The subject of this exchange (overheard in the ladies' dressing room) was, of course, the fabulous Gianandrea Noseda, who conducted our concert last night. No idea where he gets all his energy from - I've never seen a conductor move so much! And he did grunt very loudly throughout the performance - he did in the rehearsals, but we wondered whether or not he would in the performance. Amazingly my mum said it wasn't audible from where she was (in the circle). Oh, and she also said that she sat next to someone whose husband was in the choir, who informed her that the choir couldn't follow Gianandrea's beat and couldn't understand a word he said! Speak for yourself, mate :p
(It's true that his beat was very different to Mark's - I was particularly fascinated by the way he used his fingers - but I found it very clear.)
The gig went quite well, although there was a bit of a disaster with the stands and sits, which resulted in us being seated for the central a cappella section. I heard a few people say this made no difference, but I think it did (although not a HUGE difference). The fact that we had already deliberately sung several of the quieter sections seated meant that the audience probably didn't notice anything was amiss, but the whole choir knew, and I think that made a difference psychologically. As I've said before, I've always hated the system of the choir following one person for stands and sits, rather than everyone taking responsibility for it. At least this time the mistake resulted in us sitting for too long rather than standing too long - I'm really glad it was that way round, my feet have been killing me all week!
I missed Wednesday's rehearsal because I was too exhausted to do anything other than sleep when I got home from work. Pathetic, I know, but I don't miss many choir things. But did I miss any good Jamieisms?
I need to go and do some work now (and possibly World of Warcraft - not had time for that all week) but first let me unload some links.
This page on h2g2 is a choral singer's guide to surviving concerts. Not much that's news to most of you, probably, but interesting nonetheless. (If you have time, do look round other parts of h2g2 - it's fascinating!)
This is a classical music quiz that was featured in the Guardian the other day. I only got about half of them right - see if you do any better!
A Scottish choir has found a novel way to get new singers - they're even making a charge for it! I'll be fascinated to see if it works. (You may need to register to read that story, but it's free.)
Most popular search leading people to this blog is still Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink song (there are more requests for that than for everything else combined), but other recent searches that have amused me include: tips conductors choir altos high notes; learn alto part of amen; and singing instructions to sing like Axl Rose :p
And finally, in case you, like me, have always meant to take a picture of the Mark Elder painting that's backstage in the Bridgewater Hall, here it is (I saw Graham taking one yesterday and that reminded me). (Oh, and I almost forgot to say - the picure at the top of this post is one I took last night while walking back to the Bridgewater Hall from Felicini, which is that relatively new restaurant opposite the Palace Theatre. Alison and I had a fabulous meal there last night - I can thoroughly recommend it. They have an outdoor terrace at the back, where you can sit by the canal. Trust me, that's much nicer than it sounds!)
9 comments:
GN ruined the concert for me. Possessed by demons, histrionics, an overinflated ego, and the grunts and explosive exhalations will be heard on the recording. The BBC PO surely can't enjoy working with this man. Partly explains why they came well down the league table as I recall. Might have known you would think differently Jocelyn
Oh, I beg to differ with anonymous: I thoroughly enjoyed watching GN's conducting, both at the rehearsals and in the performance.
Quiz - got 39 correct - mainly guesswork rather than research. Would have got me an A* in GCSE music!
I agree with anonymous. Highly irritating and distracting performance. An insult to the musicians in front of him.
As the one responsible for the missed "Stand" on Saturday, can I use your blog to apologize to all involved. I had volunteered for something that I felt was needed at the time, but unfortunately messed up in one instance. I don't want to make excuses, but there were a number of mitigating circumstances that I feel I cannot air in such a public forum as this, but I will be passing them on to other interested parties.
The grunting made me smile and at least shows some passion for the music which some of the choir didn't appear to have. I think it is unfair that Paul feels he has to take responsibility for a mistake made by the choir as a whole.
I don't blame you, Paul, I blame (if anything) the fact that we had rubbish scores so we couldn't just be told "stand at figure 179" or whatever. I am firmly of the belief that everyone in the choir should take responsibility for standing at the right place, as I've said before. Unfortunately, though, the people at the back can't stand unless they're sure the people in front of them will also stand, otherwise it looks awful! So my plan fails if EVERYONE on the front row stays down when they should be up. Which is what happened in this case. Not to worry.
Graham, you beat me - I think I got 37, although there were quite a few that I kicked myself over when I saw the answers.
And as for Gianandrea, yes, I'd have preferred him not to grunt, but I felt it was a price worth paying to witness every other aspect of his conducting. As Libby says, his passion was self-evident, and some of us, at least, found it infectious.
GN certainly hurled himself into the music!
I think we probably sang better technically sitting down for the a capela - because we all had to try harder. I think we stayed in tune?
A little bird tells me that someone at the beeb said it was the best performance of the piece by an amateur choir that he'd heard!
Wot no blog?
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