Not really in the mood to blog - I'm totally exhausted, plus my computer repair has turned out to be not quite as straightforward as hoped, which I could really do without. Also, I know there are some people in the choir who are able to take a day off work following a long day like Sunday's, but not only could I not do that, I had a parents' evening yesterday, which meant that I didn't get home till 9 p.m. - and then I had a pile of marking still to do! But never mind all that, let's talk about Messiah.
Having been less than enthusiastic about the whole thing, I actually really enjoyed it in the end, and I think most other people did too. Three highlights for me:
1. For the first time in several years, he DIDN'T MESS WITH "HALLELUJAH". My favourite part of the whole piece has always been the audience standing up at the start of that - it always makes me cry, for some reason - and the last few Messiahs have been spoilt for me by conductors INVITING the audience to stand. That's just not the same! But on Sunday Nicholas Kraemer just let it happen, and it was wonderful :-)
2. Similarly, the cheesy stand in the middle of "Glory to God", which I'd thought was silly, actually worked really well, and felt very powerful - I'd love to know whether or not it came across that way. (I'd also love to know whether or not anyone in the gallery noticed that, as instructed, I sang in their direction almost all the way through.) (They probably just thought "Why has she got her head sticking up in that unnatural manner? ...)
3. Carolyn Sampson, the soprano soloist. All the soloists were pretty good, but she just blew me away. She made it sound so easy! Even "Rejoice Greatly", which seems to me to be one of the most difficult arias there is. Her tone was sublime, and her top notes were effortless. Even her walk to and from her seat was amazing - she seemed to GLIDE. (Like Galadriel walking down the tree when you first see her in The Lord of the Rings. If you've seen it, you'll know exactly what I mean.)
It was all good, though. Although I'm surprised the tenors' heads made it through the door after all the praise heaped on them in the rehearsal. A sample (from Nicholas Kraemer): "It's very rare to have tenors in a chorus this size who sing as well as you do." Which is true - they ARE good - but we wanted compliments too!
An amusing contribution has come my way from Barbara's husband, who very much enjoyed the concert but overheard the following from audience members:
"Those 4 violinists at the back, they haven't played much - what's that all about?"
"Did you notice there are 2 types of women singers?"
"I know you didn't enjoy it but it's the sort of experience you ought to have!"
---
Just one negative thing I want to say, which I hope doesn't get forgotten in the euphoria of how well everything went. We didn't warm up AT ALL. AGAIN. That's two concerts in a row - and they were two BIG sings. A few years ago I wouldn't have been too bothered, but I can really feel the difference now if I've not warmed up properly. I think Jamie should make his mind up - either warm-ups are important, or they're not. I think most people would agree that they are - so can we have some consistency, please? Warm-ups should be done AT THE EXPENSE OF LAST-MINUTE NOTES. I imagine Maggie will be furious when she hears that yet again her work has been undermined.
Is it just me that thinks this?
Anyway, some other stuff to finish:
Here's an interesting Times article about choirs being in the public eye recently.
There was a thing called The Choir on BBC2 last night. If you missed it, I'm sure next week will summarise enough for you to catch up!
And of course, this Saturday is the best TV programme of the year so far - that is, unless they only show the sopranos :p The People's Chorus is on BBC4 at 8 p.m.
Ooh, I almost forgot - "TWINS!" was the most amusing moment of the "warm-up" - when Jamie was trying to get the men more enthusiastic about singing about a child being born unto them. Again, you probably had to be there :p
P.S. United are at home tomorrow, in a huge European game. Be warned!
7 comments:
Wish I had read your blog earlier! Traffic was lousy even without the football. I do agree about warm-ups.How many of the last minute notes actually make a difference whereas warming up surely would make the sound better from the first note!
Why couldn't we have had tonights Christmas music weeks ago to give us longer to learn it! Some of us can't play that many black notes on a piano to practice!
I got my People's Chorus DVD this morning!
What a fantastic experience... I'd forgotten how good we sounded.
Just to whet your appetite a bit!
Anna (Alto, Choir 1)
I was watching you guys from the choir seats on Sunday (you may have seen Jackie and I waving) and just wanted to say that it really sounded fab. I've not heard us live before - obviously - and it really made me proud to be part of something so professional. And the cheesy stand in the middle of Glory to God WAS very effective. Oh, and I want to have Carolyn Sampson's babies... she's awesome!!
It does seem a little insane not to have handed out the Bach earlier. I could understand - possibly - if it had been hired, but I'm sure he said it was a Hallé edition.
(I have to admit that part of me was quite glad it hadn't been handed out in advance, because I got to show off by being able to sight-read it :p)
I hadn't realised the People's Chorus DVD was available - they said it was to be released on 11th! Oh well. I'll see it soon enough :-)
And Zoe, I saw you - you were sitting nearest the altos, so clearly you will have got the best possible experience :-)
Yeah, the DVD surprised me too - I pre-ordered it, and was expecting it to turn up this week sometime.
So getting an email on the 6th saying it had dispatched threw me a bit. I was sure they'd said the 11th too.
Well if you want a warm up, rather than thinking about it, then coming back and complaining about the fact that it didn't happen, why dont you...
a) talk to your section representative, they will voice your concerns to jamie, who will understand and do his best to help, im sure!
b) warm youself up in the dressing rooms, a bit of humming to get u going!
Thank you, anonymous person, for your "helpful" comments. FYI, 1. the current section rep knows of my concerns; 2. when I *was* the section rep, I told him myself; 3. the whole point is that if we are given last-minute notes until the moment we go on stage, we CAN'T warm up, even on our own.
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