An international summer Season, from FOGG Fest to the Country Life Fair

One drawback of being in America is how much of the traditional English summer season I miss. The yearly round of garden parties and picnics, Wimbledon, Glorious Goodwood, the CLA Game Fair, Henley Royal Regatta…  Admittedly, I’ve always had to decline invitations to the rowing world’s Mecca because it clashes with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and the lure of a pass into the hallowed Paddock as a production assistant for Hayfisher, who provide the big-screen coverage at the track, always proved irresistible. Silverstone, essentially a field in Northamptonshire, is generally as cold in July as it is when I hunt nearby with the Bicester with Whaddon Chase in January, but, for me, it still heralds the start of the summer social round. Of course, all those will be there in future years. What really hurts is the number of weddings I have missed due to this adventure. Five last year, four this year so far. Sadly, my wish to meet a dashing young chap with a private jet to whisk me home for the odd weekend has yet to be fulfilled…

The view from my old hill on a perfect English summer's day

At Glorious Goodwood with model-turned-jockey Tricia Ronane

Can anything beat summer-evening light? With my father at Croome Court

Quintessentially English: cricket at Parham under the South Downs

Louise, me, Heidi and Miriam at a summer wedding in Devon.

All four hats made by the ever elegant Miriam (right)

of Miriam Robertson Millinery

The entrance to the Formula One Paddock at Silverstone.

I got ridiculously excited every time I swiped my pass to get inside these gates!

But I’m not complaining, because California is not exactly a wasteland when it comes to enjoying the summer. Future events include the glamorous annual horse show at Menlo Park, the even more glamorous Pebble Beach car show at Carmel and the ‘World’s Fastest Rodeo’ in Livermore. Royal Ascot will surely have nothing on a cowboy’s idea of a good day out. There’s even a wedding – in Toronto, as it happens, but at least I’ll get there. In San Francisco itself, there are all kinds of mad events, such as the bonkers Bay to Breakers run last Sunday. Remarkably, it is the oldest consecutively run foot race in the world and still attracts a goodly number of serious runners, but for most people, it is a 12km costume party that spends an awful lot of its time hanging out in the Panhandle drinking thinly disguised cocktails and dancing to pop-up bands. As is typical with these things, lots of local people end the day in high dudgeon and writing disgruntled letters about the mess and debauchery. No doubt it’s not much fun to have your neighbourhood invaded by people whose idea of a run is a stagger, but this is San Francisco, and from what I saw, it’s all good-humoured stuff. Perhaps it might help to encourage revelers to remember it is supposed to be a ‘race’ and to continue on down through the Golden Gate Park to festivities on the beach, allowing the rest of the route to quieten down, but it would be a tremendous shame if this San Francisco institution were to end because a few people go too far with the drinking and not far enough with the running.

'Runners' in the Panhandle

From running to revelling

Giraffes in the city? Why, of course!

A slightly less debauched annual highlight is FOGG Fest, held on Crissy Field on June 19^th. An annual event organized by the Friends of the Golden Gate (FOGG), it promises to be a proper, chilled-out Californian night in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, and I am assured that Karl the Fog usually lets us see the sunset. FOGG supports the Parks Conservancy by raising awareness and support among 21-40-year-olds in the Bay area and runs various events in the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, of which FOGG Fest is the high point. In the spirit of volunteering for a good cause, as so many people do in this essentially philanthropic city, I’ve been helping to drum up ticket sales and donations. The night looks set to be a good one, with a gourmet barbecue, plenty to drink and dancing to a Utah-based Indie-folk band with the fabulously appropriate name The National Parks. Tickets cost $45, and include six months’ membership of the Conservancy and invitations to events such as candlelit tours of Fort Point (definitely on my bucket list). There’s also a silent auction with lots including spa treatments, curling lessons, a visit to Anchor SteamBrewery, tours of Grace Cathedral and lunch at the Mandarin Oriental – all worth a bid. Let’s hope Karl the Fog keeps his promise and lets the sun shine!

Looking down on Crissy Field on the kind of day we don't want!

Sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge. The kind of evening we do want!

Back in England, there is one event I wouldn’t dream of missing – the Country Life Fair. I spent seven memorable years as Deputy Chief Sub-editor of Country Life magazine, that quintessentially British institution chock full of articles on everything from art and architecture to cooking venison, growing snowdrops and finding the perfect beach for rockpooling, not to mention dogs, horses, picturesque cattle and even the odd human. I loved working there and am still proud to be part of the Country Life family. This year, the inaugural Fair will bring it all together in the grounds of Fulham Palace in west London. His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent has just been announced as Royal Patron of the Fair, continuing his interest in wildlife, and befitting a fair whose literary alma mater was guest edited by The Prince of Wales last autumn. On September 27th and 28th, stands from around the UK will celebrate the best of British rural life, from conservation to country sports, horticulture to specialty food and traditional crafts. Companies taking a stand include gunmakers Holland & Holland, sculptor Hamish Mackie, makers of fine neckties Augustus Hare, Bluebell Vineyard, racehorse trainer Kim Bailey, cartoonist Oliver Preston, Bonhams, Knight Frank, sloe gin purveyors SloeMotion, the Really Wild Clothing Co and dozens more. It looks set to be a cracker of a weekend - so buy your tickets now at www.countrylifefair.co.uk. Use promo code OP14 to enter the prize draw for the chance to win some seriously good prizes, from shooting lessons to Hunter wellies, a Fortnum & Mason hamper, Musto clothing, a bronze wren and lots more. See you there! 

The Country Life Fair - bringing the countryside to town

HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Royal Patron of the Country Life Fair

The Country Life stand - visit it at the CLA Game Fair in July

and then come to London in September for all things country life

The jewel in the crown of San Francisco's Classical music scene

Clad in black shirt and trousers, with an enormous grin on his face, NicholasMcGegan bounces onto the stage. Instantly, audience and orchestra alike sit a little straighter in their chairs in anticipation of the magic to come. And magic it is, with Nic like a conjuror on his podium, waving his arms like wands as he coaxes and exhorts his players to greater heights, seemingly in touch with each individual instrument, from giant bass to tiny piccolo. His energy never wavers, nor does his joy in his work, and he infects the entire concert hall with delight.

Nicholas McGegan working his magic

Such is the scene at every concert of the San Francisco Philarmonia Baroque Orchestra, and this world-renowned British conductor casts the same spell with every orchestra he stands before, from the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra to the New York Philharmonic and the Northern Sinfonia. He first came to my notice when my parents saw him conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the UK in spring 2013, and were captivated by his irrepressible cheerfulness. An Englishman by birth and educated at Cambridge and Oxford, Nicholas McGegan was awarded the OBE in 2010 and has won acclaim around the world for a career that has included 20 years as Artistic Director of the International Handel Festival in Goettingen and performances with most of the world's principal orchestras. I could go on! His reputation, and my parents' recommendation, meant that attending a Philharmonia concert was on my San Francisco bucket list before I even arrived, so I am thrilled to have been able to see two of the highlights of the 2013/2014 season. 

Philharmonia treats

First was an evening of C. P. E. Bach and Haydn. The highlight was Bach’s Concerto for Fortepiano and Harpischord in E-flat, with the soloist of the earlier B-minor Keyboard Concerto, Robert Levin, being joined by his elegant wife, Ya-Fei Chuang. It was playful and lively, with delightful exchanges between the two keyboard instruments complemented by sensitive playing by the orchestra. Some concerts just make you smile, and this was no exception. The second evening was more dramatic, and involved the Philarmonia Chorale alongside the orchestra in Vivaldi’s spectacular Juditha Triumphans. On a glorious April evening, concertgoers gathered at the noble First Congregational Church in Berkeley for a performance that encompassed vanity, lust, love, murder and, of course, triumph. The action begins with the Assyrian general Holofernes rejoicing over his great victory, before Judith of Bethulia enters to, apparently, beg him to deal mercifully with her people. Giving way to his lust for her, Holofernes declares his love, eventually relaxing his guard enough to drink his fill and collapse in a stupor, allowing Judith to strike off his head with his own sword and with it win victory for the Bethulians. Caravaggio’s painting of the murder, Judith Beheading Holofernes, adorned the programme, its intense chiaroscuro and muscular figures, the blood of the general echoed by scarlet drapery, forming the perfect match for the power of the music. It was stirring stuff, especially when the chorus reached the climax in praise of ‘fair and invincible Juditha… the glorious model of true virtue’.

The Philharmonia Chorale in fine voice

Remarkably, this first Philharmonia oratorio featured an all-female cast of soloists, among whom mezzo-soprano Diana Moore stood out as Holofernes. A glance at the programme revealed her to be an Englishwoman, born in Suffolk, whose career has included engagements with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. As such, she is the perfect complement to Nicholas McGegan, her fellow countryman, and they were superbly supported by soloists from America, the Netherlands and Canada. It is a sign of how small and inclusive our world has become that we should have been sitting in California listening to an Italian Baroque oratorio performed by musicians from all over the world. A triumph indeed.

The instruments themselves are as 

worthy of praise as the people who play them

No less remarkable is the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra itself. Founded by early music pioneer Laurette Goldberg in 1981, the orchestra has won international acclaim under the directorship of Nicholas McGegan. In 2005, the Philharmonia performed at the BBC Proms and at Snape Maltings in Suffolk, and it was named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America in 2004. In 2011, it launched its own recording label, Philharmonia Baroque Productions, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance. But it is not only for its musical accomplishment that this orchestra is remarkable. Each instrument is historically accurate, being either a genuine antique or a replica of one, and the dates of some are astonishing. Among the violins was one made by Andrea Guarneri of Cremona in 1660 and another created by Richard Duke of London in 1762. One of the ’cellos was made in northern Italy in 1680, a viola da gamba was made by Louis Guersan in Paris in 1754 and a viola was crafted by William Old in Falmouth, England, in 1895. Replicas include a trumpet after one dating from 1746 and an oboe after one made by T. Stanesby in England in about 1700. Two instruments were notable for their rarity: the chalumeau, a type of clarinet, and the theorbo, a kind of lute. The double bass, played by principal bassist Kristin Zoernig, has a particularly fascinating story – since being made by Joseph Wrent of Rotterdam, Holland, in 1648, it journeyed to America and was owned by a close friend of Abraham Lincoln in the mid 1800s. He played in the Ford Theater Orchestra, which means the very double bass now playing in San Francisco probably witnessed not only many of Lincoln’s speeches, but also his assassination. How extraordinary to think of all the threads of history and international travel brought together by this one orchestra!  

Nicholas McGegan and the San Francisco Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

at the SF Jazz Center

Photo credits: Suzanne Karp Photography and Jeff Phillips