One of the best places in London to hear music

I spent last night in one of my favourite places in the whole of London: Wilton's Music Hall. Anyone who hasn't yet been to the magical, near-derelict building which is hidden down Graces Alley near the Tower of London: go. A treat is in store for you. The place where the Can-Can was premiered—and promptly banned—it is the oldest surviving music hall in the world and is also included, sadly, in the world's 100 most endangered buildings. Stepping from the blustery September wind into its warm, crumbling interior last night I was reminded of the wonderful sense of history that envelops you there: the faded gilt and mahogany holding the secrets of thousands of decadent performances, when the grand stars from the Royal Opera would rush over from Covent Garden fully costumed to sing bawdy music hall operettas and rub shoulders with the likes of George Leybourne, who created the ditty 'Champagne Charlie' on this very stage. When John Wilton died it was taken over by East End Methodists for many years, and later served as a soup kitchen, a rag warehouse, and the headquarters of the Socialists who fought Mosley's Fascists in the 1936 Battle of Cable Street, just down the road.

I was back in Wilton's last night for the opening of a new production of Mozart's The Last Commandment by the Classical Opera Company. Beautifully sung by a dynamic company that includes Allan Clayton, one of our most brilliant young tenors, Ian Page stages the oratorio in bold and witty fashion, setting the action in a modern airport terminal. Incongruous as that sounds, given that the hall's magnificent vaulted roof, papier-mache balcony and cast iron 'barley sugar' pillars are still intact, it somehow works. Musically speaking, Die Zauberflote it's not - but nevertheless there are some truly sublime moments, and a number of hints at what its composer will soon be capable of. Because, yes... Mozart was eleven years old when he started composing Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots. Eleven years old! As I sat there, luxuriating in the music and the history and the grandeur of where I was, I cast my mind back to what I was doing at the age of eleven and suddenly felt very depressed indeed. If any reminder were needed about the utter genius of Mozart this charming piece of his juvenilia certainly does the trick. It's only on until Friday 28th September, so hurry - and be sure to buy the company's CD The A-Z of Mozart in the foyer afterwards; I'm loving it so much I'm listening to it on a loop.