Carmina Burana

[Hozepipe]

Just returned from a trip to London to see Carmina Burana at the Albert Hall. Never heard it before live and always wanted to. If you can get past the old-spiciness of the infamous O Fortuna (the end one works much better IMO) its a fabulous bit of music that combines a bit of theatre and almost dialog-like vocal solos. I like it mainly because its about drinking and shagging

Sound was OK, though I was quite close to the basses, not that it mattered because the chorus downed out most of the strings anyway. Lots of my fave string parts I couldn't really hear.

Interesting, as someone who doesn't go to many classical concerts, how it compared to listening at home. I found it really hard to concentrate due to the large amount of ambient noise (coughing, shuffling of programs, various spurious sounds). Really liked the Albert Hall though, its surprisingly quite intimate for a large space with much less distinction between performers and audience than I'm used to.

Overall it was a pretty good experience but very different to listening in peace and quiet at home - goes to show just how much value you really do get from a good hifi system.

[Togil]

Sound was OK, though I was quite close to the basses, not that it mattered because the chorus downed out most of the strings anyway. Lots of my fave string parts I couldn't really hear.

Interesting, as someone who doesn't go to many classical concerts, how it compared to listening at home. I found it really hard to concentrate due to the large amount of ambient noise (coughing, shuffling of programs, various spurious sounds).

I presume you're not someone who listens to vinyl then