Chopin co-incidence

A day without rain, even if if was cloudy and then overcast for much of the time. I went to the Eucharist at St John's after breakfast, there were a dozen of us there with Mthr Frances celebrating. A quick visit to Tesco's to buy some drinks for the bottle stall at Saturday's Parish Fayre, then back home to cook a curry in time for Clare's return from school. 

After lunch a drive to Thornhill Crematorium for a funeral at three. A small family congregation for a single man cut off from social life in later years by infirmity and illness. On the return journey I listened to a piano concerto on Radio Three which I hadn't heard before, although it seemed familiar. It turned out to be Chopin's first piano concerto.  

After an early supper we walked across Bute Park to the Royal Welsh College for first public recital since it re-opened for public events. Co-incidentally the programme was all works by Chopin. Llyr Williams played a well chosen selection of his piano Etudes from opus 10 and opus 25. He was joined by 'cellist Nathalie Clein, who opened with his Poloniase Brillante, and closed with his 'cello concerto, both of them virtuoso pieces for both instruments. Llyr is a renowned accompanist as well as solo recitalist. They two of them exchanged excited glances several times when they came to the end of movements. Only when they returned for an encore did Nathalie mention that they'd only met the previous day for the first time, and so had never before played together!

The concert was live streamed on the College website. On stage there was a large BBC Radio 3 banner next to the piano. It made me wonder if was also going to be recorded for broadcast by the been sometime later. I'd love to listen again if it is.

It was an uplifting and inspiring programme of music, little of which I knew, just number three 'Lento ma non troppo' and the famous Revolutionary Etude, which Llyr played immaculately and passionately at a furious pace which truly conveyed its tumultuous energy. He has a mastery of the piano that enables him to make it sound like different instruments, when it comes to expressing different emotions. Nathalie is a fine 'cellist who plays passionately, and this shows in her movement as she performs. What a feast!

We walked into town and caught a bus along Cowbridge Road East to Canton Cross and walked the rest of the way home, to save time.