When Alison found that the Wigmore Hall did lunchtime concerts, we found one that we both might like. A piano recital by Simon Trpceski. Just £18 a ticket. I guess I was more interested in seeing the building, one that I never thought about before. We left at 10am on Monday morning for the Chiltern Railways train to Marylebone and the Underground to Bond Street. We had plenty of time for a wander down New Bond Street to see all those expensive shops. The home of luxury shopping in London. We arrived after midday at Wigmore Hall. An amazing hidden gem in West London.
We found our reserved seats and had plenty of time to take in the wonderful surroundings of this 552 seat concert hall from 1901.
The concert by Simon Trpceski was introduced by Petroc Trelawney who told us it was going out live on BBC Radio 3. Here is a clip from the Sunday Times.
This was the free programme. So two pieces by Tchaikovsky with a more modern section by Ravel in the middle. The highlight was the final Nutcracker Suite adapted for piano.
We were very impressed with quality of the pianist, a top musician by all accounts, proving why the concert was a sell out. There were even two encores, Heitor Villa-Lobos' Sorrowful Waltz, and Edward Elgar's Adieu. It was also recorded for BBC Sounds as "Classical Live: Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker live from Wigmore Hall". Simon is on Facebook "getting ready for my recital at Wigmore Hall". The whole experience was exceptional.
Time to find a very late lunch, the underground back to Baker Street and Bill's.
We were quite tired after lunch so opted for the return home. It turned out to be a great day. We have the programme (free 208 pages) for the remainder of 2025 as well as 2026 so we might find something for next year.
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