The Monolulu Cup

This year, if Cheltenham wasn't exciting enough, DGBooks is thrilled to be introducing the Monolulu Cup, a tipster competition named after Prince Monolulu who in his day made John McCririck look like a shrinking violet.

I asked for three horses for Cheltenham, with each way as an option, and decided that a Patent-  the three singles, three doubles and the treble- would be the scoring system in the event of anybody having a winner. It rewards imaginative selections, if and when they are successful.

Cilla

Golden Ace (Tues 4.00) 

Uhavemeinstitches (Thurs 5.20)

Haiti Couleurs (Fri 4.00)

Pop Songs

I Started a Joke (Weds 1.20, or wherever it runs) - the Bee Gees

Ace of Spades (Thurs 4.40) - Motorhead

Wonderwall (Fri 4.40) - Oasis 

if any of the above are non-runners, then,

Macho Man (Tues 1.20)  - The Village People

The Professor

Supremely West (Thurs 4.40)

L'Eau Du Sud (Weds 4.00)

A Pai De Nom (Fri 5.20)

 

Racetrack Wiseguy

 

Old Park Star (Tues 1.20)  

Lulamba (Tues 2.00)

Kabral du Mathan (Thurs 3.20) 

 

English Piano Trio in Chichester

 English Piano Trio, Chichester Cathedral, March 3

I listen to Schubert more intently since a little while ago hearing myself say to an eminent local musician that I never found him 'down-hearted'. The look of disbelief that that elicited was concerning. Do I even understand the first thing about what I'm hearing or do different people take different things from the same pieces of music.
The Sonatensatz in B-flat major might not provide the ideal test case, though, it having been written when he was 15. In one Allegro movement, it brought the light from the Bishop's Palace garden, where Spring was happening, indoors. The Chichester faithful are by now familiar with the fluency and ease with which Jane Faulkner, Pal Banda and Timothy Ravenscroft combine to make such a consummate sound.
Rachmaninov's Trio élégiaque in G minor was an entirely different thing, beginning mistily before Timothy's cascading piano accompanied the melodic line in the violin and cello. Reaching a climax somewhere near halfway, it recapitulated until drawing to a sombre conclusion. While still identifiably Rach, it didn't quite overflow like the piano sonatas that have recently annexed my turntable in preparation for a big, upcoming date that I felt the need to be ready for.
On a previous visit, Pal had explained how his cello had spent some time at the Esterhazy court and so there's a fair chance it already knew Haydn's Trio in E-flat major, Hob. XV:29 or something like it from long ago. It's not usual to enquire after melancholy in Haydn and the blithe violin-led Allegretto with elaborate piano variations immediately introduced us to the debonair classicism that civilisation once made possible. But he's not simple and needs to direct the Andantino's poignancy towars innocentemente and perhaps the most gorgeous part of a gorgeous programme. The Presto finale came in a florid hurry, which makes one wonder about the etymology of 'flurry'. Timothy had explained that when asked if the piece is hard to play, he says, yes, it is. By way of compensation, it's very easy to listen to.