Wouldn't you know it...you wait seven months for one top musical conservatoire to come along and then...etc, etc etc.. Yesterday it was The Royal Academy of Music. Today it was The Royal College of Music. What, I wondered, is the difference? It turns out other people have wondered the same and I found the subject discussed on this forum abrsm.org/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t9128.html. Apparently there is little difference. The RAM is older and has more money and the RCM has a better reputation for strings and more students who post comments on forums. Rag weeks can be pretty fiesty apparently.
I noticed two differences immediately. Firstly today's audience outnumbered yesterday's by four to one, so RCM wins there, but RAM wins hands-down when it comes to names (for these two days at least) - Francina Moll Salord being the only serious RCM contender to challenge yesterday's mighty Olsworth-Peter/Hocking/Tonkin trio. And musically? Well, I couldn't possibly say. Yesterday's highlight for me was Lawrence Olsworth-Peter's tenor and today it was probably Rachael Chesney, Francina Moll Salford and Adam Taylor (clarinet, violin and piano) performing Aram Khachaturian's Trio in B flat major op 30. Khachaturian was an Armenian who wound up composing with the full support of Stalin's communist party, though, like many of his compatriots, he later fell out of favour. The Armenian folk music of his roots weaves through many of his compositions, including today's.
I wonder if the RCM students feel under any pressure walking past the "Stars of tomorrow? They're in here today" proclaimation on the noticeboard every morning.
