Sunday 5 August 2001

It's been a week of late nights, working until 2 or 3am every night on the scores. It's nice to work free of distractions, but I've been living on three or four hours' sleep for a couple of weeks now and it does catch up with me after a while. The only person I can think of who worked consistently on that amount of sleep was Margaret Thatcher and I can't say she's one of my role models. 

Today I've been in Edinburgh with Ben Lane printing it all out and preparing the parts. Five hours sweating over Sibelius and a hot laser printer, and now I have a heavy load of paper in my rucksack to take home. There are still a few gaps left in the music, but I don't really mind as it's good to leave some space for some magic to happen - there's no point in filling the rehearsal room with talented people if you don't give them a chance to think. I played Ben 'Clout the Caldron' from the new CD (that number's in the show as well) and his reaction was 'it's a bit hardcore, isn't it?'.  Hardcore Baroque - hmm.

I met Andrew for breakfast on Friday and we had a chance to talk through some logistical things, among them the possibility of having a couple of stuffed sheep on stage for people to sit on. No hang on, did I imagine that bit?

Tomorrow I'll go through today's mountain of paper with Marie for sending out to the band, and then I've got a press interview to do at lunchtime. I'm hopeless at sounding enthusiastic about projects until they're ready - my job at this point is largely concerned with all the things that aren't right yet, so selling the glories of the finished project requires a major mental shift. It would be much easier to talk about all the problems, although by the time the piece appears in print, they'll all have been resolved (I hope).

I had a call yesterday which may lead to another November gig for us - could end up being a busy month. Meanwhile, I was saddened to hear the news last week of the death of John Walters, legendary radio producer of John Peel's Radio 1 show through the 70s, and genial TV and radio presenter himself. One of the obituaries said that his role in the studio as a producer was largely one of keeping everyone entertained - it's as good a way as any other to get the best out of creative people.

I don't listen to baroque music much these days (don't know if I ever did) but I'm sitting on the train listening to the Handel record Kate Bott and Emma Kirkby made with Roy Goodman a few years ago 'The Rival Queens', and it's a delight. The music reaches out and takes you gently by the arm, rather than by the throat or the genitals. Be kind to yourself and buy one (Hyperion CDA66950). I remember bumping into Ninian in the BBC one day a couple of years ago, and him telling me about this great Handel record he'd just bought and how wonderful the bass playing was - 'Cecelia someone'. 'Yeah that's right,' I replied, 'she was playing in the band last week, that date you couldn't do'.

Oh great, I've been joined by a noisy drunk singing Protestant sectarian songs at the top of his voice while listening to a flute band full blast on his walkman, occasionally miming along on his bottle of Buckfast (I'm not making this up). Isn't Scotland wonderful?

I heard the other day that a Haydn concert that Catherine Bott and I gave last year is being repeated on BBC Radio 3 on Sunday 9 September at 1830: if you're outside the UK it's available online at www.bbc.co.uk/radio3.  It was my broadcast debut on fortepiano and I was unusually nervous, so I could have enjoyed it more, but I think it has its moments.