We had a great two days in Edin-burgh to take in a couple of Festival concerts and to get to know Edinburgh a bit better. We were fortunate to be invited by Comrie friends who also have a flat in Edinburgh to stay the two nights with them. Not only was the accommodation first class, but we got to know Jean and David Anderson better as well. The flat couldn't have been better located; it was an easy walk to and from the Usher Hall, our concert venue.
We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and were met by Jean who showed us around the flat, saw us comfortably settled in our room, gave us a cup of tea, and then took us to the nearby private gardens for a stroll with their dog, Alfredo. From these gardens we could see the Dean Bridge (pictured above) which crosses the Water of Leith and the rooftops of Dean Village on the other side of the water (also pictured above). The bridge is a famous one designed and built by the great British engineer, Thomas Telford, who began life as a poor lad from the Scottish Borders. He left school at age 14 and, according to a recent BBC-TV documentary, taught himself all the science he needed to learn. The practical aspects of engineering he learned through various apprenticeships and jobs he took along the way. Telford (1757-1834) is largely responsible for the Highlands of Scotland being accessible because of his vision of the Caledonian Canal to allow marine travel from the Atlantic coast to the North Sea and, more importantly, his scheme to build roads and bridges to tame the Highland wilderness.
The gardens we walked in are for the benefit of owners of flats in the surrounding area. Each owner has a key to get in and pays a yearly fee for the garden's maintenance. There is an expanse of green lawn in the centre with trees and tables and chairs here and there. Then there is a children's playground, another play area for tots, and barbecue facilities. A path takes you around the perimeter of this centre area and from this path, more rustic paths take you onto the hillside and down to the water on a woodland walk where plantings are less formal but still tended. It was a delightful bit of countryside right on the edge of the busy nation's capital.
We returned to the flat and David soon came in from work. We had a light snack and a glass of wine, changed for the evening's concert, and took off for the Usher Hall. We arrived with enough time to spare so that we could enjoy the outdoor concert provided by a brass quintet from St. Petersburg, Russia, who played lively music impeccably and with brio. Amazingly, just before we went into the Hall, I caught a glimpse of Edinburgh Castle in the moments before sunset. I couldn't resist snapping a photo.
We tho-roughly enjoyed the concert by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons. They played Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Debussy's La mer, and closed with Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5. Don felt the orchestra played the three very different styles of music superbly. The acoustics of the hall, built in the old European style with tiers upon tiers of seats in a round, were so good we could hear every note. Further, each soloist from the orchestra was outstanding. Our seats were in the very top row, an area known in Britain as "the Gods" but we don't believe there is a bad seat in the house. If there is such a thing as a "European sound" to a symphony orchestra, and we believe there is, this performance was a perfect example of it. It may be, in part, a function of the style of hall they perform in, but the sound was very different from the sound of an American orchestra which we are used to (and which we heard the following night).
Afterward the four of us went to a nearby Italian restaurant for a "light supper." We were high on the performance and kept talking about it as we drank red wine and enjoyed our meal. Fortunately, it was a pleasant evening weather-wise and so we were able to walk back to the flat under a full moon, about a 10- to 15-minute walk. We had a nightcap and then retired.
On Wednesday, David was away to work bright and early. We had a leisurely start to the day and chatted with Jean over morning tea before getting ourselves out the door for some sightseeing. We don't know Edinburgh very well, but have decided that getting to know one area at a time seems a good approach and very do-able. We concentrated on the area around Dean Village, beginning with a walk along the Water of Leith.
We came out near the Dean Gallery which was featuring a Picasso on Paper exhibit. We must admit that rather than take in that particular show, we spent out time looking at part of the permanent collection of Surrealist art which was fascinating. 
We had "elevenses" in the Dean Gallery coffee shop and then moved on to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art across the road.
This gallery has works by Matisse, Magritte, Miro, and Hockney but feature, in particular, the late Edinburgh-based sculptor Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. There are numerous Paolozzi statues on the grounds of the gallery as well as a few by Henry Moore. In front of the building is an earth sculpture with water by an artist whose name I must admit I failed to take in, but it provides a beautiful entrance to the Museum.
We spent hours going through gallery after gallery, savoring the works--both old and new--and just soaking in the atmosphere, an experience we haven't had for some time now. The Museum has a cafeteria with both indoor and outdoor dining. We ate outdoors next to a lovely garden with abundant flowers and more Paolozzi sculpture.
After a rest in the afternoon, we headed out for a second concert at the Usher Hall. Jean and David were staying in and so we were on our own. We had booked a table at a French bistro we like for 6 pm, which would give us time to have a nice dinner and get to the theatre in time for perhaps one number by the St. Petersburg brass quintet before going in to the performance. Wednesday night's featured performers were the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas. They performed several short works on the first half of the programme: Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, Seeger's Andante for Strings, and Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine. The closing piece for the first half was Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Yefim Bronfman, soloist. We weren't familiar with the work of Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953) who, coincidentally, studied at the School for Musical Art in Jacksonville, FL, my hometown. She was the second wife of Charles Seeger and step-mother to Pete Seeger.
It was interesting the way the first three pieces were strung together almost as in a suite, and a revelation to realize that themes were repeated in more than one of the pieces even though they were written by different composers at different times. There was a short break while the stage was rearranged for the Prokofiev, which was beautifully performed by orchestra and soloist alike.
The second half of the concert was dedicated to Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1 "Winter Daydreams" which we weren't familiar with. We are probably not alone in this regard among average concert-goers because other works by Tchaikovsky get most of the attention of programmers. The audience was most enthusiastic about this orchestra and their performance and received, for their many ovations, Bernstein's Overture to Candide as an encore.
Again, we walked back to the flat where we joined David and Jean for a nightcap. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to experience the excitement of the Edinburgh International Festival of the Arts, to get to know more of Edinburgh, to prove that we could drive into and out of Edinburgh and not get lost, and especially to get to know Jean and David better. Here are a couple of photos from their flat: Don in the sitting room reading at the front window and the room where we stayed. Aren't they lovely?
Sadly, we learned on Tuesday just before we left Comrie to go to Edinburgh of the death of Nisbet Cunningham, husband of my quilter friend Eleanor and founder of the St. Fillans' Music Society. Nisbet has been unwell for some time and has gradually retreated from his musical and social activities. He will be greatly missed by so many as he was a genial host with a terrific sense of humor. This morning we attended his funeral at the Dundurn Church in St. Fillans to pay our respects.
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