This is my last week in London. While I look forward to going home, seeing friends, and the holidays, it is also a time to feel a bit sad. I’ll miss the urban buzz, all the culture and music, and (of course) Craven Cottage.
My last visit to Wigmore Hall
The Orsino Ensemble were the performers for my last season visit to Wigmore Hall. The Orsino Ensemble is a wind quintet comprised of: Adam Walker, flute; Nicholas Daniel, oboe; Matthew Hunt, clarinet; Amy Harman, bassoon; and Alec Frank-Gemmill, horn. Their repertoire included Samuel Barber’s “Summer Music,” Carl Nielsen’s “Wind Quintet,” Opus 43, and the UK premier of Mark Simpson’s “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.” Mr. Simpson was present in the auditorium and given a warm round of applause when the piece concluded.
This was an exceptional hour of music. The quintet brought sounds and ideas to life and thrilled the audience.
Freddy, we hardly got to know ye
Forgive my pun in introducing the Victoria and Albert Museum’s tribute to the late, great Freddy Mercury, known for his role as lead singer of the band “Queen.” My great friend Steve with whom I travelled to Australia, and his friend Debbie came to London, and we all thought that the V&A’s successful previous exhibitions on Rock music warranted a visit to this one. Frankly, we were underwhelmed. The ‘exhibition’ was more of a scavenger hunt that had us following signs with arrows throughout the museum. At each of 5 locations, there was a mannequin (or two), dressed in Freddy’s costumes. We concluded that either there was not enough material for a full exhibition or they used Freddy’s costumes to get people to tour less visited parts of this outstanding museum.
Above, one stop on the Freddy Mercury hunt.
The Barbican creates an exhibition reminiscent of Yasmina Reza’s play, “Art.”
If you have never seen the stage production of “Art,” it revolves around a painting that appears to be a canvas that is simply painted white. Yet a certain kind of art connoisseur sees a much deeper meaning in the object, while others mock it. The Barbican’s exhibition of works of the late artist Robert Ryman (Robert Ryman, the Real Thing) could easily lead visitors to the same conclusions. A brief video presentation in which the artist described his work, his methods, and his creative process, helped me to better appreciate him and the exhibition. The first rooms are filled with small and gradually larger works that, at first glance, appear to be white on white, but on closer examination are more nuanced.
The Mystery of My Final Visit to the British Library
With most of my packing done, I headed across Euston Road to the British Library to view their newly opened exhibit on the life and works of Agatha Christie. As a devoted fan of the author and her works, I assumed (correctly) that it would be nostalgic look back at the grand dame of mysteries and her interesting life. I was not disappointed.
The exhibit was a delight and reminded me of my happy years reading her mysteries and watching the movies and TV adaptations. The Poirot obituary is something that I remember well. The New York Times decision to run it, as if it were a news story speaks volumes about the respect and love readers had for Agatha Christie and her work.
And One Final Farewell
From the library, I returned, one more time, to home base, aka Caffe Tropea to say my annual farewell to the Tropea family who run the cafe and their outstanding staff who make me feel welcome every time I visit. I also had the chance to catch up and say farewell to Linda, Mick, and Jacqui; three of the stalwarts of our coffee crew with whom I have solved numero9us world problems over the years.
The next morning, it was an early start, a ride to Heathrow and the long flight home. And so ends another London sojourn.
