Toucan Play...

The concert last night evolved in a rather extraordinary way for two musicians from Huddersfield.
They actually first met in Lima airport, Peru!
Robin spotted Simeon, submerged beneath a pile of flute cases, and likewise, Simeon rightly surmised, with incredible deductive powers, that Robin was also a musician, as he was sitting with his guitar flight case.
The two struck up a conversation and found they were destined for the same place.

Here they are, later in the trip when they were in Costa Rica:



Last night the venue was full, with some members of the audience travelling quite large distances, as they had previously seen the pair play when in South America.


The programme was eclectic, with Simeon playing a wide variety of flutes and pan pipes in a combination of duets and solo performances.

Programme:

Entracte - Jacques Ibert Robin Hill/Simeon Wood

Fairie Queen - Trad. Robin Hill/Simeon Wood

She Moved Through the Fair - Trad. Robin Hill/Simeon Wood

Malaguena - Trad. Robin Hill

Un Dia de Noviembre - Leo Brouwer Robin Hill

Tango En Skai - Roland Dyens Robin Hill

Gabriel's Oboe Theme - Ennio Morricone Simeon Wood

Devotion - Simeon Wood Simeon Wood

Concerto in D - Vivaldi Robin Hill/Simeon Wood


INTERVAL

Sonata in D - Christian Gottlieb Scheidler Robin Hill/Simeon Wood

Grasping the Thistle - Simeon Wood Simeon Wood

Adagio: Concierto de Aranjuez - Rodrigo Robin Hill

Rakes of Kildare - Trad. Robin Hill/Simeon Wood

Danza Brasileira - Robin Hill Robin Hill


ENCORE

Improvisation - Robin Hill & Simeon Wood (Chinese Flute)

The concert was a great success and both musicians look forward to playing together in the near future.

Concert in Mugdock

Mugdock Country Park was the beautiful setting for a highly successful concert last night.
As predicted, the venue was sold out well in advance, which always bodes well for an appreciative audience.
Robin wasn't disappointed.

It was one of those nights when all factors seemed to fall into place.
Not just musically with a lovely programme including pieces by, Tarrega, Sor, Brouwer, Dyens, Albeniz and Sabicas. Not to mention some of Robin's own compositions, one being 'Return to Islay', which he composed after being inspired by the beautiful island of Islay on a previous Scottish tour.

This piece he dedicated to the memory of an old friend, and previous manager, Dave Barnes, who had first introduced Robin to Mugdock, and seen him perform there many times.
Some of his family and friends were present and a few tears were shed during this tranquil and evocative piece.

But equally as important as the music are the spoken introductions.
It's vital that any artist engages with their audience to create a wonderful and entertaining evening.
As I have said previously here on the blog, luckily for Robin, he is quite at ease with this aspect of his performance.
That isn't to say he doesn't invest a lot of time and energy researching the pieces he is playing, and deciding the points of interest which may just add that little bit more to the audiences enjoyment.
Alongside short discussions about the techniques employed in certain pieces this makes for interesting listening for guitarists and non-guitarists alike.

There was one difficult moment for Robin, right at the beginning of the concert, in the first piece, Malaguena.
Part way through his false thumb nail flew off.
Regular readers will know this happens from time to time.
On this occasion he was able to complete the piece and the offending nail was pointed out to him by some of the more observant members of the audience.
He retrieved it and re glued it into position all whilst introducing the next piece.

Many of the audience spoke to him after the concert which is always a nice way to receive feedback.
Then it was back to the hotel before a quick dash to a local pub to partake in a little post concert relaxation.

Now he is home but not for long.
Packing is underway for an exciting trip next week.
Although Robin does find it difficult spending such a lot of time away from home, even he is looking forward to this one.
It will be a first for him and you will just have to keep checking in to find out where he is and what he is doing......

Review: Robin Hill & Izzy Cooper

On the 28th August Robin and the soprano Izzy Cooper performed a concert in Spain, 'Viva La Classica'.
I mentioned how it had gone at the time, rather briefly, as I was in the process of retrieving my son before he became stranded, when his Dad flew off to another concert.
You can read the post here.

So I was very pleased, when yesterday I was notified about a review, written by Jack Troughton, in 'Round Town News'.
I was even happier when I read the first line, "The golden blend of Izzy Cooper's powerful voice and the glorious guitar playing of Robin Hill made Viva La Classica an enchanting success."

The programme was a varied one:

Act 1:

Les filles de Cadix - Leo Delibes
Siete Canciones Populares Espanolas - Manuel de Falla
Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 - Heitor Villa-Lobos

Un Dia de Noviembre - Leo Brouwer (solo - Robin Hill)
Recuerdos de la Alhambra - Francisco Tarrega (solo - Robin Hill)
Malaguena - trad arr.Hill (solo - Robin Hill)

En Aranjuez, con tu amor - Joaquin Rodrigo
Granada - Agustin Lara
Tu Quieres Volver - Gypsy Kings


Act 11:

Lascia Ch'io Pianga - George Frederic Handel
Plaisir D'Amour - Jean Paul Martini
Scarborough Fair - Simon and Garfunkel
Fields of Gold - Sting
Ave Maria - Charles Gounod

Tango en Skai - Roland Dyens (solo - Robin Hill)
Cavatina - Stanley Myres (solo - Robin Hill)
Asturias - Isaac Albeniz arr.Hill (solo - Robin Hill)

My love is like a red red rose - Robbie Burns
Somewhere over the rainbow - E Y Harburg & Harold Arlen
O Mio Babbino Caro - Giacomo Puccini
Imagine - John Lennon
Por ti Sere - Brendan Graham & Rolf Lovland


Here's a photo, courtesy of Round Town News, of Robin whilst performing one of the solo pieces.
The more observant amongst you will notice the lack of footstool. He is in fact, on this occasion, using a special cushion, designed to mould to the shape of the leg.



The review itself is a great one.
Izzy is described as a, "star", and Robin, "holds an audience spellbound", and one line I particularly like, " His fingers flew along the guitar's neck like the wings of a hummingbird."
But don't take my word for it. Follow the link and read it for yourself, "One Enchanted Evening".
Both Izzy and Robin are delighted at the reception they received, and have already been taking orders for the album they will be recording together.

My job, to find a time in their busy schedules to make that possible....and soon.

Trieste and the Concert Programme

Crystal Serenity is in Trieste and Robin has had a very quick look around.
Most of the day has been spent in preparation for the concert tonight.
I have just been sent the programme, here it is, so we can all imagine ourselves there, enjoying the music!

Asturias - Isaac Albeniz
Un Dia de Noviembre - Leo Brouwer
Canarios - Gasper Sanz
Mozart Variations - Fernando Sor
Berceuse - Leo Brouwer
Danza del Altiplano - Leo Brouwer
Tango en Skai - Roland Dyens
Jota - Trad.Arr.Hill

The observant amongst you will realise that this programme is about 40 minutes long.
Robin has certainly been away a long time, and travelled to many places, for two 40 minute concerts!
As the day progresses, it is easy for musicians to start to feel the tension mounting, in anticipation of their performance.
Robin has an excellent way of preventing this.
Walking.
He loves walking and makes a brisk walk a part of every day.
Today he was de-stressing with 14 laps of Crystal Serenity. This took him just over an hour, and was a total of 4.172 miles, apparently.
He is now well and truly ready for the concert.

Tuning Trouble, The Wrong Trousers, and MP3 Downloads.

Robin spent some time in Manta, Ecuador, on Sunday, and managed to buy a folding Panama hat, which could prove useful as he's going through the Panama Canal again today.

But yesterday he performed his second concert.
He's been having a few tuning problems on this trip.
It's something to do with the humidity and the extreme heat, especially when under the intense stage lights.
It's easy to lose objectivity when under the pressure of a live performance, so for the concert yesterday he attached a tuner to the neck of the guitar, which reacts to the vibrations, and gives visual cues to support his own judgement.
Adjustments can then quickly be made as he plays.

He was required to do so on a number of occasions, as the guitar strings struggled with the temperature, but fortunately Robin's rather good at minor, and sometimes major retuning.
He can make small adjustments as he's playing, without missing a note, and for more major alterations, he will carry these out as he introduces the next piece, so the natural flow of the concert isn't interrupted.

There was another factor which may have helped with his pre concert relaxation, and one that I've never known Robin do before.
Usually he plays constantly prior to a performance. Either running through the programme or limbering up with right and left hand exercises.
Yesterday he decided to take some time out and unwind.
Guess what he did.

He watched 'Wallace and Gromit in The Wrong Trousers'.



I was quite amused by this. It wasn't that he'd specifically downloaded a copy on his iPod, but son number one had.
It did the trick though, Robin was relaxed, and the audience loved the programme.

Here are some of the pieces he played (not necessarily in the right order):

Asturias - Isaac Albeniz

Canarios - Gaspar Sanz

Mozart Variations

Un Dia de Noviembre & Danza del Altiplano - Leo Brouwer

Tango en Skai - Roland Dyens

Romanza - Trad.

Jota - Trad.

Again, Asturias, Canarios and Romanza can be found on 'Virtuoso', and incidentally, both 'Virtuoso' and 'Eklectica' can now be bought directly as MP3 downloads from CD Baby.

This will include MP3's, JPG of the album art, and a text file of titles, album notes and links to this site.
For the technical amongst you, the MP3's are encoded at top-audiophile-quality, (200kVBR) which is higher than many stores.
Also the files will play on any MP3 player, be it iPod, cellphone, Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia, Windows, Mac etc.

So now there's no excuse, you can listen to Robin's music anytime, anyplace and anywhere!

'Stay' for lunch With The Hollies, Barrios and Dyens...

Robin had a nostalgic moment at lunchtime today.
He suddenly recalled the memory of Saturday afternoons as a child, and one day in particular.
He was a small boy, just home from a shopping spree in his local town, where he had purchased the latest hit single, 'Stay' by 'The Hollies'.
The recollection he had was one of sheer pleasure.
Playing the freshly purchased single over and over again whilst eating spaghetti bolognese, with a feeling of pure happiness!
This was November 1963.
I wish my memory for past events was so clear.
Mind you, I wasn't born then...

I'm also full of admiration for Robin's parents. Not only did they allow the repeated playing of a song whilst they sat down to eat, (his mama and papa didn't mind...), but, they also prepared a main meal in the middle of the day.

I wonder if our two boys will have any similar memories in the future?
If I take this morning as the norm, then they could well be explaining to their children that Saturday morning was swimming, followed by beans on toast, accompanied by 'La Catedral' by Agustin Barrios, or, perhaps, 'Tango en Skai' by Roland Dyens, played by Robin of course.

Concerts, Autographs and Board Dusters

What a refreshing change.
Robin performed a lunchtime concert today, and, was home by mid afternoon.
The venue was full with a very appreciative audience and it was an eventful programme.
Robin introduced Roland Dyens piece, 'Tango en Skai', as, "Composed by a Parisian but very much an Argentinian tango, and if anyone wants to dance, then feel free."
He then went on to perform the piece with such gusto that his false nail flew off.
Robin continued playing, watched where it landed on the stage, and superglued it back in place whilst the applause rang out.

Flying nails aside, Robin had the chance to talk to a few members of the audience after the concert.
He was surprised to see his old geography teacher, and, very amused when he asked Robin to sign a CD.
The teacher obviously had no idea 40 years ago, when he threw a board duster at the unruly schoolboy, Robin, that today he would be asking for his autograph!
At least Robin was able to tell him that his knowledge of geography has been greatly improved with the extensive travelling he has undertaken.

For all of us at Hillhouse, it's certainly a rare treat, to have Robin home the same day as a concert.
It's a sad reflection on Arts funding in the UK that so much of Robin's work is undertaken abroad.

Second Concert Success for Robin Hill

This is Robin, ready with his guitar, about to leave his room and go on stage for the second, and last, concert of this trip on the QM2.



This is Robin just after the performance:



There appears to be a certain amount of relief, and release of tension, in this image.
I can now report that the second concert was as successful as the first. The theatre was full, balconies included, and once again, he received a standing ovation.

Robin was particularly pleased, as he had decided to play two pieces for the first time in concert, which is always a nerve wracking experience. Not only that, but he told the audience during the introductions, which must have cranked up the tension even further.
You can just imagine them waiting for a mistake.
However, there weren't any, the audience loved the pieces, and, in fact, he was told later by one couple, that they were privileged to hear him play.
That's very nice.
The two new pieces were, 'Tango en skai' by Roland Dyens, and 'Un Dia de Noviembre' by Brouwer.

Later that evening, Robin had been invited out to dinner, and by huge coincidence, found himself sitting next to a gentlemen that went to the same school, was one year above Robin, but they had many mutual friends, and knew all the same teachers.
It really is a small world after all.

One thing Robin has enjoyed on this trip, is what he calls, 'sleep utopia'.
You gain one extra hour in bed every day that you are on board.
What he fails to have remembered, is that he's going to lose all those hours, in one huge serotonin rush, tonight, when he flies home.
That, coupled with two small children very keen to see him, and waking early due to the light mornings, could all feel a very long way off soon.

Meanwhile, David Juritz has arrived in France and has a pretty hectic busking schedule around Paris. If you go to 'Round the World and Bach' you will see his itinerary for the day, and also a link to his blog.

From 'Tango en skai' to the 'Enigma Variations'.

I can now reveal to you one of the pieces that Robin started working on yesterday.
It's 'Tango en skai', composed by Roland Dyens in 1978, and published in 1985.
Coincidentally, a comment was left on our YouTube site, by someone calling themselves, 'EnSkai', from Singapore, only yesterday.
I know that Robin has made huge progress with the piece, as he is now playing it right the way through, and, in fact, is doing so from memory.
This I can prove, as I have the music in front of me, in order to read the composer's notes, and Robin, continues to play in the music room.

The piece is a Tango, and as Dyens states, "The tango is a sensual, even erotic dance of the underworld, whose rhythm, by definition, must be constant from the opening harmonic to the final chord".

One criticism Dyen's has of the many performances and recordings that he has heard, is that they are, "dominated by an extremely classical, 'bow tie and tails' approach, accompanied by streams of misplaced rubatos and, all too often, strategically positioned rallentandos".

He helpfully suggests that, "instead of the elegant, manicured approach, it would be more appropriate to lose one's soul in the rough criminal suburbs of Buenos Aires".
Dyens also, generously states, that if some extra, unwritten notes should stray uninvited into this tango, that he would welcome them with open arms.

With all this in mind, Robin picked up his guitar, and set to work.
This type of piece is an excellent example of the benefits of not coming solely from a classical background.
Having played electric guitar for many years, with some incredible bands, and as a well respected session musician, Robin has the advantage of being a very 'loose', and relaxed player.
It's certainly helping him here, especially as it isn't an easy piece to play.
I think it may even find its way onto the next CD if we ever resolve the microphone issue.

For the last in the series of 'Elgar week', Geoffrey Norris examines the mystery of the 'Enigma Variations', with this fascinating article, 'Puzzle or publicity stunt?'
It makes you want to don your deerstalker and try to unravel the mystery...