Wednesdays performance didn't start until 7.30pm, so we caught the 2.24pm train into Finsbury park and then the tube to south Kensington. I know it seems like we were crazy early but I have learnt that slow and steady wins the race!
We strolled into the Victoria and Albert museum about 3pm which was perfect as most people had started to leave so I wasn't cracking peoples ankles with my cane, however I unfortunately discovered a major disadvantage to museums that I hadn't noticed before and I thank heavens it wasn't busy and that Mum was fully alert as I walked straight into the first glass cabinet. you know the sort I mean? Museums tend to dot them about with artefacts in them, they are usually in the middle of a room or along the walk-way, to me it just looked like the objects were in with whatever happened to be on the display behind the glass cabinets. Thinking about it I truly don't know how the alarm wasn't set off on the first one I hit. You know that scene in the newest Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where Willy-Wonka walks straight into his glass elevator after having his shoes shined by Charlie? That was me, and it hurt! By the time I had walked into the third glass cabinet Mum had had enough and suggested that we left the V&A quite quickly and went to look for somewhere to have food. There used to be a little Italian café just down the street from the V&A serving really lovely food and cake so off we went in search of it only to find that it had been replaced with a Lebanese café, we played it safe and had pasta, which was good but the cake was even better, there was just about every flavour cake you could imagine and I kinda figured that all that bumping into glass must have worked off some calories so I ordered this massive slice of black forest gateau and Mum had a Lebanese cheese cake which had a strange texture but tasted amazing.
By the time we had finished eating it was getting on for 5.15pm so we walked slowly back to the tube station and followed the signs to the Royal Albert, see, none of this getting lost this time or following stupid sat navs. The signs took us right to the front door of the RAH, and as usual I was struck by the awesomeness of this grand old building, it always makes me feel like I need to get a deck chair and sit outside and just look at the building for a while, and then take my chair inside and do the same. As we were early, we breezed through bag check and managed to get a table in the café without any problems, and there we sat with a glass of wine each, watching the steady flow of people coming into the building.
At 6.45 the door to our box was opened and we were shown to our seats. We got comfy and watched people taking their seats down below and marvelled over how clever we were to get to the hall with only a few near hits and misses with some glass cabinets and me falling down a kerb through miss-use of my cane (like I was pretending to look cool as I crossed the road in front of a line of traffic that consisted mostly of shinny BMW 4x4's and a couple of mercs, and fell straight off the kerb) and the biggest miracle of all was that my train ticket was still in my possession!!
As the musicians of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra started to take their seats and tune up their instruments we were warned that there was strictly no photography, which didn't seem to make a jot of difference as people had their phones out and were snapping away.
I have never seen or head a Orchestra live before and so this experience was all new to me, and I wasn't at all prepared for what I heard. Having poor sight usually means that other senses are
enhanced and when the conductor started the overture the noise meeting my ears was extraordinary. I kept turning to Mum and asking her if she could hear what I was hearing, and for a moment it was a little emotional! When you listen to a song on the radio or through your device, you listen to the words and maybe sing along to the tune, but rarely do we think about what goes into making the 'tune' and every single instrument that is used to make a song, some of the instruments played in the orchestra really stood out for me, the percussionists were fundamental, every time a cymbal was tapped or a chime struck the noise exploded in my ears and I had to stop myself swinging round and asking if the people around me could hear it. When the vocalists came on and sang some favourites from the 'Best of Broadway' their voices were secondary to the beautiful sounds created by the musicians, even now as I am sitting here glancing at my programme and the titles of some of the songs played, I can still hear the orchestra in my memory but I cant remember what the voices of the vocalists sounded like, except may be Matt Henry who really does have one of the most glorious voices I have ever heard.
At the end of the night the orchestra and the vocalists performed a medley of ABBA songs which ended the night beautifully, the whole hall was singing along, I am once again grateful to the RNIB for the opportunity of experiencing something so spectacular.
The homeward journey was cold and we missed our connecting train but it didn't matter because as I crawled into bed at 12.30am I had a very big contented smile on my face and a eagerness to write my review of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. x
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