Sir Neville Marriner Conducting the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Orchestra

As I mentioned earlier, this performance was really the treat of the week.

Sir Neville Marriner is the founding conductor of the Academy of St. Martins in the Field Orchestra, and has guest conducted most of the premier orchestras in the world (for which work he was knighted) -- as such a real treat.

As is probably known, the Academy is one of the best orchestras in the world (probably the best chamber orchestra). Though they are based at London, this performance was their only one in London, in the month of November (and so my only chance to listen).

I had some nice seats (right in the middle of the stalls), and so, the sound was excellent (but I can't speak for the rest of the hall).

All this was the plus -- However, I did not much fancy the composers whose music they were planning to play, particularly Stravinsky (who has a style of more discordant music, that I don't particularly like) -- I know you musical types out there will be keeling over with my lack of knowledge of appropriate musical terminology. (Sorry in advance for my traversties!)

But, it turned out that the piece by Stravisky was a work where he was asked to simply rework an existing piece of work (originally from the Barouque period). He did add some of his characterisitic touches, but, here, they really enhanced the piece. For one entire section, he had only the trombone, cells, and double basses (spelling?) playing. So, one great piece.

The other piece was the music by Rosselli, one of his operas. I personally did not like it as much as the Stravinsky piece, but it a lighter piece to finish up the evening.

I guess that there is one disadvantage to having an old conductor. By clapping for a few minutes, the audience managed to bring Sir Marriner back -- and, judging from the looks of the orchestral members, they thought that they would play an encore piece -- however, he didn't want to, and walked off the stage after a few more bows.

So, no encore -- but still a wonderful evening (punctuated by some glimpses of some great cars -- see my previous post)

Sorry there are no pictures, but I guessed they would not allow photography at the hall, and so did not bring my camera.

Whoa...Cars

For any people who like to see costly cars, it certainly seems that London is the place to be. In Toronto, we might see a few Ferrari's every month, but in London, that number is upped to a few a day.

I went down for a orchestral performance (see the next post) in Chelsea, at around 7 in the evening. On the way to the hall, I saw one Ferrari, and one Aston Martin. Outside the hall were parked three Rolls Royces. On the way back, I saw another Rolls Royce, and an antique 1960s Maserati.

Truly astounding! (I never even saw this many in New York.)

Stone Lion from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Most stone lions don't really seem to be awake, awash in the fiersome power of a live lion. Instead they seem to sleep -- instead of protecting their domains with the awe inspired by a lion, they seem simply to impart a regal majesty, which is normally inpressive enough.

However, the lion below imparts both regal majesty, and real live power. It looks awake enough to reach down from its podium and take a not-so regal swipe at the people walking past.

Part of a pair, the stone lions were taken from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, which the British museum helped to excavate. The Mausoleum was considered one of the ancient wonders of the world. From looking at the beauty of the carving on these lions (exposed to wind and air for a significant part of 2000 years), it is no wonder that the Mausoleum was considered a wonder of the world.


Fittingly, for having created what was considered the greatest tomb ever build, King Maussollos is now the namesake for the word Mausoleum. 

Discus throwing Youth

This picture is probably recognizable to any of you who have looked at a text on Ancient Rome. It is actually a copy of a Greek Bronze original, and was prized in its day, for its activity and life (personally, I think that it does not show life very well - indeed it looks like a still life), but it is beautifully carved.

This picture was just placed in one of the stairwells, not particularly well protected (another example of what I had said in my previous post).

 

A first (preliminary?) trip to the British Museum

Well, we woke up --- with jet lag gone, and decided that a trip to the British Museum would be the most fun.

Before a short summary of that, a digression into cell phones -- I must say that the system is much better here in the UK, than in Canada. For about $10, I got a SIM card, allowing me to use my phone. Then, I could also add any amount onto that card, and, the best part, all incoming calls (even international ones) are free. Furthermore, even if I had no money on my account, I could still receive calls -- now that is great! (So a shameless plug for Virgin Mobile, and I hope that the Canadian mobile servicers make some changes in their systems).

Back to the more interesting stuff -- the british museum. It is huge -- the main halll is the largest indoor square in Europe, probably 500 m on a side. It is a beautiful structure, which is mostly lit by ambient light (in a very interesting design). In the centre of the hall, there is a rotunda, filled with almost a million books.

This structure used to be the national library of britain (before that structure moved out). However, now, it is still a pretty impressive library -- and all its volumes (including some pretty old ones) are open to the public (for free).

I tore myself away from the library only with great difficulty, but the rest of the museum was more than worth it.

The British Museum could probably be called the prototype museum. There are so many great pieces, that they are simply scattered hither and tither, without much fanfare. Half the pieces are open to the air, with no glass enclosures -- amazing for a museum. Pieces which, in any other museum, would be worth the trip alone, were surrounded by a throng of people numbering exactly zero.

One good example was the Ram among the Thickets, probably the most famous Sumerian piece, taken from the city of Ur.


Anyway, I have attached a few more pictures, but as mentioned in the subject, these are just some preliminary pictures, from a preliminary museum visit.

We expect to return to the museum tomorrow (for the really spectacular pieces, which we decided to skip on our first day).

So, to the rosetta stone, and the Elgin Marbles ... tomorrow. 

A note on the Meaning of Words

Just a funny note (found this out in the museum).

The word "symposium" comes from the Greek root: drinking together. Apparently the Greeks thought the most useful part of the day came from the drinking (in their case, normally of wine) at the end of the day.

I guess we should think about that the next time we go to a scientific symposium. (Also, most of the real work at symposia seems to happen off the stage, at the informal meetings afterwards -- so perhaps the Greeks had a point after all).

Here's another picture... of Toronto, from the plane, just before takeoff.

Anyway, jetlag ........ is ... catch ... ing ... on ... .... .... (so I shall continue with my posts tomorrow).

T0: First posts from London

Well, the flight with British Airways was mainly uneventful (nice food, followed by nice entertainment (more than 15 audio channels, and 15 difference movies -- and this was in economy class). Also, there wasn't much turbulence.

However, it would probably take a huge amount of turbulence to force a close to fully loaded Boeing 747-400 (AKA the megatop) into anything remotely uncomfortable. Indeed, even with full flaps on (i.e. maximum lift), this behemoth required almost the full 5000m runway at Toronto Pearson Airport to get airborne.

I regret to say that I forgot to take a picture of the plane, but here is one interesting pictures.

First pictures of London (from the plane, while in approach to landing (at approx. 8000 ft, and 200 kmph). As can clearly be seen, the traffic is horrible in London.



Anyway, for anyone interested in numbers, top speed was ~1000 km/hr, and with a nice tail wind, we made it to London in 6:20 minutes (ahead of our estimated time, 7:20). Also, maxium altitude for the flight was ~10,882m. As an interesting fact, at that height, the stars don't twinkle. Logically this makes sense, since we are above the troposphere. However, it is still pretty startling to actually see that for yourself.