Catching Up….House, Concert, and General News
Well, I can tell you that that last trip to Ohio really wiped me out! I got home so tired I could not believe it, and have been buried in chores and paperwork since. I’m feeling more rested now though being careful to not wear myself out. I’m working on a post about ingredients that you may want to avoid in personal care products, and have other ideas in where I may want to take this blog…in the meantime, let me catch you up on some of the latest.
National Philharmonic sang a concert last night! We sang Carmina Burana, by Carl Orff, and Symphony of Psalms by Stravinsky. Both are beautiful. There was a reviewer from the Washington Post there last night and it’s always interesting to hear what they have to say. (I’ll let you know when the review is published. It sometimes takes a couple of days.) I can tell you that the audience was very enthusiastic about the performance. The hall was sold out. 2000 people jumped to their feet cheering and applauding…very exciting! The soloists were amazing and really brought the bawdy nature of the text to life and delighted the audience (and me). Now we turn around and sing a couple of Messiah performances in two weeks, with a third on December 20th.
Click on this link and listen to a clip from Carmina Burana 🙂 It’s not us. I listened to many clips online, and this is the very closest to the tempo and intensity of our performance. The next best thing to being there! Enjoy.
And here is the review! It was in Monday’s Washington Post…not bad 🙂
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112301802.html
On the housing front…Someone made an offer on the historic house I told you about last time…We heard that the offer was just about the asking price…silly mistake considering how much work the house needs. It still could happen that the deal would not go through…Meantime, there is yet another house to consider…It has been on the market for a looong time…We were not looking at it because it has a crawl space. Tim has gotten some new information about how to treat crawl spaces, and our architect friend and real estate agent have looked at the house and taken pictures…Tim will speak with them Monday and get the scoop. As with most of the houses in Oberlin, this one also requires work…
Liz on Life 
Liz –
Sounds like a barnburner Saturday night. I didn’t know you were doing the Stravinsky as well. My friends in your area weren’t there but saw the review. I gave the Chorale a plug; they may try to make it to Messiah; they live only a couple of miles away Potomic and Bethesda). How exciting to have a sellout of 2000. We were pretty happy with our own concert, great Bach and Palestrina O Magnum sung by a small group(you’d have liked that one, I think).
Have a great Thanksgiving — and maybe get some rest?
Hi Bob! Sure was a barnburner 🙂 Stravinsky was also very beautiful and challenging. Very unusual melody and haunting beauty.
I have gotten the Vespers Score! omg…so much text! and none of it repeats! I’ve been listening to recordings…mostly the Russian one…Love it! Am going to get a copy of the one that Warland did. I think it dates to 1985. I want to hear what he wanted from his chorus then. I’m sure he has changed since…just a starting…Will also get a copy of the Shaw recording. I’m already humming melody of some sections of Vespers. I’m loving the process. Will be looking forward to meeting your friend John next summer.
Oh, and don”t get me started on Palestrina! Love, Love, Love that stuff…Must have been beautiful!
Hi, Liz – Have you noticed the changes in tempo through the Vigil? So remeniscent of chant. From your comments about the chant class you took, the Vigil must be especially appealing. There’s a great story about the effect of chanting on the health of the monks in a French monestary some years ago; maybe you have heard of it. Just another example of how much music is good for the body, not just the soul.
I could send you a copy of the Shaw recording if you want to save the $$, though I sort of hope Warland doesn’t want to do it that way.
I see from snooping through the NP website that the NP Singers are doing it in April. That should be worth hearing. Did you audition for them?
Sounds like you’re having fun with this. Enjoy!
Bob
Hi Bob! I sat with the score and a recording…I’ve been noticing the rolling tempos…I really like it…it’s kind of like breathing and sighing, and a little hard to read :)…keeps speeding up and slowing down…
I used to sing with David Randolph…He used to tell us to write W.T.C.G. (Watch That Crazy Guy) in or scores 🙂 I don’t think I’ll dare take my eyes off Warland next summer!
I did audition last September for NP Singers…There are not a lot of spaces avail in that group of about 38 voices and I did not get it…I have heard that they may want more voices for the vespers. Perhaps I’ll audition again in January. At the very least it will be good audition experience. And, if I get a spot, I can have a major leg up on getting this one into memory. We’ll see.