SERGEI RACHMANINOV had fallen out of favour by the time he premiered his fourth piano concerto - a fact that is almost impossible to accept in the face of last night's packed house.

Featuring on a triple bill with the Russian composer's passionate Symphony No.2 and Sergei Prokofiev's steely Le Pas d'acier, the piece was performed in the first of two sell-out concerts - tonight's second performance a late addition to the RLPO's season due to popular demand.

Pictures: Mark McNulty

Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski returned to the Philharmonic Hall to reform the charismatic partnership with chief conductor Vasily Petrenko that won rave reviews at the orchestra's Proms concert last summer.

YESTERDAY morning I woke up gasping from a dream in which a man, whose face I had not seen, had crushed me to the ground and was trying to saw through the back of my neck with a knife and fork.

I entirely blame Jeremy Dyson for this as I spent the night before at the London press launch of his new play Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales - a collaboration between the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, the Lyric Hammersmith and Northern Stage.

It was extremely well done - very polished with a great set - and completely, deliciously horrible. I'll save the full review for the show's opening in Liverpool in the spring (watch out for floating eyeballs, creepy strangers and cracking whips) but here's the trailer, which in true Dyson style gives little away.

THIS is a piece going in tomorrow's paper with some links and extra info added. Slightly weird to read about myself in the third person.

THE four locally based artists short-listed for the prestigious Liverpool Art Prize have been announced.

Chosen from a shortlist of more than 60, they are Brendan Lyons, Richard Proffitt, Bernadette O'Toole and Markus Soukup.

Those chosen represent a wide range of diverse visual art practices including painting, installation and film. Each artist has exhibited over the past 12 months and are connected to Liverpool's leading studio groups.

THIS is a piece going in tomorrow's paper with some links and extra info added. Slightly weird to read about myself in the third person.

THE four locally based artists short-listed for the prestigious Liverpool Art Prize have been announced.

Chosen from a shortlist of more than 60, they are Brendan Lyons, Richard Proffitt, Bernadette O'Toole and Markus Soukup.

Those chosen represent a wide range of diverse visual art practices including painting, installation and film. Each artist has exhibited over the past 12 months and are connected to Liverpool's leading studio groups.

LATER today I will be travelling to Leeds for the announcement of the Northern Art Prize. Liverpool artist David Jacques, who won the Liverpool Art Prize last year, is on the shortlist.

The plan is to live blog the experience, and of course the winner, in the window below but I'll have to see how it turns out I think as I don't want the artists to think I'm rudely texting a mate while they're waiting to see if they've won.

NOTE AFTER THE FACT: Well I did it, I blogged the winner and it didn't go too badly - although sadly Jacques didn't win the prize. I decided to do a live blog for the Northern Art Prize as a trial run for future events. I think this format would work really well for things like Light Night - with other people blogging too.

DAILY POST photographer Gavin Trafford was granted exclusive access to the Museum of Liverpool yesterday to capture what it looks like mid-fit out.

Here are some of his fascinating pictures:

I INTERVIEWED Ballet Black choreographer Henri Oguike last week for a piece in yesterday's paper on his new triple bill of dance coming to the Liverpool Playhouse in February.

It's always interesting hearing choreographers talk about their work because words are not usually part of their main form of expression. So it helps when there's a film to watch . . .

GREAT news that Liverpool-based filmmaker Deena DeNaro-Bickerstaffe has won the One Minute Film Challenge with her short film Reverse the Wave.

Her 'subvertisment' highlights Nokia's provision of technology to the Iranian government. Last June, the mobile phone giant confirmed it had supplied the country with technology needed to monitor, control and read local telephone calls.

I'VE set up a weekly e-newsletter for LDP Arts - it's a mixture of interviews, news and reviews from the LDP website and this blog with some extra treats for subscribers planned.

Perfect if you lead a busy life and don't have time to check the website each day, and if you change your mind it's easy to cancel too.

Click here to subscribe.

THE National Theatre's production of Fela! is being broadcast live to cinemas across Europe, including Picturehouse at FACT, tonight. The show, about the life of Nigerian activist and musician Fela Kuti, received rave reviews on Broadway and in London as well as winning three Tony Awards.

Earlier this week I interviewed Kuti's manager Rikki Stein about his memories of meeting the musician in a London hotel, surrounded by beautiful women. The heating on full bast so he had stripped down to his Speedos - a regular occurence by the sound of it.