November, so far
Nov. 18th, 2023 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lyornOf the first 12 days of November I worked five days (1st of November is a public holiday in Bavaria), had five choir practises/rehearsals, and two performances. Apart from that, I slept a lot and read comfort fanfic.
Nov 1st and 4th I met with Gwydion and Ceridwen in our practise room, and we tried to iron out all the parts that were still wobbly. There weren't that many. I found that my keyboard/piano playing had vastly improved over the last two years, and had become more helpful than confusing.
Nov 2nd was the usual Thursday rehearsal.
Nov 5th we drove to the rehearsal of one of our partner choirs in the next city, who would join us for the performance. It was very crowded, because the partner choir is small and 25 more people joining their rehearsal was a bit more than the room could take. Still, we managed.
Nov 6th we had the second rehearsal with the orchestra (first had been in September). That one was really crowded, even though we had a large room. A hundred singers and fortysomething instrumentalists will do that. Crowds trigger my anxiety. It feels irresponsible that I take up any of that scarce space at all, and asI still have not learned to become one-dimensional or immaterial, I despair about my inability to do what is required.
Also, if I had been the conductor, I'd have changed my name and gone into hiding to avoid getting on stage with what I heard at that rehearsal! Fortunately, in that choir I'm one of forty first sopranos, so whatever goes wrong won't be more than 2.5% my fault and is extremely unlikely to stick to me.
--
Saturday performance was in a village church, a good hour by car away. We drove down with Gwydion's brand-new EV, which is highly automated and acted up all the time. It reminded me of my attempts to learn how to ride a horse. At least the car did not kick or bite.
Anyway, we got there in time. The choirs and the orchestra filled half the church. As village churches go, it was not that cold in there: With woollen leggings, isolation soles in my shoes, and a large pashmina shawl thrown over everything, it was OK. (I still envied Gwydion who wore a thermal vest under his suit jacket!) Two more hours of rehearsal, a one-hour coffee-and-cake break (great cinnamon buns!), and we were on stage. Good turn-out, only a handful of the seats were free.
Unfortunately, there was no seating for the choir, so we had to stand during the instrumental pieces. My joints don't mind standing, but my blood pressure has Opinions. First instrumental was short (Mendelsson's "Fingal's Cave Overture"), so that was OK. A soon as I'm moving, I'm fine, and singing counts. Second instrumental, however, was the sinfonia of Mendelsson's "Lobgesang", and that one takes forever. 30 Minutes? 45? I made it through that, barely, but too soon after there is a long part for the soloists, and halfway in I got dizzy and nauseous and my sight started to go. Deciding that falling off the platform would be unpleasant and cause a disturbance, I stepped off carefully (hard to do in my getup -- I might have been a bit overdressed), and sat down on it until the next choir piece started. In the end, I had to do that three times, but I don't think it even registered to anyone not standing right next to me.
Singing itself went just fine, even the measure changes, the coloratura, and the highest notes. Singing high and loud is so much fun, and something I hardly ever get to do in my main choir, as the conductor is going for a very different sound and mood.
Unfortunately, the orchestra had trouble with the tuning of their instruments. The audience, at least, did not really seem to mind.
--
Sunday, same procedure, only without the driving, the cold, and the lack of seats: We were in one of the major multipurpose halls in town, with good lighting, central heating, a giant stage, great acoustics, enough toilets, and seating for a 1000+ audience. Only a few seats were unoccupied.
The choir was more than good enough, even without the energy of a first performance and the desire to be done, go somewhere warm, and sit down.
What was not good enough, and very noticeable in that environment was that the orchestra had not fixed their tuning issues, and were, I felt, a bit in over their heads. The conductor looked as if he was munching lemons. But what can you do? You stay positive, smile, look happy to be there, and sing. So, that's what I did.
The audience was less enthusiastic than the day before. My singing teacher, afterwards, had visibly suffered from the not-tuned-enough instruments, but had no complaints about the choir.
Sigh. Would have been nice if the performance had been a roaring success, after so much work, but one can't have anything. At least we had snacks and champagne. And I, personally, was quite happy with my singing, and with my getup, overdressed or not.
ETA Nov 29th: According the the local newspaper the performance was great and a complete success.
--
Anyway, that's done, and I won't continue to sing in that choir (despite the joy of "high and loud!"), because my calendar won't take it. I need an occasional weekday evening off.
This week, I actually got some work done, did the laundry, read a book, and pampered the cat (who is well). Next week I'll be off work, and the least stressful part of the family comes to visit.
Nov 1st and 4th I met with Gwydion and Ceridwen in our practise room, and we tried to iron out all the parts that were still wobbly. There weren't that many. I found that my keyboard/piano playing had vastly improved over the last two years, and had become more helpful than confusing.
Nov 2nd was the usual Thursday rehearsal.
Nov 5th we drove to the rehearsal of one of our partner choirs in the next city, who would join us for the performance. It was very crowded, because the partner choir is small and 25 more people joining their rehearsal was a bit more than the room could take. Still, we managed.
Nov 6th we had the second rehearsal with the orchestra (first had been in September). That one was really crowded, even though we had a large room. A hundred singers and fortysomething instrumentalists will do that. Crowds trigger my anxiety. It feels irresponsible that I take up any of that scarce space at all, and asI still have not learned to become one-dimensional or immaterial, I despair about my inability to do what is required.
Also, if I had been the conductor, I'd have changed my name and gone into hiding to avoid getting on stage with what I heard at that rehearsal! Fortunately, in that choir I'm one of forty first sopranos, so whatever goes wrong won't be more than 2.5% my fault and is extremely unlikely to stick to me.
--
Saturday performance was in a village church, a good hour by car away. We drove down with Gwydion's brand-new EV, which is highly automated and acted up all the time. It reminded me of my attempts to learn how to ride a horse. At least the car did not kick or bite.
Anyway, we got there in time. The choirs and the orchestra filled half the church. As village churches go, it was not that cold in there: With woollen leggings, isolation soles in my shoes, and a large pashmina shawl thrown over everything, it was OK. (I still envied Gwydion who wore a thermal vest under his suit jacket!) Two more hours of rehearsal, a one-hour coffee-and-cake break (great cinnamon buns!), and we were on stage. Good turn-out, only a handful of the seats were free.
Unfortunately, there was no seating for the choir, so we had to stand during the instrumental pieces. My joints don't mind standing, but my blood pressure has Opinions. First instrumental was short (Mendelsson's "Fingal's Cave Overture"), so that was OK. A soon as I'm moving, I'm fine, and singing counts. Second instrumental, however, was the sinfonia of Mendelsson's "Lobgesang", and that one takes forever. 30 Minutes? 45? I made it through that, barely, but too soon after there is a long part for the soloists, and halfway in I got dizzy and nauseous and my sight started to go. Deciding that falling off the platform would be unpleasant and cause a disturbance, I stepped off carefully (hard to do in my getup -- I might have been a bit overdressed), and sat down on it until the next choir piece started. In the end, I had to do that three times, but I don't think it even registered to anyone not standing right next to me.
Singing itself went just fine, even the measure changes, the coloratura, and the highest notes. Singing high and loud is so much fun, and something I hardly ever get to do in my main choir, as the conductor is going for a very different sound and mood.
Unfortunately, the orchestra had trouble with the tuning of their instruments. The audience, at least, did not really seem to mind.
--
Sunday, same procedure, only without the driving, the cold, and the lack of seats: We were in one of the major multipurpose halls in town, with good lighting, central heating, a giant stage, great acoustics, enough toilets, and seating for a 1000+ audience. Only a few seats were unoccupied.
The choir was more than good enough, even without the energy of a first performance and the desire to be done, go somewhere warm, and sit down.
What was not good enough, and very noticeable in that environment was that the orchestra had not fixed their tuning issues, and were, I felt, a bit in over their heads. The conductor looked as if he was munching lemons. But what can you do? You stay positive, smile, look happy to be there, and sing. So, that's what I did.
The audience was less enthusiastic than the day before. My singing teacher, afterwards, had visibly suffered from the not-tuned-enough instruments, but had no complaints about the choir.
Sigh. Would have been nice if the performance had been a roaring success, after so much work, but one can't have anything. At least we had snacks and champagne. And I, personally, was quite happy with my singing, and with my getup, overdressed or not.
ETA Nov 29th: According the the local newspaper the performance was great and a complete success.
--
Anyway, that's done, and I won't continue to sing in that choir (despite the joy of "high and loud!"), because my calendar won't take it. I need an occasional weekday evening off.
This week, I actually got some work done, did the laundry, read a book, and pampered the cat (who is well). Next week I'll be off work, and the least stressful part of the family comes to visit.