I dashed over to Colston Hall from Wells to Bristol Choral Society’s concert. I didn’t arrive in time for the first half (Schumann Lieder) but went for the second half – Brahms’ German Requiem.
I had had a nasty cough so I think I was not a great loss to this concert as I doubt that I could have coped with Brahms’ strenuous vocal demands. The soprano section sounded good and in fact all parts of the choir were confident and in tune, so I didn’t feel guilty about not being in the choir for this one. And the choir’s ensemble (which it is hard to judge if you are in it) was impressive, including the consonants! And people were looking up at the conductor. A fair few of us would have sung in the choir’s last performance of this work five years ago (the term I joined – I wasn’t able to sing in that performance either). A curious feature of Colston Hall’s acoustics was that from the right of the stalls I could have sworn it was the alto section on the left of the choir, were it not that I could see it was the first sopranos.
It is rather strange listening to your own choir as you feel that you are in the wrong place. Also that you are still somehow on duty as you will be expected to provide feedback for the benefit of the choir.