Madam Arcati and I had our "culture with a capital K" hats on again last night, as once more we ventured off to the simply faboo Cadogan Hall - this time for a very special concert performance of Verdi's Requiem by Twickenham Choral. Heavens, what spectacular experience it was, too!
We've long been particularly fond of the Requiem - probably "Joe Green"'s finest work - and every time we hear that immense drum [and last night's was six feet across! A bit like this one.], we always do the choir's wailing "Aa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa"...
...sort-of like this:
[Crank it up to 11! Full version here.]Apart from the brilliance of last night's choir, the faboo soloists and the orchestra, we were also quite privileged to find ourselves part of the retirement celebration of the Twickenham Choral Society's conductor Christopher Herrick after 50 years at the helm [read more] - complete with his rather emotional speech, and afterwards in the bar the presentation of a "book of thanks" from its membership, past and present...
We're still coming down to earth from the experience!
[* In case anyone's confused - it's a pun on the lyrics of a familar Sondheim standard...]
INCREDIBLE!! What an experience, sweetpea, for y'all! Verdi's Requiem alone would have kept me in the Catholic Church, but they dropped the Latin Mass and all the pageantry, so I dropped them! xoxo
ReplyDeleteBeing an atheist, I have no truck with all that Catholic nonsense - and indeed, critics at the time described Verdi's Requiem as "an opera in ecclesiastical robes", and it was refused space in a number of cathedrals. I rather fondly think of Verdi (and his contemporary Wagner) instead as being a sort-of-precursor to the pomp and bombast of 20th century composers - anyone from Carl Orff to Leonard Bernstein to Jim Steinman owes him a nod! Jx
DeleteI love that Requiem, it is one of my favorite classic with a capital k pieces.
ReplyDeleteIt is a breathtaking work - and to hear/feel it live was a stunning experience. Jx
DeleteI would do the wailing bit as well! This is such an evocative piece - and I think you're right about Bernstein - I hear that now you mention it!
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Bernstein always believed he was better than he was - "bombast" is an apt description for much of his orchestral stuff. Jx
DeleteI'll click all your links tomorrow...or maybe overmorrow https://www.businessinsider.com/olde-english-words-we-need-to-use-again-2016-
ReplyDeleteOh, yes! That's a word that deserves a revival - interestingly, it's still used in German (übermorgen) and Dutch (overmorgen)... Jx
DeleteI've been called a Philistine before now, so I won't show my ignorance, however I did get the Dies Irae Desiree reference, I remember Dame Judi in a Little Light Music and someone called her Desiree I thought it odd, to be named after a potato. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteHa! There's more than one potato in that show - there's a Charlotte, too. Jx
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