Trios

Near a fortnight ago, off to the Wigmore Hall to hear the Aquinas Trio - a trio we do not appear to have come across before, with the archive only recognising the St. Thomas variation.

Beethoven Op.1 No.1 and Mendelssohn Op.49. I seem to remember reading that this was not really the very first work that Beethoven published, but he was sufficiently confident in his own abilities to want to be sure, to arrange things so that the official first was something good - as indeed it proved to be.

A cold and frosty morning, with the sun sparkling very prettily in the bushes and on the grass and with no Waterloo trains. So a crowded Victoria train it was. With two ladies who were old enough to know better, not observing the train etiquette of moving from an outer to the vacant inner seat when there were people standing. Which made BH a little cross. They were letting the side down.

[unusually, a line of private rather than hire bicycles parked up in Wigmore Street]

From Victoria, we managed to get the right bus, to get off at the right stop and to get the right order at Olle & Steen. A good start.

And we were entertained by a busy young girl, perhaps two or three years old, who was just learning about counting the sachets of sugar or something in a conveniently positioned box by the counter from which the coffee was served. More about that in due course - but suffice it to say now that it reminded me that be able to recite number or letters in the right order was not the same as knowing what number or letters were, what they stood for or what they were really used for.

We also had a lady in a headscart busily writing away in a notebook with a biro, only using the right hand pages, presumably leaving the left hand pages for corrections & comments later. I thought that perhaps she wrote for a living in some minor way.

Plus a scattering of people who looked to be heading for the Wigmore, like ourselves.

Once again, the hall was fairly full and the flower lady had done well. With white in the lead, backed up by green, with faint yellows, blues and pinks to come for a bit of contrast.

The two ladies, the string players, were turned out in serious dresses. Old style music stands and sheet music. And the concert really went off very well: a good programme and I was on form.

With 'Oblivion' by Ástor Piazzolla for an encore. It turns out that this piece is popular, existing on YouTube in lots of version, a lot of them seeming to involve an accordion. I could not find a trio one, but reference 2 is warm, being for violin and piano. Didn't recognise it all this morning. But I learn from reference 3, that it was written by a well known Argentinian tango composer in 1982.

Noting in passing, that the Wigmore Hall bother to tell you about the encores for concerts past. A convenience, as one often fails to catch the announcement, possibly heavily accented, at the time.

Off to All Bar One for lunch, where I made the mistake of going for their signature burger, or something of the sort. Not only do you get a rather well done burger, you also get a thick layer of pulled meat filled yellow goo.

Not too bad, but a bit OTT and hard to eat without getting the goo all over one's fingers. BH settled for her usually healthy bowl, involving sticky rice, beans and avocado.

With a convenience here being the possibility of taking your wine in a 500ml carafe - a bit more healthy than taking a bottle.

As we were leaving, I noticed an older chap wearing a tweed jacket, commented on same as a former member of the club, to find that he and his wife had been to church at All Souls at Langham Place, a church which I have heard is busy and which she was able to confirm. She was musical, something to do with singing, outgoing and looking pretty good for someone born ten years before I was, that is to say in 1939. Possibly something to do with the concert at the end of March snapped above. I was keen on the Brahms a few years back - but apart from one seat at the front, just seats at the back left now. Will I become a returns merchant? For keen, see reference 6. For Gautier Capuçon see reference 7. And for his foundation see reference 8.

Out to find that Ponti's, an establishment which we have used off and on for years now, had closed. It seemed like the end of an era - it is first mentioned in these pages as long ago as 2011 - and we will have to go up north if we want to continue the experience. Tempting, but it is rather a long way to go. See references 4 and 5.

The place had not been stripped out, so perhaps whoever has the place now is hoping to let it to another restaurant keeper who can get some value out of the existing fittings - which we rather liked. Seems a pity just to rip them out - but I dare say that is what is going to happen.

A crane to wind up the proceedings while we waited for our No.360 bus. Modest police presence at Hyde Park Corner, possibly something to do with the conference of the willing at Lancaster House that very day.

PS 1: from reference 5, we get the Marcantonio, a café in Lambeth, the start point for Ponti senior, for which Bing turns up the snap above, seemingly in a part of Lambeth Walk which has been completely rebuilt: slum clearance, bomb damage or both.

A café which appears to function as a tobacconist and confectioner as well, although I can't make out the sign on the right, just above the stall.

Note what appears to be an open steel casement window, middle right, the sort of thing that our own house in Epsom had when it was first built in the 1930s. This one was presumably not original, but then the heritage people had not been invented at that point.

While from reference 5 itself we get this one, in nearby Lambeth Road. Maybe this was No.2.

Which Street View suggests has morphed into a commercial baker. Quite near a bridge carrying the lines out of Waterloo Station.

While the ice cream people at reference 9 may well be the same family as the two cafés. One of which, so I am told by someone turned up by Bing, used to do very good ham rolls. Something which is quite hard to get these days, with what you can get often being low grade bread, low grade ham, decorated with low grade cheese and toasted. Ketchup on the side.

And given that I would have passed through Liverpool Street Station as a child a number of times, it is quite possible that I once used the Ponti's there - but there is no memory of that at all.

PS 2: ice cream has clearly moved a bit in 50 years, with the snap above lifted from reference 9. Although they might be a bit cold if they are served straight out of the freezer, in the way of some restaurants that I can think of.

References

Reference 1: https://www.aquinaspianotrio.co.uk/.

Reference 2: https://youtu.be/4ZA8241Xiic.

Reference 3: https://brisbanehouseoftango.com.au/the-origin-of-the-song-oblivion/.

Reference 4: https://www.pontis.co.uk/fox-valley.

Reference 5: https://www.pontis.co.uk/our-story. Some Ponti's nostalgia.

Reference 6: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/04/two-bs-and-two-ds.html.

Reference 7: https://gautiercapucon.com/.

Reference 8: https://fondationgautiercapucon.com/.

Reference 9: https://marcantonio.co.uk/,