Pieter Wispelwey giving us suites 1 and 3, plus a suite from Britten and a sonata from Ligeti.
Bad start in that we had a new-to-me sort of carriage to take me from Epsom, arranged with heaters under all the seats, taking away what might otherwise have been room for one's feet.
But things got better when I found that the Pentonville Road exit from the Victoria Line at Kings Cross meant a lot less underground walking than last time.
I turned down the various bars on offer along York Way, and settled for the bar in the Rotunda, in Kings Place itself. Another of those central London bars which manages to provide good service when it is busy. Furthermore, it seemed quite cheap for the location. And they gave you a fancy glass for your whisky - which seems to have become the norm in the better class of bar. Very few people were using cash, so my presenting the barman with a tenner slowed things down a bit.
Oddly, the central, multi-floor space outside the bar seemed rather cold, despite being smart, modern, reasonably well populated and decorated with inoffensive art. Maybe a bit too much like an office - which is, of course, what a lot of it was.
On into the hall to be greeted by a much smarter cello stand than that which I noticed at reference 3. Given that this was a solo performance and there was no need to raise the sitting cello to the level of the standing violins and viola, one can only suppose that the floor manager thought that the cello looked better sitting on a little stand that sitting on the stage. The net result was that my eyes were about level with the holes and the sound from the middle of row F was very good indeed.
But also close enough for there to be various odd noises, in addition to those arising from bowing or plucking the strings. Some were breathing. Some were the fingers of the left hand tapping the finger board. Some were the bow catching the case. But quite a lot I could not place at all and I wondered if catching the still moving string with the bow could sometimes produce a click on impact. Something else to ask a cellist if I ever get up close and personal with one.
Hall a little more than half full, rather less full that it had been for Clein and with some leaving at half time. Why, I know not. But quite a lot of young people, quite a lot of working age. So a lot younger that most of our musical events.
There was a Chinese couple a little in front of me and the lady of the couple would have taken the prize for the most naked lady of the evening, with the back of her dress consisting of little more than narrow straps, but she had to be disqualified by being one of the leavers.
The Britten and the Ligeti were interesting, with some good passages, including echoes of the Bach, but not really my thing, despite Wispelwey giving us a musical introduction to the Britten so we knew what to expect. Maybe they are musicians' pieces, better suited to the trained ear. But the Bach was very good indeed, particularly No.3 - so much so that at exit one learned lady was talking about there perhaps being too much attack. But I liked it.
Bit of a wait on the way home, just missing a connection, so put in a visit, the first for a while, to the Halfway House at Earlsfield. Busy, but not packed around 2200 on a Friday evening.
Earlsfield station was remarkably clean and tidy, with all the free papers and other litter collected up. Very large half moon to the east, illuminated by the sun somewhere to its left, well below the horizon. (The papers have been talking about large moons, something to do with its orbit around the earth not being very circular). Then, for a few minutes I had an excellent position on the platform, but the best I could do was a couple of singles. Aeroplanes that is.
Lot of burbling from the guard over the intercom, more or less incomprehensible.
Next stop Jean-Guihen Queyras in June next year.
PS: checking this morning, I find I had heard Wispelwey before, about 5 years ago and noticed at reference 2. It looks as if I liked him at much on that occasion, rounded out, as it happens, by a first visit to the nearby Saint Bartholomew the Great.
Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/the-home-of-guardian.html.
Reference 2: http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Wispelwey.
Reference 3: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/cello-stand.html.
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