Musical memories. Some blur, some sharp and some flat. Four London concert halls: The Royal Albert Hall - musical greats, the unique Proms atmosphere and reaction - Abbado held the audience rapt for 54 seconds. Gunter Wand's final London performance almost stifled us. Sir Colin Davis charmed us with his performances with youth orchestras. The Queen Elizabeth Hall - smaller and perfectly formed. First heard Ave Verum Corpus there as well as being there on 30th December 2000, the night before being made redundant from the Dome. I was there the night the US invaded Afghanistan. Then we have the Royal Festival Hall. My first classical concert - Mozart's Jupiter, Tennstedt's Beethoven 9, falling in love with Mahler. Charismatic performances by Wayne Marshall, Chailly and the place where I fell in love with Thomas Hampson, Brendel's last London performance. So many memories and three very different buildings.
The fourth - the Barbican. Fewer firsts, fewer spectacular memories, but a jewel in a concrete bunker and the home of the London Symphony Orchestra. I got hooked on the Barbican in 1991 - a celebration of Mozart. My love affair with the LSO was started on sketchy grounds in the Tilson-Thomas years; there's only so much Beethoven and early Mahler symphonies a girl can take. Then along came Sir Colin Davis.
Sir Colin had already influenced my musical life. For my 8th birthday I got a Beatles LP & 3 symphonies. Tchaikovsky 5th (never played, my family don't have the Russian romantic gene); Karajan's Eroica (the symphony has become my anthem) & Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique conducted by Colin Davis which has fascinated me ever since. To celebrate graduating my parents took me to The Royal Opera House for the first time to hear Fidelio (one review : unconvincing as a man until you see her as a woman - it was the yanking off the dark wig to reveal a blonde one) but the music & Colin Davis captivated me. A few years later I was back. Questioned as to whether I went to the Opera House often I could have replied "only for Fidelio and Colin Davis".
My friendship with the Barbican began in 1991 with the bicentenary of Mozart's death. My father and I went to 1 concert and that was it I was hooked. The Barbican Hall saw more of me than the City Wine bars that as a corporate finance banker I was expected to frequent. I brgan to learn so much about music, concert-going and independence. It was also in 1991 that I moved out of my parents' home and exercised my own choice. Over the years we frequently met at the Barbican having not consulted over booking. We wondered if there was such a thing as the Mozart gene. I found that during Sir Colin's years as Principal conductor I was drawn to his concerts. I wasn't exclusive and I remember Sir Georg Solti conducting Mozart with 10 double-basses! I became a Prommer & kept up my visits to the RFH. It was the LSO that was my principal love.
I discovered Sibelius through Colin Davis' cycle; loving the way he added added the shorter pieces as encores. I relished the way he danced through the Valse Triste. Watching him with a female youth leader I wondered if he would dance off the podium. A repeat cycle and my parents were in raptures over his Sibelius. For the first time my Father had booked concerts because I had loved them. We had become equals in taste and I owe that to Colin Davis.
With Colin's retirement I found myself going to the LSO less often particularly as I had less time to go. My visits made me realise how precious the LSO and he was to me. I resolved to make the most of every opportunity to hear him conduct. I am not sure how many cycles of Cosi van Tutti at ROH I heard (one performance per cycle, I am not that rich) I heard and I was there on the night his wife died. He didn't convert me to Nielsen but realising there would be limited chanes of hearing this partnership I decided to make the most of it. I ended up in Aix-en-Provence.
Lovely, lovely Aix. A medieval Palace courtyard with an open aid theatre. A mono-chrome performac of Clemenzo di Tito. Sarah Connelly, the LSO and Colin Davis. What more could a girl want? How about a repeat performance of a Barbican concert replacing Mitsuko Uchida with Nelson Frere. On this one I was questioned. Why spend the money on that concert? It did seem a bit daft. On the night it was amazing. Nelson Frere was a revelation, the orchestra sounded so much sweeter in the different acoustic. Colin was Colin and the next day people on a tour to the Cezanne hills were raving about it. The audience at the opera were enraptured as was I. I realised I was so privileged to have this partnership as my musical heritage.
Booking these performances brought me back to the LSO. They also started me on the rather expensive hobby of "collecting" European opera houses. This Summer I went back to Aix - Don Giovanni. No longer Colin but still the magic of the LSO even if the director should have been shot for having Zerlina treat don Giovanni's coat as a comfort blanket while he dies of an epileptic fit.
Having been back to the LSO & the Barbican I know it will always represent my voyage of discovery, where I feel musically at home. Through performances I have discovered other conductors and Maria Joao Pires. I miss Sir Colin's graciousness and gracefulness. His musicianship nurtured my Mozart gene. I know that his music continues in his legacy of remarkable performances & recordings many of which I own..
Sir Colin and the London Symphony Orchestra thank you for my musical journey.
