The most interesting sound, as it happened, came from the orchestra, working hard to play softly so as not to swamp the Erard’s tone in the sensitive QEH acoustic. But the crown of the day was the First Piano Concerto, which Nikolai Demidenko, a brooding presence on the platform, played on Erard grand piano No 12233, built here in London in 1870. And in the scurrying fugue of the Serenade for Strings, heard the previous evening, it was an added factor in the music’s vitality.In an earlier recital, Joan Rodgers and Roger Vignoles had performed Tchaikovsky lieder, a reminder that his powers as a vocal composer were no less fluent than those for instrumental music. Yet what a difference it made to the famous “concealed” theme that opened the Sixth Symphony’s Finale on Sunday night. Furthermore, the arrangement of first violins and brass to the left, basses centred and second violins and brass to the right has long been a familiar one for authentic music ensembles. Either way, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, themselves appearing in their first South Bank Norrington “experience”, and the conductor himself, made handsome amends, and in the process were not frightened to take some old war horses out for a canter.
Norrington kept no secret about the clue to the size and placing he’d chosen for his OAE forces: this was a photograph of the Russian orchestra that had given the second performance of the Pathetic Symphony in 1893 Elementary, of course, once you knew the secret. Perhaps it was thought there was still too much lingering controversy about the manner of the composer’s final departure Or perhaps he just seemed an untouchable popular icon.

By now, Sir Roger has dusted down so many 19th-century romantic masters that last weekend it came as a surprise to find in his sights the most famous one of all, Tchaikovsky. And, of course, the music was directed to be played without vibrato, just as it ought to be, but with proper respect for phrasing and other nuances of articulation. All the familiar features of a Roger Norrington experience were in place: gut strings on the fiddles, violas and cellos; real 19th-century German woodwind and brass, with kettledrums and an old French harp. Papier-mache armpits, anyone? The transistor radio earrings, however, clearly herald the coming of the Walkman.All this contributes to the ongoing success of Tomorrow’s World: who knows what will become an indispensable part of everyday life, and what will seem like a loony, misguided invention within a few short years?In tonight’s show (BBC1, 7.30), Philippa Forrester tests a new fire alarm system and Craig Doyle navigates a ship with legs..

“Just a quick wipe with a damp cloth and it’s as good as new.” As for her clothes – a paper dress, a plastic mac and a damp British summer day do not make an attractive prospect. “On her head, no hair, but a nylon wig,” – gesturing at the model’s coiffure, which took its stylistic influences from the young Princess Anne and Ming the Merciless.”No shampooing!” Raymond enthused. People who have become more dispensable at work don’t want to feel similarly redundant at home, and create less impersonal surroundings.And what of the “housewife” who would inhabit Tomorrow’s Kitchen? Raymond Baxter, in one of his early shows, served up a vision of future femininity.”The girl of tomorrow could look something like this – which is very encouraging for a start,” he boomed, in a poor approximation of flattery for the model posing beside him. In the late 1990s – amid a growing obsession for reclaimed flooring, old enamel sinks and fittings that would make Cold Comfort Farm seem positively sybaritic – a low-maintenance kitchen may as well have “Room 101″ written on the door.Your average Elle Decoration reader, for example, will go to great lengths to make their kitchen look unfitted – none of that melamine for us, darling. Poised beside the domestic nerve-centre, the chief cook and bottle washer simply had to rotate it in order to use the required appliance, rather than scurrying around the room like Mrs Tiggywinkle.What the innovators failed to foresee was the rise of the middle-class Luddite. This revolving Tardis housed an oven and grill, dishwasher, fridge and, er, spice rack. He was less concerned with rising fuel consumption than with the drudgery involved in feeding a family.

The camera pulled back, Woollard circumnavigated an Alexander Calder-style mobile and revealed “the kitchen of the future”.The central feature was a hexagonal drum, seven feet tall and clad in orange Formica. By the mid-1970s, viewers had witnessed the unveiling of prototypes for fibre optics, computer games, the mobile phone and cashpoints; none of which we expected to be using as casually as an envelope within 15 years.
In 1970, presenter William Woollard told us there existed “all sorts of figures to show the enormous amounts of energy the British housewife uses”. At a time when “science” and “technology” were tainted with menace for a post-war generation, TW succeeded in setting a tone as upbeat and doom-free as Johnny Dankworth’s famous theme tune (for which the godfather of British jazz was paid pounds 25). The Future – you saw it here first In 1965, the first Tomorrow’s World was broadcast. So we’re hoping that conservative justices who value the importance of the arts and intellect will see the dangers of this law.”Tamsin Todd.

“In this case, it’s especially significant that I’m a woman and other artists involved are gay or lesbian It’s easy to stone them. We’re looked at as basically deviant.”Her lawyer is more forthcoming about the lawsuit “It’s very hard to predict,” says Heins. “We have compelling arguments that ought to strike a sympathetic chord in justices across the political spectrum Free speech is important to both liberals and conservatives. “The artist is looked upon as heretic, as someone who’s crazy, a prostitute or charlatan,” she says. Though she won’t talk specifically about the lawsuit, she is vehement about society’s treatment of artists. But other critics say Finley’s performances keep audiences alert to her political messages, brilliantly mixing Brecht with postmodern feminist theory.Certainly Finley makes sure her political messages get heard.