Oh come on, did you think I wouldn't watch it...?
Lovely, I thought, lovely. The Bride looked radiant. The Queen, gawd bless her, wasn't it lovely to see her so happy? Wills and Harry, what nice lads.
Okay, okay, that's going a bit far...
Elsewhere, I wrote my immediate impressions on the music:
This particular piece was a setting of the Creed by Alexander Grechaninov, who was born in Moscow in 1864 and died some 90 years later in New York, and the soloist was Ekaterina Sementchuk. Details here - a finalist in the Cardiff Singer of the World 2001, and a present from the Mariinsky (Theatre, in St Petersburg).I thought the music was great - I'm a sucker for stonking anthemic hymns, although if I was world dictator, I would ban Love Divine All Love's Excelling from the wedding services. It's beautiful, but the tessitura is a killer for mere mortals like me. I do recall one wedding where a friend (tenor) and I almost dissolved into giggles at our inability to sing it...
I will put forward a controversial view that the music was better by a mile than the Papal funeral. I like funerals also to have stonking
anthemic music, and while I like a bit of Gregorian chant, not that much...I got a frisson of goose pimples during the Immortal Invisible. If the organ wasn't enough, it was wonderful hearing the strings of the Phil soar heavenwards. The Bach cantata was beautiful. I was disappointed that the otherwise impeccable Dermot Murnaghan talked over the Albinoni oboe concerto, although I couldn't help thinking that it was a poor imitation of Handel. I wasn't impressed by the never-to-be-heard-again except on the highlights Hoddinott fanfare and was relieved when it segued into Handel's Water Music. I may complain to the BBC about the instant pumping out of Duran Duran in a trailer for the General Election coverage.
It was nice to see some familiar faces in the Philharmonia, notably the Leader, although I noticed that gigglers and chatterers of the lower strings seemed absent. I was curious to see the shot of the two
conductors in unison. I felt the Nat Ant would have been improved by a glorious timpani roll and the essential, to my mind, cymbal clash at the climax of the twiddly bit.I was disappointed that much of the music was played before the blessing, when the TV was focusing on celeb arrivals. But one shouldn't complain.
Did you notice Wills's bald patch. And how like Edward VII the bearded Kent (Prince Michael looks). Eugenie has obviously worked out how to avoid the paparazzi, with that hat over her face, you'd never have guessed it were her, except that she was next to Beatrice who unfortunate girl managed to inherit the worst features from both her parents, who aren't actually that bad looking themselves. Doesn't Phil the Greek look fit and well preserved for 84 - 85 this year. At one point I saw a shot of a woman and thought, Oh she looks familiar, then I realised it was her who has been on our stamps and money all my life. And longer.
Were Kate and Chelsy there, I never spotted them. But then, I'm not sure I would.
Top tip for Birthday Honours - Timothy West will become a knight of the realm.
