My subject is war, and the pity of war.
So said First World War poet and former Birkenhead Institute student Wilfred Owen.
Well, this morning my subject is War Requiem and Westlife. In that order and in yet another rather eclectic weekend in Capital of Culture 2008.
Saturday evening saw a packed Liverpool Cathedral giving Benjamin Britten's War Requiem - which uses the poetry of "doomed youth" Wilfred Owen in what is actually an anti-war message - a standing ovation.
It was all rather spectacular with the massed choirs from the Phil, both Liverpool cathedrals and Cologne Cathedral there in the nave alongside the RLPO and the superb Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka.
Behind them were the serried ranks of the young voices from all three cathedrals.
And to our left was a chamber orchestra plus Ian Bostridge and bass-baritone soloist Hanno Muller-Brachmann.
Going at full welly, the sound was quite remarkable, although the sheer size of the cathedral means occasionally the requiem being sung by the hundreds of voices was a little fuzzy.
No such problems for Bostridge whose diction was spot on.
Behind the singers and orchestra, a changing kaleidoscope of lights coloured the cathedral walls red, blue, orange, yellow and white as the early evening sunshine poured in through the stained glass windows.
Britten's work isn't to everyone's taste, but the sheer spectacle of Saturday must surely have won over most.
Then yesterday I had a complete change of pace with Westlife at the first night of the Summer Pops in the Echo Arena.
Apparently the Rooney family (sans Wayne and Coleen) were there, as was Irish pop Svengali Louis Walsh and Liverpool snooker ace John Parrott.
I am getting so old I have to stuff cotton wool down my ears now (recently I forgot at an event and they rang for two days afterwards!) and I'm glad I did because the screaming was intense, egged on by the group who claimed Liverpool was the loudest place they had ever played.
I always wonder with these things whether audiences in Manchester, and Nottingham and Newscastle are told the same thing.
Still, I'm an old cynic.
While I think about it, if anyone has any gossip about the Summer Pops, let me know and as long as it's not defamatory I'll pass it on!!!
