We have TWO orchestras, you know

i really enjoyed Saturday - a lovely day out and a great rehearsal. There was almost a bit of trauma at the start, because as we boarded the train at Piccadilly, the conductor announced that Birmingham New Street was currently closed due to a power failure, and the train would be unable to call there. We were considering all sorts of alternative plans, but luckily they managed to get some emergency power from somewhere, and the station reopened just in time. It was very eerie, though - only the emergency lighting was on, so it was very dark (most of the station is below street level), and there was no other power AT ALL, other than to the train tracks etc. So none of the departure boards were on, and all the shops were shut, and there was general chaos. I'm a bit baffled about why the staff didn't at least put up a flipchart or something that had the platform number for each train, because unsurprisingly that's what the majority of queries seemed to be about! The chaos was still going on when we went back to the station after the rehearsal, but we avoided the enquiry queue by looking up the platform number on my phone :-)

Birmingham city centre is very lovely, and I'm always surprised to realise how well I know it (well, bits of it, at least). I was disappointed, though, to find that my favourite feature - the Floozie in the Jacuzzi - was switched off. [EDIT: Purely by chance, a much better photo of her - with water flowing - just appeared on the front page of the BBC News website!] Apparently it's only switched on for special occasions these days - very sad! It's always been flowing when I've seen it before. And then I found that another favourite, the Statue of Industry, was covered up by building works. (I hope it's still there underneath!) But we popped into Symphony Hall and were relieved to see that Norman Perryman's wonderful Mahler Experience painting was still where I remembered it. (If you go in through the front door, from Centenary Square, turn immediately left and double back on yourself - the painting is just round the corner from the front door.)

The rehearsal was great fun, and our boss was on fine form, making several passing comments that showed his support for Manchester. It was all in fun, though, and the "Brummie choir" (as he delighted us by referring to them) are very good. I'm delighted it's them that's boosting the numbers for Mahler 8 - they're by far the best of all the other choirs we've sung with.

Talking of boosting the numbers... In case you missed it, have a listen to today's edition of Front Row from Radio 4. It features our boss, plus a player from each of the orchestras, talking about the Mahler 8 collaboration. (The relevant bit starts at 06:12 and goes on till 15:31.) At one point, they're asked whether there WILL actually be 1000 performers, and the answer is "no": 120 in the orchestra and 350 singers. I feel a bit cheated!

I want to give you a list of orchestral "WOW!" moments to watch out for in Mahler 8, in case you've never performed it before - I'd hate for you to miss my favourite things. But let's get the latest batch of links out of the way first.

Mahler 7 was on Saturday, and (like the rest of the Mahler in Manchester series) the reviews are great: Guardian, Times, Telegraph, MEN, Classical Source.

There's a rather less good review of Rufus Wainwright in the Telegraph. I'm not a fan of his - at all - but I do agree with Tom Service when he says that we shouldn't knock him for having a go.

I've never heard of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble before, but after reading this review of their Band on the Wall gig, I really wish I'd been there. Doesn't it sound fun?

I mentioned this a while ago, but I saw it again on Saturday, and now Manchester Confidential has a feature on it: the exhibition of Manchester music venues on platform 12 of Piccadilly Station. If you have a few minutes while waiting for a train, go and have a look.

Alan McGee wonders, in the Guardian, why the Osmonds are never remembered as vocal harmony experts. It's a fair question - I saw them being interviewed on a programme a while back, and they demonstrated some close-harmony vocal exercises that they used to use as a warmup. I was VERY impressed - the tuning and blend was perfect, and it was not easy stuff.

Stephen Hough has some good advice about how to practise hard stuff: don't start at the beginning; don't feel that you have to practise the whole piece on any given day; and don't stop immediately if you make a mistake.

This isn't funny, really, but I have to admit it made me laugh quite a lot: foreign accent syndrome. "She just got fed up of people explaining to her how the buses worked" is my favourite bit :-)

I often get people sending me Facebook invites, but I still don't plan to accept any of them (nothing personal, I just don't like the way Facebook operates - I mean Facebook the company, not its users). However, if you DO use Facebook, you may find these articles useful - they suggest ways of reclaiming some of your privacy after the most recent changes (Facebook's attitude to privacy has always been my main objection to it). Tips are from Lifehacker and GigaOM.

The Big Picture has some breathtaking photos commemorating Earth Day.

Probably of no interest to anyone but football fans, but it amuses me: Liverpool's Dilemma. To explain for those who don't follow as avidly as me: Currently Chelsea are top of the Premier League, and Manchester United are second, one point behind them. There are only two games left, and no other team can catch up. If Chelsea win their last two games, nothing United can do will make any difference - Chelsea will win the league. However, on Sunday afternoon, Chelsea have to play Liverpool, in Liverpool. The dilemma? Liverpool do still have things to play for - they can't win the league, but they are in with a chance of finishing 4th, which is a big deal because it would mean they'd be in the Champions' League next season. But if they beat Chelsea, they've probably handed the league title to United (both of United's last two games are fairly easy, and they're expected to win both of them). This is something they REALLY don't want to do - not only are United their greatest rivals, so they'd hate it anyway, but this year it's an even bigger deal, because if United win the league, it will be the 19th time we've done so - and Liverpool have only ever won it 18 times. So it will mean that their right to brag that they're the most successful club ever (hah!) will be over.

Needless to say I've probably cursed everything by going on about it - I'm good at that! - and Chelsea will probably win 7-0 again, as they keep doing. But I heard on a podcast today that the Liverpool/Chelsea match is, unbelievably, not sold out, and the theory being put forward was that the Liverpool fans can't bear to watch :-)

Anyway, a few Mahler 8 non-choral highlights, to finish. I know some of you like to mark these in your scores. There are loads of highlights, of course, so these are just the ones I had the biggest rings round in my score after last time....

PART 1

One that happens quite a few times, but is always fabulous, is when the oboes, clarinets and horns (not always all at the same time) are instructed to hold the bells up their instruments high in the air (Schalltrichter auf!) The first time it happens is at figure 1, bar 3, just as choir 2 come in, but I'll point out a few others.

Figure 17: great horn & trombone chords

Figure 18: piccolo solo; 1st violins divided into four parts; bar 6 has horns Schalltrichter auf.

Figure 21: 1st violins play on the fingerboard (i.e. bow further away from bridge than usual) - makes the sound more ethereal

Figure 23: bar 2, horns are "stopped" - makes them more raucous

Figure 24: deep, loud bells

3 before figure 27: significant organ pedal note

4th of 27: low clarinets, trombones and cellos combine wonderfully

2 before figure 35: nothing particularly special, just a lovely couple of bars!

Figure 38: children's choir joins in for the first time (N.B. all the soloists sing this tune as well)

Figure 40: oboes and clarinets Schalltrichter auf

Figure 42: trombones going mad on the quavers! Bar 3: stopped ("gestopft") horns (and others) make an amazing sound accompanying "hostem".

Figure 43: all 8 horns (NOT stopped) play in unison, ff (they have this motif a few times in this section)

Figure 45: 8 horns again, but more noticeable as choir 2 aren't singing

Figure 51: a high trumpet plays in unison with the children's choir (and choir 1 sops), but the score sternly instructs that the trumpet must NOT obscure the boys

Figure 55: full organ, very prominent. Bars 4 and 5: trumpets "schmetternd" (blaring)

Figure 58: the longest dominant pedal in the world starts (we're in E flat major, so this means that the timps and basses play a very long B flat). It lasts for almost 40 bars. Interestingly, it does NOT resolve to the E flat at figure 64 as you might expect (because that's one of several recapitulations).

Figure 64: another recapitulation, as I just mentioned, and another Schalltrichter auf moment for the oboes and clarinets.

Figure 65, bar 3: good bit for horns

Figure 67, coinciding with choir 1: mega organ chord

Bar before 79: Schalltrichter auf for oboes/clarinets

Figure 84: ANOTHER recapitulation, and this time the orchestra stops playing for a short time (the organ is still there though)

Figure 91: offstage brass have their first big moment

PART 2

I love the bit from figure 3 to figure 5 - nothing fancy, just gorgeous music

Figure 12: horns "gestopft"

Figure 19: horns playing 8-part chords (previously they've always been doubled)

Bar before 20: yum.

Just after 20: 1st violins playing only on G string

3 before 21: horns gestopft AND Schalltrichter auf

29 to 30: all quiet and lovely.

Figure 89: tenor soloist is "suddenly prominent"; he's been singing for a while, but the score says "he should under no circumstances be conspicuous until now"

Figure 98: nice piccolo bit

Figure 106/107: this whole section is lovely. This is where the score says the Mater Gloriosa "appears in the sky" (which meant, last time we did it, the gallery, although she actually appeared a bit later) and the music is very ethereal to match this idea. It even includes a harmonium. (The Mater Gloriosa is the 3rd soprano soloist, and she's the only soloist who doesn't sing in part 1 - this is the first time she appears.)

2 before 112: harps ("as numerous as possible") instructed to play "thunderously"

3 before 122: good trombone chords below a low bit for the alto soloist

Figure 127: celesta, harps, woodwind, trills all over the place - nice effect

Figure 131: strings all playing "sul ponticello" (on the bridge)

Figure 148: mandolin solo!

Figure 159: children's choir goes into 2 parts

Figure 161: brass trills

Figure 171: gorgeous quiet section (celesta, percussion rolls etc.)

Figure 174: this is my favourite bar in the whole piece - pianissimo top B flat from the Mater Gloriosa.

Figure 186, bar 3: my score just says "trumpet WOW!" (there are trumpets in F as well as the usual B flat ones in Mahler 8 - trumpets in F are smaller and play much higher)

Figure 195 - 196: trumpet again

Figure 196: glockenspiel solo and timp roll

Figure 197: great harp/celesta bit

Figure 199: piccolo solo

Figure 210: trombones join tenors, and play the bits in between too

2 before 211: horns & trumpets join the trombones

Figure 218: as the singers sing their last note, the organ, gong and offstage brass come crashing in, marked fff. All the bass instruments start a long held E flat that continues until the end of the piece. Everything gets louder and louder.

Figure 220, bar 21: The end :-)