Today we had a free morning in Salamanca, and I think the almost universal verdict was that this was one of the most interesting and beautiful cities the RSNO had ever toured to. The funny thing about travelling with 100 curious, like-minded people, is that there is no such thing as a quiet morning by yourself! After catching up with my emails this morning (never forget that while on tour, the Chief Executive still has to continue with all the normal business of running a major cultural organisation!), I walked around the city for an hour or so, and at every major sight I met members of the Orchestra, sometimes in the most surprising places:

One of the joys of Spain is that whenever you get peckish, you simply duck into the nearest bar for a cafe con leche or a beer, and accompany it with a tapas or pincho. This is often ridiculously cheap - as little as €1.50 for a coffee and a pincho. A pincho is a small delicacy on a slice of bread or a skewer, like this combination of anchovy, shrimp, mayonnaise and dill:

And the coffee is always good too. Not long and weak, like a latte, but a strong shot of espresso with a little hot milk. Addictive and reviving! And of course, in whichever small bar in town I entered, I found congregations of RSNO musicians, in this case Bill and Barbara Paterson, Nigel Mason, Bob McIntosh and John Logan:

Then we were off to León, about 3 hours by bus. León is a largely industrial city, whose main distinguishing feature is a magnificent gothic cathedral, revered as one of the finest in the country:

Like so many cities in Spain, it has a brand new hall, architecturally interesting, and in this case lined with dark wood. In fact it was so dark that I couldn't get any kind of photo which remotely reflected its unusual atmosphere.

The remarkable thing about these halls is that even in a small city like León, they have extraordinarily prestigious concert series, totally subsidised by government. A few weeks ago they had the Kronos Quartet, and they have a number of recitals this season from significant artists like Véronique Gens, Monserrat Caballé and the Kuijken Quartet. And this sort of season happens in literally dozens of cities across Spain.

A few thoughts about the programme we are playing this week. Making good programmes is a fascinating process, and in fact an art in itself, and this one really is quite interesting. It is very contrasting - a sombre minor key, northern European first half, followed by an explosive riot of Mediterranean colour in the second. But there's even more at work here than meets the eye. Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture is a work about Scotland by a German; Debussy's Ibéria is a work about Spain by a Frenchman (who only once ventured across the border for an afternoon to see a bullfight in San Sebastián!) and Ravel's La valse is a picture of decadent Vienna distorted through the lens of early 20th century Paris. Three out of four works in this programme are based on cross-cultural references, and indeed it's a nice concept to play a programme like this on a tour, which is all about cultural exchange.

And talking of cultural exchange, we've all noticed a curious phenomenon this week, which is the notable reserve of Spanish audiences. It goes completely against the stereotype of Latin peoples, whom we assume to be extrovert and open. In fact in every venue, from South to North East to West, the audiences here in Spain have been polite and even restrained. There's no doubting the love of music - there is more music in this country than in most countries in Europe - but the audiences don't show their enthusiasm particularly openly. Until, that is, it gets to our second encore, as usual Eightsome Reels, which always provokes cheers and a standing ovation! It never fails to lift the spirits.  

Tomorrow is both the hardest and the most important day of the tour. Travel to Madrid, followed by a mid-afternoon rehearsal at the Auditorio Nacional, followed by the concert at 10.30pm. Yes, you read it correctly - 10.30! On a Saturday night there are two orchestral concerts in Madrid, one at 7.30 and one at 10.30. We are particularly anxious this time, because the 7.30 concert is the Orquesta Nacional playing Mendelssohn's Elijah, and it's pretty hard to se how we can get access to changing rooms, dressing rooms, and the stage in order to effect a 10.30pm kick off of our concert. But they insist it can be done, so we shall see. Stay tuned for the next installment!

Simon Woods
Chief Executive

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