Shameless self-promotion alert: Charley and I are, respectively, the tenor and bass soloists in this year’s annual performance of Handel’s “Messiah” by Music Worcester. The concert is tonight (Saturday) at 8 pm in Mechanics Hall — a splendid concert hall with internationally-renowned acoustics (artists from all over the world frequently record there). Should be fun — hope to see some of you there!
Please share widely!
that you’re gonna sing the whole thing in the local dialect?
…for evah end’evah!
Mechanics hall is a gem.
Why do the nations so furiously rage together?
accomplish much by furiously raging separately. yuck yuck.
I hope it went well, with the crooked straight and the rough places plain.
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p>And thanks for calling it by the correct name: Messiah, not The Messiah.
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p>Did you do the whole thing, or just Part the First?
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p>WF
all of Part the First, and then an abridged version of Parts the Second and Third. Whole thing came in at a civilized two and a half hours.
…I’ve never been to Mechanics Hall, but Cincinnati’s Music Hall has some extraordinary accoutics as well. When I was in University, sometime around 1969, several of us traveled from Columbus to Cincinnati to attend a Judy Collins recital there. For the first half of the program, the amplifiers were not working, but we, sitting in the balcony, could hear every word she sang. It actually was a disappointment when they repaired the amplification system during the intermission.
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p>NB: if you don’t promote yourselves, shamelessly or however, who will?
Being back in Cincinnati is nice because it’s allowing me to revisit Music Hall, one of the better places to hear live music.
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p>WF
…take a partner with you. You go to one end of the semi-hemispherical dome, and have the partner at the other end. Speak at no more than a whisper; the other can hear you perfectly. I’ve done that; it is literally astounding.
…it is my understanding that Messiah was written for the Lenten season. When did it become an Xmas event, and why?
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p>I’ll forego music criticism of the piece.
but Part the First is all about the time before and immediately after the birth of the Lord. Usually thats what you will hear during Christmas time performances. Part the Second is His Passion, and the Third, IIRC, was based on the Book of Revelation.