Overprominent woodwind had been a problem in the unconducted performance of Wagner's Siegfried Idyll in the first half of the concert, and though Nilon's singing was wonderfully characterised, he struggled to get his words across in the opening song of Das Lied almost as much as he would have done in front of a full orchestra.

Though Lena is a vegetarian, she doesn't have any problem with eating fish.

She gaped at us dumbly for perhaps five seconds, then uttered an ejaculation, far from suitable to mixed company, which she had no doubt picked up from fellow-Nimrods in her hunting days.

Bits that would require 4 to 16 carbonadoes are now set with 40 to 80 borts.