We went to another of the MPO's early evening concerts yesterday. And -- look! -- you can now take pictures of that wonderful concert hall without getting zapped by the green laser arrow and told off. (But only while no-one's playing, of course.)

The first piece was a flute sonata by Bach. A beautiful flute, sweet and pure and totally unbreathy. A harpsichord. And the whole thing so very Bach. So very of its time.

The third piece was a trio for clarinet, cello, and piano by Brahms. I don't think I've ever heard a clarinet-cello combo, and it's very beautiful. Husky and plaintive. Evocative of the world before World War 1, but with a shadow hanging over it already.

The middle piece was ve-e-e-ry different. Paul Elwood's Revised Dreams 3.1415926. Which is pi, of course. (And pi, according to the programme notes, "serves as the structural basis of the central episode", though quite how I don't know). Tonight's performance was a world premiere...

Two musicians. The beautifully attired and coiffed woman worked both the "tone generator" (which was inevitably a little reminiscent of Ross's keyboard...) and the "toy flute", a funny little instrument with a slider that produces a whistly noise. The double bassist was required not only to evoke some very extraordinary sounds from his instrument, but also to whistle... And he doubled as the narrator.

And what did he narrate? A dream involving an "installation", a parakeet chained to a pie, which falls, and is caught by the dreamer, only to be then swiped by a child. From heaven, the dreamer's muse expresses her frustration.

A little weird. "Different," I said to the woman next door. "I'm not quite sure I'm ready," she replied.

The parakeet reminded me of the cockatoo at the restaurant on Saturday. The child pie-recipient reminded me of the boy who managed to end up with an All Black's winner's medal.

And the pie made me think of pie...

So we repaired to Ben's. Mango and lychee cheesecake is not exactly pie. But it has a crust and a filling, and no kid on the planet would have been able to wrest it from me.