Last night I was treated to an incredible concert at the Barbican Theatre, (the tickets of which were bought for me as a gift by my lovely mother).
The performance featured Rufus Wainwright singing the words of Shakespeare over the BBC Symphony Orchestra's masterful playing.
Below is a picture I took with my blackberry, just to give you an idea of the setup:
The concert was broadcast live on BBC 3, and is already available to listen to on iPlayer HERE.
The first hour of the concert featured the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the energetic Rory McDonald, showcasing the grand size of their sound with some beautiful classical pieces.
Rufus's part of the concert begins at 1:27.
All the pieces were composed by Rufus using the words of 6 of William Shakespeare's sonnets (each read, in turn, before the song's performance.)
I have never seen Classical music performed on this scale, and while I may have been the only person in the audience nodding along and moving with the music, I still didn't feel at all out of place. The sound produced by an Orchestra is unbelievable... So huge, but clear and dynamic. It was extremely moving to witness, and I would recommend it to any music lover out there.
If you are unaware of Rufus Wainwright's body of work, I wrote a blog about him in 2009 with songs and videos on it. You can read that HERE.
1 comment:
I have to mention as well, the opening track, before Rufus was performing, by John Adams... was AMAZING. It's called Lollapalooza.
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