Going to see a Christmas concert is one way to get into the Christmas spirit after a busy couple of weeks of traveling and a busy year. Last Thursday, I took my parents to the Royal Albert Hall to see the BT Christmas Concert and to have a pre-concert meal at Elgar Bar and Grill, which is located inside the Albert Hall. I had been looking forward to the Christmas concert for awhile. I absolutely love Christmas music. The classic Christmas music is my favourite, and I love the hits by greats like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Mel Torme, Ferrante & Teicher, and so many others.
Elgar Bar and Grill serves up a selection of grilled meats and vegetarian options. It is decorated with photographs of famous singers who performed at the Albert Hall and also contains a piano in the room, but this was not being played. There are a few restaurants in and around the Albert Hall, but I picked this one because it had a good menu and food that we could all agree on. I ordered the James Brown-inspired cocktail (Soul Power) from the menu. We had roast beef, sirloin steak, and chicken. Chips and mashed potato were ordered, and the chicken came with puree carrots and crispy kale.
For dessert, we had banoffee ice cream, creme brulee, and sticky toffee pudding. The food was delicious. I would visit this restaurant again the next time I visit the Royal Albert Hall.
After the meal, we headed into the Royal Albert Hall, which was decorated for the festive season.
The concert had a good mixture of music performed by the Laura Tebbutt, London Community Gospel Choir, the Tiffin Boys' Choir, Nadim Naaman (currently performing in 'Phantom of the Opera'), Laura Wright, the London choir and orchestra, and the Royal Marines drummers. Many traditional Christmas songs were sung/played. Clare Balding and Chris Hollins hosted the evening with some really cheesey Christmas-themed jokes. I loved the Royal Marines coming in to drum their Christmas beat in complete synchornisation, and I loved the vocalists and orchestra. The night ended with a fantastic firework display with confetti falling to the floor.
It was a great night, but I would have preferred less audience participation (carols and carol singing), although I believe that the choice of hosting and anticipation from previous years did make it a bit more of an informal event. I would have loved to have heard the orchestra play more songs on their own or be able to enjoy listening to the singing from my seat instead of being forced to sing and subjected to the noises made by the groups of women who had had a little too much. As this was a hosted event, I would have preferred a little more facts about the music being played or coming up instead of the cheesey Christmas jokes used as fillers. However, I think it was the type of event that best goes down with a few drinks before and during the show.
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