Que sera sera, whatever will be will be - we're going to Italy!

Well, I've been saying for ages that the Champions' League Final would be between Manchester United and Barcelona, and so it has turned out. I'm very much looking forward to watching this from Spain - I'm told that Valencia fans hate Barcelona, but whether or not they'll support them in a match where the opponents are English remains to be seen!

As for the title, I was amused at Old Trafford on Sunday when the crowd realised that "Italy" and "Wemberlee" not only rhyme with each other but also have the same number of syllables, which meant that all the songs which include the world "Wembley" could be instantly adapted to become Champions' League Final songs. Recycling is always good!

I didn't sing in the Wagner concert this weekend, but the reviews are impressive - Manchester Evening News, Guardian and Times so far (I'll add others if they appear). Only the MEN mentions the choir, but since the MEN is the one that hardly EVER mentions the choir, that's good!

EDIT: Graham points out a couple of posts on the Intermezzo blog (I used to edit a newsletter called "Intermezzo", but that's a scary amount of time ago!): half-time report and the final score.

FURTHER EDIT: A couple more reviews: Telegraph and Musical Criticism.

FURTHER FURTHER EDIT: Here's the Independent review.

AND ANOTHER ONE: The Spectator is maybe not quite as impressed as the others, but they still liked it!

I went to Thursday's rehearsal because we were due to rehearse music other than just Wagner. As it turned out this only happened in the final five minutes, but never mind. Before that, I did get to sing the 15 notes of Wagner, but because I wasn't doing the concert I had no music. But I hate having to share copies, so I'd prepared by putting the music onto my phone. I wouldn't recommend singing from a mobile phone screen usually, but for 15 notes it was good enough, and it amused me that it was possible! (There were more than 15 notes on the screen - of course I had to add cues...)

I've been at home for almost four weeks now - temp assignments seem to be vanishing along with permanent jobs - but at least I'm well rested and have been able to work on Plan A. My website is ALMOST ready to go - watch this space.

Other stuff: which opera would you say is England's national one?

As you've probably seen, the bells of Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral are to play "Imagine".

Here's more news about that Elgar statue I mentioned a while ago (Graham sent me the link at the time but I am very behind with my email).

The ABBA guys have written a song for their staff choir - very sweet of them!

Via Allen Simon on ChoralBlog: Liz Garnett on How much practice do you need?

The always-wonderful Overgrown Path tells us more about the recent goings-on at Snape. (I have recently been reading lots of Harry Potter fanfiction so it took me a few minutes to realise that the Snape in question was not a Hogwarts professor...)

Talking of Harry Potter, anyone who's read the books or seen the films will know about the Weasleys' clock. Well, soon you will be able to buy one!

There's an interesting new initiative to provide free rehearsal rooms.

If you have a PS3 in your house, you may be interested to know that you can now get SingStar with wireless mics. (If you've never tried this game, I recommend it - great fun! I've only played it once myself but I did enjoy it.)

I think I already mentioned this, but Usain Bolt will be running down Deansgate on Sunday.

And finally, this isn't anything to do with music (at least, not directly), but I found this 15-minute talk about creativity fascinating. (If you like this sort of thing, there is lots more at TED.)