Classically Inspired

Thoughts, musings and ideas about Classical music in London and Hull 
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concerts

 

What makes you want to go to a concert?

Personally speaking, it’s a combination of things really. Excluding the desire to go to a concert of a favourite artist, the most important aspects for me are ticket price, location and availability. I quite often do not plan to go to a concert, choosing to go is more spur of the moment, doing things this way has its disadvantages though.

I aim for the reasonably priced tickets, for the vast majority of the time these suit my needs, I get a seat to hear and be able to see the concert to the amount that I am prepared to pay.  It seems I’m not alone in wanting to buy cheap(er) tickets, for these can be the first to sell out. If the seats I’m willing to pay for have gone, then I simply won’t see that particular concert, after all there are plenty more concerts to see in London.

Within London such opportunities to pick and choose exist, allowing myself the right to choose a concert with a fair ticket price. How lucky I am to have such choice.

In Hull with naturally fewer concerts taking place, demand for a good priced ticket to see a Professional Orchestra is decidedly more restricted. Of course many would argue that prices are fixed according to demand and that the demand is sufficient to warrant a minimum price of £20.50. However I would argue that demand would improve if prices were made fairer and more friendly towards those who aren’t made out of money, are not unemployed, over the age of 60 or a full time student, but that they simply cannot afford to pay such prices on a concert, that for them may be the very first classical concert they have been to.

It is expensive, but there are further options such as attending a Hull Philharmonic Concert for example which has tickets priced at £5 or more. I only wish more of these concerts could be put on.

By pricing a ticket too highly, classical concerts send out a subtle signal to all that it is elitist and those afraid of not being a particular part of society need not attend, this seems particularly so with Hull City Councils Master Series (£20.50).

Filed under  //   Hull   London   concerts  

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Contemporary Classical Music - Adès and Chilcott

Over the past couple of weeks I have seen two concerts featuring new works by Thomas Adès and Bob Chilcott, at the Barbican (5/3/10) and Cadogan Hall (16/3/10) respectively. It seems I'm entering new territory here, for contemporary classical music has been up until now something I have not sought out. I can honestly say that the music I have recently heard has changed that. Though the pieces I had were in essence very different including scope, Adès delivering a more abstract, modernist piece and Chilcott taking Beethoven as his inspiration, both have shown me that the perception of classical music being a dying art, is very wide of the mark. 

I have to admit Chilcott's work stands out more for me, it was truly sublime, sweeping you along with the music, largely thanks to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Oxford Bach Choir. Adès piece was more of what I would call a thinking persons piece, technically brilliant yet requiring some thought to appreciate fully, I enjoyed it immensely, Emanuel Ax, the Pianist on the night really brought this work home.

Needless to say my somewhat reluctance towards contemporary classical music has been replaced by a need to explore more modern works; some I will like others not, but the fun is in finding the gems, and potentially feeling what listening to Bach, Beethoven and Mozart for the first time must have been like. The fun of being the first to listen to something and finally appreciating that if we do not support contemporary composers, the only modern classical music left will be left for film scores, not for audiences.

Filed under  //   Contemporary music   London   concerts  

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