Another day.......

Thethirdmrsc

Registered User
Apr 4, 2018
744
0
Aw @Izzey some great memories for you though! I went with my daughters in December 2017to see Hello Dolly, and one of them was pregnant. She had to have an aisle seat, for quick access to the loo! We saw Doddie Weir this year, just a few weeks before lockdown, and he was amazing. Such a special place.
 

Izzy

Volunteer Moderator
Aug 31, 2003
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Dundee
Oh wow! I’d love to have seen Dodie Weir!

We always had dinner in the restaurant before the show too. A special occasion every time!
 

jennifer1967

Registered User
Mar 15, 2020
23,142
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Southampton
We have the most amazing theatre in Pitlochry, and I have seen some great musicals, plays and wonderful talks by authors. I took my OH last December to see Colin McCreadie in Scrooge, a 20th century musical adaptation, it was brilliant and my OH behaved himself, win win!
i watched swan lake and nutcracker suite. like musicals especially live watched philip schofield in joseph king and i etc. scotland is a bit far for me in the south but my son did perform at the edinburgh fringe one year while he was doing his drama gcse about 15yrs ago.
 

Izzy

Volunteer Moderator
Aug 31, 2003
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Dundee
my son did perform at the edinburgh fringe one year while he was doing his drama gcse about 15yrs ago.

What a wonderful experience for him @jennifer1967! Sadly there is no Edinburgh Festival this year because of the virus.

I think our most memorable experience was seeing The Marriage of Figaro in the Met in New York. We had dinner between acts too!
 

jennifer1967

Registered User
Mar 15, 2020
23,142
0
Southampton
What a wonderful experience for him @jennifer1967! Sadly there is no Edinburgh Festival this year because of the virus.

I think our most memorable experience was seeing The Marriage of Figaro in the Met in New York. We had dinner between acts too!
it was like a play but cant remember if it was him or his teacher that wrote. he has written plays and arranged the music, songs different pieces for each instrument. he still writes and he wrote a musical piece for another school where he lives. hes very clever but will sing to adverts on the tv as well which is annoying.he ran the london marathon 2 or 3 yrs ago as well.
 

Whisperer

Registered User
Mar 27, 2017
382
0
Southern England
i have realised that i have never been to a music concert in my life. pop classical or otherwise. the way that it is talked about on the site has made me wonder if ive missed out. ive seen ballets and musicals but no concerts and we have a lovely theatre in southampton, the mayflower and tend to get the westend shows coming on tour. excuse my ignorance but is there a good starting point my son is a music teacher and plays clarinet but never really heard much as he had his head phones on. never was a typical teenager.

Dear Jennifer

I would humbly suggest just go. Decide what music appeals to you and when Covid19 is in the rear view mirror head to a venue that will play it. Showing my age here. In the late 1970s me and a few mates got our driving licences, got a few beat up wrecks and thought we were the kings of the road. I knew nothing about music but got dragged off to Brighton on cheap weekends listening to pub gigs. Most of the venues are now gone but it was great fun, some really rough groups but I saw Soft Cell in a pub before they rose to fame. Got a little older and perhaps wiser and stumbled into classical instrumental music. There is just something about live music. The crowd brings an atmosphere, the artists seem to raise their game, people from different backgrounds, ages, creeds, etc, just share in a simple pleasure. The feet start tapping, the first notes play and you just forget everything else for a while. Only been to see a few plays and although enjoyable it just did not have the same magic for me. That is one of the simple beauties of life, we all have different interests, likes, etc, which usually change within our selves as we live life. Music, plays, talks, all have the gift of bringing people together in shared enjoyable experiences.
 

PalSal

Registered User
Dec 4, 2011
972
0
Pratteln Switzerland
Dear @PalSal

Please forgive my liberty but reading through this thread I saw you had recently attended Martha Argerich playing Beethoven. I could not agree more with your comment about the joy of attending a live music event, particularly with such a gifted artist. Please can I ask what did she play? The opening bars of the third movement in the Emperor Concerto get me every time knowing what is to come. Funny in caring we dread what may yet be to come but in music we can listen in anticipation of the delight that will unfold. If ever I am down on goes Brahms piano concerto number two with the head phones and I get a lift.

Sorry to intrude on perhaps a minor point but in the small things there is usually joy to be found.
@Whisperer
Yes, the anticipation is of the rondo /allegro of the Emperor is indeed a moment to relish and savor.. I, like yourself, am moved and in awe of such beauty. But my ability to write is not as refined as your skills, you express yourself so beautifully.

I have had the joy and privilege of hearing Martha Argerich play a few times. She is a great favorite of the previous chief conductor of the Basel Sinfonie Orchester , Dennis Russell Davies. People comment on her power and force which is, of course true, but I am always amazed how gentle and sensitive her touch when in pianissimo is required in the second movement.

Ms Argerich played Konzert Nr. 1 für Klavier und Orchester in C-Dur, op. 15 and then they orchestra played Beethoven's Symphony No 3 Eroica . I went on Saturday night, on Friday night they played the 2nd.
Here are the recordings you may access.
https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/095907-001-A/martha-argerich-spielt-beethoven/



Luckily, on the classical music front there is a lot going on at the moment. Long may it last.
 
Last edited:

Whisperer

Registered User
Mar 27, 2017
382
0
Southern England
@Whisperer
Yes, the anticipation is of the rondo /allegro of the Emperor is indeed a moment to relish and savor.. I, like yourself, am moved and in awe of such beauty. But my ability to write is not as refined as your skills, you express yourself so beautifully.

I have had the joy and privilege of hearing Martha Argerich play a few times. She is a great favorite of the previous chief conductor of the Basel Sinfonie Orchester , Dennis Russell Davies. People comment on her power and force which is, of course true, but I am always amazed how gentle and sensitive her touch when in pianissimo is required in the second movement.

Ms Argerich played Konzert Nr. 1 für Klavier und Orchester in C-Dur, op. 15 and then they orchestra played Beethoven's Symphony No 3 Eroica . I went on Saturday night, on Friday night they played the 2nd.
Here are the recordings you may access.
https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/095907-001-A/martha-argerich-spielt-beethoven/



Luckily, on the classical music front there is a lot going on at the moment. Long may it last.

Dear @PalSal

Thank you for your helpful reply. Beethoven’s Eroica symphony set the world ablaze when it swept through Europe’s concert halls.

I always like a journey with any given composer. Perhaps I could suggest two for you to consider at some point in time. We all love the finished article, but sometimes it is the earlier steps which can give the most pleasure. Knowing where our treasures were born.

1) My personal favourite type of classical music is the piano concerto. Beethoven wrote five before his deafness moved him away from the genre, to concentrate on mostly chamber music in his later years. Mozart wrote 27 such concertos, those from about number 19 onwards each individual master pieces. However it is number nine, commonly referred to as the Jeunehomme concerto, which I would refer you to. Mozart had realised that the piano was now strong enough to stand up to an orchestra. No longer the orchestra plays, then the piano replies, the style of what went before. No here the piano stands equal with the orchestra. All that Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, etc, later developed owes it thanks to this humble concerto.
2) Again we can admire Beethoven for his late string quartets. Such complicated beauty, but where were they born? Again we need to flow back through history and Opus20 by Haydn. Until that time the string quartet was mostly seen as a light weight musing. Compare opus20 to opus33 by the same composer and it is a revelation.

Thank you again for your generous reply. I hope you are able to maintain your regular hikes. Funny to have stumbled on classical music on this site. I come here to try and gather wisdom and knowledge from others, to prepare for my mother’s continued decline. Recently I have posted to newer members where I think I might be able to help. To find myself discussing the Emperor concerto was a rare treat. Even before Dementia my mother referred to my music as “I see your playing that rubbish again, it all sounds the same”. Yes mother unlike your Jim Reeves......... Hence the headphones.

Very best wishes for the future.