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Before you ask I wasn't at Tatton Park trying to flog my harp.... My little stint on BBC Flog It which I did in May has finally aired on TV. I played for 20 minutes in total, and 20 seconds was aired! I love the unsubtle edit the BBC has done and must remember to do that next time I play the Dussek Sonata. The highlight of August for me, was playing my tiny lever harp at a family wedding on the wonderful Isle of Iona - part of the Inner Hebrides.  Getting there was quite a journey! Long drive to Oban, than a ferry to the Isle of Mull. There are no visitors cars allowed on Iona, so you have to leave your car on Mull, and carry your luggage onto a smaller ferry over to Iona - hence the lever harp, and handy rucksack case for my Camac!  The wedding was in the historic Abbey on the island....  which you can also just make out in the picture below from the boat. (The only large structure on the centre right of the picture). Total population of Iona is 130 - info here  We made a family holiday out of the week, and had a lovely break on Mull and Iona. A truly wonderful place and we will certainly be going back there. The weather was fantastic, the air was pure and because there are no street lights, the most amazing night sky. It's an hour by boat from Iona to the Isle of Staffa, and of course Fingal's Cave. It was worth the effort to see why Mendlessohn was so taken with it - it's an incredible place. photo inside Fingal's cave - which was a bit of a slightly daunting trek across the basalt rocks!  as you have never heard it before!!! On googling Mario Lorenzi I came across this astonishing bit of footage (1:48) from 1947 of his playing of Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers. He makes the chromatic sections sound complete effortless!  It's a British Pathe film and the sound doesn't always sync with the recording, the close up of pedal work is quite funny considering the speed his feet must have been going at. However the sound recording is very good. All that sound from an Erard.  Mario Lorenzi (1894–1967)
Harp weekend coming up next weekend in the fabulous Salts Mill in Saltaire. Organised by the Early Music Shop and Camac, it features a weekend of workshops and recitals by Sarah Deere-Jones and Louise Thomson. (click on images for to view in detail)   |