‘The day the music died…’ or did it?

Well, I truly don’t believe it did. Judging by the volume of audiences at the concerts I’ve recently attended, I’d say music is very much alive. I think Don McLean got it wrong when he sang ‘American Pie’. I think he was ill informed.

Let’s take my visit to Glyndebourne in August, for instance. As part of my Silver Wedding Anniversary celebrations we booked to see ‘Love and other Demons’ a new opera adapted from the Gabriel Garcia Marquez novella. Very dark, very deep, very mind provoking and very packed out. Ok, it was a new opera, ok, it was conducted by Vladimir Jurowski (acquaintances are beginning to think I’m a groupie – I think they may be right, but don’t tell my husband). However, it did have a rather ‘arty’ feel to it and such operas are not everybody’s cup tea and yet Glyndebourne was full to capacity.

Then there was the last night of Brighton’s World Sacred Music Festival last Sunday night. Mor Kabasi – WOW! No wonder there were ‘SOLD OUT’ signs all over the windows of the Sallis Benney theatre on Sunday night. She was a knock-out. Israeli born of Moroccan and Persian parentage, singing in Ladino – a language made up of Old Spanish, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Turkish and Greek and spoken by the Jews of Spain, Portugal and North Africa. Her voice was so beautiful, her musicians world class and her music full of Spanish, Arabic and rock influences with strong flamenco rhythms. At one point she and her band left the stage to set up at audience level with Mor Kabasi singing as she walked up the centre aisle. The audience were spell bound. The theatre was full.

And that brings me to last Wednesday night. A piano recital at Brighton College. A mix of Bach and Shostokovich as well as a selection from Gershwin. And you guessed it - almost full to capacity – and in the middle of the week too.

So, what can I say? The music certainly hasn’t died. In fact, it’s very much alive in Brighton during the winter as well as the summer. Anyone that says we’re just a summer city has got it totally wrong. As the brochure says ‘Our city isn’t just for the summer’. There’s just so much to do here and people do it!

Hilary