. . . this was a spectacular and sumptuous production. The design was beautiful and the show was a joy to behold. The opening convent scene and the sweeping staircase of von Trapp towers really had the wow factor . . . Lucy Byrne was totally convincing as Maria and had the right combination of naivety and stubbornness and sang beautifully. I liked Andrew Lancel as the sourpuss Captain as he slowly mellowed and realised his seven children were in fact children and not midshipmen on one of his battleships.

Now, on the face it there would seem little connection between the humble ukulele and old analogue Moog synthesisers – and none at all with Erik Satie who is the thread running through the Festival. Satie we’ll come to in a minute but there are undoubted similarities between the two instruments. The one is for nerds who think they can become a musician for an outlay of £19.99 and the other for nerds who yearn for the good old days of electronic music. However, the two instruments have a lot in common and their pairing for this concert was inspired.

This year StageTalk Magazine is taking a special interest in the Cheltenham Music Festival and, in particular, the events relating to Erik Satie on this, the 150th anniversary of his birth. A true eccentric genius he was part of the Paris avant-garde in the first two decades of the 20th century and collaborated with Jean Cocteau, Diaghilev and Picasso on several ballets as well as with the Dadaist.