Thank You For The Music
Last night my wife and I attended the Music in Hospitals 60th Anniversary Royal Gala Concert at St John’s Smith Square. If you’re not familiar with this venue it is a church which has been converted into a classical concert venue in the heart of Westminster.
You would really have to be about my age or older to remember the television career of the evening’s compare Richard Stilgoe but if you do you will know what a good job he always makes of it after all could you believe a rhyming story about how Antonio Stradivari invented the cello could actually be made very funny indeed. Not that the evening really needed anyone to warm it up as the artists involved had more than enough going for them to do that. The first superstar to the stage was world number one cellist Julian Lloyd Webber armed with his infamous Barjansky Stradivarius cello, now I’ve been a fan for a long time but I never thought I’d ever get to see him perform live let alone be lucky enough to be sitting with my nose a mere ten feet from the great man’s bow and I was not to be disappointed as he put in an electrifying performance of Haydn’s cello concerto No.1 in C major as he made that three-hundred year old cello soar and sing.
The second great performer of the evening was percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie who ripped into a performance of Vivaldi’s piccolo recorder concerto in C which she had arranged herself for vibraphone which worked exceedingly well, especially with the harpsichord in the fray, as she hammered out giddying complex cadences at an amazing lick - its just astonishing to think that the woman is actually deaf. Now Takayoshi Yoshioka may not be in everyone’s taste but I never thought I’d ever live to see a full size Marimba in action, least of all having the hell being beaten out of it by the likes of Glennie which sweetened that eclectic pill somewhat.
Overall a fantastic evening but as we turned around to leave as we looked out across the audience my heart sank as we could see that we were noticeably by far the youngest members; if the audience becomes extinct then so will the musicians. Are people like us disappearing so fast?
It sounds like a wonderful evening and I love the sound of the venue! It it rather sad that it wasn’t very well attended. I have not noticed low attendance to musical events here, but that is probably because we don’t have such varied options as you do in the big city. It could also be a sign of financial hardships hitting home.
I am not going to own up to knowing what you mean about Richard Stilgoe…
I fear so, Wolfie, not unlike church attendances.
I saw Evelyn Glennie before she was a Dame in Singapore. Extraordinarily intense and interesting. Singapore was interesting because the Symphony was well attended and most people were pretty young.
I used to love to bike over to the Royal Albert Hall and watch the orchestra. I have vivid memories of the 1812 Overture, complete with cannon.
Living in the suburbs, we don’t trek into town much to see the good stuff, which Adelaide has a lot of, even although it is relatively small.
You know I don’t think the dwindling attendance can be entirely placed at the door of changing tastes. I don’t particularly like choral work and love the sound of a full orchestra but if you look through the selection of live classical performances available in the capital over the next few months you will find it full of choral works and rather repetitious chamber and piano standards. There is certainly demand as the annual BBC Proms illustrates, almost every concert has been sold out - I was unable to attend a single one! I for one suspect political forces are trying to bleed the life out of the classical circuit through the gradual diversion of funding towards unpopular material. I would however refute the accusation that it is elitist as one can often spot a wide spectrum in the audience, and why not - beauty is universal.
A NIGHT at the opera for 2,200 Sun readers
Perhaps because it\’s not publicised. Remember what Pavarotti did for Classical in the 1998 (?) world cup? I suspect if Radio 1 did the odd classical spot many younger sorts would start to appreciate it. The ridiculous costs of London performances may be a factor too.
Sounds like a great night. Richard Stilgoe? I haven’t heard of him in years
I remember Stilgo - glad he’s still around! I have always admired Glennie.
Do you have kids? If not then there’s your answer. Culturally enriched people are being outbred.
Even if you do have kids, it’s very tough for them to withstand modern peer pressure. Let’s face it, most of their peers are culturally impoverished. I don’t blame the kids for that.