Sunday 15 November 2015

A Pianist of Great Style & Talent , ILYA KONDRATIEV

..as the Kensington Classical Music group advertised it. Which is where I got the idea. Not to go with them, though - they were charging £1.50. Not for a ticket - those you had to book with the Royal Albert Hall! No, this was, as far as I can gather, for the convenience of having someone hold you a seat.. seating was unreserved, you see - cabaret-style. I skipped it, and booked a ticket myself, eschewing the chance of having a seat held for me..

This is the first time I've been to a coffee morning concert at the Albert Hall. They're held in the Elgar Room, which has a baby grand permanently situated there, so is perfect for the purpose. I woke nice and late, which meant a hasty exit, with no breakfast - the Albert Hall always takes that bit longer to get to, because it's such a walk from the nearest Tube. Speaking of which, I was very lucky with my Tubes, though - one arrived just as I arrived at West Brompton. I had to change at Earl's Court, but again, there was one waiting at the opposite platform when we pulled in. After a blustery walk up Exhibition Road - no rain today though, thankfully! - I got there with about 10 minutes to spare.

Entrance 6, it says on the tickets. Inside, you couldn't get lost - it's well signposted, with ushers at every turn. It was quite packed by the time I got there, and I quickly determined that the handiest course of action was to take one of the bar stools, aligned against the wall. There was a good view from there, and you didn't have to share a table. I was soon joined by someone from the Meetup last Friday, who followed my example and took the seat next to me. Your ticket includes a free tea or coffee, and a pastry - I didn't want tea or coffee, but when the queue died down a bit I went for a rather decent apple slice. Mind you, you don't get extra at the Albert Hall - one they said, and one they meant! He confiscated my ticket after I picked up my pastry - which was odd, as I thought you got a discount at Verdi's Italian Kitchen upon presentation of the ticket. Not that I was going there, but.. and as soon as the pianist appeared, the remaining trays of pastries disappeared into a back room! Definitely no seconds.

The aforementioned pianist is Russian, and duly treated us to about an hour of music. Handily, they'd distributed free programme fliers as we entered, which is how I know we had a mixed programme of Scarlatti, Mozart, Liszt, Debussy, and Gershwin. For my money, the Liszt and Debussy were a bit heavy for the occasion - but never mind. Latecomers were admitted between pieces, and the place was packed - booking definitely required. The poor pianist had to return for three encores - which were sublime.. he signalled the definite end of the concert by closing the lid over the keyboard.

My companion had booked the optional add-on of a tour of the auditorium, but I hadn't felt the need, so scurried home in the wind - passed on the way by one of those afternoon tea buses, which seemed quite busy - and have had a lazy afternoon indeed! What a difference it makes, not to have to flat-hunt! Why, just last night I was messaged by someone who said I could view today..

Tomorrow, the Crick Crack Storytelling club has a meeting in the Soho Theatre, and I'd have loved to have gone - but, as usual, it's booked out. Instead, I got a cheap ticket to Showstoppers: the Musical, which has been recommended to me. On Tuesday, I'm headed to Guildford, and wouldn't normally go out that night - but I'll have to get used to going out on Guildford nights, eh?! So I got another cheap ticket - this time, to the Russian Ballet School that I missed during the week, because of flathunting. On Tuesday, they're performing in Wimbledon..

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