Cheltenham is a charming traditional English town built in traditional Regency style. The venue where the concert was held was a modern building inside the race course. Cheltenham races: one of the highlights of the English calendar.

It had been a hot sunny day and we start the evening in style by having a picnic on the green inside the race course: strawberries and cream and Pimms are de rigeur! The statue of the Queen Mother smiles down at us! She loved it here!

As we walk to our seats we notice that there is a really long queue waiting to enter the premises. WE are seated by eight and still the public is streaming in. The orchestra is not on the podium but Nigel waltzes on the stage with his cup of tea at eight o’clock on the dot (HE is on time!) announcing that as the public is not yet seated the concert will start a bit late! He disappears with his cup of tea.

It is quarter past eight and the public is seated, the orchestra is seated, Jacek Kaspszyk takes his place with the baton. The concert starts in earnest! Nigel is nowhere to be seen.

The music is delightful. I recognise the tune but can’t quite give it a name! I am used to Nigel announcing the title of the piece, but this is a concert as it should be: no chat from the conductor, just music! …and what fantastic music!

Oh yes!

This is the first time that I hear ‘Fingal’s Cave’ live. I remember sunrise behind St Kilda. A welcome sight after sailing on a yacht several days in the Atlantic without seeing any land! I remember landing in Stornoway from a bark. The local children came to marina from school with their teachers to look at the bark asking if it was a pirate ship! Yes, we did listen to the CD of ‘The Hebrides’ whilst on board ship!

I follow the music and the baton of Jacek and enjoy the sound waves emanating from the orchestra! …and I remember longingly the water waves… Oh, the pleasures of live music! Oh, the call of the sea!

All too soon the overture is over and we show our appreciation accordingly! A nice long enthusiastic clap. Jacek disappears briefly from the stage and when he comes back he has brought his mate with him! We are back to normality: if Nigel can ever be called normality!

Nigel announces that we are about to hear for the first time in England a piece by Emil Mlynarski. The concert follows the usual pattern and yes, we did clap at the end of each part! It was fascinating to watch Nigel interact with Jacek and taking cues from the conductor! As Nigel said, they had only a couple of days to rehearse the piece, but everything went according to plan!

“In the second violin concerto the solo instrument finds an interesting partner in the orchestra, to which the composer assigns an important role almost equal to that of the solo part. His thorough knowledge and practical possession of all the elements of violin technique enabled him to make ample use of all the possibilities of the instrument. The tuneful subjects of the first and second movements are imbued with profound feelings, while the finale, very fast and full of “sharp-edged” rhythms, displays a virtuoso technique. It must be admitted that the concerto is for the performer no less exacting that the works by Paganini or Wieniawski.”
(Courtesy of the evening’s programme.)

Watching Nigel perform one did get the impression that, even though the performance flowed flawlessly, it must have been difficult to play!

Interval time: Nigel gives us only fifteen minutes but we know better! As we walk back into the auditorium, I notice that one chap in the second row is busy doing his Su Doku. Oh, well, some people have become addicted to it!

Ben Holland-Martin, the chairman (he is Billy!) of the English Symphony Orchestra (they are the band!) comes on the stage to give a short impromptu speech to apologise for the delay in getting everybody seated at the beginning of the concert and to explain that no, his name is not Billy but Ben, and no, the people on the stage are not flower pots but very talented musicians. He also thanks the public for supporting live music and concludes his short speech by telling us that his name, Ben Holland-Martin, is the anagram for Roll in the band, man! Nigel, you have met your match when it comes to impromptu speeches!

Nigel announces the next concerto by Sir Edward Elgar: Concerto for violin in B minor Op.61. We are in Cheltenham after all! He gets down to business straight away and we enjoy the interaction between Nigel and Jacek: they do work nicely in a team! It is the first time that I attend one of Nigel’s concerts where there is a conductor! I am fascinated by the spectacle of Nigel following the lead: the flashing of the eyes, the raising of the eyebrows, the nodding of the head… The English Symphony Orchestra is very good: each individual sound is very clear, we follow the baton! Wherever the baton is pointing, waving, that specific area of the orchestra is generating the principal sound!

Nigel, as the soloist, excels, as usual!

We clap at the end of each movement and we thoroughly enjoy the concerto! And we ask for more at the end and we are treated to solo Bach!

What more can one ask for!