Hasselt is a most delightful little town, a well-kept Belgian secret! The old town has been preserved and the inner ring road surrounds a labyrinth of charming streets and beautiful churches. A proud bronze, Vrouwin Dezon by George Grard, stretches lazily standing on the grass in front of the concert hall. The hall is modern and the inside is nondescript, but the sound was the best I have heard for a long time! I had an excellent seat at the back of the hall, right in the centre and the acoustic was marvellous! There were sixteen convex wooden panels at the back of the stage and I presume they reflected the sound towards the auditorium.

Heerlen, and more specifically Kerkrade, is a soulless modern development: the pride of town planners! I will make no further comments!

We are sitting waiting, and waiting…

The excuses are colourful: 1) There was a train strike in Holland (true! I had been driving through Holland as well!) and the roads from Amsterdam were gridlocked! 2) Nigel thought that the concert was due to start at quarter past eight, all the other concerts during the week had started at quarter past eight (true!) but this was scheduled to start at eight and nobody told Nigel! (We were nearly caught out as well but we turned up early to collect the tickets from the ticket office!) Who cares! We hear the cry of the wild: “Let’s rumble!” and we know that the wait was worthwhile!

We start with F1 N76, the public in Hasselt can’t resist clapping. Already!!!

Nigel calls out: ‘ Ladies,’ a small cry, ‘Gentlemen,’ a deep reply. The public begins to understand what is required of them! It is a cultural divide: English people go to pantomimes and they know the form! There are no pantomimes on the continent!

Nigel performs beautifully and during the solo violin he improvises as well! The public in Kerkrade has manners: they wait till the end of the concerto to clap! Whilst in Hasselt, I decide to join the locals and start to clap and cheer at the end of just about every movement, to feel part of the crowd! My companion hisses at me: “Stop encouraging them!” whilst he elbows me in the ribs!

Nigel announces that he will perform something extra over and above what they have paid for: Bach, the greatest composer, it is just not right not to play him! Nigel asks one of his esteemed colleagues if she would join him at the front of the stage. Katharzyna Mysinski joins him for some delightful simple Bach, a two part invention…

The rest is history: beautifully played by both! The next piece is no 8, a fantastic one: Nigel feels the need to apologise again for being late! It does not matter: you are here now and we all love you and your music!

Katharzyna plays so beautifully and we are treated to a third piece: number six!

We now have a phenomenal oboe player: Tytus Wojnowicz! I am in dream land! I do return to earth at the end of the concerto to hear Nigel asking us if we want to hear more stuff, something for you," Melody in the Wind." It was actually written for Grappelli by a composer Nigel really, really, really likes, and who happens to be a good guy: Nigel Kennedy.

As the melody fades in the wind, Nigel walks round various members of the orchestra. His energy is enough to increase the noise generated by that particular instrument, but as he walks away, the sound disappears until all we have left is the caressing of the strings of the harpsichord by Monika, the sound gets higher and fainter…..

It is now the turn of Jakub Haufa, but this is not until after a long applause and a standing ovation… Jakub is feeling well today, although a bit bored because not much happens where he is staying. Concerto in C for two violins, Allegro, and then, as before, after the first movement Nigel shares with us his latest discovery on Vivaldi. Nigel has spent some time surfing the net! After his musical years at the Pio Ospedale della Pieta’, Vivaldi became a gardener! It is all connected with the fact that he had been unable to ask the lady in the gondola for her gondola number…Vivaldi grew marvellous red roses and the Ospedale managed to preserve a few and one had been borrowed to decorate the head of one of the stunningly beautiful blonde violinists. The public is touched and guess what? They sigh and applaud! The next movement is even more touching: largo.

Finally we get to the third movement and Nigel does a wonderful impersonation of an organ grinder whilst Taro Takeuchi carries the show! We are impressed and the applause and the ovation are all for Taro. Mine certainly is!

There is more: both Nigel and Jakub are accomplished linguists and they display their skills in translating the title of the three Bartok pieces we are being treated to: The soldier’s song, The New Year’s song and Kolomaika!

Nigel failed to mention anything about the engagement in Hasselt, but in Kerkrade he was able to announce that two of the musicians on stage had actually decided to get engaged!

Nigel tells us that it is great to make music together but that he knows what we are thinking: we have a big picture of a nice cool beer for the interval.

And the interval was a surprise! In both Hasselt and Kirkrade the drinks were complimentary! And they were plentiful…How much can one drink in twenty minutes… Fantastic! We are back in the concert hall and Nigel is lamenting the fact that whilst we were having free drinks, all he could have was a cup of tea! Poor Nigel!

Now it is time for " The Four Seasons!" The two concerts could not have been more different: Hasselt’s public cheered and applauded at the end of each movement! I know that the OY! was there and jolly great it was! What a party! …Danzan Ninfe e Pastor net tetto amato… The thunder was great and …Tuona e fulmina il ciel…and so did Nigel and the Polish Chamber Orchestra…The waving of the bows a most impressive visual effect…

I must now thank the public in Kerkrade for having behaved the way one should at a concert: no applause until the end! I was able to listen to a nearly uninterrupted ‘ Four Seasons!’ It was a real treat! I must admit that a couple of time I did feel sorry for the musicians who must have been really tired, but the performance was wonderful! I thank you all for it!

We had another treat in store: as an encore Nigel played the "Czardas" by Vittorio Monti, including some arrangements: some of the tunes from Kroke found their way into the auditorium! But let us not forget Jimi Hendrix! The orchestra played the final notes of "Purple Haze" and they decided to tackle Nigel and to push him off the stage…

The musicians returned to the stage for the final curtain call and Nigel welcomed the future bride with the tune of: Here comes the bride! What a great happy ending! What a great concert!

Oh, I nearly forgot!
…and the solo Bach as a farewell encore!

Nigel: Always playing!