Choices, Choices. . . .

Time and the Ryedale Festival booking office wait for no man, so this morning has been make-your-mind-up time: how are the Taylor family going to pick their way through the Festival?

It's not easy. There's the programme, in its Queen of the Night blue wrapper, and slap in the middle, the list of possibilities, all 37 of them, not double counting for Sledmere or triple for  Castle Howard.

Let's be honest, it's probably physically impossible to go to all of them, and in addition, the 'Total Payment' row at the bottom of the page is a reminder that there's the budget to consider as well.  During the early years, I'd binge-book, and then forgive myself when I discovered I simply couldn't shift my bones for a particular concert. But the years have brought wisdom, or perhaps just caution, and now my wife and I edit and winnow, and winnow and edit until we think there's a fair chance we'll be able to manage our portion.

Because if the eyes are greedier than the stomach, then this year's  programme is the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet at the Mandarin Grill.  Has Ryedale ever seen such a gathering of musical talent? Have the choices ever been tougher?

Well, I'm not going to disclose all my preferences, and quite a few concerts pick themselves, but here are a few hints. . . .

• Question, what could be better than a concert by Ukranian violinist Andrej Bielow? Answer, lots of concerts by lots of  Andre Bielows, so thank God (and Glynn) that he's bringing his quartet, the Szymanowski, with him. Fun fun fun! 
• I've not heard Alexandra Silocea, the young Romanian pianist, but good grief, look at the programme she's offering at her Coffee Concert at Hovingham on Wednesday 17th.   Mozart, Debussy, Liszt and then finishing with Beethoven (The Waldstein).  Looks worth missing half a morning's work for that.
• Last year, people were raving about Mahan Esfahani's harpsichord recital. I missed it, but take a look at this: that's how you drive a Bach prelude right through to the end! This year he's offering what the programme calls 'a rarely-heard sonata by van Wassanaer, the so-called 'mystery composer' of Holland.
• A couple of years ago, the tenor Thomas Hobbs stayed with us for a few days, so we got to know his voice pretty well, and a beautiful thing it is too. Now look at the programme of English song he's involved in at Duncombe Park on Saturday 20th July: Purcell, Elgar, RVW, Howells, Britten, Flanders & Swan.  All the guys in the band, in fact.
• And then there's Chi-chi Nwanoku. Look, there's no shame in savouring a name like that. But wait, it gets much better than that: when she got fed up with sprinting, she became one of the country's best double-bassists, helped found the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment, was awarded the MBE for services to music in 2001, and, and, and . . .  now she's coming to the Ryedale Festival.