"Warm and fervent, mellifluously blended and pitch-perfect."

That's how the Times describes our choir. Quite right too. We ARE very fantastic.

The MEN is slightly more restrained, mentioning only that "we rose to the challenges of the big moments".

Those are the only reviews I've seen so far of Saturday's gig - I'll edit this post if any more appear.

I did enjoy it in the end, although I nearly didn't sing at all - I somehow managed to lose my voice earlier in the week (without feeling ill at all - I just couldn't make any noise!) It was just a tickle at the start of the week, but by Wednesday I could talk but not sing. I went to the rehearsal anyway, and mimed in the first half. This turned out to be a very bad idea (even though I am *convinced* I didn't make any sound) and made my throat worse, so I just sat and listened in the second half. On Thursday I couldn't even talk, let alone sing, so I had the very great pleasure of sitting in the auditorium and listening to the choir and orchestra (and soloists) from the front. Can't remember the last time I got the chance to do that! On Friday things had improved slightly, and I could talk a bit but still not sing, so I sat out again, with the aim of being able to sing on Saturday. This strategy worked, and by Saturday afternoon I found I could sing without coughing, although not loudly... and by the evening most of the volume had returned. Perfect timing!

(While I was voiceless, I was looking up suggestions for remedies online. There are several here, but the one I kept seeing all over the web was ginger tea. Have any of you ever tried that? Does it work? Or, what's your preferred remedy? I ended up just sipping hot water with honey in it, on the grounds that I actually HAD some honey, but I didn't have any of the stuff for most of the other remedies!)

This week it's all change. Elgar is replaced by Debussy, Handel and Matthews (the latter is still being written, unsurprisingly), and we have a new guest choral director. I'm looking forward to the Matthews, but only because it's NEW. I've previously mentioned (and been lambasted for) my views on Messiah, so I won't repeat them (at least not yet!) The Debussy is his Nocturnes, which for the choir means being Sirens. I thought I'd had this on the brain all week, until I realised that I'd got it muddled up with Daphnis and Chloe! They are very similar in many ways, though, although our bit in Nocturnes is considerably less exciting. Anyway, if you don't know it, here's an mp3.

Loads more links for you. In no particular order, other than that I generally put the musical ones first...

Via ChoralNet, another interesting project from Eric Whitacre. He is one of the most groundbreaking composers currently working, and not just in musical contexts.

Via Intermezzo, an interesting look at how Germany differs from England when it comes to conductors in the news.

Intermezzo also tells us how much opera singers get paid.

Have any of you heard of The Manchester Carols? I hadn't, until I saw them being advertised while I was looking for something else.

Peter Phillips wonders where's the best place to be in a concert - singing, conducting or in the audience? He concludes that it's best to be singing - see if you agree with his argument!

Yet another discussion (with figures) of how Spotify is making money.

Via BoingBoing, a musical staircase in Sweden.

EMI and the CBSO issued instant CDs of their concerts the other day. I like this idea.

Not to be outdone, Radio 3 can now do synchronised opera surtitles.

Two blogs I discovered quite recently (and am not sure how I missed them): Classical Iconoclast and Tom Service's Guardian music blog. Both are now on my sidebar. (I've often linked to Tom Service's articles but I didn't realise until this week that he actually had a blog too.)

Not all arts critics are doing as well as Tom Service - all the Daily Telegraph ones recently lost their jobs.

A new exhibition of Spanish religious art at the National Gallery has a singing curator. I *really* want to see this!

Ash (a rock band you may or may not have heard of) are doing a UK tour in alphabetical order.

Manchester Confidential tells us about the new back view of Chet's. (I went past there today - the diggers are very busy! It's like the first chapter of Hitch Hiker.)

Next weekend Manchester hosts the UK's first ever robot festival!

Letters of Note is a fascinating new blog that publishes interesting actual letters (for example, this one from Mick Jagger to Andy Warhol).

From the London Review of Books, an enlightening explanation of why many postmen are so unhappy.

SayNoTo1870 is a useful website that gives you cheaper alternatives to 0870 numbers. (The Guardian claims this site has saved people a fortune.)

If you know any Deaf or hard of hearing people, make sure they know about the Emergency SMS trial, which means they can now contact 999 by sending a text message.

Astronomy Picture of the Day has long been one of my favourite websites, and last week they had a lovely new Pleiades picture.

(Ooh, that reminds me - those of you who use the Henry Watson Music Library may be unaware that the whole of Manchester Central Library (and, in fact, the Town Hall extension building) is closing for refurbishment in December, for a REALLY LONG TIME. (Three years, I believe, in the case of the library - not sure if the Town Hall is the same.) There are many, many items in the Henry Watson which are not in any other library in the UK. I have no idea whether there are any plans to make their stock available during the refurbishment - I can't imagine how they'd do it, given how much there is, so if you need anything from there, I'd make the trip ASAP.)

And finally... I'm sure you're all aware of the hilarious way in which Liverpool lost their match on Saturday - the ball went in off a beach ball that a Liverpool fan had thrown onto the pitch. Well, Liverpool play host to Manchester United this coming Sunday, and my absolute favourite story of the past few hours is that the Liverpool club shop has sold out of beach balls and the United fans are to be searched for them. "United supporters are suspected of being behind the increased demand for Liverpool beach products." Hee!