No thank you for the music, police tell family quartet

Weekly classical recitals stopped for fear of encouraging neighbours to break lockdown rules

A VIOLINIST in one of Britain’s most respected ensembles has been banned from staging classical concerts with his family in their front garden after police complained they were encouraging neighbours to break the lockdown.

Rafael Todes, who teaches at the Royal Academy of Music, his wife Helena Newman and their two teenage children had been performing in their Bayswater street in west London since the start of the lockdown. The concerts were also being streamed on Facebook.

Mr Todes, 53, a member of the critically acclaimed Allegri String Quartet, and his family were part way through Shostakovich’s String Quartet No 4, when two police officers arrived.

In a video filmed by Mr Todes, the officers can be seen approaching the family. One said: “Look, I see what you’re doing and I’m fine with it, but with so many gathering outside it’s just... I don’t enjoy this part of the job, but obviously it’s going to keep causing the street to keep gathering.” He added: “I’m not here to fine you ... but the whole street can’t be doing this.” The officer added that the music was “lovely” and he was sorry to shut it down.

The family of musicians had begun the lockdown concerts after a neighbour asked them to play for another resident’s birthday.

“About five weeks ago a neighbour asked us during lockdown whether we could do a little concert for the lady who lived upstairs.

“So we did that and people in the street watched and somebody said ‘you’ve got to do this again next week’,” Mr Todes told the Daily Telegraph.

He and his family began to share their talents with the surrounding community, preparing programmes for the Sunday concert.

Ms Newman is a viola player, while their 17-year-old daughter Isabella played second violin and son Max played cello in the family quartet.

Isabella is due to study the instrument at the Royal College of Music next year, while Max, who was a Temple Church chorister, has an offer from Cambridge to read music.

Mr Todes said, given the history of the piece being played, the entire event was rather ironic. “Just before we played, I gave a little speech about Shostakovich and how he was out of favour when he wrote this and he was terrified that he was going to be arrested by Stalin’s people.”

Mr Todes said the officers had been polite and waited for them to finish before delivering the bad news but insisted that “people were socially distancing very carefully”.

The concerts will no longer go ahead following police advice.

However, Mr Todes said the family will still play together.