Concert: Cédric Tiberghien

Meetup didn't have anything for last night that appealed - so I had a hunt around, and ended up with a cheap ticket to a piano recital. It was in Wigmore Hall - sounded familiar, but I don't see it on the blog: so either it's a very long time since I've been, or I considered going and didn't. Anyway, it's in a part of town where parking was unlikely to be easy, so public transport it was.

Train to Victoria, then Victoria Line to Oxford Circus. Arriving at Clapham Junction, the "next London departures" board was full of trains to depart imminently, which I wouldn't be in time for - so I headed up to platforms 12 & 14. On platform 12, the departure board said there were actually two trains due! Figuring I should make one of them, I climbed the steps - in time for one or other of them. Non-stop to Victoria then, and Tube to Oxford Circus, where I didn't now know what exit to take. Streetview had told me I needed to head up to the right of H&M, but I'm used to exiting at the other side of the junction, which is what I did - never mind, the crossing lights went green when they saw me.

The first time I had to head up this way, I was headed to the Langham, and got completely lost on Oxford Street - just making it in time. This time, I had to turn left at the Langham, and keep going - it was hard to tell, on Streetview, which was Wigmore Hall, so I had to look up the venue website; it's on the right. As you go in, the signage tells you that pre-booked tickets should be collected at the programme desk rather than the box office - turned out it didn't apply to mine, though.

Ticket finally in hand, I took my seat - decently close to the stage:

(Apologies for the blurriness, I was hurrying, conscious of that anti-mobile sign on stage!) It's a gloriously marbled, art-deco room. Decent legroom, comfy seats. As we waited - for some time, I might add - I read my paper.

Finally, the artiste appeared - page-turner in tow. She sat by the side, he took his seat at the piano. Interesting repertoire - for the whole evening, Bartók alternated with Gyorgy Kurtág. I can't say I'm very familiar with either, but I can certainly say that this was far from the classical concerts I'm used to! He gave that piano a helluva bashing.. at the interval, someone came out to test it, which I thought wise.

This was actually an amazing performance. Such power and passion I've never seen bettered - he explained to us, at the end, his love of Bartók. He was electrifying to watch - and it's a pity I couldn't tell which piece it was, but there was one that involved a ripple effect, for which I'd have loved to be sitting on the other side of the room, because his movement was flawless and it would have been lovely to see his hands. He used the whole length of the piano for this, and with such dexterity, such effort, and such passion, I wasn't surprised when the page-turner mouthed a "wow" at the end! (So did I.)

Stunning stuff - catch this guy if you can, particularly if he's playing music like this. Jeez, I did well for my couple of days away from Meetup!

Speaking of which, tonight I'm back with the Man with the Hat, who's taking London for Less than a Tenner to the (not-so) Top Secret Comedy Club. Now, I've only been there once before, and had a bad experience - but that was just the line-up on the night, and I have higher hopes for this. I know some people are going to be interested in my reaction. So shall I! And it'll be great to see the group again.

Tomorrow, I'm off to what should be an excellent night with the Crick Crack Club - Trickster, at Rich Mix, stars no fewer than three storytellers, at least two of whom I know to be excellent: Tuup and Clare Muireann Murphy. On Friday, I'm (so far, unless I get a better offer) headed back with the CLOGgies, finally, for a Royal Parks & Palaces Evening Walk. I did enjoy that group, the one time I was with them - they just usually clash with other stuff! And on Saturday, I'm headed with the London European Club to an exhibition on Sicily: Culture and Conquest, at the British Museum. I know Sicily has a fascinating history, so I'll be interested in this.