Thursday, March 02, 2006

"Don't let the mouse turn into a small otter just yet."

Right, I have 25 minutes to write all the things I wanted to write last night and the night before (but was too tired), while eating my tea before going out to ANOTHER rehearsal...

I'm in a much better mood now. I applied for two jobs recently and found I hadn't even got an interview for the first one (still waiting to hear from the second). Then I got to choir last night and found that I hadn't been picked for the semi-chorus. THEN I heard that the guy from the BBC Manchester Passion thing had contacted someone that *I* told about it... but hadn't contacted me!

Well, the triple rejection kind of got to me a bit, and I sent a second (aggrieved) email to the BBC guy, which I felt a bit embarrassed about today, when I'd calmed down. But at least the triple rejection is now only a double one, because I've just spoken to him and he's put me on the list :-) He wants more people, though, and says no-one will be turned down, so if you're free on Good Friday, please contact him (details in my previous post). He also wants people to join in the carrying of the huge cross through the city centre, so if you have non-singing friends or relatives who'd like to come with you, get them to contact him too!

I must admit to being devastated about the semi-chorus thing, though. I actually thought I might've had a slightly better chance than usual because (a) I've been practising and having proper lessons, and (b) several altos who I'd normally regard as automatic picks didn't audition. Oh well. Well done to those who DID pass :-)

(There is one thing that people might like to remember, though, when it comes to vocal assessments. Those of you who panic about sight-reading can take heart from how little importance it plays in auditions and assessments, compared to singing beautifully. Because I'm pretty sure I got that sight-reading PERFECT (well, apart from running out of breath at the end), and as usual it did me no good at all!)

Anyway, last night was really good, other than the semi-chorus list. It was the second of our open rehearsals, to which anyone interested in seeing what a Hallé Choir rehearsal is like could come along. There seemed to be quite a lot of extra people - maybe 30? A colleague of mine from school came with me, and she had a fabulous time, although she said she can't work out (a) where Jamie gets all his energy from; (b) where WE get all our energy from, to concentrate so hard for so long. I don't know the answer to either of those, but I wish I did, because my energy ran out several days ago!

Graham E was back, too - great to see him, although I didn't get a chance to talk to him. No Liz L, who presumably still can't sit down - how are you, Liz?

We sang right through the Fauré, which was very lovely. The title of the post is a Jamieism from the first page, on which Jamie wanted the first sound to be like "a perfectly formed mouse..." The other one that amused me was when he didn't like the way the sopranos sang something, and they pointed out that they were only following what it said in the score.

"Oh, you're so MUSICAL!" he said, accusingly.

Argh, running out of time, and I haven't told you about Mack and Mabel. Full explanation when I get back from tonight's rehearsal, but here's a short version:

1. It's on at the Palace all this week, till Saturday, then continues its tour until stopping in the West End in April.

2. I went to see it on Tuesday night and was blown away by how AMAZINGLY clever the production is.

3. If there's any way you can get to see it, please do so!

4 comments:

Yoga Troll said...

yo all.... unfortunatley still having troublesitting down on a chair, or a bus, and i can't find a rubber ring to sit on anywhere! - if anyone has ever used one or knows someone who has had one can they let me know where it came from? :o) hope everyone is ok!!! sounds like I'm missing some good rehearsals!!!

Jocelyn Lavin said...

I asked my sister, and unfortunately she threw hers away :-( However, she says she got it from Avon, or Betterware, or one of those other catalogues-they-shove-through-your-door. Hope that helps.

She also said to tell you that she was advised to stay off work for 6 months, and she went back after 2, and has regretted it ever since because she still has pain when it's cold. So she advises you to take off the full amount of time that the doctor recommends.

Anonymous said...

It was good to be back, both psychologically and physically. Didn't intend to sing but when you opened up with the Requiem I could not resist trying out what remains of these lungs, and was glad I did because I felt better and better as the evening progressed. Sod the steroid inhaler, folks, just sing!

Jocelyn Lavin said...

Good advice there from Graham :-)