This is our fabulous Russian language coach, Xenia de Berner (yes, I asked her how to spell her name, so I can state that with confidence). Note to self: remember to turn on night vision option on phone so as to reduce the number of blurred photos :p
I don't think I was the only person who was full of a cold and starting a sore throat tonight. (Poor Alison sounded ill before the rehearsal, and sounded twice as bad at the end - doubt she'll make it tomorrow!) I wasn't helped by the fact that they put all the heaters on shortly after the start of the rehearsal - I was already too hot before that! I do realise that I'm usually in the minority when it comes to heat perception. But I really, really hate WHGS. (I've said that before, haven't I? Must stop going on about it!)
My ears are a bit blocked and sore at the moment too. It's possible that this is why so much of the singing sounded flat to me - much worse than usual. (Quite often it sounded as if people started a semitone flat - for example, when Maggie played a chord and then got us to sing it, after we sat down.) I don't know how ear infections affect pitch perception, or indeed whether or not they do at all. But I can't blame my ear problems for the fact that everyone seemed to be singing so far behind the beat, can I? (Jamie kept pointing this out too, so it obviously wasn't just me!) I hate it when I have flat and/or tardy people in earshot - I tend to end up singing louder than I ought to, in an effort to drag the pitch and/or tempo back on track. Sometimes this works. But it doesn't do my voice much good - or, indeed, the sound of the group! Argh. (I do try not to do this, but I find it really hard.)
Jamie was back tonight, anyway, as I said. Good to see him. Also we had a few welcome Jamieisms. The subject of this post was his comment from page 7 (that's the page with possibly the hardest text). We also got: "These people don't take the BUS!" (when Xenia suggested we practise our Russian on the bus) and "It promotes facial growth, doesn't it, gentlemen?" ('it' being the singing of Russian vowels).
Oh, and it turns out that "O kak svonka" means "How sonorous!"
Picked up a leaflet for the Carol Concerts. They appear to have more or less exactly the same programme as last year. Which is somewhat boring (although I'm sure the audience will love it). However, Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride is included, so that's OK. It just wasn't a proper Christmas the year they didn't play that. (The choir doesn't sing in that, although we do have a vital role to play. I'll explain nearer the time, for those who don't know about it!)
Couple of other things: Wendy gave me a copy of an interview with Mark Elder about our recent Elgar CD, from the Awards issue of Gramophone magazine. Unfortunately I can't find it on their website or I'd link to it, but it's worth looking out for.
Graham E sent me the link to the Sunday Times review of our CD. Plainly they don't know what they're talking about - making derogatory remarks about our diction! The cheek!
No news on the Prom DVDs, I'm afraid. Not had a chance to talk to my friend lately, and I could email him to ask, but I don't want to pester him. I'm sure he'll sort them eventually.
Finally... I missed out the best news. We have loads of new members! Well, 7, of whom 3 were present tonight. Two 1st altos (Liz and Lisa), who seem very nice, and a 1st tenor! The poor guy (whose name is Phil) looked quite shocked at the choir's reaction to this announcement... to say we were pleased is putting it mildly :p (Not that we're not equally pleased to meet Liz and Lisa, but 1st altos are one of the largest sections in the choir. 1st tenors... aren't.)
I happen to know that the other 4 new members are: 1st soprano, 2nd soprano, another 1st alto, and a 2nd tenor (yay!) The section that's most in need of a boost is actually the basses, though, not the tenors. In case you're wondering, current numbers (including the new people) are:
S1: 25
S2: 34
A1: 33
A2: 18
T1: 10
T2: 11
B1: 11
B2: 8
Or... S: 59, A: 51, T: 21, B: 19
Or... Ladies: 110, Men: 40
Erm... anyone know any men who can sing but aren't in the choir? Send them our way!
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