Stephen Bell is the Principal Guest Conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
His next three concerts with the orchestra are a Gershwin celebration at the National Concert Hall (27th January), Valentine's special R-E-S-P-E-C-T presented by Louise Duffy (14th February at the NCH and 15th February at the National Opera House, Wexford) and an 80s Big Night Out at the NCH on 5th April and at SETU Arena, Waterford on 6th April. For more details of music and guest artists, go here.
We asked Stephen for his choice cultural picks...
FILM
I've been waiting to fill in this Q&A so I can include Maestro, which I just caught up with a couple of days ago. Bradley Cooper gives the most extraordinary performance as Leonard Bernstein – surely one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century as composer, conductor, pianist and educator. I’m not normally a big fan of biopics, but Cooper’s quote about the whole experience instantly made me want to watch it: "Conducting an orchestra is like riding a stallion. You have to guide it, but also respect the fact that it could kill you in a second!"
MUSIC
I have quite a broad church when it comes to listening to music for pure enjoyment (rather than study or research purposes), so it may come as a surprise that I’ve chosen a jazz pianist from the Dominican Republic. I heard Michel Camilo live at the Blue Note in New York some years ago, alongside great session players including Anthony Jackson on bass and Dave Weckl on drums, and was completely blown away – I still think Why Not? is his best album.
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BOOK
I tend to read just for enjoyment and pure escapism and as a way to switch off, so I’ve gone for Richard Osman’s hugely entertaining book The Thursday Murder Club, which I enjoyed last summer on a family holiday to Greece.
PLAY
We live close to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s headquarters in Stratford-upon-Avon, so I guess I should choose something from our local theatre. Amongst the productions we have recently seen was The Box of Delights – particularly rewarding for me to take our three young daughters to experience the thrill of a live production.
TV
One of my absolute favourites that I still go back to is the wonderful sitcom Fawlty Towers, brilliantly written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, with such great observational humour and characters. Hard to believe there were only ever 12 episodes made, but it is surely one of the best light entertainment TV shows ever produced.
GIG
Bit of a busman’s holiday for me, so I tend not to go and see too many gigs. I do, however, enjoy visits to some of our major music festivals, including The Proms – always a real sense of occasion at the Royal Albert Hall, and I have seen many great artists and orchestras there over the years.
ART
I spend quite a bit of time in my home city of Manchester and there is always something of interest on at the Whitworth Gallery, including a recent in-depth look at contemporary work in an exhibition called The British Art Show. Of particular note was Liquid Landscape, a fascinating multi-sensory installation by Anne Hardy.
RADIO
I tend to spend quite a bit of time travelling alone in the car, so I often find myself listening to speech radio. I particularly enjoy some of LBC’s varied line-up of presenters including the likes of Matt Frei, Nick Abbot, James O’Brien and Nick Ferrari, but it goes without saying, when I’m in Ireland, there is nothing quite like catching up with Marty in the Morning on RTÉ lyric fm!
TECH
Though I would never claim to be an expert, I’m quite happy using any tech when it is working as you would expect it to, but as soon as something goes off-piste, I do find myself wishing for simpler, old-fashioned ways of keeping records and in touch – usually involving a pen and paper!
Find out more about the RTÉ Concert Orchestra's forthcoming concerts here.
