I only had eyes for the pianist

Good morning kiddies!

I'm sipping a chai tea from Twinings in my room, looking out at the CLOUDLESS BLUE SKY from my window.  Okay, I'm not gonna lie, there is a layer of smog over the buildings, and a skywriter, haha.  Otherwise, it is seriously a gorgeous day.

Last night, I went to the London Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall!  It was free, though it counted for £5 of our NYUL programming money.  I was really ashamed because, just before leaving, I forgot my ticket in my planner so I delayed our traveling by having to go upstairs and collect my ticket.  In my defense, I never go to big shows, so I nearly forgot that the ticket is, obviously, a crucial part.  Ergh, face palm.

Anyway, we arrived just in time, 7:18 pm, for seating at 7:20 pm.  The Royal Festival Hall is a great modern feat of architecture (yes, Seeing London's Architecture is getting to me).  It is just across the Hungerford/Golden Jubilee Bridge on the South Bank.  It has giant modern strip windows overlooking the Thames and the North Bank, which is beautiful at night.

We were in the balcony overlooking the stage.  The seats were not fantastic, but considering they were free, yay!  The program was:

Stravinsky

Rachmaninov

Wagner

Shostakovich

The pianist for the Rachmaninov concerto was absolutely insane and inspiring, a virtuoso.  To be perfectly honest, when he played the first few notes on that huge and shiny grand piano, I swooned into my roommate's shoulder.  I said, "Ohhh, my God, it's so beautiful!", with a hand over my heart.  I am not melodramatic.

I can't believe I've played piano for 14 years but have never seen a real orchestral performance.  I guess I always assumed it'd be too expensive, but that is not the case!  Balcony seats are only £8 here, without the group discounts.  I am sorely tempted to see Yundi Li (my Fantasie Impromptu hero and idol) perform at the Royal Festival Hall on 16th March, but the only seats that are available are £13 or more...£8 would be okay, but I have to draw the line somewhere I guess.

About to walk all the way down to the Strand to buy theater tickets for Love Never Dies, the Phantom of the Opera sequel.  Cheers, you lot!