In defence of Vanessa-Mae (n.b. Ms. Nicholson, not Ms. Mae, and the future Mrs. RockFan ), the infamous "wet" look was the brainwave of her mother and manager, Pamela Nicholson. Vanessa-Mae was 15 at the time and didn't have any say in the way her career was run. She has said that she would never let a teenage daughter of her own dress like that.

I think Vanessa-Mae is unfairly judged over this. It's not her fault that she's the most beautiful woman in the world 

The frock she wore when I saw her didn't appear at all wet:

Yes I realise you yourself were not making a judgement -- but many people do, and I think it must actually be a problem for "serious" musicians, usually women (I will have to trust other people's opinions on Petrenko, as his looks don't do much for me personally), who also happen to look attractive or glamorous.


I find it hard to believe that people do go to concerts purely because of a pretty face but even if nobody actually does there is still the perception that they do, in certain quarters. That must be demoralising for the performers, I would think? What must it be like to have worked and practiced hard all your life and then hear that people only go to your concerts for your looks?

I don't think people go to concerts purely because of looks, but looks can be a trigger, especially with young people who may just be beginning to get interested in serious music. "Shall we go to a concert at the Phil?" "Oh, we could see that dishy conductor, couldn't we? Let's go to one of his." Then they may discover they like it. I've actually heard versions of this conversation.

I do agree that Petrenko has the talent as well as the looks.

Well, comfort is important - ask anyone who has sat through Das Rheingold in the cheap day seats at the Coliseum!  You have me at a slight disadvantage here: were the Rodewald concerts held in the main hall or in that suite upstairs at the back where I saw Zoe Rahman earlier in the year?  While that room might have been fine for Zoe's jazz trio I'm not sure I'd like to hear the Belcea 4tet there.  I presume the venue used to be the main hall: in which case the audience must have been rattling about if it was only half the size of the audience that can fit into the St George's Hall concert room.  Some people feel uncomfortable in a hall with lots of empty seats so that might be a factor.  There's also the transport angle: SGH has a Merseyrail station underneath it, a mainline station right opposite, a bus station in the adjacent Queens Square and a coach station five minutes away in Norton Street.  From the Philharmonic Hall it's a ten minute walk to the nearest hub.  But I'd echo Mary's comment: once the fascination with the (undeniably lovely) concert hall has worn off, attendances might fall to the levels that prevailed at the Phil.  Of course, if next Tuesday's concert were at the Phil, I wouldn't be relying on returns, would I? 

Well, I got tickets - and quite good ones at that, judging by the seat numbers.  I couldn't get to Liverpool on Saturday, as it happened; but this might have worked to my advantage because I got the distinct impression that the returns I got had become available this morning.  So, I shall be hearing my first live performance of a martle work.  Which is nice.

I just got back from the Schubert Ensemble's concert at SGH; and very enjoyable it was, too.  A certain green person will, I imagine, be gratified to read that my young nephew's favourite piece on a programme that included the Trout 5tet was Mr Butler's American Rounds.  This was a totally unprompted response and he put his money where his mouth is by buying the CD and getting it signed by the band.  I'm afraid even messageboard loyalty won't get me saying American Rounds is better than the Schubert piece; but I did enjoy it, and bought a signed disc for myself.

I thought the hall was fine for chamber music, though I can imagine that, as Mary says, piano & voice might not carry so well.  I've noticed before that announcements made without a mike don't seem to carry much beyond the middle of the hall and tonight, sitting in the tiered area behind the loose chairs, had a bit of difficulty hearing some of the comments.  I didn't have trouble with the music.  The piano part seemed a little too dominant in some passages -especially in the Schubert - but I'm pretty sure that's because the piano was a bit too dominant for my liking.  That was my one minor quibble and otherwise the concert was quite enthralling - we even got a tango by someone other than Piazzolla for an encore.  Don't ask me who it was by - it sounded a bit like 'Burleigh' to me but I'm sure that couldn't have been the name.

I was a little disappointed to see empty seats in a 'sold out' concert. I didn't count them but there were at least a dozen, possibly a lot more.  A member of the Rodewald Society suggested it might have been people who had booked the season in advance but been put off by this evening's weather.  The way the other half lives, eh: when I've paid £15 for a ticket you can be sure that a I really want to go and b a little light drizzle won't put me off.

I couldn't possibly comment, Andy!  I vaguely remember MJ describing From the Fairground of Dreams as 'tinkly' or some such word.  It was meant as a positive comment but, iirc, there was some spluttering from martle when he read it.


I hope you enjoy it.  We have Stephen Hough at our concert society that evening so I shall be down south. 

Mr Butler informs me that he's most gratified that his work gave pleasure in the North. And he is especially pleased that money exchanged hands for that CD, having as he does one eye on the financial marketplaces at the moment.