ttdblb#7
Friday, August 26, 2005
This was the orchestra we (Melanie, Andy and I) went to hear at the Proms last weekend, queuing for about 4 hours in the rain for standing tickets. Worth it though, not just because we managed to get actual seat seats, (nor even for the entertainingly anthropological queuing behaviour): this was one of the most electric classical concerts I've ever attended - the Prom vibe multiplied by the audience's acute awareness of the political context, further thrilling to some devastating ensemble playing by the young and very talented musicians. Programme was Mozart's Sinfonia concertante for assorted woodwind, followed by Mahler's 1st. Encores were a very restrained but powerful 'Nimrod' from the Enigma Variations - I assume I'm not the only one to have taken this as unspoken tribute to the victims to the London bombings - and finally the Prelude to Tristan and Isolde, prefaced by an address by the conductor, Barenboim, explaining that it was an act of defiance. As a both a first and a last Prom before leaving the UK, it was a good'un.
This Saturday we're back in London again to see Ewan in Guys and Dolls. Luke, be a Jedi tonight!
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