DAY 39 FRIDAY 30th OCTOBER, HONG KONG

Feeling very achy – I hope my body is not going to rebel now the 40 days is up. Spent the day packing, tying up loose ends and buying my son a camera for his birthday. It might just have been the shops in Kowloon but I didn’t notice it being any cheaper than the UK. Good camera though – ideal for him. You can take a picture and then electronically draw over it or add patterns, symbols, etc…extraordinary what our kids have access to. And then to the airport…one last wait for the plane (taken up, as so often, by writing this blog…). Here, then, are some summary reviews from the past few weeks:


‘IN SEARCH OF BEETHOVEN’ A Phil Grabsky film

“Superb…The film will give those who already know about Beethoven enormous pleasure,
and provide any receptive 12-year-old with an ideal introduction to the man and his music”
The Telegraph (UK)

‘beautifully lensed and intelligently crafted’
Variety (USA)

“TEN OUT OF TEN! The best film I’ve seen about a composer!” The Sun Herald, (Australia)

“A hit...so terrific I wept”
Mail on Sunday (UK)

“Gripping”
Wall Street Journal (Europe)

“Expertise and passion combined......high-class”
New York Times (USA)

‘Sensitive & meticulous’
THE AUSTRALIAN

“One of the finest movies about a great musician I've ever seen”
The Observer (UK)

‘splendid ..a revelation to the uninitiated and a joy to music lovers’
The LA Times (USA)

‘an extraordinary collection of musicians, conductors and musicologists”
Time Out London

“impressive”
Village Voice, New York (USA)

“An endearingly human biography….every bit as wonderful as In Search of Mozart.”
Chicago Tribune (USA)

“Captivating”
Minnesota Public Radio (USA)

“The musical examples are exemplary – including a brilliant 9th Symphony”
Herald Sun (Australia)

“One of the best films I’ve seen about a musician – it gets close to the mystery that is creativity”
Financial Review (Australia)





Let’s hope it gets ‘bums on seats’ otherwise it remains just as hard as ever, maybe even harder, to make another one – and I really do want to make IN SEARCH OF HAYDN now.