I try to space out performances of Messiah – helped by the pandemic I’d managed to go four years since the last one – and in fact I’d never performed it in Gloucester Cathedral. I rejoined Gloucester Choral Society (having missed their main autumn concert) for their performance, rather expecting the interpretation to be the same as when I’d sung it for the same conductor in Bristol Cathedral. Not the same at all, as there were all sorts of adjustments to take account of the different acoustic and maybe also the slightly smaller choir, or just second thoughts about how it should be done.
A replacement for a broken part in the heating system in the Cathedral was held up in the post, and so we were unheated; rather than sitting in a row on stage, our soloists came and went from a warmer room in the cloisters, just appearing in order to sing. Our orchestra (the Corelli Orchestra) improvised various ways of covering themselves in additional layers. (An appeal: I have a black supima cotton polo-neck top, bought from Lands End I think for a Bath Camerata performance some years ago, which is Gloucesterproof. However, it’s fraying at the cuffs with wear, and although I can conceal this under a jacket or by rolling the cuffs in a certain way, it would be good to get another similar garment. Lands End don’t seem to do plain polos anymore, so any leads on another supplier would be welcome.)