Concert: American Exploration - Visits to the New World

I planned to be back to film yesterday - not Oscar-nominated, for once! With a choice between Burning and If Beale Street Could Talk, I went for the former - fancying the ominous soundtrack on the trailer. It was in the Vue Islington, which I can walk to! and nice and early - and I didn't have an evening meeting that day.. I booked, which is always cheaper with Vue. And then - da boss decided he'd like to have a try of the red wine he'd ordered. And I decided I'd kind of rather hang on and do that. So - Burning fell by the wayside, I'm afraid. Still nice and highly rated, mind, if I come across it again.

That's it for film for a while. Tonight was my very first Meetup with the London Chamber Music group, finally. Well, they usually clash with something else! Delighted to make it at last. We were off to a concert in Wigmore Hall, and the organiser personally messaged me to let me know what he'd be wearing, and where he'd be, and expressed his hope that we'd meet.

And after last night's shenanigans, da boss was working from home, so no distractions from that quarter! No, I printed off the concert page from the website so I'd know what was being played, set off in good time, took the bus to the end of the line, and arrived early. It occurred to me that it's ages since I've been here! May, as it happens. Well, I hovered around the usher who was selling programmes - in what I hoped was a non-intimidating manner - till I finally saw an elderly gent in a red scarf, as he'd said he'd be. Jeepers, he wasn't kidding when he described himself as "stooped"! I didn't blame him for taking a seat in the lobby when one came available. Well, I moseyed over and struck up a conversation - unfortunately, it was like pulling teeth. He's a bit deaf, I think, and his conversation was strongly classically based. And while I do love classical music, I'd never describe myself as an expert. It was a mercy when the bell rang.

I was more central than usual - and handily, the seat to one side of me stayed free, which gave me somewhere to lean:

The Escher String Quartet consists of three gents - all in rather dull suits - and a young lady in a vivid, turquoise dress, who stood out nicely. The programme consisted of three pieces inspired by their respective composers' visits to the States - Britten and Shostakovich before the interval, Dvorák after.

I'm not a huge fan of Britten - but it seems that every classical event has to include one piece that nobody really likes! Discordant, I'd describe it as. The Shostakovich fared much better - and me constantly nearly nodding off during both these pieces was certainly not a reflection on what I was listening to! A late night and early start, combined with enough alcohol to bathe in, would be more to blame. Anyway, I was in good company - the organiser, who was sat a couple of seats over from me, dropped off completely at one point and started to snore..

The Dvorák was definitely the highlight of the evening - a beautiful piece that made it worth coming out. And they finished with a lovely Mozart encore. At the end, with my organiser engaged in conversation with the lady to the other side, I made good my escape - hearing him, as I left, say to her how, for him, it had improved steadily throughout. Well yes, I think that was the same for us all. Don't think I'll be rushing back to this group, though.

Waiting for the bus back, my bus app informed me that it'd be 18 minutes! Despite the timetable predicting 8-11. Nuts, sez I, and eventually decided to walk to the next stop - at least I'd keep warmer. Now, the bus takes quite a detour between these two stops, so I had a chance of getting away faster that way - sure enough, when I got there, I only had a couple of minutes to wait.

The next three events are with Up in the Cheap Seats! Great chance to catch up with people. Binge sessions permitting. Tomorrow, I'm going with them to The American Clock by Arthur Miller, at the Old Vic. I see London Dramatic Arts is also going, and sitting in the stalls - I guess we won't be mixing much.

On Thursday, to Aspects of Love, at Southwark Playhouse. Based on an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. And on the event organiser's recommendation, I bought a subscription to the theatre, which entitles me to five tickets, and has no time limit - used the first for this, which made it very good value! Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

On Monday, I'm with the group again, for another Arthur Miller play - this time, it's The Price, at Wyndham's. Oh, and for two of these, I could have used my Seatplan vouchers, which arrived last week. If I'd had them with me. Never mind - I hadn't been expecting to book so much so soon, but they don't expire anyway.

And next Tuesday, Let's Do This is off to Tango Fire at the Peacock. They booked a box, so had a very limited number of seats, and I wasn't in time for theirs - but I got my own ticket, and have agreed to meet them for a drink afterwards.