day nine.two

what a stunning evening we've had here. Joe Stilgoe had everyone in the palm of his hand with a roaring crowd down at the Garrick, and up at the cathedral the evening ended with a standing ovation, not a common occurance at all here in Lichfield. Jon Lord and co were absolutely brilliant, and the audience came from far and wide (I met one person who had driven five hours from Kent and another who had flown in from Copengahen). Many photos were taken at the rehearsal, and many more were taken at the gig, both officially and unofficially, so no doubt footage and image will gradually become available. Would be great if people popped links below. If things went according to plan, the entire evening was also recorded. Not sure what we'll do with it...

Full playlist was
As I Walked Out One Evening
De Profundis
Miles Away
Sarabande
Pictured Within
From The Windmill
The Telemann Experiment
//
Evening Song
Bouree
Air on the Blue String
Unsquare Dance
Soldier of Fortune
Gigue
//encores
Wait a While
The Sun Will Shine Again
Child in Time

day nine.one

briefly back in the office after a lovely chat with Jon Lord in advance of his performance in Lichfield cathedral tonight. In no way am I an expert in Deep Purple ephemera, so most of the discussion was about approaches to composition and the putting together of tonight's programme. It was also a relatively rare opportunity for punters to ask a few questions directly of the man, and while there were the rather expected questions of whether DP Mark III will ever happen, there were also some nice questions about the potential of a Lord film score and what classical composers he admires. I learned that Jon deeply admires James MacMillan, which is a happy synchronicity as MacMillan was performed last night, and will be imminently at today's lunchtime concert.

day eight.one

a beautiful morning here in Lichfield, and as I write Michael Symmons Roberts is giving a wonderfully intimate poetry reading (the first festival poetry reading since 2004), I can hear Robert Quinney practicing for this lunchtime's organ recital, the CBSO are rehearsing Debussy and Ravel in Birmingham in readiness for Saturday night's sold out concert, and a car has just left to meet up with Jon Lord and co for their rehearsal, also happening in Birmingham. And I've just bumped into half the Badke Quartet arriving for what will be a long and busy day, with a rehearsal then performance at St Chad's, and then a late rehearsal joining Jon Lord in readiness for tomorrow night.
For those that are after up to the minute updates as Jon Lord gets tomorrow night ready, you can sign up to his twitter feed here.

keeping up with the badkes

toward the end of last week, jon lord sent through the majority of scores and part of the Badke Quartet, who will be performing with him in Lichfield Cathedral. In passing them on to the quartet, I became aware that they are currently in France studying with the Eberhard Feltz. And then, just now, their new newsletter dropped into my inbox, so you can see what they are up to for yourself.

lord in lichfield

just said goodbye to Jon Lord who has been in Lichfield early this morning having a go on the cathedral organ in preparation for his 17 July performance here. This is Jon's first visit to Lichfield Cathedral, and his first visit to Lichfield since the 2007 Festival when he came to meet Matthew Barley, the cellist in Lord's Durham Concerto. It was really great walking around the space again with someone seeing it all for the first time. Now, having heard a bit of what the cathedral organ can do, he's gone off to plan how best to use it in his event.
Thanks to Martyn Rawles, Lichfield Cathedral's Sub-Organist & Assistant Director of Music, for dragging himself out of bed to demonstrate how to drive the thing.

Incidentally, Durham Concerto is apparently the highest new entry in Classic FM's Hall of Fame.