Some nicely varied musicking on the past 3 Saturdays. A fortnight ago it was the period-instrument Corelli Orchestra & the St Cecilia Singers in Gloucester Cathedral: Bach Magnificat & Brandenburg 4, Vivaldi Dixit Dominus. Ashley Grote's last concert as conductor of this (excellent) choir. It's a glorious building, of course, but the acoustic is a bit much for all those semiquavers...
The acoustic was very different a week ago: Cheltenham Jazz Festival's Big Top, for Marcus Miller and his band (including the stunning young sax player Alex Han). Miller is a legend - wonderful show.
And then last night, Flying Dutchman at the ENO. Some wonderful moments in the production (the arrival of the Dutchman's ship), and some dubious ones (Senta's gang-rape). Clive Bayley (Daland) and Stewart Spencer (Erik) were as good as everybody said they were - I was a lot more impressed with James Cresswell's Dutchman than some of the critics (even if he did look disconcertingly like Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen). The chorus were absolutely superb.
An unexpected bonus in the afternoon: the LSO were rehearsing for their outdoor concert in Trafalgar Square: Stravinsky with Gergiev. I caught most of the second half of the Rite (Nice to hear it done slickly & professionally, after having played it myself in a less-than-confident workshop evening 10 days previously).
The acoustic was very different a week ago: Cheltenham Jazz Festival's Big Top, for Marcus Miller and his band (including the stunning young sax player Alex Han). Miller is a legend - wonderful show.
And then last night, Flying Dutchman at the ENO. Some wonderful moments in the production (the arrival of the Dutchman's ship), and some dubious ones (Senta's gang-rape). Clive Bayley (Daland) and Stewart Spencer (Erik) were as good as everybody said they were - I was a lot more impressed with James Cresswell's Dutchman than some of the critics (even if he did look disconcertingly like Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen). The chorus were absolutely superb.
An unexpected bonus in the afternoon: the LSO were rehearsing for their outdoor concert in Trafalgar Square: Stravinsky with Gergiev. I caught most of the second half of the Rite (Nice to hear it done slickly & professionally, after having played it myself in a less-than-confident workshop evening 10 days previously).
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