Dear all,

I have just returned from a skiing holiday in Norway. It was nice to get a rest. Just before I left, I visited the UK and especially the citys of London and Liverpool. In London I watched a rehearsal of Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. It was a so called sitzprobe where the soloists sit on the stage. It also featured the full chorus and orchestra. I think it will become a very good production and I must say that I was very impressed by the soprano Krassimira Stoyanova who sang the role of Tatiana. It was one of the best interpretations I have heard of that role and after the rehearsal she even apologised to the conductor for holding back in order to save her voice!

I also met the brilliant pianist/composer Johan Hugosson and had long and interesting discussions with the wonderful film director Jonas Grimas who lives in London.

After London, I left for Liverpool and visited the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. They performed Brahms's 4th symphony under the baton of Vassily Petrenko. It was interesting to see that Vassily and I have very similar approaches both to the music and to the audience. He addressed the audience in a very nice way and explained how the music works - using his colleagues in the orchestra to play musical examples as he described the different themes. It is, of course, far more interesting to listen to a work which you know a bit about and this is a very effective way of enhancing the experience of the listener. More of the same please!

Kris