"You really did kind of miss it... except for the back row of the altos."

It's very rare for me to miss a choir rehearsal, so it felt very weird to be there on Wednesday having missed the previous week due to the Inter Milan game. It felt much longer than two weeks since I'd been there! Anyway, it doesn't sound as if I missed too much, and I had two separate people who took notes for me so I'd be up to date. (Oddly enough, they didn't both give me the SAME notes, which is a little intriguing!)

This week we spent the first half separated into two rooms - the ladies did Neptune while the guys had their first go at Götterdämmerung. (It's because of the Wagner that we're likely to have lots of free time after the Holst is out of the way - the ladies only have "about 9 bars" to sing in the whole of it, whereas the men have lots to do.) Neptune was a bit dire at first, and I got quite cross, as you will have realised if you follow me on Twitter (I won't repeat it all here). But it got better, and I'm sure it will be alright on the night. To finish the first half, we did the bit of the Mendelssohn where the men don't sing, which is nice because it's the only time we get to split into 1st and 2nd altos.

The second half of the rehearsal was great fun, though, because we moved into the jumbled-parts formation, in which the instruction is "sit wherever you like, as long as you're not next to anyone singing the same part as you". I absolutely LOVE it when we do this. (I think some people don't love it, because it usually transpires that there are clumps of people who haven't moved until they are individually instructed to do so!) Last time we did it, I sat between two basses. This time it was two young tenors called (I think) Josh and Michael. They were a bit shy, and I think they lost a lot of their confidence when they found that they couldn't hear any other tenors, but they did much better than I think they think they did. Points in their favour: 1. I could hear them both, and they both sang in tune and on the beat; and, 2. They didn't get every note right, but when either of them got a note wrong, they realised, and put a ring round it, and in most cases if we then sang the same section again, they got it right the second time. All choral singers should be like this.

The next two weeks will be a bit hectic, since they include 3 concerts and various extra rehearsals. Hope everyone's feeling healthy! (I often try to explain to non-choir people why it's so tiring, but I don't think they believe me. It's hard to get across to non-singers how physically exhausting it is. So we get no sympathy!)

Anyway, a few links for you. The biggest news of the last week has been the unveiling of the 2009 Manchester International Festival programme. We already knew about Prima Donna (Rufus Wainwright's opera) but the two pop/orchestral collaborations were a very pleasant surprise - I hope I'll be able to find enough money to get tickets. If I can only see one of them, then it will definitely be Elbow with our favourite orchestra, but I'd also quite like to see Antony and the Johnsons with the Camerata.

Talking of unveiling, our boss has unveiled an Elgar statue.

Here's a Spectator article by Peter Phillips talking about whether or not choirs should attempt Allegri's Miserere.

And a new craze: Bikearoke! Or, singing while you cycle. I think I'd be too out of breath!