King's College Choir
I went to see them yesterday, at the Royal Albert Hall.
Before I ramble on to my totally-subjective-and-not-that-credible account of events, let me just brag my mobility in almost-zero temperatures WITH NO COAT. THE ENTIRE DAY. I MUST BE INSANE.
******insanity below******
I left the house at approx 12.30pm, ran some errands at the bank and Post Office. Then I got the bus to Picadilly and went to sort some CELTA stuff out. Then I went to Tottenham Court Rd for McDs. Then I started to head for RAH, on foot. So. All the way down to Marble Arch then down Park Lane to Hyde Park Corner. So far so good. But THEN, I decided, ooh, Hyde park at night, big and spacey and NO LIGHTS, CREEPY. So instead of walking along it like I should have done, I walked to Knightsbridge. Still good so far. Then I decided to walk to Harrods. NO. BAD. Brompton, as I later found out, was NOT parallel to Kensington. ARGH. So I ended up arriving at RAH at 6.50pm. Great timing, (show started at 7.30), but was so stupid. What could have been a half hour walk around the park turned into 90mins. I woke up today all achy. NARGH!!
Did I mention I had no coat? I think I did. But I will say it again. I. HAD. NO. COAT. Just a tshirt and a fleece. And a skirt. And I was not cold. I must have known when I left the house that day I was to do a lot of excess walking. Talk about premonitions...
OK. The Royal Albert Hall. WOW. I wish can go back 12 years so I could be there for the 10th Anniversary of Les Miserables, which is probably the most influential performance of my life. And the BEST VERSION OF LES MIS FOR ALL ETERNITY. I dare anyone to say differently. I do. If I hadn't watched that performance (fine, on TV, but hey, it was live), I would probably have never gotten into theatre, or considered becoming an Arts major; literal or otherwise. Yes, I'd always been interested, but I was so set on becoming nothing but a vet, or a biologist, or a zoologist...that any other interests were always just that; interests. Without that performance, I wouldn't be who I am today. Not to discredit anything else that has happened since then, but Les Mis was what set the ball rolling. (And I totally fell in love with Lea Salonga's voice because of it.) Sitting there, watching the orchestra tune their instruments, I got steamrolled by nostalgia so bad. I miss it all so much, and I didn't even realise how much until that moment. I miss blisters on my fingers and flipping out over codas. I miss fighting for music stands. I miss getting sunburnt and drenched in sweat then baked dry only to have the process repeat itself over and over. I miss roll steps and crab steps and no time for lunch, the tears of frustration and tears of joy. I miss being a kid with nothing but music to fill my summers. And I resent myself for having the concentration of a fruit fly, but I digress.
Onwards to the performance:
Friday, 21 December, 2007 (copied from cache of RAH website)
The world famous Choir of King’s College, Cambridge makes a welcome return with a beautiful concert full of Christmas joy.
Vivaldi: Gloria
Tchaikovsky: Waltz of the flowers
Rutter: The twelve days of Christmas
With a special 150th anniversary tribute to Elgar, Lift up your Hearts, Te deum plus a heavenly selection of carols sung by the angelic voices of the cathedral choristers and carols for all.
Sarah-Jane Davies - soprano
Laura Parfitt - alto
Philharmonia Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Stephen Cleobury conductor
I LOVE STEPHEN CLEOBURY. HIS CONDUCTING OF VIVALDI WAS MESMERISING. Especially for the 3/4 parts. And I say this not because I had a limited view so I could only see 3 quarters of the stage.
However, 'Waltz of the Flowers' fell a bit flat, I thought. I kept waiting for the climax, and it felt as if it got there, but not quite. It also felt a bit out of place following 'Gloria' for some reason. But, there is nothing like Nutcracker to remind us of Christmas. And throughout it all, the percussion section bugged me big time. OK, I know percussion is not a big part in any of the scores they played, but come on. The acoustics of the hall were great; the crash cymbals should not have sounded like that. And WHY did they lug out the xylophone (vibraphone? I can't remember if it had tubes) if they weren't gonna play it? (And got me all excited for nothing. Boo.) Or they did and I went temporarily blind. But the wrist action on the triangle was awesome.As for the singalong at the end, I was amused by how it once again reaffirmed my supposition that any Christmas choral experience always wraps with either 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' or 'Come, all ye Faithful'. And the five spotlights that swept the hall whenever we reached the line 'five gold rings'? Had me LOLing something awful in my seat.
By the time we got out, the nearest tube entrances were already closed. So there was more walking. It was after 11pm when I finally got home. (I DON'T ACTUALLY REMEMBER IF IT WAS CLOSER TO 12 EVEN THOUGH I DID CHECK THE TIME BECAUSE MY HIPPOCAMPUS IS JUST SHOT LIKE THAT.) Not that I'm complaining, though, it was a good performance. The kids were cute, LOVED the acapellas. The music was great apart from the percussion bits but I will shut up now, the Hall was awe-inspiring, and I am now much more familiar with the streets of west London than I used to be.
...♪and a partridge in a pear tree~ ❤
Before I ramble on to my totally-subjective-and-not-that-credible account of events, let me just brag my mobility in almost-zero temperatures WITH NO COAT. THE ENTIRE DAY. I MUST BE INSANE.
******insanity below******
I left the house at approx 12.30pm, ran some errands at the bank and Post Office. Then I got the bus to Picadilly and went to sort some CELTA stuff out. Then I went to Tottenham Court Rd for McDs. Then I started to head for RAH, on foot. So. All the way down to Marble Arch then down Park Lane to Hyde Park Corner. So far so good. But THEN, I decided, ooh, Hyde park at night, big and spacey and NO LIGHTS, CREEPY. So instead of walking along it like I should have done, I walked to Knightsbridge. Still good so far. Then I decided to walk to Harrods. NO. BAD. Brompton, as I later found out, was NOT parallel to Kensington. ARGH. So I ended up arriving at RAH at 6.50pm. Great timing, (show started at 7.30), but was so stupid. What could have been a half hour walk around the park turned into 90mins. I woke up today all achy. NARGH!!
Did I mention I had no coat? I think I did. But I will say it again. I. HAD. NO. COAT. Just a tshirt and a fleece. And a skirt. And I was not cold. I must have known when I left the house that day I was to do a lot of excess walking. Talk about premonitions...
OK. The Royal Albert Hall. WOW. I wish can go back 12 years so I could be there for the 10th Anniversary of Les Miserables, which is probably the most influential performance of my life. And the BEST VERSION OF LES MIS FOR ALL ETERNITY. I dare anyone to say differently. I do. If I hadn't watched that performance (fine, on TV, but hey, it was live), I would probably have never gotten into theatre, or considered becoming an Arts major; literal or otherwise. Yes, I'd always been interested, but I was so set on becoming nothing but a vet, or a biologist, or a zoologist...that any other interests were always just that; interests. Without that performance, I wouldn't be who I am today. Not to discredit anything else that has happened since then, but Les Mis was what set the ball rolling. (And I totally fell in love with Lea Salonga's voice because of it.) Sitting there, watching the orchestra tune their instruments, I got steamrolled by nostalgia so bad. I miss it all so much, and I didn't even realise how much until that moment. I miss blisters on my fingers and flipping out over codas. I miss fighting for music stands. I miss getting sunburnt and drenched in sweat then baked dry only to have the process repeat itself over and over. I miss roll steps and crab steps and no time for lunch, the tears of frustration and tears of joy. I miss being a kid with nothing but music to fill my summers. And I resent myself for having the concentration of a fruit fly, but I digress.
Onwards to the performance:
Friday, 21 December, 2007 (copied from cache of RAH website)
The world famous Choir of King’s College, Cambridge makes a welcome return with a beautiful concert full of Christmas joy.
Vivaldi: Gloria
Tchaikovsky: Waltz of the flowers
Rutter: The twelve days of Christmas
With a special 150th anniversary tribute to Elgar, Lift up your Hearts, Te deum plus a heavenly selection of carols sung by the angelic voices of the cathedral choristers and carols for all.
Sarah-Jane Davies - soprano
Laura Parfitt - alto
Philharmonia Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Stephen Cleobury conductor
I LOVE STEPHEN CLEOBURY. HIS CONDUCTING OF VIVALDI WAS MESMERISING. Especially for the 3/4 parts. And I say this not because I had a limited view so I could only see 3 quarters of the stage.
However, 'Waltz of the Flowers' fell a bit flat, I thought. I kept waiting for the climax, and it felt as if it got there, but not quite. It also felt a bit out of place following 'Gloria' for some reason. But, there is nothing like Nutcracker to remind us of Christmas. And throughout it all, the percussion section bugged me big time. OK, I know percussion is not a big part in any of the scores they played, but come on. The acoustics of the hall were great; the crash cymbals should not have sounded like that. And WHY did they lug out the xylophone (vibraphone? I can't remember if it had tubes) if they weren't gonna play it? (And got me all excited for nothing. Boo.) Or they did and I went temporarily blind. But the wrist action on the triangle was awesome.As for the singalong at the end, I was amused by how it once again reaffirmed my supposition that any Christmas choral experience always wraps with either 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' or 'Come, all ye Faithful'. And the five spotlights that swept the hall whenever we reached the line 'five gold rings'? Had me LOLing something awful in my seat.
By the time we got out, the nearest tube entrances were already closed. So there was more walking. It was after 11pm when I finally got home. (I DON'T ACTUALLY REMEMBER IF IT WAS CLOSER TO 12 EVEN THOUGH I DID CHECK THE TIME BECAUSE MY HIPPOCAMPUS IS JUST SHOT LIKE THAT.) Not that I'm complaining, though, it was a good performance. The kids were cute, LOVED the acapellas. The music was great apart from the percussion bits but I will shut up now, the Hall was awe-inspiring, and I am now much more familiar with the streets of west London than I used to be.
...♪and a partridge in a pear tree~ ❤