At last, the Rideau Canal is open for skating (or at least part of it is) and although Chris and I don't skate, we've been on and beside it, watching the skaters glide by last night while walking to the latest of the private concerts at John's house, at which my friend Ralitsa, with Ineke Helby-Simons accompanying her on the piano, performed
Willem De Fesch - Sonatas for violin and piano Nos. IV and V
Beethoven - "Spring" Sonata in F-major
Marius Flothuis - Four Bagatelles
Fritz Kreisler - Liebesfreud, Liebesleid, Schön Romarin
Ralitsa played the de Fesch pieces using a Baroque bow, with a thin, pointed tip; then there was a pause while she went to fetch her other, "Italian" bow for the Beethoven Sonata, by far the most profound and most demanding item on the programme. Sitting on the front row, we had to be sure not to stretch out our feet and trip her up.
This morning we returned in Elva's car to the Somerset Street footbridge over the canal to meet Carol and her parents, on a visit from Toronto, so that Carol's father could skate with her and with Laurie, while Elva, Chris and I walked along the edge of the ice keeping her mother company.
Elva and Laurie (travelling with her) have just come back from a Canadian trade mission to Jamaica and Barbados.
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