Elsie's Column

  November 2005 - Nigel on my Mind........

I know, I know ! This column is late……..even later than Nigel’s appearances at the beginning of concerts, although he was fairly prompt in Paris………..But I did warn you that it would be late, didn’t I ? I admit that I didn’t expect it to be THIS late, but I have at least got it out before it’s time for the next one !

I do hope you have all been doing your homework properly while I’ve been away so that I don’t have to tell you here that Nigel and the Berlin Philharmonic guys won the Klassik Amadeus Award for ‘Vivaldi II……………if so, you’ve already been enjoying the picture of Nigel accepting the prize. As a reward for diligence, here’s a somewhat different aspect of his attendance at the Awards ceremony, and no, I’m not going to explain what he’s supposed to be doing…………work it out for yourselves, and if you succeed in figuring it out, let me know ! I’m as curious as you are ! I do notice that he's wearing matching socks.......do you suppose that's significant ???

Now……..Paris ! First of all, the heartfelt thanks I owe to everybody who worked so hard to make the concerts happen and special thanks to Steve………..if it were not for Steve, there would be no point in going all the way to Paris for the concerts, since the concerts probably wouldn’t happen at all ! Thanks to Gary for his wonderful work for the Hendrix concert, even though he did try to sneak away without saying goodnight to me ! Thanks to The Polish Chamber Orchestra…. I don’t really like to single them out, but I have to thank Janusz for his friendly conversation and his warm attitude. Thanks to Taro, just for being Taro. If you’ve ever met him, you’ll know what I mean, and if you’ve heard him play, you’ll know where I’m coming from. Thanks to my companions for their patience and consideration in putting up with me………..it wouldn’t be the same without you, guys ! And, of course, thank you to Nigel……….Nigel playing Vivaldi, Nigel playing Bach, Nigel playing Hendrix, Nigel being Nigel……….my hero ! You make every centimetre of the distance I travel immeasurably worth while !

What do I remember now about Paris ? …………… the cruise on the river, sitting back, warmed by the sunshine and spotting the famous buildings on either side………..the ride in the taxis going to the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in the evenings, seeing the lights on the water and the triumphant statement of the brightly-lit Eiffel Tower, all part of the City of Light………………the night I tried to go to the concert hall on the Metro and got hopelessly lost attempting to find the Avenue Montaigne and the friendly, helpful Parisians, who did their best to help me find my way………..the taxi driver who corrected my manners when I got into his taxi and told him where I wanted to go, whereupon he replied, “Bonjour, madame,” and informed me that since we are not animals but human beings, we greet each other before we start issuing orders……..touchée ! (When I got out, I deliberately overtipped him and told him that as one human being to another, I wished him a very pleasant evening !!)……….overhearing the gentleman behind me at the Hendrix concert whisper to his companion, “I wonder at what point the roof caves in ?”…………walking home after the concert in the pouring rain with my jacket over my head, because my jacket dries more soberly than my hair does…………… hearing Nigel and his mates play Hendrix live for the first time (I swear that it has altered the rhythm of my heartbeat for good…….I sat through it clutching my nitrolingual spray in my right hand , in case I had to use it ! I was overwhelmed !)…………..And so much more. The final two words Nigel said to the audience at the last concert were: “Merci, Paris !” I couldn’t put it better than that. De ma part aussi………….. “Merci, Paris !!”

I’ve read part of an interview with Jools Holland, in which he recalls an incident in which Nigel played a part. Mr. Holland says that “he would be just as happy playing for a few blokes in a pub, as packing out the Albert Hall,” which strikes me as a very Nigel-like thing to say. He goes on to recall a time when he and Nigel discovered that they were staying in the same Liverpool hotel, and decided to have an impromptu “knock-about” in the hotel bar. Let Mr. Holland tell it :

“[Nigel] goes up and gets his very valuable Stradivarius and we start playing. This very nice Eastern European feller ran the bar, but he didn’t have a clue who we were. He came over and said ‘You’ve got to stop this noise .’”

“We’re talking acoustic piano and violin here,” Mr. Holland points out, “not Motorhead !” The next thing they know is the nice Eastern European feller goes to snatch the violin from Nigel………..yes, the Strad ! “There’s an example of the modern world,” continues Mr. Holland, “---------a bad one.” Well, I should think so ! Grabbing Nigel’s violin………..whatever next ? What can the guy have been thinking of ? Well, we’d never do such a thing, would we ? After all, if I felt the need to grab something of Nigel’s……………well, it certainly wouldn’t be his violin I’d go for !! How about you ? Or maybe you’re thinking I should go back to my taxi driver for Lesson 2 in “How to Act like a Lady”………….. even if I wouldn’t recognize one if I fell over her !

The Auckland Philharmonia has hit upon an innovative way to raise funds for the orchestra. They have organized what they call the “Symphonic Auction in Four Movements,” four 10-day auctions on TradeMe, which is a popular website where you can sit comfortably at your computer and bid on different items that are being auctioned off. The “First Movement “ has been completed and apparently the bidding became very intense in the last few hours as people bidded for such things as lunch with the Mayor, the opportunity to conduct the orchestra,and………….(wait for it !) an empty magnum of Moet, drunk and signed by Nigel on his 1995 tour ! Truly !! So where has this bottle been all these years ? Who has been cherishing it and saving it up for an occasion such as this ? I really would like to know what it fetched……….but unfortunately that information is not included in the press release. The picture that is included shows Nigel with violinist Miranda Adams and auction conductor Tony Waring. And the bottle ! Just when this picture was taken is not at all clear to me………..have a look at it and judge for yourselves.

I have to confess that I’m getting seriously frustrated in my efforts to get my hands on Nigel’s new CDs and DVDs…………….well, for example, I have “Inner Thoughts” pre-ordered over here in Canada and for some time now they have been telling me that they would ship it on the 8th November, something that clearly they have not done. I don’t dare enquire about it, because if I do I shall start a chain reaction of different people at the CD company sending me conflicting emails………….I’ve been there before and I don’t want to go there again ! The same thing applies to the DVD of Nigel playing Bach with the Irish Chamber Orchestra………….that was supposed to be shipped on the 8th November too. This DVD was included with a CD of Nigel playing Bach that was on sale in France while I was there…………the trouble is that it was classified as NOT regionally coded but only playable on PAL compatible DVD players !!! The mind boggles. Or at least, mine does ! I shall have to console myself by listening to Beethoven and Bruch on the “Legend” CD and watching the DVD of Nigel playing Brahms that came with it. Not exactly a hardship !!!

Now all I have to do is get myself back on Canadian time and try to keep awake for at least part of the day !!

Till December.

Elsie