You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February 2010.
The first review of our Vivaldi concerts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall is now online to read.
For this complete performance of L’estro Armonico we split the music over two hour-long concerts at 6.15pm and 8.45pm, with a free talk at 7.45pm. If you were there what did you think of this arrangement? Would you like to see more short concerts like this, or varied start times? Initial reaction seems to have been positive, though obviously it works better with some better repertoire than others.
OAE office mid morning Friday 29 January. Orchestra Manager arrives with a sprained ankle and a packet of frozen peas. Oh dear. Having been ordered to follow my GCSE P.E. anatomy and physiology advice of R.I.C.E. (that’s Rest, Ice, compression and Elevation) I quickly established that I would be acting as both Ceri Jones Projects Manager and the legs of Philippa Brownsword Orchestra Manager at the Roundhouse today… Given the general buzz and excitement of the event at the Roundhouse there was no way Philippa was going to go home and rest! We all wanted to be part of it. Read the rest of this entry »
Hard to believe it was a whole 2 weeks ago now, but we’ve just received the pictures from our Night Shift at the Roundhouse. Here are some of our favourites, but you can view the whole set here at the Night Shift Flickr page. All pics taken by Joe Plommer.
Last week we travelled to Paris for the final concert of our mini Beethoven tour with Vladimir Jurowski (mini in that it was a short tour, not that we were playing small pieces of music). We were playing in our regular venue in Paris, the Théâtre de Champs Elysées, which we visit at least a couple of times each season. The theatre is interesting for a couple of reasons – firstly, its a beautiful and historic building – and where the Rite of Spring was famously premiered, with ensuing riot. Second, it leads a dual life as both theatre (and opera house) and concert hall. So, while we performed on stage (with a special acoustic shell installed behind the orchestra to help the sound), the set of what appeared to be Cinderella was behind us, complete with giant stilettos.
The concert was being filmed for DVD and web broadcast so the afternoon rehearsal was carried out in concert dress and with the lighting that would be later used for the performance (darker than would be usual), and as you can imagine there were cables almost everywhere. I watched the rehearsal from backstage, where there was a monitor showing what was being filmed.
After the concert there was what is known as a ‘patching session’, where any bits of the performance that perhaps weren’t quite perfect are played again so that the DVD version is as near perfect as possible. Obviously with this being the OAE, the patching session didn’t need to be very long, and everyone was very happy to be on the bus back to the hotel fairly quickly after the concert.
The concert can be viewed online here FREE for a limited period
William Norris, Marketing Director
We kicked off our Beethoven Symphony Series on Thursday at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, with Vladimir Jurowski conducting Symphonies 4 and 7. Here’s what the press thought
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Blog 
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