For those of you who are fortunate enough to live in or within travelling distance of the greatest city in the world, do try to visit the Royal Festival Hall on those occasions when major concerts are being held, as there is now a superb facility in the main part of the RFH (called the Charles Clore Ballroom) to see a huge live DVD relay (and I mean a big BIG screen with a superb acoustic system) of the concert that is simultaneously taking place in the auditorium.
Whilst the sound of the bar to the rear of the Ballroom seats is a slightly irritating distraction, it is more than compensated for by the action taking place on the screen. And as the presenter said last night, arguably this is in some ways, a better experience than the live event as the cameras allow for close up shots of the musicians performing.
Last night we were blessed with the first of a series of concerts by Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Staatskapelle - a total of three in which he will be playing the five LVB concerti and works by Schoenberg (as I read elsewhere, Barenboim has always considered both Schoenberg and Beethoven to be "veritable structural pillars in the historical development of music")
For better or for worse, I have always venerated Maestro Barenboim - as a pianist, conductor, teacher, musicologist and sheer man of humanity (the ideals and inspiration behind the formation of the West-Eastern Divan youth orchestra for example) To watch him live and close up tackling the fabulous LVB first piano concerto (with I would add a rarely played cadenza that thrilled to the core) was a humbling and ecstatic experience.
And what’s more, for those of us like myself who are far from well appointed in matters financial, it was free........
Whilst the sound of the bar to the rear of the Ballroom seats is a slightly irritating distraction, it is more than compensated for by the action taking place on the screen. And as the presenter said last night, arguably this is in some ways, a better experience than the live event as the cameras allow for close up shots of the musicians performing.
Last night we were blessed with the first of a series of concerts by Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Staatskapelle - a total of three in which he will be playing the five LVB concerti and works by Schoenberg (as I read elsewhere, Barenboim has always considered both Schoenberg and Beethoven to be "veritable structural pillars in the historical development of music")
For better or for worse, I have always venerated Maestro Barenboim - as a pianist, conductor, teacher, musicologist and sheer man of humanity (the ideals and inspiration behind the formation of the West-Eastern Divan youth orchestra for example) To watch him live and close up tackling the fabulous LVB first piano concerto (with I would add a rarely played cadenza that thrilled to the core) was a humbling and ecstatic experience.
And what’s more, for those of us like myself who are far from well appointed in matters financial, it was free........
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