LPO stalking - Poulenc, Prokofiev and Shostakovich

Well hi there. So, over the past few weeks I’ve been to see a number of concerts by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. They have an amazing student deal on certain concerts that means you can get the best available seat for only £4. If you’re a student and haven’t signed up for the mailing list you should really check it out totally worth your time. The LPO aren’t the only orchestra that do student offer as well so you should have a nosey and see what discounts you can find.

Anyway, tangent over, one of the concerts I went to see was of the Poulenc Piano concerto, Prokofiev Symphony 7 and Poulenc Stabat Matar. Now, I’ve played Prokofiev 7 but the two Poulenc pieces were completely new to me. I adored the piano concerto, the soloist was spectacular and the orchestra were really on the ball. Excellent playing of what is really a beautiful piece. Prokofiev 7 is one of my favourite bassoon parts to play because it’s just so ridiculous at times. Have a listen if you haven’t heard it, it’s a good piece and really enjoyable to listen to. The Stabat Matar was not my favourite but was still quite a good piece.

The other concert was Shostakovich 13 (Babi Yar). This piece is not really performed regularly but was an amazing experience. The combination of male voice choir, bass soloist and orchestra was hair raisingly beautiful. Sadly I need to go to bed so I can’t give you a full review but you should have a listen. I went to broaden my horizons and thoroughly enjoyed it :)

Sorry this a bit dull but hey, I'm funny 99% of the time, this was just the unfortunate 1%, see you next time

So, I accidentally got on a plane to Germany...

Hello world, so, I'm currently in Germany visiting Sez, my bestest friend in the whole world, for her 21st birthday. And this means I managed to get to Mannheim, Germany, just. Now, I don't know how many of you have used London public transport but generally it's very good. On Thursday it totally wasn't. Thanks to a number of delays, trains that decided they weren't actually going to go to terminal 5 even though they said they were and the sheer number of people trying to get to the airport it took me over 2 hours to get there. OVER 2 HOURS! Was a little bit stressed and nearly missed my flight but thankfully managed to escape the motherland to pastures new.
This is where my tale of stress turns into tales of joy. Sez met me at the airport and after a coffee, a train journey and a trip to the local shop we settled into her lovely flat for the night for a catch up and some sleep. Waking up alone on Friday, the poor girl had a three hour lecture on her birthday, at 8:30, owch, I got up and ready to explore. We visited Universitaet Mannheim, where she's studying for the year, which is a castle, jealous much?

We also had an explore of a couple of other places but the main event of yesterday was the Adler Mannheim ice-hockey match which was INSANE! Now, I've never been into ice-hockey, it's not really a thing in England but really, after watching last night, I have no idea why. The game is fascinating, fast paced and has a nice edge of physical contact which keeps it super exciting. The atmosphere throughout the entire match was electric and I can safely say I'm now a Adler Mannheim fan, and we totally smashed Munich. The end score was Munich 0 - Adler Mannheim 9. GO ADLER MANNHEIM! Here's a couple of snaps of the pre-game display and the pitch.

After we arrived

 Pre-game warm up

More warm-up

And we're off!!!

So, the lesson here boys and girls is that I'm now an ice-hockey fan (I know some of the chants and everything, even though they're in German). And that Sez had an amazing 21st birthday. That's all for now, I'll finish my tale, including today's events and extra details, when I get back to the UK but for now, tatty bye :)

If you want to here Sez's opinion on events check her out at http://studiesintheschloss.blogspot.de/ it's also an interesting account on Erasmus for those considering doing a year abroad.

All comments/questions/requests welcome :) xx

First real post - LPO concert and recording shenanigans

Hello world! So, I've finally decided to use my blog as a blog is supposed to be used rather than doing an assessment on it and then hiding it away in the tab fest that is my internet browser (yes I'm one of those people, yes I do judge myself, no I will not change). So, I know how you all want to hear about my life so without further ado, here we go.
So, a quick run down of interesting things that have happened to me recently. I went to watch the London Philharmonic Orchestra concert last Wednesday. It. Was. Awesome! The concert was in their home venue of Royal Festival Hall, a brilliant venue which is a real pleasure to play in, and it was magnificent. I went to the concert not knowing any of the music, I've decided I need to broaden my horizons. The programme was entirely Britten, which is not someone I usually go for, but it was really enjoyable. If any of you get chance to go watch the LPO then go, totally worth it. Also, student tickets are really cheap, especially for the £4 noise concerts. £4 for the best seat available, crazy! But anyway, much fun was had.
Also exciting, today in bassoon class we were working in the recording studio. Bassoonist Alice Lee, who freelances in orchestras and the west end, came in to help us learn about working in a recording environment and to let us know what was expected and so on. It was a realllllllllly fun session. We had a go at recording using click tracks, which is a lot trickier than it sounds, especially when you're sight-reading. Trying to play with headphones on is disorienting, and hearing yourself through them as well as hearing yourself live is bizarre. We also had a go at recording ensemble pieces without a click track but using drop ins to cover any mistakes. A drop in is where you record a small section and replace the original bit with it. All in all a fun and really useful experience .
Well, I think that's enough for now but if you have any feedback/questions leave me a comment (comments are love) and I'll see you all soon :) xx

Check out the LPO at http://www.lpo.org.uk/