Film - Journey To Italy - directed by Roberto Rossellini

Star rating - 8/10

This newly restored black and white classic 1953 movie from Italian director Roberto Rossellini is a stylish treat. It stars George Sanders and Ingrid Bergman as a respectable well-off couple whose marriage is in trouble, driving through Italy to tie up the sale of a late relative's villa. The tension between them grows increasingly to bitterness as the journey progresses, which must have been painful for both Rossellini and Bergman, whose own real life marriage was in trouble at the time.

The breakdown in relations increases with the beautiful bay of Naples as a backdrop, and Bergman makes a poignant visit to Pompeii, whilst her husband is frankly bored with looking at ancient stuffy relics. The acting is first class, the clothes and fifties styling exquisite, and watching Ingrid Bergman is, as always, an absolute pleasure.

If you are a fan of Brief Encounter, I can guarantee you will love this less romantic, and more modernist story of a troubled relationship from a master director. 

Gigs - Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell - Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

Star rating - 9/10

Being one of my very favourite artists I have seen Emmylou Harris perform live many times now, but her current tour with Rodney Crowell really was a special treat. They, together with their 5 piece band, played their hearts out in two separate, long sets; the first a collection of songs from their shared history, and the second from their new album Old Yellow Moon. Their infectious sense of fun and enjoyment at being on stage on this, the first night of their tour, transmitted to the crowd, and it almost felt like intruding on a private, joy-filled, jamming session.

Harris and Crowell are old friends, he having joined her Hot Band way back in 1975 as a rhythm guitarist. And their voices blend together beautifully, but then Emmylou is an absolute magician at wrapping her voice around others, especially male ones, and making harmonies so sweet it is startling. Of course the most famous vocal duets she created were with Gram Parsons, and the evening kicked off with a very special rendition of his Return of the Grievous Angel, followed by more Parsons treats in the shape of Wheels and Luxury Liner. The latter featured some stunning electric guitar picking by Australian Jedd Hughes.

There were also some of my favourite numbers from Emmylou's own back catalogue including Red Dirt Girl, with its sad story of the unbelievably hard life and early death of a working class girl named Lillian, who dreamt hopelessly of a better life. Covers of the beautiful Susanna Clark song I'll be your San Antone Rose, a friend whose death last year obviously touched Harris. As did the death in 2010 of Kate McGarrigle, and the simple solo acoustic version of Darlin' Kate was truly moving. Crowell also  contributed some of his own lovely songs including The Rock of My Soul and Earthbound.

Their second set included the Louvin Brothers classic The Angels Rejoiced Last Night, and Leaving Louisiana with its gorgeous pedal steel accompaniment. But it was mainly a show case for their new album, which was clearly a labour of friendship and love.  Hanging Up My Heart is a great Hank DeVito cover; Invitation to the Blues an old country shuffle; and Back When We Were Beautiful a hauntingly beautiful song about lost youth and growing old. Harris lovingly recounted how she first heard Crowell sing, at the end of a dodgy batch of demo tapes that had been sent to her, his Blueberry Wine caught her attention, and fully deserves its place on the new record.

This talented group of musicians were clearly having fun as a band, playing country and rock n roll and everything in between. Crowell described Emmylou as having 'the soul of a poet, the voice of an angel, and heart of a cowgirl.' It's hard to disagree. It was a treasure of an evening, and the first time I have not heard her sing Boulder to Birmingham live (my all time favourite song by anyone). They left us with the lucious Sin City, and such was the quality of the night that there was no room at all for disappointment.

Gigs - Sounds From The Other City - Salford

Star rating - 8/10

What could be better than a festival on a Bank Holiday weekend just a bus ride from home - not much in my book. Sounds From The Other City (SFTOC), now in its 9th year, is an eclectic celebration of new music by local live music promoters, using some wonderful lesser used venues and spaces around the Chapel Street area, and is quietly making lots of waves.

There was literally too much going on to get to all the wonderful venues, but the main activity centred around Islington Mill was great. The courtyard was bustling with busking and food (lovely falafel burgers - thanks), and the Hey! Manchester stage was definitely my favourite. Denis Jones was interesting, but I do draw the line at artists performing in their socks. Rozi Plain's music was delicate and pleasing. 

But the Treetop Flyers were really superb. They are from London but we won't hold that against them, and they transported the crowd to the West coast of America in the 60's. Lead singer Reid Morrison has a powerful, beautiful  voice which is reminiscent of Neil Young.  My favourite number from their set was Haunted House, which had tones of Dire Straits' Sultans of Swing in there somewhere. Their lovely harmonies on Is It All Worth It were a treat. Their  debut album The Mountain Moves, is just out and I would highly recommend it. They are seriously talented musicians.

The acts I wanted to catch at the New Oxford pub, His Golden Messenger from North Carolina, and Nashville guitarist William Tyler ended up having to perform an unplanned set together. The sound system, indeed the whole of the electrics, blew a couple of times so it was acoustic, very crowed, and sadly, almost impossible to hear. And I have to ask what Astral Social Club were all about - everyone seemed to flee the pub holding their ears as the noise they generated was so incredibly loud.

Later on there were a lot of people wandering around in tin foil costumes like extras from Star Trek - not sure what that was about but everyone seemed to be having a very good time. The only thing missing was the sun - and maybe a better sound system at the New Oxford! I will definitely be going to SFTOC again next year to do it all again. 

Audio books - John Lennon - In his own words - BBC

Star rating 8/10

This is a fascinating collection of radio and TV interviews with John Lennon spanning the period from 1965 to December 1980.

He comes across as an extremely articulate and intelligent man, although amusingly rejecting establishment notions of what that means. He is amazed at his interviewer's use of the word onomatopoeia to discuss his prose, never having heard the term before.  On discussing his books, the second of which was published in 1965, he describes himself as not a disciplined writer but spontaneous - seldom editing anything out after the writing process itself. Although his writing is evidence of his social conscience, he is plain about his role in protest movements in 1965 'I'm not a do-gooder. I won't go on marches.' As a young man of 25 in the first of the interviews, there is a stark reminder of his relative youth as he considers himself to be 'too near to school to read Dickens and Shakespeare.'

In a later piece from 1969 he is talking about his honeymoon with Yoko Ono, which at the time he is spending at the Amsterdam Hilton with their famous Bed-In for Peace. And by 1970, when speculation about the future of the Beatles is reaching fever pitch, he refuses to be pinned down on the subject, and merely says he is concentrating on John Lennon, not Yoko Ono, or the Beatles. 

The last interviews from 1980 are the most poignant, recorded just days before his tragic death at the hands of lone gunman Mark Chapman. He is talking about their recently released Double Fantasy LP, and their plans for two more albums. We learn of his love for Fawlty Towers - 'a masterpiece' - and for the original sound of Madness. Like David Bowie, he had settled in New York as he appreciated the private life and sense of security it gave him when compared to England. We sadly know the rest.

This is a really interesting and captivating reminder of the greatness and originality of the man.

Theatre - A Doll's House - Royal Exchange Theatre

Star rating - 8/10

The latest adaption by Bryony Lavery of Ibsen’s 1897 play A Doll’s House at the Royal Exchange  Theatre is somehow a less claustrophobic and sombre affair than when it was performed by the Library Theatre company  in 2011. It is the story of the marriage between Nora Helmer, who is the wife of a bank manager on the verge of a triumphant promotion. Nora and her husband Torvald have been seemingly happily married for eight years, and have three small children and a happy, cosy, and idyllic home. 

But Nora is hiding a secret that she has successfully managed to keep from her husband for years. And she is forced to confront it when she has a chance encounter from an old friend from her past. Ibsen’s views on the position of women were radical in his day, and are still pretty progressive now, and the events in his play still have the ability to shock.

Nora is forced to see what her doting husband really thinks of her, and to confront what role she has been playing through their relationship and her position in it. She is the doll of the title, and his patronising attitude towards her becomes ever more repugnant as the play progresses. 

What makes this version special, directed here by Exchange regular Greg Hersov, is the sparkling and compelling performance given by Cush Jumbo as Nora.  She is making her third appearance here, and is growing in stature with each appearance. When she first appeared in Pygmalion  in 2010 she was good; by 2011 she was truly great in As You Like It; and now she is a real star. David Sturzaker is good as the smothering, patronising husband Torvald, and the supporting cast are also solid. . The themes of marriage, honesty, honour and love are explored in a relevant and important Ibsen classic, which is just a bit too much of a safe choice for the Exchange for my liking, as it has been done so often and so recently. However, Cush Jumbo is really worth seeing, she is mesmerising and a very talented actor.