Viola glory

Well, the gig last night went very well indeed, I thought. Not a huge audience, but enough people that it felt worth doing (I think there were SLIGHTLY more in the audience than on the platform, but it was a close thing!) Five of the seven composers were present, plus Jackie Kay, and they all seemed very pleased.




(Much hilarity was caused by the possibility of Gill's Botswana solo going to her head, as you'll see above - but don't worry, she's a 2nd alto!)

The violas were more prominent than I think I've ever seen them. I do remember we once did a concert where the violas were at the front on one side at the expense of the 2nd violins, who were relegated to the middle, but last night the violas were split into two sections and had BOTH front sides of the stage. The cellos were in the middle, and there was only one violin, and she was hidden next to the woodwind! Of course, there's not a lot for the violins to do in the Fauré anyway, but the version last night (I don't know if it's a standard arrangement or one that was done specially for last night) had a solo violin doing some bits of the usual violin part, and the rest given to the violas. There were also no flutes or clarinets - they only play in the Pie Jesu anyway, but I think Jonathan played their bits on the organ.

The soloists (Rebecca Bottone and Roderick Williams) were both great. They did a better job of the very difficult new stuff than I imagine most people might have, and they sounded lovely in the Fauré. And actually the same goes for the choir and orchestra, in my opinion! Pity there seem to be no reviews, unless anyone's found one I've missed?

EDIT: Thanks to Martin for finding the well-hidden MEN/City Life one!

(Two good summaries of the current AIDS situation, by the way, at CNN and the BBC.)

Also, a few more links I've found since yesterday...

A lovely addition to the Richard Hickox obituaries, this one from the ever-excellent Tom Service. Tom also discusses the use of the Queen of the Night aria to advertise Durex....

Some great things being done at the RNCM to help kids with Asperger's Syndrome.

YouTube is starting an orchestra! Details on how to join are here.

I've just watched a thing on BBC4 about Vivaldi's Women. Apparently it's been shown several times before but I must have not noticed. It's on again at 1.45am this Thursday morning (Wednesday night) or you can watch it on iPlayer. Very interesting, and includes lots of singing. I was particularly intrigued by the discussion of whether or not Vivaldi's bass parts would have been sung by women. Short answer: almost certainly yes, and they found a lady who was able to demonstrate.

The BBC tells us that apparently mothers don't sing traditional lullabies any more. I can understand some of the songs on the list being used, but not all! Sweet Child of Mine is NOT soothing (although it's a great song) and I Kissed a Girl seems an even more bizarre choice. But what do I know?!

Talking of bizarre news, apparently all the acorns in America have vanished...

This T-shirt may amuse some of you. (If you don't understand it, you probably wouldn't find it funny if you did, so don't worry!)

And finally, Amy was asking me about the Chili Con Carne song last night. Does anyone have a copy of the sheet music? We'd love to see it, if so!