My-Hospitality.com – 11th May, 2010

Britain’s Biggest Celebrities Reveal Their Cumbrian Secrets

By Kat Barns

Personal postcards from top names including Dame Judi Dench, Richard E. Grant, Andrew Flintoff, Jonny Wilkinson, Elaine Paige, Charlie Watts, The Saturdays, Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Tess Daly and Paul O’Grady are to be exhibited in Cumbria this month to mark the county’s progress six months after the November floods.

Almost 100 postcards written by Britain’s biggest celebrities will be showcased at a free ‘Wish You Were Here’ exhibition at Cockermouth Town Hall from the 20th of May to the 2nd of June. The pretty market town of Cockermouth was the main focus of media attention during last year’s unprecedented floods.

Cumbria Tourism launched the Wish You Were Here campaign in the wake of the flooding to communicate that the county is open for business and welcoming visitors. Celebrities were invited to send postcards about why they love Cumbria and their response has been overwhelming.

Actors including this year’s BAFTA winner Carey Mulligan, ‘X-Men’ star Sir Patrick Stewart, ‘Harry Potter’ hero Robbie Coltrane, Bond girl Honor Blackman and ‘Lord of the Rings’ favourite Sir Ian McKellen have sent personal anecdotes and private photographs to help support the campaign and encourage people to visit those places that hold special memories for them.

Television favourites such as ‘Weakest Link’ host Anne Robinson, GMTV’s Ben Shephard, ‘Gavin and Stacey’ star Matt Horne, ‘Ashes to Ashes’ cop Philip Glenister, ‘Royle Family’ funny man Ricky Tomlinson and ‘Bo Selecta’ comedian Leigh Francis have also sent paintings, drawings and messages of support for the county along with sporting legends Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Henry Cooper and Gary Lineker.

Cumbrian home-grown talent including Blue Peter’s Helen Skelton, Hairy Biker Dave Myers, West Bromwich Albion goalie Scott Carson, climbing prodigy Leo Houlding, motorsport boss Malcolm Wilson and England Rugby Union team captain Steve Borthwick have all stepped up for their county and contributed postcards revealing their favourite places in Cumbria.

Ian Stephens, Chief Executive of Cumbria Tourism said:
“The response from these famous people has been incredible, they have gone over and above what we asked of them and it’s been heart warming to hear that so many of these hugely talented people have a genuine fondness for Cumbria. We can’t wait to showcase their messages at our Wish You Were Here Exhibition.

“The county’s recovery from the floods is progressing well. As ever the scenery is spectacular, our welcome is warm and now we almost 100 celebrities singing the praises of our county.

“In the words of Sir Patrick Stewart “Cumbria is a national treasure”. Please come and see it for yourselves.”

Every day from the 12th to the 19th of May a celebrity postcard will be published on the dedicated Wish You Were Here website to celebrate the launch of the exhibition. After the two week run in Cockermouth the exhibition will tour Cumbria throughout the summer. For further information please visit www.wishyouwereherecumbria.co.uk.

“I owe my career break to Cumbria where we filmed “Withnail & I” in 1986 at Wet Sleddale and in Penrith.

“Cheers and ‘Chin Chin’”

Richard E. Grant
Actor, Screenwriter & Director

“I’ve loved the Lake District all my life!!! Such awesome childhood holidays!!

“With love”

Tess Daly
Television Presenter & Model

“When my son Daniel was 18 months old I hiked, with my son on my back around the Langdale Valley and the Langdale Pikes. Now he is 42 and 6ft 4ins and very soon will be carrying me. I’ll suggest we return to Langdale which I loved and will always remember.

“Cumbria is a national treasure.”

Sir Patrick Stewart OBE
Film, Television & Stage Actor

“Whenever I meet new people one of the first things I tell them is where I’m from. I never need to “sell” Cumbria, most people have heard how beautiful it is and they’re not wrong. I don’t think people know what they’re missing. There really isn’t anywhere that compares!”

Helen Skelton
Blue Peter Presenter

“A couple of summers ago I did the coast to coast walk through Cumbria. Doing 6 or 7 miles of foot slogging before picking the most beautiful vantage point to sit and have my pack-lunch was a truly special experience.”

Frank Skinner
Comedian & Writer

“I learnt to row a boat in Grasmere as a little girl with my family.

“I’ve had so many lovely times in the Lakes since – and I always want to go back.

“How lucky you are!”

Dame Judi Dench CH, DBE, FRSA
Film, Stage & Television Actress

SkyArts.co.uk – 30th April, 2010

Why have some pieces of classical music been used time after again in adverts, films opera and dance? What is it about their melody, orchestration, instruments or interpretation that provide power or a particular emotion?

Inviting viewers to approach classical music with a fresh pair of ears, actor, screenwriter and director Richard E Grant discusses familiar, popular and iconic pieces of classical music on Sky Arts 2 HD.

Over the course of his 30-part series, he delves into the mystery and magic of The Nutcracker, Mozart’s Piano Concerto 21, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto, Barber’s Adagio and Strauss’s Zarathustra.

Here’s what’s coming up on this series of Richard’s top-list of the worlds greatest music:

Episode 1

Richard starts the series with three great performances that have a royal flavour and a dash of patriotic fervour: Handel’s Water Music, Jean Sibelius’ Karelia Suite in three movements and Sir Edward Elgar’s Land Of Hope And Glory.

King George 1 asked Handel to compose a new work for a special Summer concert to be held on the River Thames – the result was his famous Water Music. Essential Classics shows the performance of two movements from the second suite of Handels’ Water Music conducted by Sir Roger Norrington with the Orchestra of the Age Of Enlightenment.

Jean Sibelius is without doubt the greatest composer Finland has ever produced. The Karelia Suite is a cry for Finnish independence – and the opening movement is one of the best known in modern classical music.

The finale of this first episode is Elgar’s Land Of Hope And Glory recorded during the Last Night of the Proms at the Albert Hall in 1996 with a roaring encore!

Episode 2

Essential Classics looks at exotic and tempestuous dance with a sumptuous performance by the modern classical tango Astor Piazzolla. The Argentinian composer became known for playing the Bandoneon, a type of concertina with an essential role in the Tango Orchestra in Uruguay and Argentina. Richard E Grant introduces a piece by Piazzolla called Milonga Del Angel, featuring Bandoneon, Guitar, Piano, Cello and Violoncello.

Grant also features the ever-popular Bolero by Ravel. Originally composed for a ballet, the Bolero is almost always performed as a stand alone orchestral piece.

Despite dismissing his own work, describing the Bolero as a “a masterpiece- without any music in it,”, it become one of the best known pieces of classical music. When listening to this extraordinary performance imagine gliding on ice – it was used by Ice Skaters Torvill And Dean in their 1984 triumph at the Winter Olympics.

Episode 3

Grant shares two great pieces of classical music that have been famously used again and again on the big screen: Johan Strauss 11’s The Blue Danube and Bach’s Toccata and Fuge in D Minor.

Do you remember the space station in Kubrick’s 2001: a Space Odyssey as it majestically orbits earth in a dazzling celestial waltz? The atmospheric soundtrack was Johan Strauss 11’s The Blue Danube, composed in 1866 and performed on Essential Classics by the BBC Northern Orchestra.

If have ever watched Hammer Horror films with an archetypal ‘scary organ’ theme, then the chances are that Bach’s Toccata and Fuge in D Minor is what you are hearing. Essential Classics shows a performance of Bach’s dramatic music, which has also been used in a range of films from Schindler’s List to Trainspotting.

Episode 4

Music from two of the worlds most performed symphonies from the 19th century: Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and Antonin Dvorak’s New World Symphony.

Beethoven’s famous 5th symphony was written in 1807 and 1808 after an intense period in his life while living in Vienna. The composer was in the midst of a passionate relationship with a young widow called Josephine and was also coming to terms with his worsening deafness. Despite adversity, Beethoven produced some monumental works in these turbulent years.

The Antonin Dvorak’s New World Symphony was composed in 1893 and is said to be performed more than any symphony by any other composer, including Beethoven. Grant introduces a 1984 performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Episode 5

An episode where you can hear a complete performance of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, inspired by the famous bard Shakespeare.

Tchaikovsky’s first version of Romeo and Juliet was completed in 1869. Since then the overture’s famous love theme has been used in many TV shows and films. The performance introduced by Grant is from the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Britten at the 21st Aldeburgh Festival.

Episode 6

Two quintessentially English composers are featured: Benjamin Britten and Sir Edward Elgar.

The episode begins with a complete performance of Benjamin Britten’s 4 Sea Interludes from the Royal Albert Hall. Britten’s music describes the changing mood of the sea, from calm to chaos, and in turn reflects the turbulent and tortured mind of Peter Grimes; a fisherman accused of murdering his apprentice.

The final performance featured in Richard E Grant’s Essential Classics is Enigma Variations, written in 1899 by Sir Edward Elgar. The core of the Elgar’s 14 Variations – an impassioned adagio – never fails to stir emotions and is played every year at the Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Day.

Episode 7

Richard reveals Mars The Bringer Of War from Holst’s The Planets Suite as one of his essential classics, along with The Lark Ascending by composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Episode 8

Richard E Grant devotes the whole programme to Mussorgsky’s piano suite – Pictures at An Exhibition. The Russian composer wrote the piano suite in June 1874 and it has since become one of the mainstays of the classical repertoire with an opening theme you’ll find familiar.

Mussorgsky’s original piano composition was orchestrated by French composer Maurice Ravels. Grant introduces a performance of Ravel’s orchestral version, beginning at the famous Great Gate Of Kiev – probably the best known movement of the whole suite.

Episode 9

Featuring Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

Episode 10

A performance from one of the most powerful and famous war symphonies ever written: Shoshtakovich’s Leningrad Symphony.

Composed and performed during the Second World War in the midst of the two-year siege of Leningrad, it is said to perfectly capture the terror of a city under siege and set the tone and feel for all war music to come. Shoshtakovich’s score was about unstoppable momentum, slavery and spiritual exhaustion. Essential Classics plays one of the four movements; a section of the mesmerising invasion march, a clattering score that repeats and builds incessantly.

Episode 11

Richard introduces Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

Episode 12

Stravinsky’s Rites Of Spring has become one of the great masterpieces of the 20th century, Richard introduces a performance from 2004 conducted by Valery Gergiev.

The second piece of dance music could not be more different; The Underworld by Jacques Offenbach. Composed in 1858, The Underworld features the wildly intoxicating Can-Can in Act 4, when the Gods on Mount Olympus decide to dance together.

Episode 13

Richard shares his love of Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre and introduces Concerto De Aranjuez, possibly Rodrigo’s best-known work. Also featured is Gustav Mahler’s 5th Adagietto.

Episode 14

Piano Concertos from Mozart and Rachmaninov.

Episode 15

Richard highlights La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin (Girl With The Flaxen Hair) by French composer Achille-Claude Debussy, and introduces a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5.

April 7 2010

Richard fronts the television special History of Safari as part of BBC Four’s Wonderful Africa Season. In the one – off documentary Richard explores the controversial history of Africa from trophy hunting to tourism as he travels through Kenya. The 90 minute show is scheduled to broadcast on April 26.

SueW.

Richard’s appearance on The TV Book Club, 7th March, 2010, where George Pelecanos’s “The Way Home” is reviewed. With Jo Brand, Gok Wan, Laila Rouass, Dave Spikey and Nathaniel Parker.

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NOTE: Cosi has now been renamed “First Night”. You can watch the trailer for First Night here.