March 11, 2019

Kecskemét, Hungary

Greetings from Kecskemét in beautiful Hungary, where we've come for the first time in the group's history!

I had a lovely weekend, catching up with some old friends from university (I enjoyed cooking up a little feast for them on Friday night), watching the rugby game between England and Italy at Twickenham stadium, and then having lunch with Ellie's godparents in a very pretty corner of Surrey on Sunday. Her godfather took me for a drive in their very fancy (and fast) car, which made me feel like an excited little child! Last night we flew over to Budapest, and then drove here to Kecskemét.

It's the birth-town of Zoltan Kodaly - one of the most famous and wonderful Hungarian composers - so in tonight's concert it was a particular pleasure to sing his song 'Esti Dal'; it's always a popular piece here in Hungary, but particularly special to sing it in the composer's hometown to a very appreciative audience.

This morning we had a good meeting over (very nice) coffee in a tiny little coffee shop in central Kecskemét, where we discussed some upcoming programmes and travel arrangements for forthcoming tours. Tomorrow we'll be flying down to Paris where we have a concert in the lovely Salle Gaveau concert hall on Wednesday.