A festive dopamine hit to the eardrums, pulling out all the stops this Christmas
Anna Lapwood has such golden retriever energy. As popular in the social media arena as she is in real life, she returns to her home venue, the majestic Royal Albert Hall, for a Christmas extravaganza with all its festive trappings.
Accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and conducted by Karen Ní Bhroin, proceedings were kicked off with a wonderful Christmas medley including Good King Wenceslas, Silent Night and Deck the Halls. The full house erupted into rapturous applause as Anna bounded out to her organ, fizzing with anticipation. It was clear nostalgia would feature heavily in the production, with the night dominated by film scores including Anna’s firm favourites from Interstellar, The Da Vinci Code and How to Train Your Dragon. Now and again, a tender piece would emerge, full of personality and novelty, including a sweet performance by solo violinist Esther Abrami performing We’re Walking In the Air from The Snowman and a piece titled Transmission in honour of her violinist grandmother.
Anna’s skills as a performer are only eclipsed by her passion for engaging the audience. She constantly interacts throughout, through personal anecdotes, praising clothing choices, dedicating songs to people, arranging for a former student to get up and conduct a few pieces of music, and having the conductor both figuratively and literally pass the (purple) conductor’s baton to her. It’s all very heartwarming, and you cannot fail to smile at the genuine connections Anna can make with thousands of strangers sat a million miles away from her organ seat. Speaking of millions, during The Greatest Showman’s A Million Dreams, Anna had even sneakily set it up for a German girl to propose to her boyfriend at a pivotal moment when all the audience were waving their phone torches for maximum visual effect- it was legitimately romantic.
However, herein lies my only complaint. I love film soundtracks as much as the next ner,d but I felt there were simply too many. There were too many similarly intense pieces, whose overpowering crescendos ironically seemed to be diluting the power of the instrument’s impact. Despite the lushness of the Royal Philharmonic filling the hall, the searing scores started to blend into one harmonious cacophony. It felt like a finale every five minutes and my brain started to switch off. The organ is, of course, always going to be grandiose and full of pomp, and Anna’s skills are second to none. Her ability to connect with her audiences of all ages, particularly young wome,n is refreshing and joyous to watch, but there just needed to be more festive pieces. I enjoyed John Williams’ E.T, Home Alone and of course the sensationally emotive Duel of the Fates from Star Wars. Anna is clearly trading on reminiscence and familiarity, but these are pieces that can be played any time of the year. They have such rousing climaxes it felt a missed opportunity to interweave more gentle pieces, making use of solo performers to truly accentuate Anna’s skills in the actual finale moment(s). I also thought it was a missed opportunity not to have the choir sing Carol of the Bells in its original Ukrainian (Shchedryk- meaning “Generous”).
Overall, it is, of course, a stirring, heartwarming nostalgia bonanza in which Anna’s infectious personality and technical skills mesh into a rollicking crowd pleaser of a show. She is endlessly on tour, always gaining popularity wherever she goes. If you want a pure dopamine hit to your eardrums, do not miss her.