Reflected Glory

I had 10 minutes to spare before a morning talk at the Philharmonic and wandered around the Catholic Cathedral where I saw it reflected in a University building.

The "talk" was wonderful. Gethyn Jones who has been a cellist at the Philharmonic since 1984 spoke very candidly about the ups and downs of life in the Orchestra, and in particular about a player's perspective on Shostokovich's 5th Symphony, which the Phil are about to perform. He was a product of the state school's free music service, which no longer exists, and came to Liverpool from Swansea. In the second half he introduced the Phil's new principal clarinetist, Ben Mellefont, aged 23 and from Sydney. He totally wowed us with his playing of some exerpts from Mozart's clarinet concerto which he is about to perform, as well as other more modern pieces. Music and musicians from around the world. Aren't we lucky?