November 22, 2024

Snow. Took photos of snow lying on the roses, but knew it wasn’t cold enough to do them any harm. 

First performance of Messiah. As I stood watching the Maestro and beyond him the capacity crowd, I thought what an honor and a privilege it is to be singing that piece before an eager audience. Winter raging outside made it better. That for many it was the first bit of “culture” since the hurricane made it better. The soloists, especially the bass and the male alto, were excellent. The chorus was worse than it was for the Wednesday rehearsal– I skipped the Thursday rehearsal for AVLGMC, a choice more consequential than I would have anticipated.  I imagine that I’m going unnoticed when I’m not. The tenors were strident, and often at odds with one another as to entrances and rhythm. There are a few too many “leaders” in that group. The soprano beside me came piercing through on the tricky rest at the beginning of “Worthy Is the Lamb.” I could feel by the intake of her breath that she was going to do it, but I didn’t know how to stop her. I may be, unconsciously, more of a leader than I imagined. Steve, the bass beside me said four times “thank God you’re back. We kept missing those entrances.” I turned two pages at once, missed an entrance, and the entire bass section missed that entrance. Maybe we all turned two pages at once. 

Let’s see if I can keep up my enthusiasm through two performances tomorrow. 

Colder outside than I want it to be.