Concert: Worksongs
Tonight, there was a concert at King's Place that sounded rather good. Worksongs was part of their Scotland Unwrapped series, and had the Maxwell Quartet playing a mixture of classical music and Scottish traditional.
Was at the office today - just as well, or it'd probably have been too far to take the bus! En route, we passed the lifesize Monopoly, which I only noticed when someone pointed it out to her daughters. Looks interesting. Later in the journey, I was joined by one man and his dog - he was eager for talk. Unfortunately, I wasn't, so much - when he asked whether, as I was alighting at King's Cross, I was getting the train home, I volunteered that no, I was going to a concert. And that got him onto how all his family played instruments - classical ones. He'd wanted to learn the guitar, but wasn't let..
Well now, I know from bitter experience how slow the food service in the bar of King's Place can be - so I never eat there anymore, but rather in the nearest Nando's, which is where I headed tonight. Now, I was a little later than intended, so I had decided that if I had to queue for any considerable time, I'd have to leave it. Ay-ay.. what a sight greeted me at Nando's! You know, someone last night remarked that there seem to be more people in London these days - as if such a thing were possible. Well, on the basis of the last couple of days, I'd believe it - yesterday, I couldn't get a booking, and tonight, the queue from Nando's stretched out the door and down the street! I took one look, and headed back to the station - where I was delighted to see a Wasabi. Fabulous - I hadn't realised there was one. It's on the upper level - escalators at the far end. And I was very well fed, sitting at one of the balcony tables - not the warmest, now that the weather's turned bitter again, but it did me.
I ended up making the concert hall with five minutes to spare - just as well, considering I was in the front row!
Now, as you can see in the picture, the cellist - nearest me - had an e-reader on his music stand - very progressive! I know he turned it on, and seemed to be reading it through the concert - however, if it had his sheet music on it, it must have advanced automatically, because he never touched it! Certainly, he didn't have music printed, like the others..
He must be the group leader, if they have one, because he it was who explained - after the first piece, mind - what they'd be playing. We started with a Haydn string quartet - which was lovely. It occurred to me how very long it's been since I attended a classical concert! Longer still since I was in this venue.. back when I could walk to it. This was followed by their Worksongs compilation of Scottish numbers - starting with a lovely piece of plainsong. (I should emphasise that these were all instrumental versions - no singing involved.) There was merry dance music, and slower ballads - it was beautiful to listen to, and actually my favourite bit of the concert.
At the interval, I got a drink - I'd forgotten the rule here, that you can take in drinks as long as it's not red wine, which could stain their oak floor! The second half was a Beethoven string quartet - but for all that I love the composer, this wasn't one I particularly took to. Still, all in all, a lovely concert, and a good end to my week of going to things in London. Oh, and I did manage to get the bus home - traffic was lighter, late at night, so it was faster.
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