I saw the bbc philharmonic perform prokofiev with the leeds philharmonic tonight. being a conductor must be one of the best jobs in the world. It's like being a ships captain in a storm, with the ship being the audience as the conductors tries to subdue this swelling sea of sound, letting it crash onto us then sweeping it back away, totally absorbed in the task and nothing else. They do often have a real 'mad destitute' look about them, you can just imagine them at the helm..

Another great thing about tonight was that leeds town hall is one of those fantastic halls that are more like cathedrals than theatres; the far dome was painted deep blue with stars, and the main chamber was white with cherubs holding up the balconies, angels holding up biblical quotes and an ornate ceiling. It had the same 'heaven on earth' feel as a cathedral does. I'm fascinated by religiously inspired art: cathedrals because people really believed they were building a house for god, an equal of paradise itself, and religious symphonies because the composers were trying to channel the actual voice of god himself. Only absolute perfection was appropriate for such mammoth tasks. This motivation doesnt exist anymore, which is fine and i'm glad no one properly believes in god anymore, but now people are only expressing themselves, not the glory of god (or, rather, the universe, which was what they were really trying to convey but they just didnt know it). And that's a shame. But a lot of things are a shame, it doesn't mean it should be different.

Anyway, this cathedral-like atmosphere and heavenly music was compounded by a dove who sat at the top of one of the arches, its head tilted slightly towards the orchestra, listening intently. The depiction of god on earth has of course always been a dove, so it was quite symbolic. Like we were all in a painting of our own.

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It was also nice going to leeds town hall cos alan bennett often wrote about how important that place was to him and it was interesting to put a face to a name.

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Joe informs me that its impossible to read this blog in China. I'm a real enemy of the state!