Mahler 8 in Birmingham - ticket news

Quick posting, just to share some info with you. Well, it's not quite info, but you'll see what I mean... Because our Mahler 8 gig in Manchester has been sold out since the tickets went on sale, I know I'm not the only one who (a) has no-one coming to it because they didn't manage to get tickets, and (b) has people who are desperate to get tickets for one of the Birmingham performances in September. I've been keeping an eye on the Symphony Hall website, so I know that they're not even mentioned there yet, but the other day it occurred to me to actually ASK them. And I got a prompt reply, as follows:

Dear Jocelyn,

Thank you for your email. The concerts you mention are probably part of the next Birmingham International Concert Season, although we still don't have confirmation yet. The season goes on sale around mid June time but check back in around mid March as we should have much more information by then.

Kind regards,
Laura Marshall

So now you know!

While I'm here, I may as well share a few links, because this week is Mahler 2 week and I might not have time...

Via Intermezzo, news that the BBC is apparently jealous of the success of Popstar to Operastar and is launching an opera reality show of their own. (The story also mentions that apparently some opera stars were insulted by what Alex James did. I hope that's not true (at least, if they actually saw him), because (as I said at the time) I thought he took it very seriously and gave a good performance, even if he wasn't the best singer.)

On An Overgrown Path tells us about the Oxford Feral Choir. Can't say the music did anything for me, but I *love* the name!

Bachtrack has a blog post by a guy who hadn't sung in a choir for over forty years but was persuaded to join the tenor section for his daughter's school's performance of Zadok the Priest.

Very interesting post by Eliza Carthy about the links between folk music and politics, and how offended she was by recent events.

I hadn't realised this, but ever since that row at the Beijing Olympics over the little girl who mimed, lip-synching can get you in big trouble in China.

Talking of the Olympics, it seems that Calais wants to get visitors to think of it as part of London for the 2012 games!

It's Burns Night tonight (at least, it was until a few hours ago), and there was rejoicing because haggis is no longer banned from the USA. I never realised it was!

And, if you've ever wondered exactly how astronauts go to the toilet in space, here's the answer.