Beautifully Played

The London Philharmonic Orchestra was the very first professional orchestra I heard live, in the year 1947 -- at the Central Hall, Chatham and the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK. Vladimir Jurowski possesses the enthusiasm and expertise of Sir Thomas Beecham, the orchestra's founder, and, from the shoulders downwards, his body movements strongly remind me of that great Russian Nikolai Malko, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting during my early years with EMI Records, when he walked into their offices with his tame monkey perched on his shoulder! These impressions will amuse my friend Edmund Pirouet, who has written a history of the orchestra.