Elsie's Column

  September 2005 - Nigel on my Mind........

I’ve been reading a fascinating article by India Knight in The Sunday Times, in which she addresses the well-known fact that men don’t listen to a word that women say to them ! You’ve noticed it, too, huh ? Well, guess what ? It all boils down to what Ms Knight calls ‘a proper basis in science.’ According to research (probably done by men, I should imagine !) men need to use a specific part of their brain to understand female voices and this explains why it’s harder for them to understand female as opposed to male voices and also why they get tired of trying to make out what women are saying and simply tune them out. So far, so good…………but there’s more. Apparently, this particular part of men’s brains is also the part they use to understand music………..oh, you’re ahead of me, aren’t you ? What a relief………..Nigel hears us, girls ! Whatever we say to him, he hears it ! Yes, well……………I suppose that could have its downside………..I for one had better be more careful what I say to him in the future, now that I know he’s going to hear it all ! This may help to explain why Nigel always remembers the last time he saw you, when and where it was and what you talked about, no matter how obscure the place and how wacky the conversation was ! I’ve always wondered how he did it. Now we know !

I wonder if women have trouble hearing what men say to them ? I don’t suppose anyone’s done any research on that………………well, after all, women don’t really need to know what men are saying………….we all know what they’re thinking, don’t we, girls ? (Time to change the subject !!!)

Have you read Carol Thornton’s review of the Glastonbury Extravaganza yet ? If you haven’t, do it now ! I love hearing about people’s reactions to their first encounter with Nigel………I guess it takes years off me and makes me feel young……..well, younger !.........and (relatively) innocent again. Carol says she was a classical virgin before she heard Nigel play, but when the concert was over, she was a classical virgin no more ! Oh, wow ! What a way to lose it ! Everyone should be so lucky. In fact, when you come to think of it, what a way to lose…………oops ! I don’t think you want me to go there, do you ? I can tell !

I guess Nigel is not completely unaware of the price of the tickets for his concerts in Germany. In Neumünster, he asked someone in the first row how much they had paid for their ticket, and when he was told, he said : ‘Then we should play a bit longer for you !’ Oliver Stenzel noted this in his article in The Kieler Nachrichten and commented that nobody but Nigel would do something like that. Apparently, Nigel and the Polish Chamber Orchestra played for three and a half hours , and rocked the sold-out concert hall, aided and abetted by the usual suspects……..Titus Wojnowicz, Jakub Haufa……..so that at the end of it all, Herr Stenzel was able to say that they had all well and truly earned every euro !

Talking of Neumünster makes me think of Lübeck, where Nigel had a surprise offering for the audience. In December of 2004 a young violinist from Lübeck , daughter of Iranian parents, went to hear Nigel play in Hamburg. She went backstage after the concert, taking her violin with her, and asked if she could play for him. Nigel said later: ‘Even though I wasn’t drunk, I said yes, listened to her and recognized her enormous talent.’ He invited her to join him on the stage in Lübeck to play the Bach Double Concerto Her name is Azadeh Maghsoodi. She is sixteen years old ! She’s been playing the violin since she was six years old and hopes to continue her studies in London or New York. ‘It’s so much fun, playing with Nigel,’ she says, ‘and he’s so relaxed (the German word she used is locker.......I had to look it up ! ) that you can’t get too worked up about it.’ Fun for Azadeh and fun for the audience. I wish I’d been there !

I’m also looking forward to hearing Nigel play the Mlynarski……… ‘Violinkonzert Nr. 2’. I guess I’m going to have to wait till next Spring for that, but Konrad Dittrich heard it in Lübeck . He comments on what he calls the Late-Romantic sounds that issued from the Polish Chamber Orchestra, augmented to fifty musicians and energetically conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk……….(I hope Nigel’s got a nickname for him………I’ll never get my tongue around his actual name !) A lot of it sounds like Mendelssohn or Richard Strauss, says Herr Dittrich, but it was all good to listen to and Nigel was, as usual, a brilliant soloist. As is becoming common at Nigel’s concerts, the audience applauded after each movement and , again as usual, Nigel didn’t seem to mind. Actually, I get a fair bit of mail asking me why we can’t applaud when we feel like it…………….we pay enough for our tickets, in all conscience, so why can’t we do what comes naturally and clap when we want to ? I would really like to hear from someone who performs in public and who can tell me just how distracting this untoward applause is for the performer. Anybody ?

There’s an interview with Nigel in the September issue of the Classic FM magazine. The editor, John Evans, gets it all off to a good start with the following:

‘I realize the most important thing about Kennedy – his music – isn’t remotely enigmatic. It’s simple: he’s passionate about it and he works tirelessly in the service of it. From now on, that’s what I’ll be telling anyone who takes a swipe at our Nige.’

When we get to the actual interview, however………….well, let’s just say that things get a little rockier ! I mean, what would you ask Nigel if you could have an interview with him ? No, don’t just let that pass……….think about it ! Would you ask him why he dresses the way he does ? Would you think that was any of your business ? Actually, locker Nigel does answer the question: ‘Look,’ he says, ‘ there are so many 18-year-old artists behaving like the ambassador of Liechtenstein in their smart suits, does it really need me to carry on like that ? I don’t think so.’ This doesn’t entirely satisfy Mr. Evans……………he seems to continue to feel naffed that Nigel won’t take his sunglasses off for the camera ! When Nigel says ‘No,’ he tells us, it means ‘No ! ’ ( Surprise ! Surprise ! As far as I am concerned, ‘No’ always means ‘No,’ no matter who says it !) All right, we’ve got that out of the way………… I’m happy to report that Nigel refuses to answer any more questions like that and blocks them very neatly by saying that he’s been smoking wisteria……….. ‘those little blue leaves blow your head off !’ That’s my boy !!!! ( I wonder if that climbing plant in my husband’s garden is wisteria ??? Hmm ! I must ask about that !!)

I have to say, though, that the interview gets better and better as it goes on. It’s worth reading, so get yourselves a copy of the magazine and read it for yourselves. There are some really cool pictures, too.

One final note. Nigel’s new CD, ‘Inner Thoughts,’ is due to be released on the 3rd of October. It consists of the slow movements from the great violin concertos that he has recorded, and I don’t think I’m going to be able to bear it………….I shall simply dissolve into a quivering emotional transparent jelly and never be heard of again !

I can’t wait !!!

Till October (at least !)

Elsie