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Strung Out
Dec. 3rd, 2010 05:30 pmAn orchestra is the perfect setting for a murder mystery. All those egos. All those tensions. (Because we know that's what happens when you get a large group of people working towards a common goal.) All that intrigue. Plus, the posh setting: some earning a hell of a lot more than others (how much does the triangle player get?!) And the explosive sexual chemistry! All these thoughts ran through my head yesterday as I sat through a concert at the Royal Festival Hall.
I've mentioned before Ray, this octogenarian from Hackney who loves to buy large amounts of concert tickets and invite his friends to come along. He's a member of the Royal Opera House as well as the Festival Hall so he gets them for £4 a piece ("Oliver, it's cheaper than a glass of wine in this place!") Some time ago, everyone pitched in some money to get a seat named after him in the Festival Hall. The seat is there, with his name on a golden plaque. I got a call from him on Sunday to join him yesterday, with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wink_martindale, and it sounded like the perfect night out in these snow bound days.
There were twelve of us. Italians, Finns, Hackneysians, Brasilians, Canadians, Unknowns. The Philamornia Orchestra started with Maria von Weber's Overture, Der Freischütz, a ten-minute long piece that was quite lovely. This was followed by Schumann's Symphony No.1 in B flat (Spring), which was quite dull.
I noticed two cello players sitting side-by-side. She looked like a young, brunette Uma Thurman with serious eyes. He had light brown - and silky smooth - hair, stubble and cheek bones to kill for. They shared a partitura and glanced at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. Her cello was darker than his. Near them were two women dressed in identical black outfits. I bet they wanted to kill each other. (See, it was from these observations that my murder mystery took shape.) Somebody else in the orchestra looked like a tall and intense Casey Affleck. Suspicions fell on him after the body was discovered.
The second half was Brahms' Violin Concerto in D. Violinist Arabella Steinbacher came on stage dressed in red and played alonside the orchestra for the whole half hour without looking at a partitura. Amazing.
London has so many classical concerts which are incredibly affordable. It's one of the best things this city has to offer. That and murder mysteries.
I've mentioned before Ray, this octogenarian from Hackney who loves to buy large amounts of concert tickets and invite his friends to come along. He's a member of the Royal Opera House as well as the Festival Hall so he gets them for £4 a piece ("Oliver, it's cheaper than a glass of wine in this place!") Some time ago, everyone pitched in some money to get a seat named after him in the Festival Hall. The seat is there, with his name on a golden plaque. I got a call from him on Sunday to join him yesterday, with
wink_martindale, and it sounded like the perfect night out in these snow bound days.There were twelve of us. Italians, Finns, Hackneysians, Brasilians, Canadians, Unknowns. The Philamornia Orchestra started with Maria von Weber's Overture, Der Freischütz, a ten-minute long piece that was quite lovely. This was followed by Schumann's Symphony No.1 in B flat (Spring), which was quite dull.
I noticed two cello players sitting side-by-side. She looked like a young, brunette Uma Thurman with serious eyes. He had light brown - and silky smooth - hair, stubble and cheek bones to kill for. They shared a partitura and glanced at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. Her cello was darker than his. Near them were two women dressed in identical black outfits. I bet they wanted to kill each other. (See, it was from these observations that my murder mystery took shape.) Somebody else in the orchestra looked like a tall and intense Casey Affleck. Suspicions fell on him after the body was discovered.
The second half was Brahms' Violin Concerto in D. Violinist Arabella Steinbacher came on stage dressed in red and played alonside the orchestra for the whole half hour without looking at a partitura. Amazing.
London has so many classical concerts which are incredibly affordable. It's one of the best things this city has to offer. That and murder mysteries.
