London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis.
We started with Quirk, a concertante written by Karl Jenkins and receiving its premier tonight. Piano, flute and percussion soloists. All playing multiple instruments. The flautist had four different flutes, from a piccolo to a bass flute with a curly bell at the end (lie a sax does...). The pianist had grand piano, harmonium, honky-tonk piano and celeste, and the percussionist had a range of tuned and untuned percussion. Oh, the percussionist also played a whistle (you know, like a ref's whistle) and in the final movement the pianist and flautist played plastic wood blocks. At one stage the pianist was plucking the strings of a grand piano to emulate a sitar.
It was a bit showy, and I did think - why not have a sitar, rather than a gimmick? That having been said, it was tremendously enjoyable and fun. Whether it will become quite the runaway success of An Armed Man, I doubt, but I could probably bear to listen to it again.
Also on the programme was Haydn's Symphony 72 in D major. I don't know but it was gorgeously Haydn-esque, the sort of piece I often think is the archetypal of symphonic music of that era.
After the interval was Brahms' Violin Concerto. The programme notes writer suggested that this is the greatest violin concerto ever written. I had never heard it before, god knows why, but I know a damned fine performance when I hear one - soloist Gordan Nikolitch, who so put his all into the performance of a masterful and passionate piece.
I was in the second row of the stalls, so I have a crick in my neck. I was pretty much in the middle under the conductor's podium, from which is a great position to watch the conductor, and the interplay with the orchestral players, although not such a great place to get the bigger picture - or sound picture - of the orchestra as a whole.
I don't what it is about conductors. I accept that as a breed they do tend to go on in their careers much longer than most people. Sir Colin Davis is 77. In recent months I have attended 75th birthday concerts for Christoph von Dohnanyi and Bernard Haitink. Charles Mackerras is 80 this year.
But what is most striking is how physically fit they are. Of course, they all have strong muscular backs and shoulders, that goes with the job. But most men of that age I wouldn't take a second glance at. Many of the men one sees in audiences are considerably younger but lack the youthful vigour of conductors.
And one has to assume that considering they can conduct a full symphony concert, or, in some cases, an opera, that they are also incredibly mentally agile, too.
After a Prom last summer I strolled past the stage door and there was a teenage girl waiting, desperate to meet Sir Colin.
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