Schumann Quartet

Ten days ago to the WIgmore to hear the Schumann Quartet. Mozart K499,Smetena Quartet No.1 and a spot of Beethoven by way of an encore, the second movement of Op.130 - a preview of a concert to be given the following day.

The building going up in Marylebone Lane seemed to have come on in leaps and bounds since we last looked at, with a lot of the external cladding now in place. Although this morning I had to go back to last October at reference 2 for a snap without the cladding.

As I took the snap above there were Moiré patterns to be seen on the red vertical panels, still just visible to the right as I type this, but they had vanished on the finished snaps on the Samsung. Clearly a complicated business.

Clearly getting the hand of ordering at Olle & Steen, as I got the order right again. Even a bit of banter with the counter hand. Then, having taken an interest in tomato juice recently, I was interested to find, while waiting for the coffee, that what looked very like tomato juice in the chiller cabinet was actually a confection of strawberry, apple and banana. A puzzle how such a brew could look anything like tomato juice - with food colourings presumably not being allowed.

One of the customers was sporting what appeared to be some kind of gold necklace, perhaps two feet long altogether. I thought it made her a bit of a target for a mugger. Maybe not as easy to snatch off a neck as might at first appear. And then, if the thing disintegrates as it comes away, the mugger has taken a chance for nothing.

Attempted to book a table for lunch at the then-empty Lina café of reference 3. Access denied - and I clearly needed to book a day or so in advance for such a fashionable venue.

As usual, good flowers and a full hall. Musicians in smart casual with purple shirts, all on computers rather than paper.

Concert really good. I must have been on form. And the encore, which one might have thought a bit strong for an encore, went down very well too. Hearing stuff live clearly works, as it was not quite the same when I went for a reprise when we got home later on.

Out to find a large hole behind 2Veneti. Was the hole mainly intended to provide access to the even bigger hole behind?

Topped with a fine crane. Our leaders may be struggling to inject some growth into the system as a whole, but there is clearly some action at the fancy end of the property market.

On exit, the southwest corner of Cavendish Square, had finally stopped being a builder's yard, but there were compensating (non scoring) trolley from M&S and tent. Not clear whether anyone was at home in the tent, but a poor reflection on the way we organise ourselves that such a thing should be there. Even though, short of being rather unpleasant about it, I suppose there are always going to be some odds and ends at the margins.

Access denied at Lima and not thinking of Ponti's, which would, in any event, have been closed, as reported at reference 4, we settled for All Bar One, which was quiet. Decorated humus served with very flat flat bread. Satisfactory. Carafe of red for him, something pink and fizzy for her. Satisfactory. Veggie bowl for her. Good.

Basic burger for him. Bacon supplement for £2. All rather dry - although not completely goo free as can be seen in the snap above. I dare say one would do better in one of those honest burger joints, but this one did.

All washed down with a couple of furosemide, aka pee-pills.

Handsome detailing to the facades opposite. Will the steel, stone and glass of today's blocks wear as well?

And some fine new detailing on the platform at Vauxhall. In which connection, I might say that I do notice the gaps these days, with Raynes Park being particularly challenging. Good thing that all the trains have grab bars.

But, once again, no aeroplanes, either from platform or train.

No drinks business or sprits business at Raynes Park and I passed on an elderly but fat Italian dictionary. But I did get an elaborately packaged Landranger map of Grimsby, once the property of Merton Public Libraries. Designated a cased edition. I had come across something of the sort before, perhaps at the library at the Barbican where they were selling off a lot of them. I wondered whether the packaging was worth it: it might look smart, but it rather got in the way of ordinary usage. Perhaps intended for connoisseurs of maps like myself, rather than regular punters who probably just make do with their telephones now?

The work of Morley Books. Lots of Morleys turned up by Bing and Google, but not one that fits the current information. One possibility is the Morley Press Ltd of Suite 26, Regency House, Bonville Road, Bristol, Avon, BS4 5QH, possibly the people reported as having a website under construction. Another possibility is the Morley Book Co Ltd, Elmfield Road, Morley, Leeds, LS27 0NN. Not to be confused with the people at reference 6 who get the double 'o'. All very puzzling.

The luvvy book has yet to be opened.

Back with the tomato juice at Epsom Station, to find that the small Tesco there could only manage the stuff spiced up. Plus a good range of more exotic confections. The only proper juice on offer was orange, which seems to have survived the onslaught of blends.

Home for BH to shake a hornet out of my dressing gown after she had taken it off the line - it having been a good drying day. A bit dopey, so maybe it had not been out of hibernation for very long. Sadly, squashed rather than captured and released outside.

I decided that it was an ordinary European hornet, rather than something more exotic.

References

Reference 1: https://schumannquartett.de/. 

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/10/champers.html.

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern.

Reference 4: https://www.linastores.co.uk/locations/marylebone-lane.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/03/trios.html.

Reference 6: https://www.moorleys.co.uk/.