Tag Archives: Handel

A citizenship ceremony

I have recently taken part in a ceremony to admit some 30 or so people to British citizenship. My role was to help lead in the singing of the National Anthem after they’d heard from one or two people from … Continue reading

Posted in singing - other | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Bath Mozartfest 2011 (1): The Sixteen

My first Mozartfest concert was The Sixteen in Bath Abbey. Having missed their ‘choral pilgrimage’ when it came to Wells a few weeks ago I wanted to catch them especially as they were doing Purcell. Purcell is in fact a … Continue reading

Posted in going to concerts | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wakefield falls

Long-term readers of this blog will know of my ambition to perform in all 42 Church of England Cathedrals, and that since I sang in Leicester in June only two remain. I seized the opportunity to join a ‘come and … Continue reading

Posted in singing at services | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

LPs batch 28: Chopin and other duplicates

This batch contained four miscellaneous Chopin discs: Pollini playing Etudes and Preludes, and two of Nikita Magaloff playing the Polonaises. Quite a bit of duplication because we both had significant Chopin collections. Another duplicate was Zimerman’s Schumann/Grieg concertos with Karajan … Continue reading

Posted in recordings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

LPs batch 3: the less popular composers

The process continues apace. I’m afraid at the moment it’s still showing up which are the composers we are less keen on, as I save our favourites for later. I started with another old disc of mine, Holst’s Planets conducted … Continue reading

Posted in recordings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

2009 and 2010’s resolutions

I have to admit that 2009 was a quieter year than I’d have liked on the vocal front. There were some highlights: I revisited Spem in Alium for the first time in a long while, and though between New Year … Continue reading

Posted in category-defying | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Deborah

The Chandos Singers paid tribute to the Handel anniversary by performing this early oratorio. It’s a curious piece, based on one of the biblical episodes that you don’t usually hear about in church; not very much judging under the palm … Continue reading

Posted in singing in concerts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Don’t mention the anniversaries!

It’s impossible to listen to Radio 3 so far this year and not notice that anniversaries of Purcell, Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn are being commemorated in 2009. I normally remark on occasions when I perform anniversary composers, but I think … Continue reading

Posted in repertoire | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

a Messiah and a carol service

I’ve got a bit behind with performances. Just before Advent began we had a come-and-sing Messiah in church, for which I joined the chorus. This was an informal performance so we could wrap up well and I dug out my … Continue reading

Posted in singing at services, singing in concerts | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pauline texts

I subscribe to the Yahoo email list for lay-clerks/choral scholars, and the following is adapted from a reply I recently made to a query on the list. There was a request for anthems associated with St. Paul. When I last … Continue reading

Posted in repertoire | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

a reunion in Gloucester

I went to an old girls’ event held at Gloucester Cathedral by my old school (which actually wasn’t in Gloucester, or even Gloucestershire). After a guided tour and tea, we heard the choir sing evensong, for which they laid on … Continue reading

Posted in going to services, repertoire | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

performing in costume

A trip to Vienna and Venice last month showed up something common to the musical lives of those two places: a profusion of concerts in period costume. In Vienna this usually means the time of Mozart (I expect next year … Continue reading

Posted in going to concerts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment