Brava Perkins

As I confessed on Charon’s blog, I have a) been hooked by Maestro – the sleb to conductor show and b) a log-standing soft spot for Sue Perkins, reality show strumpet though she may be.

But, bias aside, she was a worthy winner in the final tonight (Yay Sue). Her version of the 1st Movement of Beethoven’s 5th was actually excellent, let alone for an amateur newbie. Goldie’s version reached for power and affect and at times, got there. But Sue’s performance had controlled power, elegance and above all, it danced with precise life.

I have a fair few versions of the Fifth (and the other 8). Of all those, I’d actually say Sue’s was actually closest to a Roger Norrington period version, in tempo, vivacity and (relative) subtlety, and I’d have loved to hear his comments. But it was not to be.

The whole thing has left me with the unfulfillable ambition (not even being able to read music any longer) to stand in front of an orchestra and bring the music to life. It is one of the most elaborate and therefore rich forms of collaboration and, at its best, creative trust and understanding that our culture has to offer.

But then the Maestro prize was to conduct at the Daily Mail fest that is the last night of the ‘Proms in the Park’, where even the less well known of the Enigma variations count as dangerous elitism. Which is when the dream crashes, screaming through its bloodied hands, into reality.