Isomatic UK Weblog

This morning we went to the Wigmore Hall to see the Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen perform:
Haydn Fantasia in C HXVII:4;
Mozart Fantasia in C minor K. 475;
Couperin Ordre No. 27 from Book IV of Pièces de Clavecin;
and
Ravel Le tombeau de Couperin.
All the pieces were enjoyable, albeit difficult to remember.

Labels: Concerts

This evening we went to The Barbican concert hall for a performance by The London Phiharmonic Orchestra. The programme comprised Rossini's 'William Tell Overture', Tchaikovsky's 'Swan lake Suite', the 'Mendelssohn Violin Concerto' and Dvorak's 'Symphony No. 9 - From the New World'. All good music, i.e. "Nothing you can't hum there" to quote Victoria Wood. The violin soloist was

On Sunday morning we went to London's Wigmore Hall to see a performance by Baiba Skride (violin) and Lauma Skride (piano). They played three wonderful pieces; Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, Ravel's Violin Sonata and, best of all, Ravel's Tzigane.

Labels: Concerts

On Saturday evening we went to London's Wigmore Hall to see a saxophone special featuring Gerard McChrystal, supported by Mary Dullea & Tom Blach (pianos), the Smith String Quartet and Craig Ogden (guitar). Unfortunately for us, the programme included several world and UK premieres; otherwise known as modern or contemporary music, i.e. not to our taste. We only liked the pieces by dead composers. What does this say about us; old-fashioned, musically naieve, perhaps, but we need both melody and rhythm before we consider a piece to be music. This applies to popular music (rap has no melody), jazz (contemporary jazz loses the melody after a few bars) and serious music (modern pieces having neither melody nor rhythm).

Labels: Concerts

On Saturday evening we went to London's Wigmore Hall to see a performance in words and music of the life and works of Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann. The narrator was Simon Callow and the piano, featured throughout, was played by Dénes Várjon. Our favourite piano solo was C Schumann's Romanze in A minor Op.21 No.1. The performance was billed in the name of Steven Isserlis (pictured) although he was only involved in two pieces, our favourite of the evening being his arrangement of R Schumann's Intermezzo from the 'F-A-E' Sonata, composed jointly with Brahms. Other artists involved were Jennifer Frautschi (violin), Rachel Roberts (viola) and Cora Burggraaf (mezzo-soprano). Hearing the story behind the music certainly added to the enjoyment of the evening.

Labels: Concerts

On Saturday evening we drove to London's West End, had an excellent, if expensive, meal in the Wigmore Hall restaurant and then saw Amanda Cook on classical guitar. She performed beautifully, despite a cold, playing a wide selection of pieces from Scarlatti through to William Lovelady, who was in the audience. As we booked months ago we had centre front row seats, despite a packed hall. It is hard to select a favourite piece from such a varied programme but I guess the two Peruvian dances, one played as an encore, just pipped the Mozart Adagio K540 in B minor.

Labels: Concerts

On Sunday evening we saw Peter Katin giving a piano recital at the Wigmore Hall. He played an all Chopin programme; very enjoyable. It was particularly pleasing to see so many young people in the audience to see such a 'mature' performer.

Labels: Concerts

On Wednesday evening we went to The Barbican concert hall for a performance by The London Phiharmonic Orchestra. The programme comprised Rossini's 'Overture to the Barber of Seville', Handel's 'Music for the Royal Fireworks', the Grieg Piano Concerto and Beethoven's 'Pastoral Symphony'. All good music, i.e. "Nothing you can't hum there" to quote Victoria Wood.

As we had time to spare, we preceded the concert with a visit to Stanfords the world's greatest map shop. Parking in Long Acre can be tricky so I was pleased to find a space only a few yards from the ticket machine. I put a 2 pound ticket behind the windscreen, bought a map of Andalucia in about 10 minutes and emerged to find a fixed penalty notice on the car. I had inadvertently parked in a 'residents only' bay, in a street that is not residential. This is another example of how evil local authorities like Westminster trick the innocent into providing them with money. There is no clear division between one sort of parking bay and another.

Labels: Concerts, Parking

This evening, Tuesday 27 December (UK public holiday), we are going to the Barbican Concert Hall for the Mozart by candlelight concert. We have opted for cheaper seats this time as an experiment, 26 GBP each instead of 31 GBP. This is still expensive by our standards.

It will be interesting to see if the venue is better organised than last year, which suffered from chairs/tables on a separate floor from coffee/snacks plus staff not allowing the paying customers into the auditorium at the appointed time.

Labels: Concerts

On Monday 27 December (UK public holiday) we went to the Barbican Concert Hall for the Mozart by candlelight concert. A great, if rather expensive, evening.

The disorganisation and inefficiency of the Barbican is worse than ever, e.g. why are the seats and tables on a different floor from the coffee and sandwiches ?

Labels: Concerts

Yesterday evening we went to a concert given by the LSO Chamber Orchestra at The Barbican. Five concertos were played, featuring violins, cello, double base, trumpets and bassoon.

Labels: Concerts