Advent 24: Till Eulenspiegel
The top-prize for annoying till-routines goes jointly in my head to Boots and Smiths. Smiths at airports always seem to be running special offers, so that whatever you take to…
Advent 23: Brought to book
When Ivan Nagy took over ENB after Peter Schaufuss went to Berlin, we had another year of Peter’s Nutcracker to contend with until Ben Stevenson’s came in the following year.…
Advent 22: How to lead someone off stage
Another gem from Mark Morris. It was in a rehearsal for Drink to me only with thine eyes and there was this bit where a guy had to lead a…
Advent 21: I got rhythm, I got matches…
Around the same time as the Gary Harris/Indian River Music story, Kevin Richmond was playing Scrooge in Christopher Hampson’s Christmas Carol. So there we all were, in the National Youth…
Advent 20: What a difference a D makes
Today’s golden moment also concerns Mark Morris and Les Patineurs, it so happens. I was playing the waltz from Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète (better known as the pas de trois from…
Advent 19: Trills and spills
In a class for Mark Morris’s company a couple of years ago, I was playing the waltz from l’Étoile du Nord (that has to be someone’s nickname, surely?) better known…