, Steven Armstrong, Neil Norman and Christina Newland.

It starts with the so-familiar story of Great Expectations. It has been adapted many times for the big screen and TV. This was one of the first, a David Lean black-and-white film from just after the end of the Second World War. Christina starts by telling us that Charles Dickens was a "visual storyteller". We hear a lot about the background to the book from Ian and Steven, with descriptions of the story and especially how hard it was to decide what to include from this long book. 

Neil Norman thought that this was one of the author's "most popular of his books". Dickens always liked to read the book to an audience, and Steven adds that it was "almost a stand-up routine". Christina said that the Victorians loved melodrama. Ian chips in with it being "a triumph of casting".

We hear a lot about David Lean, who somehow went to see a play of Great Expectations much against his better judgement. However, he was bowled over by the story and knew it would make a great movie. We hear how he edited the bookkeeping to just the most dramatic scenes. Ian and Nathan tell us about Lean's history and how the films he made had become so popular, starting with Brief Encounter. It was interesting that he and his scriptwriter went off to Cornwall to produce the screenplay.

The presenters talk about the cast, from seventeen-year-old Jean Simmons as Estelle to Valerie Hobson as the older version. Then the young Pip, played by Anthony Wager, with John Mills when he is an adult. This is such a great cast that includes Bernard Miles and Alec Guinness. Then it's Finlay Currie who plays the sinister Magwitch and has his frightening meeting with young Pip. Martita Hunt had played Miss Haversham many times on stage.

We hear about the sets, the locations and the cinematography. Black and white has never looked so theatrical. Audiences loved the film, and it won Oscars for art direction and cinematography. David Lean was nominated for best director. Ian says it was "the purest expression of his talent". But there was nothing for the cast. Neil Norman summed up the film by saying that Lean was the "first director that made Dickens live on the screen". All the presenters thought that this was probably the best-ever adaptation of a Dickens novel. 

Akira, The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Sheep Detectives

 

I think I chose the wrong cinema to see Akira. Cineworld at Hemel Hempstead has the big IMAX screen where we were advised to see this restoration. Because this Japanese "classic" has subtitles, it was difficult to keep up with them on such a huge screen. Also, the incredible animation was too fast and furious to enjoy. The extremely detailed "hand-drawn, high frame rate" made everything a blur. There is so much detail; it obviously took a large number of animators to make this movie. It actually looks like it was computer-drawn instead of by hand. (The list of animators in the credits at the end is amazing). Not only that, but the "complex plot detail" has your mind spinning.

There were only half a dozen in the audience in this huge two hundred-plus screen. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian tells us the "strangeness is very startling and sometimes bewildering". That's exactly right. However, it was worth seeing this as more of an event. Just a smaller screen would have been better. Roger Luckhurst, in May's Sight and Sound magazine's six page spread says "Akira marked peak animation in booming 80s Japan". See my notes on that month's edition.

A poor plot is saved by good dialogue in The Devil Wears Prada 2. What used to be a posh magazine is now just a website. How things have changed. And even the website is under threat; the story about a possible new owner went down like a lead balloon. With me, anyway. The best scenes featured the four main members of the cast. Stanley Tucci, I thought, was outstanding, closely followed by Anne Hathaway. Meryl Streep suffered due to her obnoxious character. Emily Blunt had much less to do. Then I was amazed to see Kenneth Branagh as Meryl's partner. They could have given him a bigger role. 

There were plenty of fashion shows, all shot at speed. Fortunately, there were good scenes of New York and especially Italy in the second half. I didn't like the soundtrack, with the exception being that big number performed by Lady Gaga. Wendy Ide in The Observer was pretty unenthusiastic but admitted, "It did look the part." I cannot even remember how it ended, and I'm not interested enough to find out.

The trailer and the poster for The Sheep Detectives are all about Hugh Jackman as shepherd George Hardy. Unfortunately, he is the victim in this cosy whodunnit. It's his flock who has to solve the mystery, of course. I was glad that the sheep only talk to themselves; with humans it's all ba ba ba. The great thing about the film is that the sheep all have their own distinct personalities. Lily, voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, is the one who is adamant that they have to get involved. Bryan Cranston is the voice for Sebastian, an ageing old boy who comes to help. Patrick Stewart, Chris O'Dowd and Bella Ramsey are other voices. But funniest of all are Reggie and Ronnie (no guesses about their personalities), both voiced by Brett Goldstein.

The human cast are far less interesting. At least the one policeman played by Nicholas Braun shrugs off his stupidity to help solve the crime. The location is typical of Midsummer Murders. This time the perfect English village was actually Hambledon in Buckinghamshire, between Marlow and Henley. The film is based on the book Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann and is produced, of course, by the wonderful people at Working Title, headed by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. And weren't they clever in capturing Craig Mazin to write the script? Just look at his screenplays.

The exit music is equally brilliant. The Proclaimers' I'm going to be (500 Miles). Or, as I prefer, I Would Walk 500 Miles also featured at the end of the film Sunshine on Leith. See posts of 12th November 2013 and 9th February 2018. Critic Mark Kermode was equally impressed. He called it "cute and charming". Dead right.

Songs from Call the Midwife - Series 15

 

Things have changed on the latest series of Call the Midwife. This is what I wrote at the end of series 14:

We gave up watching Call the Midwife a long time ago, but I still keep up with the songs, even though they are a rarity these days. Last year in my post for Series 13, I found only three tracks. The current Series 14 has just ended, and I could only find one song.

According to the website what-song.com, these are the nine tracks featured in the new series:

Episode 1: Blessed Are by Joan Baez. This is the title track from her album of the same name. I didn't know this song, but it does sound a lot like others she recorded. The best track on the album is a cover of The Band's The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. 

Episode 2: When You Are A King by White Plains. Another song from 1971 (when this episode is set) that is familiar. Written by band members John and Roger Hill and not their usual writers Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. 

Episode 3: No song.

Episode 4: Take Me As I Am by Speedometer. I cannot find anything about this track except that it is included in their album "Abbey Road Masters: The Funk and Soul Sessions". Recorded live at Abbey Road Studios according to the website Juno.

Episode 5: Nothing Rhymed by Gilbert O'Sullivan. Now this was a very familiar song from 1970. This was his first top ten single in the UK that was also very popular in Europe. Written by the singer, it certainly stands the test of time. It was great to listen to it again. I have to say that the lyrics are all fantastic. "And this pleasure I get from, say, winning a bet is to lose." Gilbert's "Alone Again, Naturally" is equally brilliant.

Episode 6: Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight) by Cilla Black. Written by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway (see above) and produced by George Martin, it reached number three in the UK charts in 1971. 

Episode 7: Rose Garden by Sandie Shaw. This is an old Joe South number recorded by Sandie in 1971. Originally recorded in 1967 by Billy Joe Royal, it has been covered by many artists over the years.

Episode 8: My word, there are three tracks in this episode. Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra was composed by Bart Howard and originally recorded by Kaye Ballard in 1954. Frank's version came later in 1964, recorded with the Count Basie Orchestra. Not to be confused with their 1964 collaboration Sinatra-Basie, on which it does not appear. My old LP is still in a box somewhere.

Something Old, Something New by The Fantastics. Written by (yes, them again) Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, and this time with producer Tony Macaulay. Released in 1971, I had no memory of this song until I heard it on YouTube.

My Days Of Loving You by Perry Como. Written by F. Snyder and released in 1971, I had never heard this song before. But Perry was my mother's favourite artist. My parents used to watch The Perry Como Show in the fifties. 

Well, it's been great listening to all these songs on Series 15 of Call the Midwife. They must have kept music supervisor Vicki Williams busy again.

Syringa josikaea (Hungarian lilac)

 

Our lilac has been struggling for the last couple of years, although it is well over twenty years old. This spring there were so many dead branches that urgent surgery was required. Below was how it looked exactly two years ago. 

So a combination of my long pruning shears and a saw for the larger branches resulted in this pile of dead wood. 

There are still dead branches, but I have left these to support the new growth. I never knew what type of lilac it is; it has much smaller flowers than a normal lilac. PlantNet has come into its own to tell me it is a Syringa josikaea or Hungarian lilac. That I didn't know.

Alliums in May

 

I didn't realise that alliums multiply over the years. They are certainly more in the main border than in recent years.