We've only sung once since then, so my main reason for posting now is to share about a million links with you. First, though, I just wanted to remind anyone reading this who's NOT a member of the choir that our Proms visit this year is this Thursday, and we're live on both BBC4 and Radio 3, and no doubt available on the iPlayer for a while afterwards. It'll be the third time we've performed the Mendelssohn this year, and I hope it'll be the best - although it would have to be AMAZING to outdo the Valencia gig. I think we can do it though!
We're rehearsing tomorrow night (well, I guess tonight really, since it's now 1 a.m.) and Tuesday night, then I'm off to London on Wednesday. It's very bad timing that my mobile phone has recently been cut off because I couldn't pay the bill - not a big problem when I'm at home, but I feel twitchy without it when I'm out of the house. Which is silly, because for the vast majority of my life I didn't own one!
Last week was a little sad - we had our last ever "normal" rehearsal with our current choral director, who leaves us at the end of this season (i.e. this week). We didn't do any Mendelssohn, but instead spent the rehearsal sight-reading various a cappella things, including Palestrina's Sicut Cervus, Victoria's O quam gloriosum, Bruckner's Christus Factus Est, Elgar's My love dwelt in a Northern land, Pearsall's Lay a Garland, and finishing with Rheinberger's Abendlied. (I say "including", but I think that's everything we did - can anyone spot anything I'm missed?) This was very good fun, and (as a bonus) proved how much better at sight-reading the choir is than it used to be. Although, we did get the comment "I think the opening section sounds better with C sharps, but I admire your spirit of experimentation..." He will be sorely missed.
So, a load of links for you! In no particular order....
I'm sure lots of you will have seen Blur's triumphant headline set at Glastonbury a few weeks ago (if you didn't, I should probably point out that they split up years ago and have been doing various successful solo things since, for example Damon Albarn's Monkey opera and Alex James taking part in Maestro, but they reformed for a few gigs this summer, of which Glastonbury was the pinnacle). I really love this article by Alex James (the bass player) in which he explains not only the feeling created by having done a really great gig, but also how upsetting it is for a musician to be asked if they "still do music". There's also another article by him in which he explains what it feels like to perform.
Here's why the critics didn't come to our 4th July gig - they went to Piccadilly Station that night to watch the RNCM thing there. Robert Beale reviews it for the MEN, and (more entertainingly) Mark Garner for Manchester Confidential.
A few days later were the two Elbow gigs, the thought of which which has been upsetting me for months (because I would have given just about ANYTHING to have been chosen to sing in the choir with them, but I was not one of those invited), but I'm a bit calmer now they've happened. Anyway, the reviews were great (and numerous!): Guardian, Observer, Independent, MEN/City Life, Telegraph, Manchester Confidential, BBC, and some great pictures (my favourite of which is above).
The thing that was theoretically the festival's main event, Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donna opera, wasn't quite such a huge success, but it wasn't a disaster either. Can't say I had the urge to see it (unlike the Monkey opera, which I remember raving about at the time) but that's probably because I've never really liked Rufus Wainwright. But several of my friends (who have otherwise excellent taste) love him, so what do I know?! Anyway, here are reviews from the Guardian, Manchester Confidential, and FT.
Two updates in the ongoing saga of a Northern base for the Royal Opera House - a negative one from the BBC and a positive one from the MEN.
From Intermezzo, a theory that Wagner is kinder to sopranos than Mozart. Which seems unlikely, but there you go!
Talking of Wagner, here's a Spectator article about how someone became a fan.
Tom Service in the Guardian is unimpressed with a website called musoc.org. He's also unimpressed with the idea of live musicals without a live band.
The newest article on musoc.org discusses people who clap in the "wrong" places, and here's a BBC article that discusses this topic (which is a big issue for us after what happened on 4th July). (Thanks to Barbara for pointing this out.)
Here is an absolutely wonderful story about someone who won a prize and decided to give it away to a music teacher.
Did you hear the one about the mezzo who fell over during an opera performance, broke her leg in the fall, but continued to sing for another three hours? Clearly an alto really!
Here's a fabulous video showing an a cappella performance of Toto's Africa. The way they do the rain effect is amazing.
Apparently people are upset about Judas Maccabeus being used to open the Edinburgh Festival. I was quite startled to read their reason - I had no idea!
I'm sure you'll have heard the sad news about Sir Edward Downes. On an Overgrown Path had a nice post about him, as did the Guardian. I don't think I was ever conducted by him, but I have a very vague memory of a concert, many years ago, that he was SUPPOSED to conduct for us, but he was ill and someone else stepped in. Have I imagined that? The concert I'm thinking of was in London, possibly the Festival Hall, and possibly Delius.
Interesting piece from Peter Phillips about music composed for specific performance spaces.
Great interview with Wynton Marsalis. I particularly like the last line!
There's a new TV series starting in the USA this autumn called Glee, and it's about a high school choir. The pilot episode was floating around the web for a while, and I saw it - it's very High School Musical ish (unsurprisingly) but interested me enough that I will probably watch the first few episodes at least. It starts on 16th September, and no doubt those who are interested will be able to find ways to see it online - and if not, it's bound to turn up in the UK eventually.
Some very surprising news about 582 drummers: They beat out the same rhythm for five minutes to set a new world record. I love the quote from the Slade drummer though: "'It isn't as difficult getting to everyone playing at the same speed for this as people might think, it's getting them to stop that's the problem." Hee!
Here's a Spectator thing about moving pianos, and another about Proms programming.
The Guardian has advice for teenagers wanting to try classical music. (The Muse song they mention, in case you're wondering, can be heard here. It's a bit... surprising.)
BBC Music Magazine explains why the only way to see the Proms is to be a Prommer. And the Observer reviews a couple of last week's Proms.
I know I often rave about the Big Picture (if you don't have it bookmarked, do so immediately), but they've outdone themselves recently. I particularly love their pictures from Glastonbury, but there's also Apollo 11, the solar eclipse, and mud!
Did you know that London tube drivers are to quote Gandhi in their announcements? I'm fascinated by this. Has anyone heard any of these announcements yet?
Sadly, I didn't see the recent flower festival in Manchester Cathedral, but Manchester Confidential has pretty pictures.
I also didn't see the Manchester Zombie Walk, despite looking forward to it for ages, but the MEN has a report with a couple of pictures. It seems they didn't break the record, but that's OK because it means they'll have to try again!
The MEN and BBC update us on the current Metrolink city centre misery. And remember that the whole of the Altrincham and Eccles lines will be closed in August as well!
And finally, I'm quite fascinated by the idea of the people on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, but not quite fascinated enough to watch them. But if you want to see them, you can do so online here.
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