I went on a little outing today to the RFH to hear a rehearsal of the Philharmonia. It was great, especially as they basically just ran the programme, so we heard all of tonight's concert.
Verdi Force of Destiny Overture
Tchaik First Piano Concerto
Prokofiev 5
Cool. Lots to entertain the pupils. We took boys who play in orchestras and a couple of pianists, so they know the how things work. Ie, you listen in silence. This is the first time we've done this and we wanted to be invited back.
The rehearsal began with an announcement from the stage management about clearing the platform as soon as they were done as the LPO were in in the afternoon - Hisses from the Philharmonia.
Such is the pressure on the hall, I guess the other rehearsals were all elsewhere. That's London for you. 5 Symphony Orchestras (for bara brith smiles on the BBCSO) and only two decent concert halls. That's excluding all the period bands and other more ad hoc line ups. We don't mention the time the RPO performed two gigs simultaneously...
The conductor was Italian and very flamboyant. Some great gestures, really huge. They orchestra seemed to like him, well he ended the rehearsal 45mins early.
As we were going a retired Music teacher came over for a chat. There were about 20 other people in the Hall who are Friends of the Orchestra. She's back tonight for the performance. Sounds like a great retirement plan.
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