30 October - Nicola Benedetti

Erika and I went to an amazing performance of Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto last Friday in Basingstoke. The soloist was Nicola Beneditti. What passionate, rich, and beautiful Tchaikovsky it was - she must have played this concerto many times before, yet she put all her soul into every detail, and you could really feel it. The minute she started her solo part leading into the main theme of the first movement, I knew that it was going to be amazing. I felt the sensation that she was about to shake the whole concert hall. Sure enough, the audience couldn't stop applauding when the first movement was finished - a rare event. The whole concerto was just incredible, but I must say my favourite was the first half of the first movement. The lyrical main theme was introduced by the violin, passed onto the orchestra, and when it returned to the violin in a more dynamic form, it took my breath away. We were sitting right in the middle of the front row, so watching Nicola from there was like receiving an excellent violin lesson! She demonstrated so many bow movements, producing dynamic and diverse sounds - beautiful straight bow movements, large bow movements for powerful sounds, small ones for soft sounds, for staccatos her bow bounced and danced on the strings, movements that only use tip or bottom part of the bow, etc., etc.

We thoroughly enjoyed the concert.  You probably know that driving to Basingstoke from Woking is quite simple, but it was a bit of a hassle as I managed to take a wrong exit out of a round-about when I was supposed to get onto the M3.  It was dark and rainy!  But when I saw tears in Erika's eyes in the middle of the first movement - it was all worth it!

We went to back stage to greet Nicola during the interval.  For the concert, she had worn a beautiful white dress with gold embroidery in which she looked stunning, but by the time we saw her she had changed quickly into her casual clothes, with bare feet!  Erika got her autograph (which says, "Keep practicing!"), and she posed for a couple of photos.  The whole evening was so enjoyable, thanks Nicky!

On the way back home, I asked Erika what she thought made Nicola different from any other violinists.  She thought for a while and said, "I don't know Mummy, but she just blows your ears away".  You're quite right, Erika.