DAY 14 MONDAY 5th OCTOBER, VANCOUVER, CANADA

My brother has come up by bus from Seattle. I don’t see him enough so any chance to hook up is great. And I’ll need his help at the screenings today and tomorrow. We spent some time together today which was great – actually we rushed off for a game of golf. It was gorgeous – with a backdrop of mountains. The standard of our golf wasn’t quite as attractive… Rushed back to downtown Vancouver for a very nerve-wracking moment: an interview with Radio Canada……..in French! Somehow I managed to get through it but I’m not telling you the link to any recording…. I have to say though that I am chuffed to bits to have done it. 6pm and a festival screening of Beethoven. One never knows how many will come so I’m delighted to see an almost full house of 300+. Apart from a problem with their screen, the projection and audio are great and, although I had intended to rush back to the hotel to do emails, once I started watching the film I couldn’t leave. I think it’s the best I’ve seen it – and I really enjoyed it. So did the audience – they had a great time, laughing and some crying at all the right moments. A very warm round of applause at the end and a good Q&A. All a bit hectic afterwards with lots of people wanting to ask questions. After all this mayhem – and meeting some really nice folk (some of whom remembered me from the Mozart screening two years ago) – my brother and I went to dinner with Marc Destrube and his wife Anna. He is one of the musicians from the Orchestra of the 18th Century who feature so prominently in both films. He is in fact often the Concert Master or First Violinist. He – like all the musicians in that wonderful orchestra – is extremely nice and the fact that I have become friends with a good number of the musicians and conductors that I interviewed is a huge bonus and joy to me. I have actually been skiing with Marc and I remember being terrified that he’d fall over and hurt his hands! I had to apologise to Marc after the film – most of the time in the film we only see his fingers….