Photos of New York often seem to me rather magical, if somewhat alienating, with the tall buildings and rushing people, but then I realise that Sydney is not very different. We hurry to our destinations between the tall buildings without looking upward. The Angel Place Concert Hall is one of those destinations.
The hall is squeezed into an alley overshadowed by very tall buildings. It is a bit like those beautiful old churches you discover
in back alleys in Paris and Rome which are sometimes built onto by newer buildings to the extent that they almost disappear. Rather than detracting from the buildings this squeeze somehow it makes them more interesting. In Angel Place you feel as if you are in a magic place for music lovers, a place connecting past with present.
You have to be pretty good to be touring internationally at 72 years old and pianist Nelson Freire is definitely pretty good. The program notes for his September concert in Sydney tells us he doesn't like to have a set program because he likes to play what he feels like playing at the time, as that is best for both the audience and himself. Happily he felt like playing Bach, Beethoven, Debussy and Chopin, deftly transporting his audience on a captivating journey.
Both Freire and Elisabeth Leonskaya, who played in Sydney in August, demonstrate that age is no disadvantage for pianists, but rather the opposite.
Jayson Gillham plays
At the other end of the age scale for solo pianists is Jayson Gillham who played in Sydney last week.
Gillham is a young Australian pianist who grew up in central Queensland and reached the semi finals of the Sydney Piano competition at 17. He won the Montreal Piano competition in 2014 and now lives in London.
He played Bach/Handel/Chopin to his appreciative home crowd. I am sure they will return to hear more of his meticulous playing whenever he decides to return.
Andrew Goodwin has a voice I would like to tune into every evening. On Saturday, accompanied by the Australia Piano Quartet, he sang Strauss' Morgen (swoon) at the Sydney Opera House Utzon room, then several works by Schubert including Die Forelle (The Trout). Muhamed Mehmedbasic joined the APQ to play the Trout Quintet (Piano Quintet in A major) after the interval.
Muhamed Mehmedbasic (double bass) plays with the APQ
I had been tired after a busy and stressful week but I knew this concert would sooth and revive, and I was right. I could have sat there happily for another three hours listening to this group and this tenor. Thank you APQ, Andrew Goodwin and Muhamed Mehmedbasic.
Julia Lezhneva is a Bel Canto singer sublime. In an ABC radio interview a couple of years ago I heard her say she had not liked Bel Canto singing particularly but then found she was good at it. She had been in Tasmania for the Baroque Festival and when I heard her on the radio I decided that if she came again I would definitely try to hear her.
Now she is back, singing with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. I heard her first concert and it was simply a joy. She is a captivating and very generous singer, singing several (long) encores with her perfect, subtle, extraordinary voice.
(Listen to her here ... I recommend this CD for endless pleasure!)
The Australian Chamber Orchestra played differently tuned instruments with gut strings and, together with exceptional visiting oboists and lute player, gave a stunning performance. It is the mark of exceptional players when they can modify their playing to bring the best out of their collaborators. Bravo and brava!
I have hardly touched my computer this last three weeks. Instead I took part in a local group art exhibition, spent time child minding for a mother who was racing to finish a Masters Thesis during school holidays and helped an HSC student revise for finals exams. I also spent more time in the garden because it is spring and everything needs doing at once.
I am converting the driveway into a vege garden and a few weeks ago I planted some spouting potatoes in a spot so hot and sunny that not much grows. When the first summer heat hit the potatoes wilted and died and I expected little of them. Today I dug the soil over and discovered I have quite a crop. Some of them are tiny, but I shall eat the lot!
A weekend listening to Australian Chamber Orchestra musicians is a weekend to appreciate.
On Saturday last Aiko Goto gave a violin recital with pianist Ian Munro. This is the third Goto solo recital I have heard and I think she only gets better. Not only is she a whizz on the violin, she is a little package of charm and much loved by her audiences.
Ex-convict prison: the marks where the stairs went up to higher levels are visible on the end wall.
Then on Sunday I attended a Mozart/Beethoven concert given by five ACO members in the former women's convict prison, now National Art School lecture theatre.
I studied there a few years back and heard a lot of lectures there but I never 'saw' the prisoners in my mind's eye as I did last Sunday. The building has massive sandstone walls and must have been a dark forbidding place when the internal walls were still there. They were removed and a new roof installed when the building was rescued from dereliction after WW2.
ACO musicians play Mozart
I hope the time/space warp makes it possible for lovely music to travel backwards and lighten the burden of the poor women who were incarcerated there. Theirs must have been a sad existence indeed.
The Polina Leschenko (piano) and Richard Tognetti (violin) concert at the Angel Place hall last week was a winner. They will play together in November this year at the Barbican in London and this was a sort of preliminary concert. After a marvelous Beethoven/Sculthorpe/Pärt/Brahms concert they played three encores, so lucky were we.
I was seated behind the musicians and couldn't help but notice that when Tognetti has room to move about the stage he gets on his surf board to play the energetic parts. I couldn't resist drawing the surfboard into the little postcard sketch I made while they played.
What a difference 5 days make in Sydney. Last week it was still cold enough to
need a heater and warm jumpers then over the weekend spring arrived. Flowers seemed to spring up
overnight and bushes burst into blossom.
Every year
people plant pansies and other spring flowers when it is wintry cold,
then all at once the weather turns. Suddenly it is hot and the pansies wilt
in the sun.
Last week there was barely a flower on my
azalea hedge, but now it is overflowing with blossoms. Don't blink or
you'll miss them.
I saw Elisabeth Leonskaja play Mozart with the ACO last week and have been searching for words to describe the experience. Now I discover Murray Black has found the perfect words. Black wrote in The Australian that although Leonskaja's reputation as a doyenne of the Russian
old school makes her sound quite intimidating her 'playing actually radiated appealing geniality in equal measure with formidable dignity and gravitas.' I couldn't agree more. One felt taken by the hand, wrapped in a warm blanket while at the same time being aware that a metronome couldn't have kept better time than her remarkable hands.
She reminds me of another very erudite but softly spoken person who was interviewed on Southern TV in NZ. My sister Alison Mercer works with bees and here she explains about the Verroa mite that is plaguing the bee populations of the world.
In a so-called post-fact world it is refreshing to hear from people who really know what they are talking about without being immersed in the showy blather of the PR industry.
I am back in the hills of Wellington. Wellington is such a beautiful place, but cold ...and feels colder than the 13C high that was forecast for today. There is a chill wind, not strong but enough to lower the temperature a couple of degrees. Taihape and Turangi felt much warmer than Wellington and the difference is probably the wind factor.
Once the sun disappears behind the hill it is time to light the fire and brew a hot ginger tea.
On a fine day Mount Egmont dominates Taranaki roads. Today was a beautiful day so as I drove south from New Plymouth I had the constant company of Mt Egmont. What surprised me was seeing snow covered Mount Ruapehu to the east.
Mount Egmont and Taranaki cows
Near Stratford: Mt Ruapehu in the distance
Taranaki is also known for its gardens and my trip took me past hegdes of flowering camelias and huge flowering magnolias, one of which was in a schoolyard. It was so lovely I stopped to take a photo.
Schoolyard Magnolia with Mt Egmont
In every town there seems to be an art gallery or museum and one that is really worth a visit is the gallery in Stratford. They currently have an exhibition of works from the bnz collection which is exceptional. So many inspiring works of art, including works by Dick Frizzel ( pictured in a previous post), Colin McCahon, Toss Woolaston and Ralph Hotere among others. Finding works such as these in a small gallery where one can view them close up and undisturbed is a real treat. Apparently they normally hang in the staff canteen and staff rooms, at the bnz headquarters.
New Zealand treats art as something to appreciate and look at, not to store in a vault as an investment Sydney style and as a result there is a vibrant visual arts scene here. Just visit the little gallery in Turangi to be convinced - the work by local artists there is equal to anywhere.
New Plymouth is an interesting place. It has a wonderful coastline, perched at the eastern tip of New Zealand's North Island but the town seems to thumb it's nose at the sea, with light industry assigned coastal real estate. New Plymouth Burnings must have the most stunning view in New Zealand.
The information service is on the busy coastal road in the city, across from the seashore, but I couldn't find any parking there. After a long and windy (though beautiful) trip from Turangi I was tired and an inaccessible information center was an inauspicious start to my New Plymouth visit.
Crossing the coastal rail line
If you cross the busy main road from the city and then the railway line which is still in use, though only local, you finally find yourself on the seashore.
It is a majestic vista, crashing waves on big black rocks.
Shoreline at New Plymouth
This morning I gave up the idea of finding a cafe with a sea view but instead I found a very good alternative, a cafe/coffee roaster called Ozone. The coffee was excellent, the atmosphere quirky and the staff friendly. If I was a New Plymouth resident I think I would become a permanent fixture there.
Coffee being roasted at Ozone
Then I discovered the retro yellow roof.
I don't know if it has a name, but in the middle of the city stands a large yellow structure with no apparent use. A passing resident told me that there had been a building there which was demolished and that the council asked the residents what they wanted in its place. This yellow roof was what had been chosen. My informant said with some embarrassment that it had been 'very expensive'.
Retro yellow lid
I'm not sure of the artistic or other value of the yellow structure but I think a population that chooses such a thing surely deserves the famous Len Lye museum as a reward.
The Len Lye Museum of Contemporary Art is as stunning as the photos that had made me want to visit New Plymouth in the first place. Even seeing the exterior was worth the trip. My photos speak for themselves (yes, this is really how it looks!)
The tourist information service in Turangi told me not to travel too early when I took the route from Turangi to Tauramanui as the road had tall trees on both sides and was often icy.
Turangi to Taumeranui: national park
I waited until 10am before setting off, imagining a route through forestry plantations of tall pines. Instead of plantations, the route is through national parks and the trees so much more interesting than pines.
The advice about ice was good advice. Right along the route bright red signs warned against slippery conditions in cold weather.
Further along the route passes through country that looks like a sea of camels ... lots of humpy hills. I couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be if some of the more marginal farm land was allowed to revert to bush. It seemed so forlorn. Later I saw a painting by Dick Frizzel that illustrated my thoughts as I drove to New Plymouth.
On the forest road to the headwaters of the Tarawera River
Lake Taupo is where I spent my childhood holidays so Io can never drive past without remembering the swimming, fishing, cousins (we shared a house), film nights on the common and growing into a teenager. The water was often cold in January and now, in August, it is snow fed and very fresh.
Lake Taupo on Saturday
The same spot on Sunday
This area could easily have become New Zealand's Gold Coast but happily, because of ownership structures, that has not happened. The more of these treasures we loose to developers, the more important it becomes to protect the remainder.
View over the southern Lake Taupo, Turangi just to the right
Fishing the Tongariro River at Turangi
Turangi is much warmer than further south but standing in the middle of a river for hours on end as fisher folk do here must make you yearn for a cup of warm soup.
There must be plenty of fish though. Two Hawkes Bay residents at the Tongariro River told me they had caught twenty trout between them over the weekend.
The Turangi Art Gallery in the small outdoor mall is definitely worth a visit, so if you are reading this and on your way to Turangi, make sure to call in. It is a real pleasure to discover so much local artistic talent.
The snow over the past week has closed a lot of roads including the desert roasd, but by Friday it was open. I had a last coffee at Soul Cafe in Taihape to give the ice time to melt then set off north.
Mt Ruapehu from the desert road.
Ruapehu was a picture, all decked out in her winter white.
It is hard to choose a favourite cafe in Taihape because there are three excellent cafes in town but the cafe I particularly like is the Soul Cafe on the main street. They serve the best coffee between Auckland and Wellington and excellent food to boot.
The cafe has that je ne sais quoi ...that certain something that makes cafes work. There is an eclectic mix of chairs and tables, including old treddle sewing machine bases, and a wood burning stove, very popular at this time of year.
The guests are a mix of locals and travellers but the cafe itself feels very Taihape to me. I've been spending a lot of time there for coffee, for lunch.
Taihape has made it's name as gumboot capital of the world with a giant corrugated iron gumboot sculpture and annual gumboot throwing competitions.
I took the competition with me when I left and we held gumboot throwing competitions at our street parties in Hamburg amid much mirth. If you have ever tried throwing a gumboot you'll understand about the mirth.
Path up through My Stewart reserve
Today I climbed the path up Mt Stewart which starts just behind the giant gumboot. It is a climb worth the effort because the path through the bush is lovely, though muddy and slippery at the moment.
The view from the top is stunning. You look out over the valley all the way to Mt Ruapehu is covered in snow today.
