If it’s Sunday, it must be another morning concert at Wigmore Hall. What a great coincidence! Three of the concerts I chose came so close together!
Before getting to this week’s performers, let me talk about my Uber trip to Wigmore. Once again, I was running late, and Uber seemed the best solution. The driver was a charming man of East Asian descent. He noted the Fulham crest on my jacket, leading to a discussion of my team’s unfortunate defeat the previous day. He was knowledgeable about the players and tactics. Then things got a bit interestingly weird. [Note, was having a good hair day, I guess] I should say, he was quite bald on top with tightly cropped sides. He said to me said to something along the lines of “your hair, is all ???” I responded, “is it all mine, yes, I’ve just had some of it moved around a bit and it is the natural color?” [who would choose this crazy mix of silver, brown and grey?] Then he asked, “Was it…?” I replied, “Was it painful, no I slept through it.” “Was it expensive.” “Well, that depends” “It is very pretty, maybe you find new lady at your concert?” At this point we arrived at the Hall.
The Viano Quartet were this week’s performers. Their website describes their beginnings as: “Praised for their “huge range of dynamics, massive sound and spontaneity” (American Record Guide), the Viano String Quartet is the First Prize Winner of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition and the current Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music. Formed in 2015 at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, the quartet has performed all over the world in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Place Flagey, Izumi Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and Segerstrom Center for the Arts.”
The two selections were: Felix Mendelsohn’s String Quartet in A minor Op. 13 and Edvard Grieg’s String Quartet No. 1 in G Minor Op. 27. Each was played to perfection by these four gifted performers. The two pieces allowed each musician to demonstrate their significant abilities and talent. The violins and violas blended beautifully and cello both complemented and responded to the other instruments, as well as “singing” with them. The Quartet graciously played an encore after the strong applause and “bravos” they received.
One of the especially great things about this concert was that it was part of the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust. CAVATINA has worked in partnership with Wigmore Hall for over 20 years, and now forms a major part of the Hall’s ongoing commitment to new audiences and its strategy to make tens of thousands of tickets available to young people every season, either for free or for just £5.
From Wigmore, I headed South, via London’s famed Underground network. Taking “the Tube” to today’s destination of “Tooting Broadway Station” is a familiar one to me. This is the home of dear friends who were hosting an 8th birthday party for their older daughter. The birthday girl’s paternal grandparents are my longest standing English friends, having met when they invited me to share a table at a crowded restaurant many years ago. This kind of English hospitality is what I have found over the years in this wonderful country.
The birthday party (I’ve been to all of the young lady’s, except for the Covid one) because her birthday falls during my annual London sojourn) was lovely. While her dad who is a great musician who appears on social media from time to time and her mum and her mum’s twin sister were child stars well-remembered and beloved by many in the UK, I will save her from social media fame. I am honored to be included in these family parties and to see the birthday girl, her sister and her cousins grow and thrive over the years.
“Monday, Monday, so good to me!” Unlike the song, Monday was morning brought me continued Facebook access issues. What is it about technology and me? I spent far too much time diddling around trying to find some way to gain access to my own account on either my laptop or phone. Luckily, I was able to maintain my Facebook account on my Kindle Fire. But the day was saved with the knowledge that I would be meeting a high school classmate and his partner for dinner Monday evening. We attended a large suburban high school on Long Island, NY. Our class had 777 students in it! That was down from 800 in some of the larger ‘Baby Boomer classes that preceded us. We were from Nassau County in is Hey Day of suburbanization. I lived in one of the earliest developed areas in a house built before WWII. Jack lived in the post-WWII Levitt-inspired part of area where our Oceanside Senior High School was located. As Jack described it beautifully to his partner, a lovely lady from Georgia, “there was the Italian crew, the Jewish crew, and the Irish crew,” we all got along, we were all friends, we all celebrated each other’s holidays.” That, in a nutshell, described our world. We may have our separate ways to Hebrew School, Sunday School, or CCD, but we knew and respected the customs and traditions of each other’s ethnicities and traditions. We played together on sports teams, were in clubs together, and so on. So, how did we manage to go through those years, and barely know each other? We laughed as we considered that!
Jack and I had mutual friends, several of whom, we had each stayed in touch with over the decades since we left Oceanside High School, both gone off to different branches of the State University of New York (me to SUNY Oneonta, him the SUNY Buffalo). We each went off to graduate studies. He eventually settled in San Diego where his dental career is legendary and me, of course, in Alexandria, Virginia for my career in Federal service. Our later life friendship had bloomed on Facebook, as so many have, particularly during the recent year of planning for our 50th high school class reunion that covid fears postponed until July of 2021. Jack did not make it ‘back east’ for the reunion but suggested we might meet in London this Autumn. And so, we did. It has been a few years since I have been to the National Theatre at Southbank. The first picture demonstrates the ‘brutalist style’ of the theatre complex, a true sign of that mid 20th century modernist style. The second shows the modern style of the restaurant looking out onto the Terrace which gives views out to the river Thames. The Terrace Restaurant now
teams with a successful food truck called Bob’s Lobster. So, we dined at Bob’s Lobster at the Terrace Restaurant. The dinner was very good. The service was stellar, and hostess was absolutely charming. We finished before the theatres let out, so it was quite easy to grab a Taxi at the upper ground, thhe place where taxis and other cars services drop off and pick up theatre customers. This is also a quick walk to the cab stand at Waterloo Train Station. I’m hoping to see Jack again when he returns to London from his next port of call.
