The two Tchaikovsky pieces will not, in fact, be on our programme for Canada Day. The soloist has been grounded by his doctors until an emergency triple bypass has been performed.

So, y’know, if you were fortunate enough to hear him do a lovely job on the Beethoven violin concerto a year or so back with us (or even if you didn’t), keep him in your thoughts, please.

We will be presenting the Water Music suite we played at our last concert in lieu of the Tchaikovsky. I will be digging out the mp3s and listening to them in moments. Let’s hope I remember how to do the bourree and the subsequent attacca into the hornpipe between now and the dress rehearsal tomorrow.

EDIT: Er, evidently my brain was flashing back to June 2005 when I had a baby and subsequently missed playing bunch of Tchaikovsky in the 2005 Canada Day concert, including a couple of pieces with violin solo performed by this same soloist. For this concert we’ll be dropping the Tchaikovsky ‘Meditation’ of course, but not the ‘Mozartiana’. The other piece we’ll be dropping is the Kreisler.