Our second concert, consisting of three Miniatures by Frank Bridge, a Honneger flute piece, the Rachmaninov Vocalise and the Bach B minor Flute Suite, is far easier than the first. This is partly because there are a lot of children, and Felix evidently feels more comfortable in introducing the concert to them; I'm delighted because the Allegri Quartet manages to get over to the Dome after their concert in the Pittville Pump Room, and seeing Bruno [Schrecker, the quartet's cellist] makes me want him to be impressed with everything. The Bridge Miniatures, rescued from obscurity by Felix who played them in the hotel lobby in Chicago, score quite a success with the audience and it's obvious that we need more such light-hearted pieces to set the tone of some of the concerts. Michael charmingly introduces his Honneger piece: 'This is called Danse de la Chèvre, which means...what does it mean, Sue?' which he then plays with his usual absorption, and Robin plays his Rachmaninov Vocalise on the viola, which causes several people in the audience to decide to learn it, as they afterwards reveal. But Robin is unhappy with his performance; it's a long time since he did any solo playing in concerts, and he say he felt the bell-jar descending, cutting him off in a private anguish which runs counter to all that he wants to feel in a Dome concert. This feeling, which he explains later, leads to an interesting discussion about musical concentration, a topic near to Dickie's heart at the moment as he explores various ways of creating it in his practising. The Bach Flute Suite, which gave so much trouble in rehearsal and seemed to elude firm decisions about its direction and mood, is very warmly received by the audience, who, having been entertained for half an hour, are willing to concentrate on a more serious piece at the end of the programme. After this, most of the audience stays behind, and in the course of chatting to some of them, it becomes more and more clear that this part of the concert - the mutual feedback - is going to be one of the most rewarding parts of the project, and even addictive. << less