Wednesday, August 22, 2018

London: Thursday 9 August


I slept in a bit today.  Joshua went over to Kensington Park to do some practicing on his bagpipes.  He quit after a while because, even though he was off the pavement, he was gathering a crowd, and didn't want to be accused of busking without a permit!  

Then we headed over to Knightsbridge for the afternoon and evening.  First, we stopped at the Genting Casino for Joshua to do some real gambling (machines, not the tables).  No photography was allowed inside, so we had to settle for a photo of Joshua coming out of the casino.


It was a fairly simple walk over to Royal Albert Hall where we had tickets to a BBC Proms Concert.  The hall itself is very impressive, and we enjoyed the concert very much.

 our approach
 closer - one of many doors, but not ours

 Queen Victoria monument from inside RAH

the hall - from Joshua's camera

the organ

the ceiling from our seats

the floor (standing) from our seats 

to the left from our seats

to the right from our seats

above & behind our seats

Prom 36:  Mahler, Wagner, and Webern

Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra take a journey from the aphoristic brilliance of Webern through the bittersweet beauty of Mahler’s unfinished Tenth Symphony, to Wagner’s expansive music-drama Die Walküre.

Programme
Anton Webern:  Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10
Gustav Mahler:  Symphony No. 10 – Adagio
INTERVAL
Richard Wagner:  Die Walküre – Act 1

Performers
Anja Kampe:  Sieglinde
Robert Dean Smith:  Siegmund
Franz-Josef Selig:  Hunding

Philharmonia Orchestra:  Esa‐Pekka Salonen, Conductor

the final bow



It had rained, but was clearing up now.  Joshua needed to do laundry Friday morning, so we walked back to Notting Hill via Kensington Church St., passing St. Mary Abbot's Church on the way.  (Kensingon park closes at 10:00pm.)



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