Musical Soirée

To G and P's for a music evening al fresco, except that the heavens decided to gush so we were denied the open-air buffet in their sumptuous grounds and the whole nosh caboosh was moved to the Corfu Palace hotel.

But the music was divine.

The shudderingly beautiful Svetlana Smolina played like an angel:

Extracts from the Nutcracker

Chopin's étude op 25 #11

Ginastera's Arentinian Dance

Maxim Mogilevsky (the guy in white shirt in the pics):

Chopin Nocturne op 3 #9 in Si Maj

Korsakov's Bumble Bee

Stravinsky's Danse Russe from Petrushka (lovely clanging chords, just what we like out here)

Duet on Samuel Barber's Hesitation Tango from Souvenirs. Hugely enjoyed.

Singer Marina Theodoropoulo on a selection of Greek songs never before performed in public. Marina is the one in black and white top around the piano; gorgeous lady, studied at York University and sang with Emma Kirkby for whom I actually plunked a few chords at party given by Alisdair Clayre.

As I say, we were meant to have ended the evening dining in the grounds but it rained so hard that the whole lot was whisked off to a hotel where we scoffed in splendour and then gathered round the piano for songs and hugs and friendship.

I have no idea who the lady at the joanna is but she rocked.

I should be tastefully embedding the pics in with this report but I prefer to leave them to be scrolled down and enjoyed full size.

Gorgeous house; everyone in their finest finery except for the host who was in plain white shirt; everyone utterly relaxed and unphoney.

Speaking of white shirted host, when we arrived I couldn't make out who he was, what with my mama embracing all and sundry and introducing me in fluent Greek which led them to believe me equally au courant. Anyway, this unassuming bloke asked me what I was drinking, I said whiskey and water so off her trotted and I saw him thru the pantry window fixing it for me, pouring a separate jugette of water, adding ice and bringing it to me. Blow me down if it wasn't mein host lui-même, said to be one of the top 10 richest honchos in Europe.

Minions scurrying everywhere and he goes off to fix yours truly a mug of hooch.

Class act