Kenwood House, London. An imposing stately home, built in the late 17th century, occupying the north edge of Hampstead Health.
What a joy it is in the spring and summer to sit on red and white striped deckchairs (as if on the beach) or in the cheap seats – the grass – with a picnic blanket spread out around your feet, waiting for an open-air concert to begin…
I may have been in the audience of the following show! I remember an afternoon at Kenwood, watching the Canadian Singer-Songwriter Rufus Wainwright perform two of my favourite songs – both intimately linked to England:
‘A Foggy Day (In London Town)’ recalls a romantic London of foggy streets and chance encounters. In 1937 (when the song was written) pollution meant people did seem to appear and disappear in the streets as if by magic.
‘If Love Were All’ is written by the great Noel Coward – playwright and wit. The mask of humour is dropped here and the sudden almost confessional candour of the lyrics allows the listener to get closer to the sadness of the real man. ‘The most I’ve had is just a talent to amuse’ – a heartbreaking line that is disproved by the profound beauty of this masterly song.
