The not often performed Preludes and Fugues by Shostakovich came to the Barbican the Sunday before last, so having discovered them quite by chance, getting on for ten years ago, I had to give it a go. But Igor Levit rather than Alexander Melnikov.
Various disturbances on the railways on the day and it took some messing about with the Network Rail and TFL journey planners before I lighted on the right answer, which was to take the train to Balham and take the tube from there to Moorgate. The reason why I had not got there before was probably that I have, in past, got to the Barbican (or nearby St. Luke's) by Bullingdon from Waterloo, and the lateral jump from Bullingdon to Balham was too much for me.
Struck on the tube by an improbably happy picture of a young lady advertising the services of the people at reference 3. Obviously a con: no-one is going to be that happy for long, flogging small scale office space.
Struck at Moorgate by the journey time platform to platform being just about an hour. So much the same as getting to the Wigmore Hall.
No Bullingdons on the stand at Silk Street on arrival, but I forget to check on the way out. Not a big problem as there are other stands reasonably close - but it all serves to deter one from trusting them on a Sunday evening.
At the Barbican, I investigated getting a reprint of a ticket for a future occasion which I thought I had lost, but the young lady took one look at me and pointed out that if I lost it again, I would be stuck as only one reprint was allowed. Much better to get the reprint on the day. As it turned out, I had not lost it at all, so she was clearly right.
Next stop warfarin, and the first water supply I came across involved little conical paper cups - which one could not set down on a table. Which made things a bit tricky, but I did manage, young lady notwithstanding. I then went to get a beverage to take with my picnic, to find that they did free water out of regular glasses. Seats in short supply, so I found a quiet wall to sit against while I took my bread and wine.
I don't think that I can have been in the Barbican Hall - fairly full on this occasion - for many years as it all seemed very unfamiliar. As did sitting quite near the front, a little below the piano, which turned out to give me a very good view of the pianist's hands which, unusually for me, I did watch for some of the time.
A serious looking lady page turner, whom the pianist exchanged words with from time to time, so perhaps she travels with him. The pianist was rather theatrical in manner, sporting a Russian beard and what I took to be vaguely Russian clothes, particularly the oddly creased lower trouser legs, so done as to give the impression of quilting. But he was also very good, giving me a very intense 75 minutes for the first half. Sufficiently intense that the piano tuner moved almost as soon as the pianist left the stage.
The lady sitting next to me explained that the second half was going to be even longer. She was OK because although it was her second concert of the day, she lived on the spot. While I was tired and wondering about last trains from Balham, given the disturbances and the fact that it was a Sunday. So, sadly, I abandoned ship at this point and headed for home. Missing, inter alia, the 14th episode which has always impressed, even on CD.
Got to Balham fast enough where I was able to admire the heritage shop fitting at ground level. And which turned out, once I had puzzled out the orientation of the platform, to be a good place to play the aeroplane game, scoring first a three, then a series of rolling fours.
Home in good time, a little disappointed that I had not stayed the distance. But it would have been bad form to have sneaked out during the proceedings, despite having an aisle seat, and leaving at half time was the right decision. After all, even getting on for ten years ago, I was not sure about doing all 24 in one go.
I close by noting that I have made up some of the lost ground since by listening to some of the second half on CD - in the Melnikov version. No.14 continues to impress.
Reference 1: http://psmv2.blogspot.com/2014/02/second-half.html.
Reference 2: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/search?q=melnikov.
Reference 3: https://hubblehq.com/. Today, the young lady in question might be the one in the middle of the three person line-up right, but I failed to enlarge to be sure.
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