It is now August bank holiday now August bank holiday 2018 and little progress has been made on my story. However 1972 was an amazing year visiting Israel, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Bayreuth for the Ring, Munich, Copenhagen to stay with Knud and Myrli, 3 weeks at the Edinburgh festival £50 for all the main events! York to Nellie's, Norwich to see the Clarkes and finally London. The time in York was a chance to sort out my papers and films. I kept my promise of writing home once a week and sent cassette tapes as well.
In Bursa we arrived on the student tour in the bus and went straight to a mosque. My shorts caused much consternation and I as given a long skirt to wear. When I went in the souk people just laughed at me so I went back to the bus. Later I went to great trouble to buy towels and get them posted using some French. Alas the blue colour ran! The Istanbul leather coats got to Mum and Ann and mine reached York but was in fact far too thick and hot to wear! I thought UK was going to be cold. It was but since has warmed up a lot. The student tour of Greece was brilliant. In Paestum my beard led the guy on the gate to call me Jesu Christo! I loved all the art galleries, the operas (Verona, Bayreuth very hot, Munich, Copenhagen). Played the organ at Anglican churches everywhere and warmly welcomed. Evensong at Lake Como and up early for the sunrise. Same day returned to Florence to hear the St Matthew Passion for the first time live - Kurt Equiluz - I was exhausted! Photo with Gwyneth Jones at Bayreuth - she was lovely. Edinburgh was mind blowing and I met Fran Tew there. Concert a.m. play then high tea, concert or opera in the evening including Janet Baker in The Trojans. King's singers. Kollo, Ludwig, Berlin philharmonic, von Karajan. With the rashness of youth I recorded disappointment said it was too fast! Maurice was obsessed with the length of recordings! Das Lied von der Erde is of course a very difficult work and having been raised on recordings inevitably performance could not be the same . To York to sort out films and papers.
The encounter with the Clarkes in Norwich organised by LouieWarnes was odd as I did not know them. 5 cousins. Aunt Gladys and Harold Clarke with an e. He was a bank manager. You must realise that everything in SA had been on records. We had no TV and the orchestra were rubbish. I knew a huge amount of music from scores and recordings and radio but was really starved of culture. The art gallery was small and had little of significance. Again I had studied History of Art for 3 years and had my little notebook. I was so keen to see everything!! Who can forget weeks in Florence and Venice and Rome. In Naples the Anglican chaplain invited me to stay as long as I played the following Sunday and he took me to the opera - he retired to Ripon and remembered me!
