Rotterdam: the newly built hall has a beautiful organ that sits flat against the wall facing the auditorium. The top pipes radiate upwards and outwards creating the impression of a crown. And crowning they did when the king of the violinists came on the stage accompanied by his fellow musicians from the Polish Chamber Orchestra. Nigel is happy to be in Rotterdam and so is the public.

Utrecht: the inside of the hall is very modern: when I looked towards the ceiling I could see a most impressive display of light and a moving scaffolding. In between the frame one could actually see the ceiling and the mirror! I found myself looking at the mirror quite often during the concert as most of the time Nigel moved under the mirror. It was a strange view of Nigel but I am sure you will be pleased to know that Nigel does not appear to be thinning. Other musicians: beware of that part of the stage when you play in Utrecht!

Amsterdam: a most exquisite hall with a wonderful old fashioned organ! Along the walls there are plaques with names of famous composers. Whilst waiting for Nigel to arrive we read the names: Bartok, oh, yes!, Strauss, Dopper, Debussy, Dieperbrock, yes, we have Bach!, but I could not see Vivaldi. Poor Vivaldi! I did not see his name on the wall of the auditorium in Amsterdam. But then we have to remember that it was Nigel that resurrected the music of Vivaldi last century and I think that the hall was built before that!

Nigel thinks that it is fantastic to be in Amsterdam! The stage is some six feet higher than the floor of the hall and there is a safety barrier around it made of thick red cord. Nigel decides to break the barriers with the public and removes three of the red cords. He is directly in touch with the public!

I have bought the beautifully presented programme: shame it is all written in Dutch! All I can read are the sonetti of the Four Seasons, but I make do by watching the photographs.

Nigel is keen that we should know the exact title of the concertos he is playing: there are eight of them! He starts with F1 N176. “I think you will like it!” He quips. As soon as Nigel has finished a member of the public shouts Yes! and the public erupts in frenzied claps.

One down, seven to go!

Next it is F1 N178 Opus 3 no 9. “This concerto displays unheard of imagination!” The first movement is jolly, but the next one heart wrenching! The music is slow and deep and travels through the floor and deep into the body… Just before this piece Nigel announces the impending engagement between two of the musicians on the stage. The public warms to them!

Next we have Bach. Do you mind? A day is not a good day if we do not have Bach! He plays a two parts invention written for violin and harpsichord but the cello is so much better! We start with number one followed by some lightweight Bach: number eight! Nigel reveals to us how he made his millions: as a student he played with his friend Thomas and they invented the looping system. Bars 27 and 28 were repeated ad nauseam, but the money kept rolling in! Incidentally, although Nigel suggested that he may make a mistake as these two bars are quite difficult to play, he was able to announce at the end that there had been no mistakes! Katarzyna Drzewiecka, the cellist, being most unlikely to make any mistakes! He concludes by playing no 6: “the best one in the books!”

He is back on stage alone; Katarzyna having returned to her place.

Nigel is pensive, puzzled, he remembers, he smiles! Now it is the time! Yes, it is nine o’clock! Nigel calls his friend on the stage! Tytus Woinowicz: oboe player! My favourite instrument and my favourite concerto! The reception, especially by the public in Rotterdam, is tumultuous: don’t they ever stop clapping! And the standing ovations before the end of the evening!!! Nigel is visibly touched and from my front row seat I fancy seeing a tear in his eyes, but he quickly lifts the violin to his chin and raises the bow: business as usual!

Tytus leaves the stage but we are having none of it and demand an encore! Nigel and Tytus are able to offer one that they just happen to have rehearsed earlier! It is by a composer who has followed our violinist all his life: "Melody in the Wind" by Nigel Kennedy in D major: a most generous key! Just like the composer! What more can we ask for? I admire the gentle hands of Monika Raczynska as she strokes the wires of the harpsichord: the melody disappears in the wind… You could literally hear a pin drop!

Now Nigel enquires as to the physical wellbeing of Jakub Haufa! It may be that poor young Jakub has been unwell, but all Nigel wants him to do is to join him on the stage! The next concerto is F1, what else?, N43. We have some reference to football teams formation and a discussion about the relative merits of the Dutch football teams, but then, boys will be boys wherever they are!

The first allegro movement ends, and before Nigel starts the largo movement he wants to share his newly acquired piece of information. Nigel has done some more homework and discovered some new facts about Vivaldi. Has Nigel been using Google recently? Vivaldi did leave the Pio Ospedale della Pieta’ and started a new successful career as a gardener: the results were red roses! Some have been preserved by the Ospedale and one had been borrowed and it adorned the head of a charmingly good-looking violinist! The public is taken aback by the sheer beauty of the girl and her red rose which was encapsulated by the sheer beauty of the sound of the second movement! Trigger happy, clappy happy Rotterdam responds accordingly!

At the end of the third movement Nigel decides to wind up Taro: he performs brilliantly and the public gives him a standing ovation: he deserves it for putting up with Nigel!

The “programma” says PAUZE, but we are not over yet! We are treated to some “microwave” Bartok! and great it was: short and sweet! The marathon is nearly finished and Nigel allows us to go to the bar for a nice cold beer!

We know what is waiting for us upon our return: The Four Seasons! We all know it by heart, don’t we all! I am afraid the Rotterdam crowd misbehaved again and they would not let Nigel play more than one movement at a time! But then, we were all having a great time!

At the end of the concertos, in Amsterdam, a girl rushed to the front and sat in the aisle: “People will be doing that next week when I will be playing in Glastonbury!” says Nigel. I doubt if many of the punters there had tickets for Glastonbury, but at least in England we can see it on the television!

Jimi Hendrix is last century’s composer of choice for the encore and when Nigel plays to a girl called Eva from New Zealand she is overwhelmed by the whole experience, she is in tears, especially when he asks her to join him back stage after the concert: what a beautiful memory for one’s holiday in Rotterdam! A real people’s musician!

Well done Nigel!