Wow, what a spectacle it was, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the military Band of the Royal Welsh Guard, the 120 member Royal Choral Society choir, the Royal Albert Hall organ in full flight and bass, tenor and piano soloists filling the stage – so many performers together is a trademark of Classical Spectacular, and how well they do it. And not only filling the stage, a troop of ballerinas spilled over into the Orchestra Stalls, treating us to the Swan Lake and Can Can. Plus the onmi-present multicolour Lazers, projecting moving patterns from the dome to the floor!-
The music included favourites like Handel’s ‘Zadoc the Priest’, Bizet’s ‘March of the Toreadors’, Pacebel’s Canon, Bizets’s duet from ‘The Pearl Fishers’ and a strong soloist rendition of Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, and many more. Multiple choruses of ‘Rule Brittania’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ to exercise our lungs on, made us feel very patriotic, and thinking that no other country participates in something like this, plus the ‘Hornpipe’ to exercise our hands and test our co-ordination! And as an exciting finale – Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, with tubular bells, kettle drums, thundering Cannon fire by the Moscow Militia, shooting stars across the auditorium and fireworks from the balconies.
What a very enjoyable evening, with many delights and looking forward to the next visit !!!!-
Alan Boyd