The Children’s Society Cricket Match, Regent’s Park, 24 August 2000

I came across an entry in my diary for 24 August 2000 which had me completely…

…forgive the pun…

stumped.

17:00 Children’s Society, Regent’s Park

I couldn’t remember a thing about this event. It certainly wasn’t a Z/Yen thing.

Following some archaeology on the old e-mails, I ascertained that this was some sort of a match between The Children’s Society and Cable and Wireless; but still nothing came back to my memory.

It was clear from the e-mail trail that both Nigel and Chas had been involved with this match, so I wrote to both of them to see if they had any recollection of this event.

I needn’t have worried – yes they did.

Their replies were so comprehensive…

…and amusing…

…that with a little bit of sub-editing they made a very jolly two-hander for the King Cricket website, which published the piece in January 2018 – click here or below to read the piece.

Charity cricket in Regent’s Park – match report

If by any chance the King Cricket link doesn’t work, I have scraped the piece to here.

To my mind, this is one of the wonderful things about Ogblog – an opportunity to re-engage such memories. Sometimes an event that was not so memorable for me might have been, for some reason, especially memorable for someone else.

Nigel – still shouting from the rooftops about the August 2000 match, perhaps?

English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Prom, Royal Albert Hall, 18 August 2000

Gluttons for punishment that year – Janie and I took The Duchess to the Proms yet again.

This concert would have very much been my choice – perhaps endorsed by her ladyship. I am especially partial to Bach two violin concertos and a bit of Mozart 29. The English Chamber Orchestra were one of my favoured bands too. Maxim Vengerov too – what was not to like?

Here’s the BBC Proms stub for that day, which mistakenly suggest that they played Mendelssohn’s E minor violin concerto rather than the D minor one they actually played – FAKE NEWS.

We heard:

  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Concerto in D minor for two violins, BWV 1043
  • Franz Schubert – Rondo in A major, D 438
  • Felix Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto in D minor (Proms premiere)
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (arr. solo violin Bruce Fox-Lefriche) Proms premiere of this version
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  – Symphony No 29 in A major, K 201
  • Nicolò Paganini – 24 Caprices, Op 1 No. 24 in A minor (theme & variations) – encore

Here’s a vivacious live performance of the Bach concerto by the Academie fur Alte Kakes:

Recordings & performances of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto in D are as rare as rocking horse shit, but Yehudi Menuhin recorded it:

…and here’s the Concertgebouw lot giving Mozart 29th the full tilt:

Geoffrey Norris liked the gig:

Vengerov Norris Telegraph

Article from 21 Aug 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

We ate at Atlantis again afterwards. At least it was a Friday evening this time, with no great urgency to rise the next day.

All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Cottesloe Theatre, 5 August 2000

I gave this production a one word review in my log:

Marvellous.

I remember that Janie and I had awaited this one eagerly. I remember that Ben Daniels was especially good in it, as were James Hazeldine, Paul Ritter, Julie Walters and Catherine McCormack. Howard Davies directing – and indeed the Cottesloe, now Dorfman as a location – were consistently good back then.

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph had to set aside his antipathy towards Arthur Miller because he thought this production so good:

Sons Spencer Telegraph

Article from 10 Jul 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Susannah Clapp loved the play and the production:

Sons Clapp Observer

Article from 9 Jul 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

Patrick Marmion in The Standard issued a rare “outstanding” mark:

Sons Marmion Standard

Article from 7 Jul 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

John Gross, like his mate Charles Spencer, liked the production more than the play:

Sons & Samaritan Gross Sunday Telegraph

Article from 16 Jul 2000 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

A rare and unexpected downbeat note comes from our friend, Michael Billington, who didn’t like the choice of play, nor did he like the production.

Sons Billington Guardian

Article from 8 Jul 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

I guess you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

National Youth Orchestra Of Great Britain, BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, 4 August 2000

Pauline, The Duchess of Castlebar, was partial to a youth orchestra concert at the Proms. We always used to book at least one of those for her per season.

This one also had a fair smattering of her favourite type of English composers (Elgar, Walton) plus some family favourites. The royal theme to the first half of the concert was because that very day was The Queen Mother’s 100th birthday.

  • Unknown – National Anthem (arr. William Walton)
  • William Walton – Coronation March ‘Crown Imperial’
  • George Frideric Handel – Music for the Royal Fireworks
  • Edward Elgar – Overture ‘Cockaigne (In London Town)’
  • Hector Berlioz – Symphonie fantastique

Roger Norrington conducting the youngsters – what’s not to like? Here’s a link to the BBC stub for this one.

Tim Ashley in the Guardian was very much taken with this concert:

Norrington Ashley Guardian

Article from 8 Aug 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Matthew Rye in The Telegraph was less sure about the large-scale baroque, but was otherwise seemingly very pleased with the concert:

Norrington Rye Telegraph

Article from 7 Aug 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

After the concert, we went to a new restaurant in Ealing named Parade, which Janie and I had wanted to try. I don’t think Pauline was as keen on this idea – I have a scribbled note in my diary “Pauline will try”. I think she preferred familiar food and guaranteed fawning waiters by that stage of her life.

I’ve even managed to find a contemporary (2000) review of Parade in the Standard – click here.

Dolly West’s Kitchen by Frank McGuiness, Abbey Theatre Dublin at The Old Vic, 29 July 2000

I remember thinking this play and production was rather good, although I wrote nothing positive or negative about the experience in my log. We’re both partial to Frank McGuiness and the Abbey Theatre Dublin as an ensemble rarely lets us down.

Perhaps I was too exhausted to write a comment after a week of total culture-vulturing – three museums/galleries, two concerts, two plays and a heck of a lot of work in-between.

Here’s the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Nicholas de Jongh wrote highly of it in The Standard:

Dolly de Jongh Standard

Article from 18 May 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

Paul Taylor also wrote highly of it in The Independent:

Dolly Taylor Independent

Article from 18 May 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Charles Spencer positively raved about it in The Telegraph:

Dolly Spencer Telegraph

Article from 27 May 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Lyn Gardiner in The Guardian similarly heaped the praise:

Dolly Gardiner Guardian

Article from 19 May 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

In short – this play/production was a good ‘un. Surprising it has never been revived.

Bach Anniversary Concert: Purcell Quartet & Fretwork, Wigmore Hall, 28 July 2000

To mark the 250th anniversary of Bach’s demise, the Wigmore Hall treated us to a concert entirely comprising his music:

  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Contrapuncti Nos 1-5 from The Art of Fugue BWV 1080
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Cantata: Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit BWV 106
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Cantata: Lass, furston, lass noch einen Strahl “Trauerode” BWV 198
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Contrapunctus No 18 from The Art of Fugue

I don’t think the Purcell Quartet ever recorded The Art of Fugue. It does sound great in the string quartet format – here’s the Emerson Quartet’s recording:

The Purcell Quartet did record Bach trio sonatas around that time – the recording sounds great to my ears. I’ll be listening to all of these later – here’s a sample:

I cannot find Fretwork recordings of the pieces we heard that night, but this Netherlands Bach Society recording of “Trauerode” is rather lovely – albeit a larger orchestra than we heard at The Wig:

Here’s a recording of Nancy Argenta singing an aria from a different Bach cantata. It’s a rather yummy sound:

This concert will have been just the ticket for us after a busy week. No doubt one or both of us nodded off during some stage of the proceedings…in a good way.

Beethoven’s 1st Piano Concerto & Mahler’s 6th Symphony, BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, 26 July 2000

This one has Pauline, Duchess of Castlebar’s fingerprints all over it. Not in terms of who paid for the evening, obviously, but in terms of who chose that concert.

Here is the BBC Proms stub for that concert.

A Wednesday evening (virtually guaranteeing a rush job for me and Janie after work), a large concert hall, big sound music…

…Janie does not much go for Beethoven orchestral works nor Mahler on a large scale. Mahler’s 6th would not be my first choice of Mahler symphony. I’m not sure it would even be my 6th choice.

Tim Ashley in The Guardian rated this concert “unmissable”. I always think that a bit harsh on anyone who wasn’t there at a concert, as they are by definition one-offs so anyone who wasn’t there missed it:

Jarvi Prom Ashley Guardian

Article from 28 Jul 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Rick Jones in The Standard also rated this one highly. He also informs me (25 years later) that this was Paavo Järvi’s first Prom.

Prom 16 Jones Standard

Article from 27 Jul 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

So, it was no doubt a seriously good concert, and in those days I still enjoyed the opportunity to hear large orchestral works…

…even if The Duchess was part of the price, both additional ticket-wise, plus the costly sense of nervous tension before and after the concert.

“Did the evening continue on to dinner with The Duchess, even after such a long concert?” I hear sympathetic readers cry, while sensing a wave of pity for me and Janie.

Yup, if Janie’s bookings diary is to be believed. Atlantis in Pitshanger Lane – one of the few restaurants in Ealing that would take such a late booking – probably still would 25 years later:

Welcome

No doubt The Duchess insisted on one more cigarette, one or two more anecdotes hurled in the direction of the tolerant…some might say sycophantic…waiting staff, and zero appreciation that Janie and I both had really early starts the next day.

At sparrow-fart the next morning, Janie headed off to Ham to visit patients, while I headed off crack of dawn to Bristol to visit a Children’s Society site. It was “just what we did” back then – we wouldn’t dream of packing it in like that 25 years later.

Art Nouveau 1890-1914, Victoria & Albert Museum, 24 July 2000

crowded!

That’s all he wrote, folks.

Janie and I concluded our culture vulture odyssey day (we had already visited the British Museum & the Tate Modern)…at the V&A.

It was clearly a well received show, if the following “review of reviews” from The Guardian is anything to go by:

Art Nouveau Guardian Review of Reviews

Article from 14 Apr 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

That might explain why it was crowded.

A First Visit To The (New) Tate Modern, “Between Cinema & A Hard Place”, 24 July 2000

This was the second part of a culture vulture odyssey day out with Janie, visiting the British Museum, the (then brand new) Tate Modern and then the V&A.

I recall that we were both taken with the new Tate Modern generally. I recall the sense of hugeness and we both especially remember the Louise Bourgeois giant spider piece in the Turbine Hall.

This Richard Holliday piece from The Standard pretty much sums it up.

Tate Modern Opening Standard

Article from 11 May 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

As for the specific exhibition I was keen to see – Between Cinema & A Hard Place – my verdict in the log was pretty short and clear:

weird crap.

I suspect that we moved swiftly on to the V&A.

Burma And The Art Of Lacquer, British Museum, 24 July 2000

Janie and I went on a bit of a culture vulture odyssey that day, visiting the British Museum, the (then brand new) Tate Modern and then the V&A.

Of the three visits, this was the one that got the top rating from me…I’m pretty sure from both of us, in my log:

Marvellous.

This write up by Sue Arnold in the Observer provides some additional words of praise.

Burma Arnold Observer

Article from 11 Jun 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

But words can’t do it for for this type of exhibition. You’d either need some sort of virtual reality, metaverse retrospective…or you had to be there.