Ever fancied eating delicious French pastries while listening to scrumptious Poulenc melodies? You could do that at this year’s RNCM Strings Festival, which continued the college’s French Connection theme.

For the whole of the late, lost weekend there were concerts and workshops, masterclasses and recitals, and special events (such as the pop-up patisserie mentioned above). Most string instruments could be seen and heard (there is a trade exhibition alongside the performances) morning and afternoon, with a special focus this year on harp, guitar and double bass as well as the staples of violin, viola and cello.

A really precious highlight was the Ravel Duo concert on the Saturday afternoon, featuring Sophie Rosa on violin and Mikhail Nemtsov on cello. It had quasar-scale performances of Ravel’s Sonata and Halvorsen’s Passacaglia. The Carole Nash Recital Room was virtually packed to the rafters for this gracious outing by two outstanding ex-students of the college – and you could understand why, it was overpowering. On Sunday afternoon the Nemtsov Duo concert, which had Mikhail performing works by a trio of French composers alongside his sister Elena, was sold out too. After that we had the closing concert, a star-sprinkled affair which saw the Halle orchestra and RNCM students together on stage, Sir Mark Elder employing his customary aplomb to conduct Britten’s Violin Concerto in D minor. It was the chocolat in the petite pain.

Yes it was a lost weekend, but a memorable one. And, setting a good example for our fellow Europeans across the channel, there was no unseemly fighting over Nutella.

Ever fancied eating delicious French pastries while listening to scrumptious Poulenc melodies? You could do that at this year’s RNCM Strings Festival, which continued the college’s French Connection theme.

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