Tag Archives: Berlioz

my top 10 big choral works

January is always a quiet month for performance (although I have one new venture I’ll write about fairly soon) so time to write some more general posts I’ve been saving up for a while. Singing Mahler 2 near the end … Continue reading

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the Big Sing

I joined the South Cotswold Big Sing Group for Berlioz’ Grande Messe des Morts in Gloucester Cathedral, conducted by Adrian Partington. So a revisit of Bristol & Gloucester Choral Societies’ combined performance a few years ago, with quite a few … Continue reading

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buying CDs at the farmers’ market

Bath Farmers’ Market takes place on Saturday mornings. The market stalls stand next to other stalls which are there all week, including one that sells second-hand DVDs and CDs. Among the latter there is a small selection of classical ones, … Continue reading

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a command performance

At Bath Opera’s Beatrice & Benedict I felt as if the performance had been laid on for my benefit. When I bought my ticket I chose a seat in the middle of the second row next to some that had … Continue reading

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review of the year – 2016

And what a year it was. I sang in the Three Choirs Festival Chorus. I sang lots of choral masterpieces (and Carmina Burana) for the first time. I made my débuts in several new venues, sang before a member of … Continue reading

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Aaaaaah …. Neptune

I thought I had sung in enough major orchestral works for the first time for one year, but another came up at short notice; the wordless chorus in the final movement of Holst’s Planets suite. This was put on by … Continue reading

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3 Choirs (5): the Grande Messe des Morts

Confronted with this piece, what can one do (apart from try to conserve some voice for Mahler 8 later in the week)? I’ve said enough about it in the past, so I needn’t spend much time describing it. It seemed … Continue reading

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the themes of the Festival

I’ve been a bit quiet recently. Most of my singing activity has been rehearsing for the 3 Choirs Festival, and what goes on in the rehearsal room stays in the rehearsal room, or at any rate doesn’t appear here. I’ve … Continue reading

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The sea will give up the dead

A while since our performance of the Berlioz Requiem in London but the time came round for us to revisit it in Gloucester Cathedral. The chorus were mostly the same people, and we still had the Philharmonia Orchestra, but soloist … Continue reading

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A return to the Royal Festival Hall

The Royal Festival Hall is beginning to feel like a home from home for me. Quite literally in one sense – because I grew up in a house where many furnishings had been purchased around the time of the Festival … Continue reading

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