Organ Concerts at St Pauls

These concerts are a treasure. Such a treasure that I kick myself all the time for not knowing about them earlier, and I try to drag every visitor I can to go see them. Now, St Pauls and the other major cathedrals all cost an arm and a leg (to the tune of £12 each!) to visit, and thus get skipped by anyone who hasn't set themselves a generous spending allowance!

But wouldn't it be nice to see the cathedral in all its glory, sitting under it's magnificent dome? Wouldn't it be great to admire the acoustics as the huge, newly restored pipe organ churns out fantastic music, music so powerful that you sit there and shiver and the air shakes around you? And wouldn't it be nice it if it was free, and the best way to get into the cathedral without feigning religious belief?

Yes, there is a way! These fabulous concerts take place every Sunday afternoon, almost without interruption throughout the year. Around major holidays (Christmas, Easter) I'd take a look at the St Pauls website to make sure they are on: http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Worship-Music/Music-Programme. I notice the site hasnt been updated with 2010 yet, but hopefully they will put up the new schedule soon. The music varies week to week and there are many guest organists, so its worth repeat visits.

Its worth mentioning that no site-seeing is allowed in St Paul's on Sundays, so walking around to every corner with your camera wont be possible. For this, you'll need to cough up the admission charge during the week. The staff do politely shoo everyone out at the end of the concert, but they are generally unpushy so you get a fair few glances at the architecture. But after sitting under the dome, listening to the organ play in all its glory, who cares? You've already seen the best there is to see.

Sophie Calle at the Whitechapel Gallery

I have a confession to make - I'm not as cool as an east Londoner. My clothes are from charity shops, not vintage markets. I'm not skinny enough to fit in "skinny" jeans. I prefer dank, classic pubs to trendy clubs. I like having regular employment. So hence, I usually stay west of Liverpool street to minimize my obvious un-coolness.

So it took a particularly interesting show to get me to the Whitechapel Gallery for the first time. Sophie Calle, a French photographer, has taken over a big part of this huge gallery for her show - Talking to Strangers.

The first, and better, part of the show greets you on your way into the gallery. Though filled with hipsters, the show itself is brilliant - the artist took the letter her partner used to break up with her and showed it to 107 professional women to get their professional opinion on it. Psychologists, authors, dancers, opera singers, mothers - their opinions are here for you to see or read, and you can easily spend hours going through the single room of the show reading all their responses. Along with their responses there are some fantastic photographs - my favorite made it onto the promotional material, which you can see on the upper right.

Upstairs, Sophie Calle's work continues in another gallery room. This one is less cohesive and covers several projects, but has the same fun themeing of her series. She offers her bed for strangers to sleep in, photographs them and tells there stories. In another series she goes to the South Bronx and asks people to take her to their favorite place in the neighborhood. In New York City, she gets an assignment from an author to play one of his characters, and interacts with the locals from a telephone booth. In another, she finds the address book of a random man and calls up his friends to learn about him. Its a bit contrived, but its also a lot of fun.

The Sophie Calle Exhibit runs until January 3, so get a move on! The gallery is directly above Aldgate East tube stop and is free.

http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/

Student Theater at Univesity College London

I'm a sucker for student theater, I really am. I love going to see enthusiastic, if unpolished, productions for less than the cost of a pint. It's one of the joys of living in whats essentially a huge university town like London.

Finding student productions when you're no longer on campus is a bit of a struggle, of course. One of the very few drama societies I could find with a website is the one at University College London (UCL), which is conveniently close to where I work.

I saw The Pillowman a few weeks ago at the UCLU Garage Theater Workshop, close to Euston station. For a mere £3, we were treated to 2 1/2 hours of truly excellent acting, with the small cast handling their lines without a stumble. If the actors hadn't looked so young and the audience hadn't had an average age of 19ish, it could have easily been any off West End play.

Unfortunately I missed the next production UCLU put on, of Dr Faustus, but I hope to make it to see Cymbeline at the end of the week. Shakespeare and thrift all in one place - what more could a girl want!

For instructions to the theater and show times, see UCLU Drama's site at:
http://ucludrama.wordpress.com/upcoming-plays-and-workshops/

If any of you dear readers has information on other student drama, please please please send it my way!

The Sound and the Fury at the British Library

If any of you haven't been to this incredible exhibit, well get yourself into line as its closing at the end of December. This really is one of the best exhibitions I have seen in London since I've been here, and since its completely free and centrally located, you really have no excuse not to make it there.

The British Library is a jewel of a building just a few hundred meters from Kings Cross. The Sound and the Fury is on the right as you come in - just a glass -walled room with a few computers set up with headphones. When I was there they weren't all working, but any wait is worth it. On each computer, you can select from the Libraries extensive collection of audio recordings.

You'll find all the famous speeches you'd expect - Ich Ein Berliner, From the Mountaintop and We'll fight them on the beaches..., but you'll also find some very special speeches that you might not ever get the chance to hear, such as those by Malcolm X. There are personal stories by private people (my favorite is the bloke who went to heckle Oswald Mosley and co back in the 30s) and famous ones, such as Salman Rushdie. There are even great actors reading passages from plays, some of which you probably will never get to hear anywhere else.

The Sound and the Fury is genuinely one of the best treasures I've discovered in London - in fact, I've been sending all the visitors I get to see it. Get yourselves there before it closes on December 31!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Cultural Riches blog, where I will document and recommend wonderful cultural diversions in London that wont burn a hole in your pocket.

As a North London person, I you may find that my selections are biased, and what can I say, its probably true. I'm always happy to get new recommendations though, so please leave me tips in the comments!