Thursday 14 August 2003

We've started SCO rehearsals for Handel's opera Poro with Emmanuelle Haïm. When I mentioned to Radio 3 presenter Donald Macleod that I'd be working with her, his response was 'oh she's wonderful, music oozes from her every pore'. Well, I'd modify that slightly, music actually gushes uncontrollably from her in all directions. After three hours of high-octane continuo rehearsal last night, in which she flew around, singing all the parts, cracking jokes, mimicking us and generally being a one-woman firework display, I was so adrenalised that I couldn't really sleep much. It's great fun though; being around someone who's that intelligent is always rewarding.

I could do with the sleep right now: yesterday I rather carelessly put my hand through a window trying to open it, and was very lucky to escape with only a couple of cuts on the back of a finger and a grazed arm.

On train journeys I've been listening back to the tapes of last week's rehearsal (or was it the week before), making notes and writing down sketchy versions of what I'm playing. The plan is to have a little set of index-card sized summaries of each piece to leave around the stage, on instruments or on the floor, rather than a great big folder that gets in the way. An idea shamelessly nicked from Ronn MacFarlane in the Chris Norman Ensemble gigs last year. Speaking of which, I'm going to sit in on harmonium and melodica in some of Chris's Scottish gigs next month - a BBC session for Celtic Connections on Tuesday 16th, and then the Edinburgh Folk Club the following night. Three visits to the US coming up in the next few months too.

I sent off the corrections for the Spring Any Day Now booklet at about 2am yesterday morning. Perhaps that's why I could do with some sleep.

BBC2 again - one of the candidates in Restoration is the Britannia Music Hall, an amazing piece of theatre history that large chunks of the Glaswegian population walk past regularly without even knowing it's there.  

Two jokes. - From Kevin McCrae (SCO cello section): A man goes into a bar with a steering wheel down his trousers. Barman: 'How did that get there?' Man: 'I don't know, but it's driving me nuts'. - From my daughter (of her own invention): 'What do you call a jellyfish that's not a jellyfish? A duck.' Not sure I understand that one, but it made me laugh.