Coming off Waterloo Bridge, I availed of the handy walkways to take me over to the Southbank Centre - these meant that I didn't have to go all the way to ground level and climb back up. I was the first there, apart from the organiser - had a glass of wine, and as we gathered, the conversation turned very musical - and was very entertaining. As our organiser remarked, an unusually good crowd for an organ concert on a Monday night!
How unusual for me to be in the front stalls, here - but then, I think there was uniform pricing for this:
And let me tell you, I was a tad intimidated by the size of this organ, up close! But never fear, I came away with my hearing intact. (That lonely-looking chap you can see, sat all the way up there on his own, is the page-turner, BTW.)
The performer duly appeared, and made his way all the way up the steps to swing himself over the bench in front of the business end of the organ. It was fascinating to see how his whole body seemed engaged, both arms and legs moving constantly, as he sat with his back to us. His feet seemed to be controlling the stops - pardon my ignorance.
I wasn't familiar with a single piece in the repertoire, but am delighted to say that I loved it all! with the exception of the very first piece. Composed in 1891, Variations on America is a series, as the name implies, of variations on a piece called America - which was America's de facto national anthem at the time. Same melody as the British national anthem - which would have caused some confusion..
Well, once that was over, I could enjoy myself. The organ remained bathed in blue light throughout, and it was intriguing to see the massive valves open and close. And all that organ music reminded me of church.. we'd agreed beforehand that it'd be a treat to see this organ finally played, because, for all the times we'd been here, we'd never before seen it in action. Tonight, it got an airing - and the music was sublime, the sound of the organ magnificent. And towards the end, all the stops were, literally, pulled out, and we got a sense of the instrument's true power.
Afterwards, some of us agreed to go for food - and we ended up close by, in Wagamama's. Handily, it being late-ish on a Monday night and there being exactly four of us, we got a booth, rather than a long table. Years since I last ate in one of this chain, and the menu has changed - I also wasn't as hungry as I might have been, and didn't do my portion justice. And I ended up drinking most of a bottle of red that I shared with someone! Well, let it never be said that I failed in my duty.. and I did manage to finish it, and made it safely home. And a most excellent night was had - particularly by me, considering that they indulged my wittering on about U2!
Tomorrow, I'm finally doing something with the folks from work - every now and then they have pop-up social events, and this time it's a pub quiz. So I can see whether all those tv quiz shows have helped! Taking place at The Castle pub, not far from the office.
On Wednesday, I've had it in mind for the longest time to accompany Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) to see The Welkin at the National. But you see, I had a Seatplan theatre token that I wanted to use - and the bind is that they still haven't introduced web bookings for those, and so I had to ring. During office hours. And whenever I thought of doing it was outside of office hours. Until last week.. and in the meantime, of the £47 tickets that had sold out, three more became available - in the back row of the stalls. So I booked one of those. And despite the dire warning from the automated voice, that I'd be charged an extra £3 for booking this way.. well, she obviously completely forgot about that, because I wasn't.
On Thursday, I had film in mind at first. But top of the film list - when I had time to look at it - was Outside the City, a documentary about trappist monks, whose numbers are dwindling, and whose members are ageing, so they can no longer run the farm, and have taken to brewing beer instead. Yeah.. I'm sure it's very good, very interesting - but I'm not that enthused. I'm not even a beer drinker.
Instead, I noted that UITCS are off to see Leopoldstadt, which I found much more interesting. 'Tis the season for Holocaust memorials, indeed.. well, it's the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the majority of the camps. Anyway, it seems to be popular - when I checked the official website for Wyndham's, only three premium tickets remained in the whole theatre! However, checking the event page, I noted that someone was trying to sell a ticket, as he could no longer go, and didn't seem to be having any luck. Well, I got in touch - and it worked out well for both of us, as I'm now going in his place! for a much lower price. The ticket arrived this morning. Oh, and they've extricated that unexploded bomb, so it should be ok to head to the area.
On Friday, Helen is coming to town and we're having lunch - in Byron Burger again. And that evening, I'm off to see Faustus: That Damned Woman, at the Lyric Hammersmith.
And on Saturday - why, I finally get to a UITCS social! They have them every now and again, but they're generally sometime I can't make. I go to so much with them, I'm delighted finally to be able to go to a social as well. This is on in the Phoenix Arts Club - ah, memories of happier days, when I worked in the next building over..
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