On Sunday to Glenurquhart Hall for a 4.00 concert by an American Baroque Trio, Au Courant--violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord.  This entailed a drive over the 'back road' via Kiltarlity to Drumnadrochit, which always seems to expose you to the worst of whatever weather is going, in this case a howling gale and broken branches scattered across the road.  It always adds a certain piquancy to attending any event in Glenurquhart!

The audience in the Hall was small but, as they say, made up for their numbers with their enthusiasm.  The three players introduced the music and their instruments with a nice informality, and they played like angels.  It's a pity all those fiddlers who had just spent the week  up the road at Blazin' in Beauly hadn't stayed on to experience some of the finest 'fiddling' I've heard in a long time.  There are quite a few big names in the 'period instrument' world who don't play as accurately or as sweetly as Evan Few, or with as much fire!

At the interval the redoubtable Jennie Macfie and her colleagues served afternoon tea--home-made pancakes (or should that be 'drop scones'?) with jam, cake, biscuits--and cucumber sandwiches without the crusts. Add to this the privilege of hearing such fine musicians in such close proximity, and in an acoustic which is ideal for this kind of music, and you have a pretty special experience.

Ok, the numbers weren't great, but I can't help feeling nonetheless that this is the way we need to go with our approach to programming live events: put them on at a time when people feel like going out (so much better than a Sunday evening with work the next day!), in a venue suited to the music, with performers happy to engage the audience, and with that 'extra something' (the cucumber sandwiches) to add the finishing touch.