London - Royal Albert Hall - Carmina Burana - a view from the Chorus

A seat with the choir - 26th October 2013
In the cheap seats again
Royal Albert Hall in October
TW likes to make sure we have the occasional dose of Culture, bit like the winter flu jab. Where better to go than the iconic Royal Albert Hall. It is only an hour in the car, parking is easy and it is a keenly priced £18 for a comfy seat. Very reasonable when you have a top Orchestra, The Royal Philharmonic, and 500 singers to entertain you for the evening. I felt a bit under-dressed when we arrived as the seats next to us were occupied by elegant Ladies in posh frocks. When TW pointed out they were the choir and were the hired help for the evening I felt a lot more comfortable. Sitting alongside the choir is actually not too bad, have just to remember not to stand up when they do. Hearing them sing is also not a problem.
Take your seats
The programme contained familiar tunes. The warm up was the William Tell Overture. He was a Swiss chap he used to sit an Apple on his son's head and shoot at it with a cross-bow. Not sure that it was responsible parenting. When I hear the music it conjures up a clear image of the son hoofing it through the Alps pursued by a demented bowman. The Conductor definitely got into the spirit of things and was very red-faced by the end of the chase. Next up was a Violin Concerto by Bruch with a tall soloist in need of a hair cut. Beautifully played but could not quite understand why he was given a bunch of flowers at the end? Nobody else got one.
The main event of the evening was Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and this is where the massive choir came into play. One section was the Southend Boys Choir, they were sitting at the front so their teachers could keep an evil eye on them. One of the proud Dad's was sitting next to us. The Essex boys did well, as did our neighbouring ladies. The Tenor behaved bizarrely, they made him stand by the Organ and when he finished he fell over and hid. I thought he sounded OK but he was obviously embarrassed. The Irish Soprano was very good but she did not get any flowers, not sure why? Like to think the long-haired lanky violinist gave her his bunch.
The music is very familiar but the words are a bit obscure. Some lines are Latin, others are German. Not sure why Herr Orff changed language part way through. He probably had a difficult childhood, can imagine what his nickname would be in English! TW printed out the words with a translation into English for me to read as the performance progressed. Have to say I wish she hadn't. It was all a bit racy and probably should be rated as PG and totally unsuitable for the Primary School lads from Southend. A lot of Virgins were 'seized by desire' from my reading of it. I also found it a wee bit disrespectful to Her Majesty. One line read:

Were all the world mine
From the sea to the Rhine
I would starve myself of it
so that the Queen of England
might lie in my Arms

Not sure she would be amused and would probably tell him to 'Buzzer' Orff. What is more worrying is that her own Royal Orchestra was playing it in her own Royal Hall. Put small Apples on their heads I say!
Location: Royal Albert Hall, London SW7 2AP, UK

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