Mahler 8 is already sold out!

I'm quite shocked about this. Well, not really, because I knew it would sell out early, but the concert's not until 2nd May! Of course I've been telling people about it for months, and encouraging them to buy their tickets ASAP, but neither my mum nor my best friend had got round to it yet, so neither of them will be there, although they were both keen. (I've told them to pester the box office for returns, but I suspect they won't.) Oh well.

In the meantime, this week it's all Messiah, with a bit of other Christmas stuff. More on Messiah in a minute, but before I forget: good news! The Henry Watson Music Library, which (you may recall) cancelled its Christmas Music Day because it was due to close for refurbishment this month, has been persuaded to UNcancel the event now that the closure has been postponed. It's possible that I might have had something to do with this :-) Anyway, it will be on a smaller scale than in previous years, and I'm not sure who else will be there, but Pleiades will be performing at 4pm on Saturday 12th December. Come and see us - there will be mince pies!

Earlier in the day, we'll be singing at Gigg Lane before the FC United game. We did this last year and it was great fun, although I don't think I've ever been so cold. Several extra layers of socks will be in use this year! If you're around, you will be able to hear my arrangement of The Twelve Days of Cantona, with its totally ridiculous descant.

The Messiah gig is tomorrow night, and I'm off to catch the bus to the orchestral rehearsal shortly. But first, a load of links, many of which are Messiah-related.

From The Chorister, news of how someone used the Hallelujah Chorus to escape from a toilet.

Lots of stuff about the recent ENO Messiah, which I've mentioned before. Classical Iconoclast has a review and a discussion about how best to stage the piece. Intermezzo also has a review (this one includes the word "turkey" - you may be able to guess the gist of it...) The Classical Source was a bit more impressed. The Guardian didn't like the visual aspect. I was going to link you to the FT review, but they've recently made changes to their website that restrict how many times you can look at stuff, and I can no longer see it!

Via ChoralNet, a great article about the history of Messiah from the Smithsonian Magazine.

In the Spectator, Kate Chisholm talks a bit about Messiah but mainly about a recent episode of The Choir.

An AMAZINGLY useful article from The Chorister, about how to tell the difference between different voice parts. It even has video clips. And it taught me something - I'd never heard of the term "oktavist" until I read that post.

Via ChoralNet, an interesting post about the fact that lots of professional classical musicians are so miserable and/or pessimistic.

Maggie told me yesterday about the British Voice Association. There's some interesting stuff on their website, such as this page devoted to voice care.

Via my friend Chris Atherton, a theory about a possible biological link between music and speech, specifically to do with major and minor scales. I'm far from convinced by this, but if I start explaining why, I will miss my bus. Short version of my argument: major scales include both major and minor intervals, and so do minor scales. So if they're just looking at INTERVALS there shouldn't be any significant difference whether the music is in a major or minor key. (It's possible, of course, that I read the article too fast and misunderstood what they are claiming, in which case I apologise.)

Interesting article from the Guardian about singing out of tune.

Via Tom Service, Bachtrack have created a classical-music-event-finding app for the iPhone. Bachtrack provide a very useful service even if you DON'T have an iPhone - go and look at their website if you haven't before. (Sadly they don't have any of OUR concerts listed, but I don't have the authority to do anything about that.)

Talking of iPhones, a group of students has created an orchestra out of different iPhone apps. (I must do a list sometime of which musical iPhone apps I use - there are a few!)

Classic FM have a poll for the nation's favourite Christmas carol - is yours on the list? (The Darke version of In the Bleak Midwinter always seems to win these things, but I'm SO sick of it. I much prefer the Holst version.)

Via ChoralNet, a fascinating (and slightly disgusting) video called "Glottal Opera".

I was fascinated to see that there were auditions in Manchester last week for expert Lego artists - Brick Factor!

Via BoingBoing, an interesting account of a meal in the dark at a San Francisco restaurant.

From NASA's Earth Observatory, a photo of a lake with blue-green algae. Not particularly newsworthy - I'm just fascinated by the picture!

Most of you will be aware that ID cards are now available in Manchester, but have you seen one close up? Here's a photo of one. (Unlike many people, I have no real problem with the CONCEPT of ID cards, but I lost interest when I found they were going to cost money!)

A card which WOULD be useful, though, is a Manchester Oyster Card. Manchester Confidential updates us on the plans. (Anyone who EVER travels to London and doesn't have an Oyster card is insane, by the way. Get one immediately. It will save you lots of time AND money.)

The John Rylands Library is cooking medieval food.

If you haven't been past the Band on the Wall this week, you won't have seen their Giant Graphic Equaliser. Go and look!

An interesting report from Snopes (always the best place to check the truth of urban legends) about whether or not hand-driers cause disease. I've heard people argue passionately both ways, so it's good to see some facts.

I'm not planning to buy a games console any time soon, but if you are, you will find this Guardian article invaluable.

Via the Big Picture, the Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar. Fabulous.

And finally, the best seventeen seconds of your day so far: Surprised Kitty.