Friday 12 October 2018

Orchestral manoeuvres.

When is a reenactment event not a reenactment event?  As an example of the fabulous opportunities that can come up for reenactors I think it belongs here..

A post went up announcing that members of the 1914-21 society had been invited to attend the 'Concert for reconciliation' featuring the Royal philharmonic orchestra, in London, on Wednesday the tenth.
I said I'd like to go and got in touch with the organiser, however it appeared there were only two of us and both representing the central powers.. I offered to contact a couple of other groups. No takers. I had to cast my net wider and field a few enquiries, times, changing rooms, what duties were involved?.. but eventually we had a respectable team. I had not planned to become the point of contact but was pleased with how it worked out.

No one was going to sit next to me on the train.

It was a warm early evening and I strolled to Cadogan hall from Victoria station and with only one misstep soon found myself loitering outside and the other folk began to arrive. We then moved into the entrance hall and broke into strolling amongst the guests until the call went up for people to take their seats.
It was a mixed programme with Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Vaugn Williams and George Lloyd amongst others, there was a strong Russian influence as the Embassy was involved in bringing the evening together, and our own involvement in it.


Sneaky picture, pointy finger.

More mingling at half time in the foyer and in conversation someone mentioned we were welcome to the refreshments in the hospitality room... Ding!  actually I was very good and let my fellows know about it before accepting a triangular sandwich and a glass of wine with some of the Chelsea pensioners who had come along.
The music continued but I think you would have been hard put to know there was a reconciliation theme to the evening, according to the programme many of the composers had connections with the great war but nothing was expressed and rather oddly two scenes from Henry V were enacted by an actorrrr.. including the Saint Crispian's day speech which is rather feisty.. not really a call for peace on earth!
Me, Fredericke Krum, the opera singer, the head of culture at the Russian embassy and... his mum? 

But the evening was not over yet and our host, Sergei, took us to a restaurant.. literally just walking into Sloane square and finding a place with spaces, a French restaurant. It was all excellent, from service to food but then this is quite an, er, exclusive postcode!

..and then I was homeward bound after such a glittering evening, again an opportunity I would never have had if not for living history.

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