Bad news, I'm afraid

We finally found out what happened to the little bird with the broken wing. (It was in the programme notes.) It got captured by the hawk! Now, it was not clearly stated that it actually died, but we think it's quite likely :-(

Apart from that, though, a good time was had by all tonight. It was a long day - we rehearsed from 3.30 (and some of us had been in a choir committee meeting from 1.30 till then) and came offstage for the last time at about 10.05. Didn't get much rehearsal with the orchestra, but then it wasn't really needed; we warmed up and rehearsed a few bits backstage, then went onto the platform and sang through the spirituals during the orchestra break, then listened to the whole of the Ritual Dances (so we knew where to come in) and joined in at the end. The piece is a lot more exciting with full orchestra, as usual.

I actually remembered to bring my camera today, due to realising that there have been no new pictures on the choir website since last September. Didn't get any really great ones, but the ones I did get are now online. Also, I'd totally forgotten that the concert was being recorded by Radio 3, until I got onstage and saw all the mics. Apparently it'll be broadcast on Tuesday 8th March.

First half started (after Mark's usual entertaining speech) with Leonora no. 1, which I don't think I've ever heard before. Pleasant but not that inspiring, IMHO. Then it was time for the Ritual Dances. They were more fun than I'd expected (I particularly liked the impressive clarinet duet). The piece was very descriptive - we could clearly hear where the little bird with the broken wing got caught by the hawk :-( We only joined in right at the end; not our best performance of the piece, but nothing went disastrously wrong. Our first note felt pretty good, though. And at least the audience seemed to like it (surprisingly so!).

I was delighted, during the interval, to talk to Richard (one of our newer tenors) and learn that he joined the choir because of my website! I feel I should get some sort of cash prize for enlisting a tenor, albeit unwittingly :p

Second half was less fun than the first, as it mostly consisted of Tippett's Triple Concerto. This is one of his later works and has far less concordant harmony than the Ritual Dances. There were two bits I did quite like - the last note (no, not just because it was the last note!) and the bit in the middle when all the Indonesian percussion started to play. Apart from that I couldn't engage with it at all and found myself struggling to stay awake. I did better than some others - one person said she hated it so much she wanted to run from the hall screaming! It was impressively played, though, and again the audience seemed unaccountably enthusiastic. Some of them actually cheered! We decided they were either Tippett's family or part of the Mark Elder fan club.

The last item in the main concert was Leonora no. 3; bits of it seemed familiar, but most of it was new to me. Again, pleasant enough, and rather more interesting than no. 1. I particularly liked the unexpected offstage trumpet; Gill and I tried to decide what it is about an offstage trumpet that is so spinetingling, and didn't reach a conclusive answer, but agreed that we love it :-)

After the bows we went offstage and came straight back on again (for some reason) for the spirituals. We were delighted to see how many of the audience had stayed for this "post-concert event"; the stalls were full (although admittedly this seemed to be because they were sending the circle people down there as well) so the hall looked pleasantly crowded. The lighting was much more atmospheric than we usually have - the stage was in total darkness, as was the auditorium; only the choir seats were illuminated. When Jamie came on we could hardly see him, as he was wearing all black, but when he reached the podium he got an impressive spotlight. Unfortunately his face was still not lit, which was not ideal from a conducting point of view (he uses his face a lot!) but we managed. The performance went pretty well; the soloists were great, and the choir stayed in tune. And more importantly, the BFBABTEIGW sounded more or less right from where I was standing! \o/ The radio broadcast will be very telling...

P.S. Sylvia pointed out to me tonight that people could only post comments to this blog if they got a Blogger account (which is free, but a bit of a hassle). So I've found that setting and changed it. Post away, Sylvia!