Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

Wednesday, 7 May 2014


Hasn't your heart softened after watching this video? These young Paraguayans, who not only made very decent instruments from trash but also play them beautifully, are a clear example of how music can make a big difference in any child's life.

Matt, a good friend of mine who lives in Bristol, will spend this summer 2014 cycling around Europe with an amp, guitar and microphone, playing music to raise some money for a great charity: Musequality. This charity's mission is to support communal music-making for disadvantaged boys and girls in developing countries, giving them the skills, confidence and experience they need to turn their lives around.

He will be setting off around the 11th June during the World busk week, stopping in London before hitting the continent, following a rough draft route: Brussels, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Milan, Lyon, Barcelona, Paris.. and back to Bristol. You can follow his route on Twitter (@MattJHollins) and request any song you want him to play!

He hasn't even left yet and he has already raised 115 pounds. If you would like to donate some money for this good cause, check the website. If everybody puts their two cents, I am sure we will make a big difference in those children's lifes. 

DONATE HERE
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=buskbikematt
FOLLOW HERE: https://twitter.com/MattJHollins
MUSEQUALITY: www.musequality.org
Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Wednesday, May 07, 2014 No comments READ FULL POST

Friday, 22 November 2013

Music defines us, it makes us feel we are not alone, we are understood... and we understand each other. Music is art, virtue, passion, love, sadness,... and many other things we cannot define. It is a hobby for some of us, a profession for others.

Today, 22nd November, it's St Cecilia day, the patroness of musicians. I am not sure it is celebrated in the UK, but many people back in Spain they don't even know this day exists... unless they have some close connection with a musician. In my case, I have been raised surrounded by music, and celebrated this day bringing music to the streets, singing and playing music for the streets, for the busy people walking them. Today, this post is dedicated to all of them, known and unknown musicians all over the world.

I would say Bristol is a very musical city. You can find concerts of every kind of music anytime, anywhere. For instance, if you walk to the centre right now, I'm sure you will find at least 3 groups or individuals playing, singing, dancing... despite the cold weather. Music even warms us up!
And at bars and pubs in Bristol, there is a concert going on every day. Jazz, classical, pop, rock, folk, metal. Anything!

Tonight, Mallory Knox @ The Fleece, Ramshackle @ O2 Academy, Handel's Messiah Soulful Celebration @ St George's, Emily Barker @ The Folk House, Barb Wire Dolls @ The Lousiana, Molotov Jukebox @ Thekla, Sack Sabbath @ Bierkeller... The choice is infinite. Chosse your own! :)
Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Friday, November 22, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Saturday, 26 October 2013

Since I was a child, I have always been surrounded by music. My mom used to dance with me in the living room when I was just one year old, and I have the image of my dad playing the guitar engraved in my mind as far as I can remember. He also used to play the harmonica, among other instruments, and that is probably why listening to the harmonica makes me travel back in time.
The man in the picture is Carey Bell, an American blues virtuoso who played the harmonica in the Chicago blues style for other groups before embarking on a solo career in the early 1970s. He died in 2007. However, the love for harmonica still stays alive thanks the influence of him and other harmonica musicians.

The National Harmonica League (or NHL, as it is shortened in their website) is the only organisation in Great Britain dedicated to harmonica. Bristol has been their headquarter to held the popular Harmonica Festival since 2001. The festival, organised mainly thanks to the collaboration of local community and volunteers, has been increasingly becoming more and more popular.

Bristol Harmonica Festival takes places in the Folk House in 40A Park Street. The building is "hidden". Between the stores "Nomadi" and "Children's Hospice South West", there is a little corridor where you will find the main entrance to the Folk House. There is a lovely open air patio-garden called "Oasis", perfect if the weather is mild. As you enter to the building, there is a reception, there are class rooms upstairs and a cafeteria at the ground floor. 

There are some activities organised for the Bristol Harmonica Festival this weekend. Last night, for example, there was an Open Jam Session held in the main hall of the Folk House. Ben Hewlett and Greg Zlap were running the event and they opened the stage to give an opportunity to any harmonica player to come and join the band.

I was there and I can tell you that it was a very beautiful and unique event. We arrived early to the venue so I ordered a Coke (1.20 pounds) at the bar in the meantime. The Open Mic started around 9.30pm. The venue was not completely full, which I believe it was perfect in order to appreaciate the music even better, with your own space.  The acoustic in the Main Hall is very good and I was very impressed with the quality of most of the harmonica players was excellent. Young, old, male, female, origin... it did not matter. Apart from the noisy chatty people at the back (which is very disrespectful for the musician), I don't have any other complaints. This event made me realise that I love the sound of the harmonica more than I thought.

Tomorrow, 26th October, the Contest will start. If you play the harmonica and you would like to join, you should register at the contest desk in the hall on arrival. The contest starts from 10am and the awards will be given approximatelly around 5pm. Timings might change, though, and they recommend you check them when you arrive. Afterwards, there will be an Evening Gala Concert, which will start around 7.45pm. For Sunday, 27th October, there is an Open Concert, Workshops and other activities organised for the day. You can download the official Festival Programme here.

LINKS
---------------
National Harmonica League:
http://harmonica.co.uk/

Official Festival Programme:
http://harmonica.co.uk/images/H2013%20Festival%20Program%20Prov.pdf

The Folk House:
http://www.bristolfolkhouse.co.uk/

Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Saturday, October 26, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Castle Park has a non-stop programme. This Saturday 28th September takes place the Tokyo Dub Festival. Tickets can be purchased online (http://www.bristolticketshop.co.uk/events.aspx?q=tokyo+dub) for £32.50 but can also be bought in The Bristol Ticket Shop (BS1 2DP), Idle Hands (BS1 3QY), Cooshti (BS1 5NU) and Shop Dutty (BS6 5RW). Tickets are expected to be sold out by Friday so you must hurry up!

Click here to see the complete line-up. Highlights: Benny Page Blackboard Jungle, Boddika, Breakage, Buggsy, C@ In The H@, Channel One Soundsystem, Circoswing, Coki, Coxsone, Dark Sky, Don Johnston, Dreadsquad, Dub Boy, Dub Invaders, Dub Mafia, Dub Pistols (DJ Set), Dub Terror, Dubkasm, Dutty Moonshine, Earl Gateshead, Electric Swing Circus, Evermoor Sound, Flowdan, Full Dub (Live), Gardna, Gypsy Unit, Icicle, The Instrument Of Jah Soundsystem, Iration Steppas Sound System, Jackmaster, Jacky Murda, Jah Lokko Soundsystem, Jah Tubby’s World System, Kahn & Neek, Kromestar, Lenzman, Lionpulse Sound, Loefah, Lunatrix... and many more!


Tickets for the official afterparty are sold separately (£16.50) and the same wristband allows you to party at 4 different venues from 11pm to 5am: The Attic, The Bluemountain, The Old Coroners and The Bank.

LINKS
----------------------


Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Wednesday, September 25, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Wednesday, 7 August 2013

When I was a very young girl, I had a dream of living and starting my own business in Australia. The reason why I selected Australia and not any other place in the world for my imaginary business is unknown, yet I'm sure koalas and kangaroos had an influence.

What it is true is that anything related to Australia makes me travel back in time, back to when that dream was the plan for my future. So today, I travelled back in time when I came across a guy playing a didgeridoo, a wind instrument developed by indigenous australians around 1,500 years ago, at Broadmead.
His name is Dave Johnson and he is a performer, teacher, composer and recording artist. He came to Bristol with this project Didgera. He mixes modern melodies with traditional Australian music, playing all instruments simultaneously. Saxofone, native american flute and didgeridoo, but also keyboards, guitars and marimbas.

I recorded some of his music for you, I hope you enjoy it!


Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Wednesday, August 07, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Monday, 29 July 2013


Regardless the rain on Saturday, the Bristol Harbour Festival did not disappoint. Awesome music concerts spread around the waterfront, amazing dog and jet-skiing displays on the water, interesting dance performances and beautifully decorated stalls around the city. We are already looking forward to the festival next year! Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy a set of pictures I took along this weekend.

Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Monday, July 29, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

26th - 28th July 2013

Bristol's biggest free festival is approaching. The 42nd edition of Bristol Harbour Festival will take place this following weekend around the waterfront. The  city celebrates its maritime heritage with a festival since 1971 with over 250,000 visitors coming to enjoy live music, street performance and other kind of live entertainments happening in Bristol. The waterfront becomes the focal point of the festival, where tall ships from many countries and hundreds of sailing boats and old-time boats will be displayed. The festival stretches two miles along the city’s waterfront from Brunel’s s.s. Great Britain to MShed, and from Queens Square to Castle Park.

FIREWORKS! // Clevedon-based Firemagic presents Harbour Festival’s main event: the firework display! The popular fireworks will be displayed in the sky around Bristol historic harbour on Saturday night at 10pm.

Picture taken from www.cliftonhotels.com

DANCE VILLAGE // The Dance Village will be located in Millenium Square and renowned performers across the country will come to perform acts from the worlds of ballet, African dances, salsa, Bollywood and street dance, for instance. The National Youth Dance Company will be there which is, according to the organisers, “the brightest dance talent across England”. In addition to that, Sole Rebel Tap will represent their show called “Solely Rhythm”.
If you head down to the Amphitheatre area, you will find the State of Happiness, creating a “happier planet that needn’t cost the Earth”, with interactive performance, music, theatre and creative activities for everybody.

S.S. GREAT BRITAIN // S.S. Great Britain, in partnership with BBC Radio, will line up music on stage and some dressing up during the weekend, between 10am and 6pm both days. There will be food stalls, family fun, the waterfront Dockyard Cafe Bar and twelve foot-tapping live bands. Confirmed actuations: Katey Brooks, Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo, Daisy Chapman and many more.
Picture from Wikipedia

MUSIC IN QUEENS SQUARE // Queens Square will play host to reggae king DJ Derek, who has been opening the Festival for years, and his concert will happen on Friday at 9pm. Enjoy the green space perfect for picnics while listening to the best local music acts. Pigbag, Evie Woods, Lazibyrd, The Big Figure, Jama, Bashema, Lu Willott and Muff Said will perform on Saturday starting 12 noon and Burning Bandits, Freestyle Collective, The Wires, The Big Figure, Lizzie Deane, Meet your Feet, Victoria Klewin and The True Tones starting at the same time on Sunday. The Newfoundland Dogs will be performing both Saturday and Sunday.
If you are looking for something more relaxed, the Cascade Steps stage offers a mellow location on the water, with acoustic musicians and slam poetry. 

FAMILY AREA // Castle Park will become a brand new Treasure Island activity area this weekend, full of children activities and a circus stage. A giant Pirate Ship will take over Castle Park starting 12pm on Saturday and 11.50am on Sunday. There will be several characters doing some tricks, workshops and arts and crafts activities, as well as poetry and playful folk story telling accompanied with swing jazz rhythms. Cirque Bijou's circus stage in leafy Castle Park beckons, could be the perfect spot to sit back, relax and enjoy acrobatics, daring aerial, comedy, trickery and buffoonery.
Picture from www.247magazine.co.uk

MORE INFORMATION // Information included in this post is taken from official websites and Facebook posts. For more information, organisers are selling official programmes for  £2, income which subsidizes the festival. Programmes can be purchased in several stores (see list here) and you will also be able to pick it up on site from Friday at 6pm if you don’t want to make a special journey downtown to have it beforehand. The organisation apologised on Facebook after several people complaining about the impossibility of downloading the programme online, claiming that they don’t have a “download mechanism for the programme which is sophisticated enough to protect the content” so the printed version is the only programme available this year.




Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Wednesday, July 24, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Man. 54 years old. Born in Oxford, 11th June 1959. The youngest of four children. Scottish descend parents. His father was a doctor. Do you know who I am talking about? Not yet? What if I say he pretended to be a doctor for 8 years? 

Yes, I am talking about Hugh Laurie. The famous Dr. Gregory House. He may be in Bristol at the moment. Or he might arrive tomorrow, who knows. What is certain is that he will be in Colston Hall tomorrow (13th June) at 7.30pm. The highest-paid TV actor in America will be in Bristol supported by musicians the Copper Bottom Band. 

The second album, Didn't It Rain, was released in the UK on 6th May 2013. He branches into the Southern US and South American genres including Jazz, R&B and Tango. 


There are still some availableThey are a little bit expensive (£32.50-£35) but I am sure the show is worth every penny. 
Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Wednesday, June 12, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

My friend and I had the pleasure of witnessing a spectacular voice performance at The Canteen on Sunday afternoon. Teachers from Project Zulu performed some South African folk music and dance while everybody was enjoying the sun at the terrace. Dressed in colourful outfits, they sang around 8 songs, together with the noises they could make with hands and feet. They were raising money for some solar panels for an African school and people seem to be more than happy to donate a couple of pounds.
The Project Zulu's aim is to bring the choir and dancers from a school in Kwazulu-Natal (South Africa) to the UK for a three week concert tour in Summer 2013 to raise money for the school. They will earn the fund to install solar panels on the school roof by performing here. You can make a donation in their website. They have recently recorded an album which is now available for download. You can listen to some track previous and purchase the album here.
They will be performing in Colston Hall next Thursday, 6th June. This gala concert, shared with some of the region’s finest youth ensembles from Bristol Cathedral Choir School, Clifton College Preparatory School and The University of the West of England, is the finale to their three week UK tour. Tickets are worth £8 (£5 concessions) for an extraordinary ensemble of singing, drumming and dancing children from Sithobelumthetho Primary School in the Madadeni Township, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Website: www.projectzulu.org
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/theprojectzulu
Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Tuesday, June 04, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Monday, 27 May 2013

It has been a weekend full of love: Loves saves the day on Saturday, Love saves the night on Saturday night, Love saves Sunday on Sunday (obviously)... Online tickets for "Love Saves the Day 2013" festival were sold out last March. We ran late and didn't get any tickets for that day. However, we got some for "Love Saves Sunday". 

PICTURE: taken in Blue Mountain (BS1 3PR) 

The festival has been held in Castle Park, right in the city centre. The ruined St Mary-le-Port church stands to the west of the park which makes the part a very unique place for a festival. The area has been closed to the public at least since  last Wednesday.


I checked out some of the performances beforehand. Most of them were electronic music. Headline: Julio Bashmore; Clean Bandit, Ben Pearce and Walter Ego remind me a night out in Ibiza; Jacques Greene, a softer electronic music; Lulu James, very nice 80s essence; Lil Silva brasilian mix; Ms Dynamite, more vocal; Soom T (niiiceee); and Babyhead!!!


There was no reentry so we arrived at Castle Park after lunch. We first had a look around, the location of stages, bars, people... It is a very well organised event: food in one place, bars very well located next to every stage, enough toilets to avoid long queues (at least on Sunday), music in one stage was not merging with music in the closest stage... and we had an awesome weather for a festival!


The decoration of the event was very nice and I am sure it involved a lot of working hours. You could find anything related to love, hearts, red color, flowers... everywhere. 

        

We after decided to grab some drinks and lie on the grass. The weather was really good and most of the people were enjoying the sunshine. Colourful and funny sunglasses everywhere, as well as funny costumes and outfits. I couldn't say who wore them on purpose for that specific occasion and who wears them in their everyday life. Very funny.

We tried to be in every concert but it was impossible. Instead, we were rotating around the stages and checking out all the bands/artists we could. There are some few I didn't like. I am very critical with music and I found some of them were cheap versions of other artists, with no real talent. There were other groups that I suprisingly liked, though! And I can ensure you that we danced all the time, non stop. We did have a good time.

Definitely, it has been an awesome day and I'm sure we will come back next year!

Video: "All you need is love" by The Beatles
Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Monday, May 27, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

I know my brother will be green with envy after reading this post. He once introduced me to this electro-swing band, and now I am totally in love with them: Caravan Palace. The parisian group is playing in Bristol on Friday and I am proud to say that right now, I am holding my very own ticket.


They released two studio albums. The first one in 2008 called Caravan Palace and the second one Panic in 2012. The band has been playing electro-swing gypsy jazz based music since 2005. At the outset, I've heard that the band composed a soundtracks to silent pornographic films. The band became popular on the MySpace after releasing a number of demos and singles. They found a niche in some European album charts with their first studio album and remained on the French albums chart for 68 consecutive weeks.

This event is part of the VegFest happening this weekend and the concert in the Amphitheatre (BS1 5LL) does look very promising. There are still some tickets left which you can buy here (£17.85 including all fees). If you haven't heard the band before, I suggest you go on Youtube and check it out. They are simply amazing! I just hope their live performance is at least as good as the recorded one... I will let you know! :)
Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Tuesday, May 21, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Sunday, 19 May 2013

Don't you have any plan for next weekend? That's impossible! We are lucky we have a long weeekend ahead of us, otherwise we wouldn't have time to make it to all of them! Those who wanted to take the opportunity of having a long weekend to rest... good luck with it! Bristol is helding at least 4 festivals the same weekend, each one having its own specific topic and style.
I am not going to list them all in this post. I will talk about just one of the festivals this time: 

Dot to Dot 2013

Dot to Dot will be happenening between 24-26th May in one different places each day: Manchester (Friday), Bristol (Saturday) and Nottingham (Sunday). 

image
As early as 1.30pm, bands will be playing in 15 different stages spread all over Bristol. O2 Academy, Start The Bus, Stag & Hounds, Thekla and The Lanes are some of the venues where you will be able to enjoy varied styles of music for a 20-pound ticket (+2 online booking fee). However, you will not need to buy a ticket for all venues. The website says tickets will be eligible at Thekla, O2 Academy, Trinity, Exchange, Fleece, Start the Bus and Lousiana, so as far as I understand concerts in Stag & Hounds and The Lanes are for free, and probably Brewdog and The Birdcage as well. Last concerts will start around 2am. 
(Click in the picture enlarge the image)

Bristol will also be hosting other music-related events during the day. Check the 
Facebook page for updates.

As rainy weather is not forecasted for next weekend, I believe it could be a very nice pub/concert crawling event for you and your friends. I hope you enjoy it!

Buy tickets here

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that under 18 will only have access to O2 Academy and Trinity Centre as well as to Dry The River, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Lucy Roce and The 1975 concerts.  




Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Sunday, May 19, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Friday, 10 May 2013

Although BBC does not forecast good weather for this coming weekend, it won't be short of plans. Apparently, the "original and true celebration of barbacue culture" arrives to Bristol. Grillstock Festival combines a two-day low & slow barbacue competition with international music artists, a barbacue academy, awesome festival craft beer bars, live entertainment, chilli-eating and hot-wing competitions, plus a vibrant mix of traders and exhibitors. 

Grillstock Festival 2013 will take place in the Amphitheatre (BS1 5LL) and rockabily, cajun, bluegrass, country and other south American rhythms will flood the environment.



In the BBQ competition, teams from all over the world will be competing against each other to decide who smokes joints of pork, lamb, beef and chicken the best. The Grand Champion will win the £1000 price.

Fans of authentic BBQ will be pleased to hear that there will be some  "smoky and juicy lunchtime treats" in St. Nicholas glass arcade.

The chilli-eating competition is one of the activities that drawns my attention. If you are mad enough to do this, you should get there early and sign up on the day. After filling a health questionnaire (!) where you will state you understood the side effects, you can join the competition. It will start of mild before scaling to the hottest chillis on the planet. The last person standing will take home a fantastic prize from a sponsor, which is not defined what will be. I guess the honour of being the winner would be enough for some of the contestants.


If chillis are too much for you, there are a hot-wing and rib eating competitions as well. It's all you can eat in 5-10 minutes! Contact them if you want to enter the competition in info@grillsock.co.uk.


INFORMATION
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  • Dates: 11-12th May, 2013
  • Location: Lloyds Amphitheatre, The Harbourside.
  • Opening Hours: Saturday 11am-10pm // Sunday 11am-5pm
  • Tickets: Weekend £15 // Saturday only £10 // Sunday only £7.5 // VIP £55
    Buy tickets HERE
  • Website: http://grillstock.co.uk/bristol-festival
Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Friday, May 10, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Leopard print is back. So are long mustaches, plaits and flowers in the head, extravagant second hand clothes, outrageous furry jackets, varied types of hats... At least, in Picton Street last weekend.

Picton Street hosted last 4th May a very colourful all-day-long party called Mayfest. The road was closed to the traffic and it was already crowded by the time we arrived there around midday. The party did not finish until 9 in the evening.






Beautiful market stalls with handmade stuff invaded the street. You could find all type of paintings, pottery, homemade muffins and other kind of food, second hand stuff, wooden furniture, jewellery, flowery crafts, protest T-shirts and many other things.

Apart from the stalls, there were also craft activities and maypole dancing for you to get fully involved with the festival.



Music was part of the party as well. This year there were two spots for the music: the main dome stage at the end of the road and an acoustic busking spot in front ot the Bristolian Café. In my opinion, the band "The Inexplicables" deserves a special mention in my blog. Nice and powerful voice over a beat-boxing base, along with other varied music instruments create a very original effect that surprises the audience.




At mid-afternoon, we found a free spot at the Bristolian CafĂ© and we had hot chocolate/coffee/tea, as the sun was not strong at that time. They have a very nice teacup design to avoid your hands of getting  burnt!!


Overall, a very warming atmosphere in the Mayfest and you can see in all pictures, the weather was superb. We couldn't ask for more!

Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Tuesday, May 07, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Saturday, 2 March 2013

Welcome March to the tune of Jazz and Blues!
Starting 1st March and for three days, the city of Bristol plays host to some of the world's most innovative jazz musicians. For a whole weekend, there will be 24 individual concerts and free late night jam session, being Colston Hall the main venue.


Tickets available for the festival:
Individual concert tickets also available: See prices HERE


The festival includes performances of Ginger Baker's Jazz Confusion and the UK legend Chris Barber on Friday, guitarist John Scofield with his new project on Saturday evening and Cuban virtuoso Arturo Sandoval and his sextet on Sunday night.
The weekend will also bring over New Orleans official musical ambassador Lillian BouttĂ©, funk maestro Pee Wee Ellis, local heroes Andy Sheppard and Get The Blessing, BBC radio stars Clare Teal and Alyn Shipton.


The bar in Colston Hall plays host music sessions which will kick off before and after the performances on each evening. Very good opportunity to enjoy the jazz and blues for free, protected from the cold weather.

PICTURE: The Zenn Hussies performing in the lounge on Friday.

Thanks to Groupon (Gotta love it!), we got 2 tickets for 8 pounds to see the performance from UK legend Chris Barber last evening. The actual price was around 25 pounds so it was an unrejectable deal, even though I was feeling a little bit under the weather.



A "young" 80-year-old Chris Barber welcomed everybody and introduced the big band he brought to Bristol, which made us travel to the very 30s. One hour and a half of very professional performance to convince the audience that 60 years of experience is not just a number. 


If you still haven't got any plans for the weekend, do not doubt: go grab a drink and enjoy at least the concerts in both Colston Hall bar or in Foyer for free. I am sure you will not regret it.
Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Saturday, March 02, 2013 No comments READ FULL POST

Sunday, 24 February 2013

Friedrich Nietzsche once said:

"Without music, life would be a mistake"


He was right. Music makes life worth living. I am not talking about short-time music. Not about the commercial music. Not the music we listen again and again in most of the radio stations. I am talking about long-term music, music that is being played throughout the years. And still makes a difference. Music that makes us fly, dream, get excited, cry... Definitely, music that reaches our hearts.

I just came from Colston Hall. A friend and I went to listen to the Polish National Radio Orchestra and we very much enjoyed it.

Opening Bernstein's Candide Overture was a playful piece probably all the audience delighted.


VIDEO: Bernstein himself conducting London Symphony Orchestra


Performed Penderecki's Chaconne, which I personally did not enjoy much, followed by the 2nd Piano Concerto by Shostakovich. Pianist Noriko Ogawa left all the audience open-mouthed with her brilliant performance, specially in the emotive Andante.

VIDEO: Dmitri Shostakovich's son and grandson, Maxim and Dmitri Jr., conducting and performing Andante.


However, the top of the bill was Mahler's 5th Symphony. Speachless. There are no words to describe how Mahler makes you feel. Instead, I post a video and you make up your own mind. 

VIDEO: Daniel Baremboim conducting Chicago Symphony Orchestra




So, here is my first post for the so-called "Classical Music", which for this case would be totally wrong because Mahler was a post-romantic composer.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: If you are young, you have the opportunity to enjoy good music for a couple of pounds. Colston Hall offers 31£ tickets for just £8 (if you are under 18, you could have it for £1and St. George Bristol also has special prices for students and jobseekers. Check the calendars in their websites and enjoy!

Colston Hall                    St. George's Bristol
Posted by Great little place called Bristol On Sunday, February 24, 2013 1 comment READ FULL POST
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Linkedin
  • Youtube

Instagram


Like us on Facebook!

Twitter



Translate