concert | Christine Lucas

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Thanks to Natalie at Threads and bobbins for creating the series, Sunday Sevens. Here’s a quick update on my week.

Fashion:

This week the long awaited reflective dog jacket I ordered for Riley arrived. You have to admit it looks fantastic on him!

Romance:

This Wednesday was Valentine’s Day. David and I took a trip to the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall to hear the RLPO perform passionate pieces of music. The auditorium was full! My favourite pieces in the programme were Prokofiev’s retelling of Romeo and Juliet and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no. 2 performed by Chinese pianist Zhang Zuo. It was a lovely night!

At the Philharmonic Hall

Zhang Zuo

Designer Art:

For the past five years David has wanted to purchase a table lamp created by Hebden Bridge based artist, Hannah Nunn. We just couldn’t justify the cost, however this week I noticed there was a seconds sale being held for only a few days. The lamp David had had his eye on for so long was half price! We decided to order it. A few days later we took delivery of the lamp. It doesn’t look much unlit, but once the bulb is switched on the etched design comes to life. It is a fine addition to our bird inspired living room. What do you think?

Coal Tit Lamp by Hannah Nunn

The Pier Falls – Mark Haddon

Book I am reading:

I am currently reading Mark Haddon’s collection of short stories, The Pier Falls. So far I have read two of the short stories and feel rather unmoved. I loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and his play Polar Bears. However this collection of stories is falling flat. His writing makes me think Tom Hanks‘ collection is far superior. Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?

Gardening:

This weekend I purchased some potato chits to plant come spring. I bought maris peer potatoes. They are new potatoes to me, but I have read that they are good in salads, much like the maris bard. Even though we had blight on our potato harvest last year I will continue to try and grow ‘our own’. I will document how we go with these second earlies.

#walk1000miles:

This week I have managed a good 39 miles, bringing my overall total so far to 235 miles. It hasn’t been a bad week of walking. I’ve enjoyed a few good walks to work with the sun shining and the scent of spring on the air. Monday I thought, would have been a perfect day to go wild swimming. So I walked to work, smelling the air, hearing the birds singing and dreaming of slipping my cool body into an even colder body of water. It made my spirit soar! Spring/Summer can’t come quick enough!

Christine and Riley

David and Riley

Riley at Otterspool Prom

Snowdrops by Otterspool

David and I have also embarked on many evening walks with Riley as well as taking him on a good three mile walk today around Otterspool. We have all enjoyed the exercise, Riley and myself most of all. 🙂

So, that was my week, how was yours?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

progamme Friday, 15th December I treated my mum and I to a Christmas Recital at the parish church, St Bridget’s. Tickets were £5 per person. The performance was by local soprano Gussie Knopov, accompanied by pianist Per Nielsen. I think the appeal of the evening was due to following Wirral soprano Charlotte Hoather’s blog and also wanting to support local events.

The performance was at 7.30pm. We wrapped up warmly from the cold, with fairy lights flashing from darkened windows, we walked along damp roads towards St Bridget’s. The church was busy with people when we walked in.

Soprano, Gussie Knopov, a former member of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir, has trained in Manchester and Edinburgh. In 2016 she started her undergraduate studies at the London, Trinity Laban Conservatoire.

Gussie Knopov and Per Nielsen

Gussie was accompanied by Per Nielsen, who from his Linkedin page has an impressive CV of working at Archbishop Blanch and Liverpool Hope University. His credits also include studio recordings for National Danish Radio and Radio Three.

The programme featured songs from the stage, among them were My Fair Lady and Jesus Christ Superstar, interjected with Christmas carols such as Ding Dong Merrily on High and Oh Holy Night. I found Gussie’s diction was clearer on the more classical pieces, (showing her training in action), such as the two Schumann love songs and her rendition of Bizet’s Habanera which she chose to do as an encore.

The programme also featured Per Nielsen’s masterful skill on the keyboard. One highlight was his solo performance of Debussy’s The Snow is Dancing from The Children’s Corner. Through Nielsen’s retelling you could imagine snowflakes dancing in the air.

The interval was a bit longer than the 20 minutes billed, but there was refreshments of wine, cordial and cake to make the wait all that more sweeter.

The event was better than I had anticipated and the caliber of both performers was outstanding. Nielsen’s experience was glistening and Gussie has a bright further ahead! All the best to them both!