(no subject)

[phineasjones]

i seem to have developed a fierce love for oatmeal in this last week. oatmeal with soy milk, slivered almonds, cinnamon and agave nectar. mmm. and this is the perfect day for it too, all grey and cold and rainy. ahhh.

so, rehearsal last night was... mildly distressing. the location was less than ideal. we were in a church and we took up the entire (large) sanctuary but the space - as churches are - was deeper than it was wide. so when i took my seat in the back of the choir, i was very far away from the conductor. he had to use a microphone to be heard at all.

the orchestra sounded gorgeous. really, that was the most thrilling part. he only had to give them small comments and direction here and there. mostly, they were right on and it sounded fabulous and was inspirational and all that good stuff.

and then there was the chorus. ::sigh:: i got there a little late. the choir was already warming up with this guy who has been designated in charged of the choir while the usual choir guy is away. when i came in, he had them doing on of the kind of warm up i hate. it involved singing numbers and snapping and weirdly complicated things that really did nothing to loosen up the voice for what is a very taxing piece. so i went to the ladies room. when i came back, he was having them sing the first chord of the piece - to be all ready. fine idea. except they sang the wrong chord. it opens with a minor form the chorus (hlasta! quetis ilfirimain...) and the chorus sang a major. which is bad enough, but worse? he didn't notice. he stopped and restarted a few times and each time, i thought he was going to fix it and he never did. and then we went in to rehearse with orchestra and i felt a sense of impending doom.

it wasn't that bad. doom-bad. no. but it wasn't especially good. i have a message for all members of the chorale: COUNT! fer frickin duh, count your rest measures. ulch. really, i was embarrassed for how many pathetically weak entrances we had. and for the times when i was the only one in my vicinity to come in at some entrances (i can't speak to what the first 5 rows were doing). really, this all can be blamed on the regular choral director. he did a half-assed job preparing this piece and now it really shows. asshole.

so today, we have 4 hours of rehearsal and then a break and then the concert. i hope those 4 hours are put to good use. i would be more confident about that if we weren't going to be working some of that time with the guy who can't hear the difference between major and minor. meep.

the soloists were there last night too. there's a mezzo singing the lovely, elvish, arwen-related solos. i didn't catch her name but she sounded gorgeous. omg, so beautiful. and then there's susan egan singing the songs (gollum's song and into the west) and... well. she's good at what she does. which is sing broadway. so. yeah. it was interesting to hear into the west. the arrangement is a little different than the one on the recording. still beautiful, of course.

and now it's time for me to pack up my black clothes and my faux pearls and put my music in a folder and all that. performance tonight! please, let the choir have been frightened enough by last night's experience that they looked over their music this morning or something. i want this performance to be as meaningful as it can be.

and emriver, thank you. that helps so much! ;)

Comments

[princessrugger.livejournal.com]

god, how terrifying! counting = essential!

(as an aside, here's a story that will make you giggle: my grandma once worked with a conductor who counted off a piece in 7/8 like this--one two three four five six se-ven. grandma was like, umm, that's 8?)

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

ahahahahaaa!!! that's totally hilarious. i will tell that story to choir for years to come!

[hominidj.livejournal.com]

i can help wondering how you would have done had you been the one directing this chorus.

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

i have spent much time wondering the same thing. generally, i think i would have done a far better job.