Dumond

Apologies for crappy photo, usual reason. The first time I encountered Arnaud Dumond was in 2004, the first year I sang with the Choeur Départemental. He had been commissioned to write a couple of pieces for us. Why, I don't know -- he's a world-class guitarist but had no experience of writing for choirs, and it showed. They were terrible to sing, a real chore. It wasn't so much this that made it a baptism of fire though, it was our ghastly guest conductor who shall be known only as M. By the time the concerts came around, the 40-strong choir was reduced to about 20. Some members walked out mid-rehearsal after being insulted by him, while others just silently dropped out. That was the end of the experiment with guest conductors.

Anyway. Dumond is an amazing guitarist. After a couple of flamenco pieces played by Elena San Roman, he gave a virtuoso recital, a mixture of arrangements of classics (Bach, Schubert, Handel) and his own compositions. At some points I thought he surely must have more than five fingers on his right hand -- it was like an octopus. Here's one of his compositions. And a very well known Bach piece. I really enjoyed his compositions;  my favourite if you have the time to listen was the 13-minute Tank'go home.

It was worth braving a rainy evening (yes! Cool air at last!) and crutches on wet cobbles to listen; we went with Ingrid, and enjoyed tapas in the 1900 beforehand.