From Harvey to Leila

Leila Josefowicz looked sexy and stunning tonight. Dressed in an elegant light-colored gown, she cradled her violin seductively from the stage at – yes, again – the Royal Albert Hall, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Unfortunately, the sight of the lovely Leila was probably one of the few rare highlights in an otherwise unsatisfying concert. I had thought I’d try my luck again at securing tickets to the College’s regular box at the Albert Hall. The programme featured works which I was familiar with – Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, followed by his lovely Violin Concerto, and then came Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

I can’t say that her rendition of this famous violin piece was flawless. It lacked a certain intensity and passion, and the less than perfect acoustics of the venue certainly did not help. I felt her tones were rather raspy and dry, and had my suspicions confirmed when I learnt later that she owned an early 1739 Guarneri, which might have been what she was playing on earlier in the evening.

Pictures at an Exhibition was a work originally written by Mussorgsky for four-handed piano, and the orchestral version we’re more familiar with today was arranged later by Ravel. Listening to the stirring Great Gate of Kiev, which concludes the piece, summoning the full powers of the symphony orchestra, you wonder how on earth it could ever have been limited to the keyboard.

But what we had was a rather pedestrian and prosaic performance. It was hardly inspiring at all. The applause that came from the half-empty auditorium at the end was decidedly polite, and the evening closed without an encore, which was probably just as well. This was certainly not one of my better nights out.

I had a much better time at the pre-concert dinner. We stepped onto the rooftop terrace of Harvey Nichols for the price-fixe menu, available from 6pm onwards. Amazingly, I’ve never been inside this august establishment before, located at the corner of Knightsbridge and Sloan Street, and took a bit of time before eating to do a quick stroll through its many levels.

The place really is very posh and high class, and what struck me was that even the clientele appeared much better dressed and better looking than the ordinary rabble and ruffians on the streets outside. I found my head turning several times even during that quickest of jaunts through the store. “So this is where the beautiful people of London can be found,” I thought to myself.

Even the top floor Food Market was a class act. This ain’t no regular supermarket. Instead, stocked there was a fine selection of wines, pastas, meats and other delicacies, including the shelves of vinegar and oils depicted above. And when the food came, I must say it was rather satisfying. Skipping a starter, I began with a sweet and sour pork dish with basmati rice, and then ended with a nice toffee pudding. You see, when you have good food, life certainly looks much brighter.