Before the concert we had a meal in the newly refurbished Elgar Room and I have to say they have done a great job. It is now a contempory and stylish place yet it is still comfortable. Quite a feet, as I find most “modern” dining spaces just too hard. Clean lines and sparse furnishings often make for an attractive but inhospitable environment. The menu was not too big but offered a good selection of meat and fish. I would recommend you check it out next time you are in the Albert Hall.

The concert was not bad either. The Prommers showed their delight with extended stomping and whistling. I agree wholeheartedly with them for Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra’s rendition of Beethoven’s Ninth, but not the Berg Violin Concerto. It is not a piece I particularly like so that’s no real surprise.

There should have been 30 of us but due to the volcanic ash some people had been stranded abroad and we ended up with 28, who arrived on Friday evening from various parts of the country. Dinner was fantastic, especially the fish! After the meal we settled down for my ‘name that tune’ quiz and to enjoy conversation and a glass or two.

Saturday morning was bright and warm and most of us did not even bother to take our waterproofs with us. The walk, it has to be said, was a little more severe than intended. From the hotel along the Tissington trail to picturesque Tissington then across the road past Thorpe Cloud, all of us glad we did not have to climb it and down into Dovedale. From there to Ilam for a quick look at the House and grounds before starting the climb back up. A climb of over 600 feet in just over a mile according to Keith’s GPS. Tough going! Then it was back down again to Milldale before the last climb back to the hotel. A total of 11 miles but in the glorious spring sunshine somehow it didn’t seem like it. However we were all glad of the tea and cakes that awaited us at the hotel.

We don't have to climb that!

After a glass of bubbly and dinner in the evening we were splendidly entertained by The Muskoka Wind Quintet who performed a varied programme that transported us from Elizabethan dance music through to Malcolm Arnold and Gershwin. Just right to enliven some weary limbs.

Despite the forecast for more summery weather Sunday was grey and damp which didn’t seem to matter as we set of for our homes after another slap up breakfast and hugely enjoyable weekend, with new friendships being made and we think one or two budding romances…. watch this space!

Diving downstairs for a coffee and to meet up with the group of Classical Partners I was a little surprised not to see anyone from the group but they soon started to arrive. A couple of calls on the mobile let me know that one person could not make it and that one was going to be late. I was now getting worried as I could not find the two new members whom I had not met before. Just as the concert was due to start one of them introduced themselves. I had to leave the other’s ticket on the door as I went in, not perfect but the best I could do.

The Gryphon Trio from Canada, made their Wigmore debut, performing Schumann’s Piano Trio No 2 in F followed by Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B flat “Archduke”. They were absolutely sublime, even the clouds scudding over the Wigmore’s skylight seemed to alter the hall’s lighting in perfect concert with the music. Even though I freely admit that my personal taste tends to be for more dramatic symphonic music, I loved every minute of their performance.

After the concert, I managed to find our missing member and our group enjoyed a lovely relaxed Sunday lunch in the Wigmore’s fine restaurant downstairs. What a great way to spend a Sunday. Truly Gold Standard.

Whilst I sympathise to a certain extent with her views, I do have problems with some of the statistics she quotes. She claims that “less than half of women over 40 will ever marry.” Conveniently she makes no mention of how many of these women actually want to get married, she simply uses this statistic to scare women into thinking they are a lost cause. Incidentally, The Times, commenting on figures published by the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales, makes a similar error. Proudly proclaiming that women are going to be overwhelmed by offers as there are now more single men than women in every age group except the over 75’s. Again they do not consider how many actually want to get married. The definition of single as “never married, divorced or widowed” is also a problem. How many are in happy, stable long term relationships? The old adage ‘Lies, dammed Lies and Statistics’ springs to mind. Numbers are great when trying to understand trends but you have to be very careful how you use them.

Back to Lori Gottlieb, she puts forward the view that feminism has encouraged women to think that they can have it all – the perfect man, lifestyle, family and career. In some ways she is right about this. There is not really a whole lot wrong with setting yourself high goals and aspirations. However you do need to be able to be flexible whilst trying to attain them.

Remember to give yourself a good pat on the back when you land on the moon even if you were aiming for the stars.

Recently there has been a lot written in the press about women who are increasingly finding that feminist ideas and legislation are actually holding them back rather than helping them as they were intended to. Feminism was supposed to liberate women and allow them to make all the choices in their lives on their own merits. However they are now finding that sometimes this ideal itself actually has the opposite effect. It is now illegal to ask a women in a job interview if she plans to have a family. Fair enough, but employers know this so don’t ask and women who have no intention of having a family do not get the chance to say so and the employer hires the man as it is less risky for them.

All forms of equality legislation almost by definition have a flip side that encourages positive discrimination. The obvious end-point of positive discrimination is mediocrity and I for one do not want to live in a mediocre world.

What has this got to do with Classical Partners, well, we sometimes meet people with pre-concieved ideas which are getting in their way of finding what they want. These pre-concieved ideas are their prejudices and there is no way we can legislate against them. What we can try and do is educate them to find a better way.

I think it is exactly the same with the proposed equality bill. Learn from the mistakes of feminism and instead of legislating try educating.

Where is this obsession with free things going to lead us? I worry that it will mean that everything will tend towards the lowest state. I want a pen to write with. If I had bought it for what I considered to be a fair price, I would be miffed if it did not work, I might even take it back and ask for another one. If it was free what can I do? Is it the same with other free things?

You hear a lot about how illegal downloading is killing music. This is something I do not do. Too many of my friends and relations make their living from music. I used to think that illegally downloaded music would lead to people saying, I like that, and then going out and buying more. A bit like hearing something on the radio and then going out and buying it. Now I am not so sure. So much music is now downloaded illegally that only the megastars make any money out of their music and the industry as a whole can not afford to publish and promote new artists. In a few years time will the only music that is available be the megastars and people recording things in their back rooms? Next time you are at a concert and the person next to you is recording it on their mobile phone have a think about that.

The next big thing apparently is ebooks. How good is that? You want to read a book, you download it you read it, everyone is happy…but how long will bookshops last? Will illegal downloading become a problem? Will new authors be able to get published? Or will we only be able to get hold of old classics and the latest Dan Brown?

The free explosion must have its limitations and we should be very careful of the knock on effects. What is wrong with paying a fair price and letting someone earn a living from their expertise?

Unfortunately humans are not so cut and dried as magnets. It is not easy to categorise them.

People in successful relationships often say “my partner complements me”? When somebody says this do they mean they fill in the bits where I do not have expertise, so opposites do attract, or is it that their lives completely overlap, in other words Birds of a feather!

The important thing is what type of opposites are involved. You can easily see that someone who is happiest getting things done might get on very well with someone who has lots of ideas. In the first instance some common ground is required. In most cases this is likely to be a shared interest. However as a relationship develops, I believe it is beneficial for the people involved to have some differences. This allows them to have their own space within the relationship which is necessary for both partners to grow.

For any relationship to flourish it requires both people to work at it. If you can respect and tolerate – even appreciate – the differences you can use this to build a happy and fulfilling relationship.

What better way to start than by finding someone to share your life with. There is no doubt that people are social animals. If you pop in to your local supermarket you are constantly reminded of this: there are hordes of buy one get one free offers but very few aimed at just for one. We all feel better if we have someone to confide in. There has been a lot written recently about loneliness and how the phenomenal growth of computer based networks of friends has given the impression that we are more connected than ever before. However, there is nothing like the real thing. You need to be in the same physical place to really interact. It is wonderful that you can chat to a friend on Facebook or Twitter, but it is much more rewarding to meet them face to face.

Bringing people together is what we at Classical Partners are all about. There are places on the web where people who love classical music and the arts can share their thoughts, I do this from time to time, but as I have said before, it is not a patch on going to a concert or film with like-minded people and really sharing the experience.

So if you are reading this and thinking you would like to meet some music lovers… give us a ring and start the ball rolling.

The survey found that over 55s were the most active daters, not those in their 20s or 30s as you might expect. Of those interviewed 60% of men and women over 55 had joined a dating organisation, compared to just 20% of 18-24 year olds and almost as many men as women said the main reason was to find a long-term relationship.

Another slightly surprising finding, if you believe the stereotypical view that men are more influenced by looks than women, was that 91% of the men surveyed rated a sense of humour as the most important trait they were looking for in a woman and 85% rated intelligence equal second most important, along with attractiveness. Women rated not just sense of humour and intelligence, but also shared values and sexual compatibility as being more important than attractiveness in men.

The survey also found that, despite the fact that women these days are more likely earn as much if not more than men, 92% of women said that the man paid for their last date. So it would seem that when it comes to dating the old fashioned rules of chivalry still apply: women like the man to pay and men are happy to do so.

Also perhaps surprisingly, given the current economic recession, 79% of men said they would expect to spend more or the same amount on a date now as this time last year (October 2008), only 9% saying they would spend less.

Although this particular survey was a relatively small scale one, here at Classical Partners we are seeing that men and women of all ages are keen to explore different ways of meeting new people, and we try to help our clients to do this by way of regular and varied social events and carefully arranged introductions. See Events.