We had a particular involvement in Bristol Choral Society’s Verdi Requiem in Colston Hall with the British Sinfonietta, as we contributed to the cost in memory of my late father-in-law. I was singing, and in fact this was the first time I’d done a fully rehearsed performance since I was an undergraduate, though I did do a Come and Sing one a few years ago.
I didn’t find it hard to reacquaint myself with the work, though I identified a couple of bars which I think I learnt incorrectly all those years ago. In performance, I was slightly displaced from my usual location as the 2nd sopranos were behind rather than beside the 1sts. In fact I was largely surrounded by altos.
The rest of the family were in the audience and felt it was a memorable tribute. We were all particularly impressed by our soprano soloist, Claire Rutter. The fire imagery was particularly vivid as earlier in the week a hall of residence a few doors down from Colston had been partly gutted.