A local meetup did free lunchtime concerts but when I tried to snag a ticket, they we all gone. Turns out, this didn’t matter as they let people in without tickets and anyhow, when the concert started there were always a few free seats. I went ahead and booked myself five lunchtime concerts for May. First up, the Concertgebouw is a magnificent building. It would be nice to see something in the big room rather than the small one.
![Recorder and banjo](https://i0.wp.com/www.davehodgkinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_0487.jpeg?resize=640%2C480)
The first week was some kind of recorder and guitar thing.
![Piano and flute](https://i0.wp.com/www.davehodgkinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_0502.jpeg?resize=640%2C480)
The second week was piano and flute.
![Opera](https://i0.wp.com/www.davehodgkinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_0516.jpeg?resize=480%2C640)
Week three was opera.
![String trio and oboe](https://i0.wp.com/www.davehodgkinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_0546.jpeg?resize=640%2C480)
![String quartet](https://i0.wp.com/www.davehodgkinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_0547.jpeg?resize=640%2C480)
Week four was half string trio and oboe and half string quartet.
![Middle-eastern instruments](https://i0.wp.com/www.davehodgkinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_0557.jpeg?resize=640%2C480)
Week five was very much in the middle-eastern mould, in some musical mode us Westerners don’t get to hear very often.
All in all, a worthwhile experience.