Cityscape by Night

... or the Barbican at dusk.

We were at the Barbican because Ms Tinyfish, who contributes daily to these pages, found herself unable to go to a concert there today. She very generously passed on her two tickets to your correspondent here and his spouse.

The concert was given by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev, with a programme consisting of Shostakovich's Second Cello Concerto, and Mahler's Ninth Symphony.

Both pieces demand large forces, the Mahler in particular.

In this photograph the Principal Tympanist is helping the player of the Bass Drum adjust her instrument.

As the orchestra arrives, the the drummer now seems satisfied with her drum!


Here is the full orchestra now on stage, and awaiting the arrival of Gergiev. There's a lot of noisy sound-making stuff here! There are seven timpani, with two players, two harps, xylo, tam-tam, the cymbals and so on. There are four flutes, and the heavy brass in well represented, including, apparently, two tubas (aka Flumpophones), the big B-flat one, and the smaller E-flat one, currently on a stand.

You will see that the bass-drummer is now in discussion with another percussionist. This person will play the paired hand-held cymbals with the full force of his body, but almost immediately afterwards need to strike the cymbal on the stand. The drummer will hand him his stick(s) as he turns to the second piece of brassware, and the two evidently need to plan the handover!


The orchestra played exceptionally well, and Gergiev is a wonderful conductor. I'm not really a Mahler fan, but the sound (and, indeed, the spectacle) was overwhelming, and we came away having greatly enjoyed this unexpected treat.