The organist librarian

To Balham and Central music library to get the alst of the Proms scores. To Streatham to see audiologist - it seems left hearing aid was missing the little ventilation piece and right ear has wax hence the whistling. Pre-Prom introduction was quite good involving the kids (not many there) but she did not really tell us much about the Leifs apart from it being very loud and the Ahlborg. Sibelius Tapiola at the Prom followed by awful Leifs organ concerto played by Stephen Farr - devoid of any musical ideas and far too loud unrelentingly so! A quiet modern encore did not impress either! There are so many good unplayed organ concertos - why did we have to suffer this?  Delightful light night Bach Prom conducted by David Hill - Mass in G minor, Brandenburg 2 and Magnificat in D. Home at 12.45. Iestyn Davies, Nicky Spence, Sophie Beavan and Roderick Williams. I listened to Brandenburg 5 and part of the violin suites on TV. 

To Balham and Central music library to get the alst of the Proms scores. To Streatham to see audiologist - it seems left hearing aid was missing the little ventilation piece and right ear has wax hence the whistling. Pre-Prom introduction was quite good involving the kids (not many there) but she did not really tell us much about the Leifs apart from it being very loud and the Ahlborg. Sibelius Tapiola at the Prom followed by awful Leifs organ concerto played by Stephen Farr - devoid of any musical ideas and far too loud unrelentingly so! A quiet modern encore did not impress either! There are so many good unplayed organ concertos - why did we have to suffer this?  Delightful light night Bach Prom conducted by David Hill - Mass in G minor, Brandenburg 2 and Magnificat in D. Home at 12.45. Iestyn Davies, Nicky Spence, Sophie Beavan and Roderick Williams. I listened to Brandenburg 5 and part of the violin suites on TV. 

Woke in the night so did some reading and then went back to bed. Liz went off in the snow to the cathedral. Sorry to hear Rosalie Hughes had died - cancer. She was a lovely kind person, Methodist married to a Catholic and I played for her mother's funeral at Christchurch Methodist. It was sad that some of the family got involved in the Addiscombe business. Spoke to Florence and Grainne on Skype. Snow kept coming down. Cleared path and put salt down and got chicken and sweetcorn ready for Liz and followed by melon and fromage frais. Listened to Die Schopfung from RFH with Sophie Beavan and Andrew Kennedy. Men of Schola cantorum of Oxford rough and sopranos not covering high notes so sounded shrill. Adam Fischer conducting OAE. John Hick articles interesting but took a long time to read!

Thursday swam 23. Watched women's open water swimming in the Serpentine - amazing stamina. To the Russian display in Kensington Gardens about the winter olympics. 20 minute wait and no explanation - just like St Petersburg! Turns out a guide tells a group of about 30 about the films on Russia, the sponsors, transport, modern developments and a rather good 4D film about winter sports. Sochi looks like a great place on the Black Sea but with mountains nearby. The African village is closed and the park looks occupied. To the pre Prom about Per Norgard who is 80 and unable to travel so Ivor Hewitt spoke about his music and we heard a string quartet and Dances from Jupiter for 4 saxophones based on actual sounds from the planet! It was interesting and even amusing. The prom was great BBC Phil 2 Sibelius symphonies 3 and 6, Grieg piano concerto with Steven Osborne, Delius Cynara with Roderick Williams, The Norgard symphony wasn't that exciting. Late prom tribute to Ivor Novello with...

Tuesday no need to go to Acton so did more reading. Took Ciarán to music but he was having a "I want Mummy" day as he has started at the new nursery. He did settle down after a while! Had lunch at McDonalds with Louise. He slept for ages! To ENO for Der Rosenkavalier from the Christmas voucher from the children. Gorgeous singing and playing and production. Sarah Connolly, Amanda Roocroft, John Tomlinson, Sophie Beavan, Adrian Thompson all excellent. Drumming noise rather spoilt things. Home by 11.30 p.m. Thursday to interfaith breakfast - met a Muslim leader and asked him if he had read "Contextualising Islam in Britain" report. Also leader of Brixton Hill Islamic centre came for first time and a Scalabrini father from Kennington. Served at Mass for religious at 11 a.m. acolyte. Nice lunch and met 2 Sr Teresas and Myriam and the sister from Maria Assumpta who is celebrating her 60th anniversary. To coffee after Heythrop Mass and then library. Gabriella...