I rarely have the opportunity to use this phrase literally and without exaggeration, but the time has definitely come. Last week I attended two live events that could not have been more different.
I still haven’t decided if I’m actually retired or if this is a phoney retirement, but that’s another matter. Anyway, my retirement, such as it is, seems to involve a lot of going out and as a homebird (or homebody in North America, I like to think of myself as bilingual) I’m not sure that I approve. I think it might just be laziness – I hate the thought of all the effort involved in actually leaving the house, but once I’ve arrived wherever I’m going, I am always glad I did.
First, we went to see the Tenebrae Choir perform in St George’s Chapel in Windsor. I love choral music, but have never seen any performed live, let alone in a place as beautiful as St George’s Chapel, which must be one of the most wonderful Gothic buildings in the country. The choir sometimes performed all together and sometimes separated to sing from different parts of the church, with remarkable effect. Allegri’s Miserere is one of my favourite pieces of music and if I were at all religious, then listening to it sung while gazing in wonder at soaring fan vaulting would no doubt have transported me to a higher plane. Sadly, I’m not, but it was thrilling nonetheless.
As soon as the interval came, the entire audience leapt to its feet and scuttled off to have a really good nosey around the place. The dark chapel with its dim lighting looked other-worldly, full of shadows and mysterious alcoves. And when we all made it into the quire, there was a collective dropping of jaws at the fabulously ornate carved oak stalls. Even the organ pipes were beautifully painted. No photos I’m afraid. Photography is prohibited by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, who own the copyright. I didn’t risk taking a sneaky photo since I didn’t want the wrath of the Dean and Canons of Windsor to be rained down upon me. And how embarrassing would it be to be forcibly removed from such a genteel gathering?
That was the sublime, now to the ridiculous. Two days later we went to see Graham Norton’s BBC chat show being filmed, which was just as much fun as you’d think it would be. I can see why they don’t charge for tickets, though. It is a very slick production, involving a lot of cameras, so the odds are that you’ll have one directly in your line of vision and I did in fact have the long supporting arm of a camera right in front of me. As a result, although I could see all of Graham Norton and nearly all of Dame Helen Mirren, I saw only the legs of RuPaul and Jack Whitehall. There are big overhead screens relaying the show to the audience for those whose vision is obscured. Graham Norton was effortlessly funny on and off camera. The guests were all entertaining and engaging, but the highlight for me was when Simon Reeve came on about halfway through. I am a big fan of Simon Reeve, but I would say that he was the least famous person there. I don’t know how he came to be the guest of honour, but I did enjoy watching Dame Helen and the other guests having to budge up the couch to make room for him. He talked about his troubled past and his adventurous travels with his usual unassuming charm. Definitely worth leaving the house for.