EIF Morning Recitals, 2016

[Stanley Stewart]

The EIF morning concerts from the Queen's Hall have been a real pleasure this year. My younger self used to attend regularly on the Lothian Road, particularly when my work also coincided with the TV Festival and my accommodation was subsidised!

I immediately empathise with the 'feel' of the Queen's Hall although, on radio, I miss the flavour of the intros with a Scottish flavour - I used to enjoy exchanging pleasantries with Brian Morton, from BBC Glasgow. Good to hear the voice of Jamie MacDougall, this morning, and he made me smile when he fluffed badly when naming the cellist, Giedre Dervanauskaite and understandably corpsed as he corrected himself. Made me smile because I bet he'd practiced the pronunciation several times before going on air! However, the beef and tatties of the occasion was a really exquisite Rachmaninov recital with Daniel Trifonov, (piano), Sergei Babayan, (piano), Gidon Kremer (violin) and the cellist completing the quartet - I'm still working at my pronunciation of his name.

Rachmaninov: - Fantaisie- Tableaux for two pianos:
Suite No 2 for two pianos
Trio elegiaque No 2 in D minor

You could feel the rapt attention of a packed house and it was pleasant to see the clearance of a dreich day in York during the interval break. Another memorable concert.

[pastoralguy]

We've been lucky enough to get alone to three so far. Magdalena Kozena with Malcolm Martineau, the Keleman Quartet with Die Berliner Philharmoniker's first clarinet, Andreas Ottensamer and the Emerson Quartet. All three concerts were terrific and we got the chance to groupie the artists afterwards. (Including a chat with Ms. Kozena's husband, one Sir Simon Rattle!)

The hall itself is, IMHO, a poor substitute for a concert hall. (Would it have killed the Festival Society to have asked for the carpets to be cleaned? And there's a smell of urine from a new toilet that's been installed ). It's never been more than a 'make do and mend affair. The sightlines are terrible, the seats are appallingly uncomfortable and the staff treat the audience as a major inconvenience. (The doors are supposed to be open at 10.30 for an 11.00 start but rarely are. This causes a build up of patrons on the narrow pavement outside in South Clerk Street). I'm genuinely surprised, considering the average age of the audience, that no one's been hurt. The excuse given is that 'The artists are still rehearsing'. Well, if the want to rehearse before the concert then they should bloody well get there earlier.
And, it's a horrible place to play. The acoustic is like a big bathroom and the backstage facilities are poor.

One day, when Mrs. PG and I win over £100,000,000 on the Euromillions, we are going to pay for a proper chamber concert hall in Edinburgh. (That's after we've persuaded the Festival Society to stage a Festival dedicated to the music of George Lloyd!) To initiate it, we'll have a late night Bach season where the best keyboard and string players will play solo Bach.


Anyway, rant over!

[David-G]

I love the morning concerts at the Queen's Hall, they are perhaps the most enjoyable things in the Festival. I am only sorry that this year I will have to make do with the R3 broadcasts - Norma was my one event at the Festival.

But oh dear, I am afraid I will have to take issue with PG about the hall! I love the Queen's Hall. I enjoy concerts there as much as, perhaps more than, at the Wigmore. The acoustics are excellent, I never seem to have a problem either with sightlines or with comfort. I like the pale blue colour, and the generally slightly distressed state of the décor is rather charming. I particularly like the shape of the seating with its semicircular rows, this seems to focus the audience's attention towards the performers; the curved rows of seats are a little like a traditional opera house, and are successful for the same reason. My only gripe would be that the coffee is awful.

I would earnestly suggest that for a fraction of your £100,000,000 you could renew the carpet, fix the toilet, buy new coffee machines, and hire new customer-friendly staff. You would have a tidy sum left over for other worthy causes.

[CallMePaul]

Some years ago R3 used to have fascinating interval talks about aspects of Edinburgh, its people and culture. Instead of bombasting us with more music, sometimes inappropreiate to the concert, in the intervals, can some of these talks not be repeated next year - or even better, can a new series not be commissioned? If I go to a concert I don't want to hear more music in the interval!

[pastoralguy]

The hall itself is, IMHO, a poor substitute for a concert hall. (Would it have killed the Festival Society to have asked for the carpets to be cleaned? And there's a smell of urine from a new toilet that's been installed ). It's never been more than a 'make do and mend affair. The sightlines are terrible, the seats are appallingly uncomfortable and the staff treat the audience as a major inconvenience. (The doors are supposed to be open at 10.30 for an 11.00 start but rarely are. This causes a build up of patrons on the narrow pavement outside in South Clerk Street). I'm genuinely surprised, considering the average age of the audience, that no one's been hurt. The excuse given is that 'The artists are still rehearsing'. Well, if the want to rehearse before the concert then they should bloody well get there earlier.
And, it's a horrible place to play. The acoustic is like a big bathroom and the backstage facilities are poor.

One day, when Mrs. PG and I win over £100,000,000 on the Euromillions, we are going to pay for a proper chamber concert hall in Edinburgh. (That's after we've persuaded the Festival Society to stage a Festival dedicated to the music of George Lloyd!) To initiate it, we'll have a late night Bach season where the best keyboard and string players will play solo Bach.


Anyway, rant over!

I forgot. The air-conditioning system is very poor as well.

Apart from that and the above, The Queens Hall is wonderful!