qatsi | Verdi Requiem

I was surprised that the queue for Prom 64 was already quite long at 9am, and I had ticket number 35. A few people have commented that the arena seems less busy this year; there have only been a few concerts where the stewards have been exhorting us to "stand up and move forward". This was one such occasion, and someone claimed he'd heard on the radio that both arena and gallery were sold out - a genuinely rare occurrence. The concert was a single work - Verdi's Requiem, given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada. So far, no household names, although a popular work. The soloists were Sarah Connolly (a last-minute replacement for Karen Cargill due to illness), Lise Davidsen, Dmytro Popov and Tomasz Konieczny - of which I only recognised the names of Cargill and Connolly. So, I'm mystified quite why this should draw such a large crowd; it's been on a few times in the last few years, and my reason for going was that I've missed it a couple of times. Maybe everyone else thought the same. Anyhow, it was a passionate performance from all concerned, and I'm glad I got to see it, though I have to admit it's not a particular favourite. What I did find interesting was Verdi's range between spectacular orchestral outbursts and calm a cappella part-writing for the four soloists. Inevitably it went down well; the Royal Albert Hall is a perfect venue for this "opera in church vestments".

For the third day running, there were signalling problems on GWR's main line, and although it was a short concert I got home quite late. Friday's news that Crossrail won't open until 2019 just compounded my despair at our infrastructure. It's not surprising that such a large project should be delayed, but it is remarkable that it's been claimed to be on time and on budget right up until 3 months before it's due to launch, and now a 9 month delay is a significant disappointment.