"Sopranos, it's not rocket science...."

"...it's the SAME NOTE YOU JUST SANG. You were totally seduced by Mr Jones on the piano!"

(tonight's best Jamieism, referring to a note near the end of the Poulenc. It was followed by:

"Altos, I have to admit that I was so gobsmacked by what I was hearing on the other side of the choir that I have no idea what you sang.")



Busy night for the choir last night. Orchestral rehearsal for the Poulenc, which went pretty well (seems like ages since we've been in the Bridgewater Hall!) (I'm pleased to report, by the way, that not only are all the 1st altos now singing a G in that place where they used to sing an F sharp, but that the basses are now correctly singing a confident B flat in that place where they used to sing an A flat. I have no idea whether or not the sopranos got their rocket-science C, though - I can't hear them at that point.) Then there was a 2-hour break, during which we all moved to the RNCM, and met again at 10 p.m. to rehearse for our late-night Cello Festival gig. (Am I the only one who's disappointed that there appears to be NO publicity for this in town? There's not even a banner outside the college, unless I've missed it. I know they don't NEED the publicity, since most of it sold out ages ago, but it's a major international event - Mancunians should know about it!)

We were due to go onstage at 10.30 p.m., but I had a feeling it would be much later, and I was right - it was gone 11 p.m. before we went on. We did have a brief rehearsal - without the cellist! - which included the instruction "Maybe don't even breathe. It's too human." After that there was quite a bit of sitting around waiting, but everyone was in a very good humour so it was fine.



I have to say that the highlight of the sitting around was Gladys - we rehearsed in the Opera Theatre, and then sat in the audience seats there while waiting. Anyone who came in to join us (after they'd been back to the changing room, say) had to enter stage right and walk forward across the stage. Gladys was the first to do this, and did an excellent bit of ballet for our entertainment! Sadly I was too slow to get a picture, sorry. But after that, everyone who appeared was greeted with rapturous applause and whooping. Some reacted to this more amusingly than others :p

We did eventually get to perform, and the audience applauded us the whole time we were walking on, which is a first, I think. (I suspect if they'd known how many of us there were, though, they might have stopped sooner!) Svyati was great - it relies so heavily on the men, and they were perfect. (Although, I'm pretty sure one of the basses started his first note on "yo" rather than "oh".... maybe he was thinking about pirates?) Jamie didn't introduce it - I presume he thought the audience would be sufficiently musical that they'd know not to applaud till he lowered his arms, and this turned out to be the case. Hard to tell how much they liked it, but I think they did!

Anyway, Poulenc again tomorrow. Couple of things first, though: firstly, did you know that today is the Hallé's actual 150th birthday? Or that Russell Watson is due to sing the National Anthem at the FA Cup Final? (You'd be forgiven for thinking it's Jon Christos, unless you read that article carefully, but it's not - although he claims he was asked first...) And finally, I think we should get William Eddins as a guest conductor :p