1 february, tw3

I do try to avoid laundry lists, but it was an interesting week. Tuesday was holocaust memorial day, and my youngest was home from school with a virus. We listened together to my other half singing live on national radio (27th) with her choir. It went very well indeed, and gave an appropriately wide meaning to the day, which I ended at a private dinner with the chinese consul-general. My brother's wife's grandma is a wonderful woman, and holocaust survivor, who last week was given the freedom of the city of london, and featured in several newspapers. Wednesday, I was down in london, and friday night my other half and I were invited out to listen to the manchester camerata play at the cathedral. I had the honour and great pleasure of a private coffee in the morning with the conductor, gabor takacs-nagy. He is driven, philosophical, obsessive and generally all-round artist. The performance was literally (being in a cathedral) heavenly and took both of us to places music hasn't for quite some time, reminding me of the power of place and live performance that is too easily forgotten. We are now instant fans and will be seeing much more of this exceptional chamber orchestra. It also spurred us to do rather more to introduce the kids to the classics, which we have perhaps neglected a little. I finished the week booking us all into several performances, though I'm not sure any will live up to the soaring heights of the takacs tchaikovsky. The week was rounded off by the valedictory of my constant companion, the economist's editor of nine years, a great condensed read with which I agree wholly, though perhaps am a paranoid pessimist rather than his optimist; but that's for another week.