The organist librarian

Another treat from BBC2 sensitively presented by Michael Portillo. Pity is ended at 2.30 a.m. but I only dropped off in Act 1 and have recorded it in HDD. Riveting production from Keith Warner and stunning direction by Antonio Pappano. Lisa Gasteen and John Tomlinson on brilliant form! Even the Norns were interesting! One of them was Catherine Wyn-Rogers who has sung with the Chorus many times.

Good old BBC! 5 hours of Wagner on Saturday night on BBC2. True it started at 9 p.m. and I did drop off in the first Act but John Treleaven was a truly splendid Siegfried. The new production from Covent Garden was riveting with brilliant singing not least Sir John Tomlinson as the Wanderer. Pity Lisa Gasteen looked a bit like Hattie Jacques but she sang superbly! Can't wait for Gotterdammerung!

Saw part of Das Rheingold and Valkure on BBC 4 on the last 2 Sundays. The new production is from Covent Garden starring Bryn Terfel and Lisa Garsteen. Some interesting ideas in the production e.g. Erda on stage for the whole of Rheingold!

At St Andrew's this morning we celebrated Ron Atkinson's retirement after many years as a Reader. He is now 80 and was the original boy soloist in Oldroyd's "Mass of the Quiet hour" at St Michael's, West Croydon. He describes Oldroyd as a tough character, rather remote and posh. Naturally we sang the Oldroyd setting. The choir were well focused in William Harris's "Holy is the true light". A useful meeting with Fr Michael Seed SA about ecumenical and interfaith work in Westminster as compared to Southwark. At St John's we sang Stanford in A and Mendelssohn "He watching over Israel, slumbers not nor sleeps". The words have particular poignancy for us - "Shouldst thou walking in grief languish, He will quicken thee". We visited Grandma who is better but still not herself. I sorted and filed the vast pile of music in the study. It is interesting to read of the support the Catenians gave to Joee Bloggs to go to the World Youth...