Phew! Finally I get near the end of writing up my Three Choirs activities. After a rest day on the Thursday the final outing for the Chorus (and large numbers of others) was Mahler 8. In preparation, I tried not to use up all my voice, and downed a half of ‘Partington’s Potion’ in the beer tent. (This was a renamed local real ale. Perhaps the other Festivals might get ‘Bowen’s Brew’ or ‘Nardone’s Nightcap’?)
I had of course sung this only last year and it is tempting to measure this performance against the one I took part in then. One obvious difference was that rather than being tucked behind a pillar and following the conductor on a screen, I was in the front row of the chorus. (The chorus positions were different for each 3 Choirs concert.) Fortunately, rather than the brass, I was behind that most Mahlerian of instruments, the clarinet section. Although the Philharmonia’s rep told us that ‘For once, our brass section isn’t the loudest thing here!’
This performance might rather better be compared to the Minerva/Bournemouth Symphony Chorus one in Poole last year (which I missed). From what I’ve heard, the tempi (especially in the first movement) chosen by Gavin Carr then were similar to ours. This necessitated an approach to many of the high notes modelled on the serve of Serena Williams, whom I’d seen play at Wimbledon earlier in July: whack ’em down fast and firmly, while remembering that they are only worth anything if they land in the right place.
I’d hear favourite moments from singing in Choir 2 (as I did last year) flashing by – I particularly missed the glorious Choir 2 soprano line just before 88 in the first movement. I’m not sure which part could be said to be harder; if anything I think the Choir 2 soprano line edges it, because of some very twisty lines (such as the one mentioned above), that are hard to tune, but there’s not much in it. Following a trend of the week, two of our soloists had to be replaced.
I was sorry to miss the party afterwards (I had two family members as guests at the concert) and didn’t get to hear the speeches made. I’ll put my summing-up in a separate post.
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