I was lucky enough to score tickets to this gig last night, which took place at the Roundhouse in Camden - and friends, what a gig it was. Holy moly.
First off, my friend and I were mysteriously upgraded to "guest" status, which meant that we got assigned seating in the dress circle upper area, instead of being smushed into the ground floor like most people were. Though neither of us could figure out WHY we'd gotten nicer tickets, it was certainly a welcome surprise.
The Roundhouse is a really cool space - revamped from an old railway shed, the first floor is a big open space with a stage, and the upper floor is set up like a dress circle and outfitted with a bar so nice that you can't resist paying £4 for a pint of Old Speckled Hen. The lighting design for last night's concert was seriously choice - in the classical genre, exciting lighting displays are pretty uncommon (except for prom 56's creative and contemporary lighting design by Lucy Carter this past August). It was exciting and invigorating to be experiencing a "classical" concert in such a contemporary space.
Who says classical music is dead? The audience packed the house until the rafters lifted - 2500+ extremely enthusiastic concert goers, and most of them were younger than 40. Take that, elitist op-eds. Sure, people were using their phones - to take pictures, to tweet about the experience, and communicate with other concert goers that they didn't know about the music. How cool is that? I'm not suggesting that phones and mobile devices are appropriate in every venue, but they certainly were last night.
Khatia Buniatishvili was the opener, and I was enraptured with her delicately furious playing - as was everyone else in attendance. There we all were, staring slack-jawed as she smashed through some of the most difficult repertoire I've ever heard.
Without a doubt, @k_buniatishvili is the best concert pianist I've ever heard live OR recorded. Gorgeous. #itunesfestival
— Angelina Panozzo (@AngelinaPanozzo) September 30, 2014
There really aren't enough words to describe how phenomenal her performance was - all I can say is go listen to her recordings, and I can promise you wont be disappointed.
Placido Domingo (accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), as the headliner, was on-point as always, no surprise there - but for me, the highlight of the singing was from newcomer soprano, Angel Blue from Los Angeles, who made me sob during her "Vissi d'Arte." She won a competition of Domingo's made her premiere with the English National Opera last year, and has also performed at Wigmore Hall. One thing's for sure - she's definitely on my radar.
Vittorio Grigolo was fabulous and fun, taking the spirit of the venue into account with his performance and his attire. Can we please get an entire concert of Grigolo being as hilarious and candid as he was last night? I'd sign up for that in half a heartbeat.
Kudos to the iTunes Festival for choosing classical artists to close out their immensely popular series of gigs - it just goes to show you, classical music isn't dead, and younger generations do like opera and symphonies. Maybe they're just too intimidated by the elitism of more formal locations.
Take notes, opera houses and symphonies halls. The ball is in your court now.
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