I still feel a bit like I've been hit by a brick after last week, but I'm gradually regaining what passes for normal consciousness. The performances were great fun - selling out the Queen's Hall twice in one day is quite a nice feeling - and the band played great. Mhairi and Jamie both gave exceptional performances, and the other cast members varied from really excellent to, well, less than excellent. Reflecting on this the morning after, I realised that I've had a few years to build up a group of players who I know can handle the material: it requires fluency in baroque performance practice, a feel for a good jam session, and a lot of discipline. To assemble the group, I have to book them months in advance, and in Chris's case fly him across the ocean. By contrast, I don't think there's already an established group of actors out there with their skills honed ready for performing 18th century Scots verse drama (please correct me if I'm wrong), so gathering a consistent cast is always going to be difficult. Actors will not commit to such a small project far in advance, because they'll always hang on in case they get offered some television work in the interim!

Anyway, there were lots of interested people in the audience including a contingent from Carlops, one of the cast members from Tyrone Guthrie's 1949 production, and some early music bods. Someone sent the company flowers after the first show because they'd enjoyed it so much, which was very sweet.

For reasons that I can't be bothered explaining, the following morning I was back in the Queen's Hall, and had the good fortune to sit in the hall all by myself while the Quatuor Mosaiques played through Mozart's wonderful A major quartet (is it K.464?). If anyone knows of a better way to spend a morning when you're completely exhausted, I want to hear of it. It was bliss. 

Tony Kime recorded both shows with his truck, so now I'm going to trawl through the CDs looking for short sections which would form a demo to persuade someone of the benefit of funding a studio recording of the whole thing.  

After all the effort to get the Mungrel Stuff CD out in time for the performances, it wasn't there for sale at the hall.  Haven't had time to find out why yet.  

There's a little video snippet of us and Mhairi doing the Bocchi Scots Cantata at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/edinburgh/index.shtml - click on the screen for Wednesday, and we're about two-thirds of the way through the clip.  Mr McFall's Chamber have their own clip on Monday's programme, in which they're playing my children's toys: I must get them back sometime before the kids notice they're missing.