Carducci two

A fortnight ago to Dorking for the second of the concerts being given there by the Carducci Quartet. Haydn Op.76 No.4, Mendelssohn No.6 and Beethoven Op.59 No.2.

The dull, overcast day opened with a visit to the monthly Farmers' Market in Epsom, on this occasion selling honey, eggs, foreign cheese, street food and aromatic oils of some kind. No fruit or vegetables to be seen, let alone green ones, but Bessborough Farm turned out with some late apples. All large, several varieties but I did not get close enough to inquire about where they had been since they were picked last year. One of those atmosphere controlled barns without oxygen? In any event, I thought they looked a bit big, not an indicator of a good flavour in a stored apple, and I passed. The record suggests at reference 4 that I did buy some in September last year, that is to say during the apple season, but that I passed about this time of year in 2019. See reference 5 for this last.

A light lunch took the form of Kosovan sausage, sliced and fried, couscous and green salad. The sausage was bought on the occasion noticed at reference 6 and we have yet to work out the best way to peel them, the casings not being wanted. And we have a bit of work to do on couscous. Notwithstanding, it all went down well and no doubt we will get over the teething troubles. Note: for those that care, a sausage not involving pork, presumably reflecting its provenance from the Balkans and Middle East.

Reasonably full hall. One child problem in the first half, one senior problem in the second half. One avid programme reader on the edge of my line of sight. But otherwise fine, and it is still a novelty to be looking down on the quartet, from five or six rows back on the cello side, rather than looking up at the quartet from the first violin side at the Wigmore Hall.

For once, I did not get on message for the Haydn, but I did get on much better with the Mendelssohn that I had expected. And the Beethoven was splendid, as expected. No Beethoven for the next concert, so we shall see how we get on.

[Italians in Naples dancing the tarantella]

My note suggests that there was a tarantella flavoured encore from Mendelssohn, but a quick fling with Bing today suggests that this might have been an arrangement rather than something composed for a string quartet in the first place. On the other hand, Wikipedia knows all about tarantellas in general, including the Arachnidian and Tarantine connections. See reference 6.

Various Wellingtonia were spotted off-piste on the way home, quite apart from the mystery specimen to the south of Leatherhead, to be captured in due course. In the meantime I had to make do with the rather sickly one noticed at reference 3.

PS 1: I was interested to read in the FT this (Sunday) morning that European defence people are starting to think about the supply of explosives, last mentioned at reference 2. Hopefully, given that we are now a year into the war in Ukraine, they have not just started to think.

PS 2: either my telephone or my PC, both down to Microsoft, had trouble with the first of the snaps above, with focus being very poor after rotating and clipping, with this one being the best of the bunch. Usually it does rather better. Perhaps my hands were particularly shaky on this occasion, just before we tucked into yesterday's lunch.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/02/carducci-one.html.

Reference 2: Explosives shortage threatens EU drive to arm Ukraine: Scarce gunpowder and TNT supplies delay shift to ‘large-scale war production’, defence industry and officials warn - Henry Foy, Barney Jopson, Guy Chazan, Financial Times - 2023.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/03/wellingtonia-102.html.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/09/trolley-529.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/02/trolleys-222a-and-222b.html.

Reference 6: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/02/new-bag.html.

Reference 7: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantella.