I wasn’t planning on having THE musical experience of a lifetime today, nor was I expecting to. When I got called to go work a last-minute shift at the Elgar restaurant tonight, little did I know the memories that would be made.
I was asked to cover a 5-9:30 shift at the Elgar restaurant in the Royal Albert Hall. Tonight (I had forgotten) was a “Classic Spectacular” concert featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with the Royal Choral Society performing some of the most moving and beloved classics of all time: Saint-Saens Finale Organ Symphony; Holst’s Mars from The Planets; Bizet’s Toreador's Song Carmen; Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, and many more.
As my shift ended at the restaurant, there was about 20 minutes or so left in the concert and I stepped inside the hall to watch from the upper balcony section. I spoke to the attendant that I was part of the staff, and he let me sit right on the edge. I literally was looking over the balcony to a sheer drop into the music of the bass section. The hall was packed with people filling the many boxes, and the ground floor area. The Orchestra was spread across the stage and the chorus was split and seated around the massive organ. There was impressive laser/light show apparatuses suspended from the domed ceiling which twisted and turned with the music for added effect. It was clearly towards the end of the concert, but they had saved their best numbers for last.
The conductor first led the orchestra in a rousing rendition of “Rule Brittania”. Kevin Greenlaw, baritone, strutted out onto the stage draped with the Union Jack and sang as he took the giant flag and waved it. The audience loved it, and he came back out and sang an encore. The hall rippled with the hundreds of flags being waved throughout the song, and especially during the chorus. They were delighted when the orchestra and singer performed the encore with even more gusto than before.
For an idea of what it looked like, go here
The orchestra then followed with Nessum Dorma sung by Welsh Singer Wynne Evans. I didn’t care for his clipped abrupt style, but the audience did!
Then they played the 1812 Overture- and that was the best part of the whole night. What we didn’t know at the onset of the song was that above where we were sitting, in nearly the rafters, there were actors in French and Russian military dress on opposite sides of the hall facing each other. With cannons. As the song progressed, the lighting display augmented the experience as it flowed and moved and filled the hall.
And then the French and Russians began to fight.
Gun shots rang through the hall, and the cannons boomed in response. Crisscrossing the hall were tracing wires and rockets shooting across them, momentarily filling the hall with white lines of blinding, showering sparks. As the orchestra and chorus continued towards the climax, the hall was a commotion of sound, smoke, dazzling pulsating lights, and fire. Fireworks went off in tempo behind the orchestra. Shifting lights accentuated the hall in reds, blues and greens. The tall organ pipes were illuminated as it joined in the fury. Cannon and gunfire continued to fill the hall. And finally, the audience was enveloped in the chaos as brilliant blasts of sparks raced around the rim of the hall coming to a full circle.
It was pretty spectacular.
For only a shadow of what it looked like go here and watch from the 3 minute mark.
The audience went wild, and the orchestra played 2 encores of Offenbach’s famous “Can Can” , and another round of “Rule Brittania” as the conductor’s podium raised up several feet revealing Union Jacks on all sides. With more fireworks going off around the hall, hundreds of red, white and blue balloons were dropped from the domed ceiling, and streamers exploded from the sides of the hall.
If anything, the British know how to put on a show.
I quickly went backstage before the crowd began to leave and got my stuff. But before I left the hall I went to the stage floor and just soaked in the view. Looking up on all sides, it felt pretty cool to stand alone in the middle of the Royal Albert Hall. To get an idea, go to this link and take a look from the ground floor.
I felt pretty lucky today- its not that often you get to hear the 1812 Overture in the Royal Albert Hall for free.
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