Blatherings

Lectures done. Went beautifully.

Schedule was pretty hard on the speaker, but she rose to the occasion. Speaker, in case I have not said so clearly, is a badass.

Gala is done. Lacked some magic this year due to some odd timing and miscommunications with the caterer, but still a highly enjoyable event. Nothing went wrong. Lots of things went right. My pianist friend did an amazing job playing for the event. I will do my best to squeaky-wheel his payment for the gig through as quickly as possible.

I had permission from the powers that be to come to work midmorning because I had to work until 9:30 pm, so Mr. 42 took early morning walkies, since he had a blood donation appointment at 8:30 am. I came home from the gala to find him sacked out in bed, which I don't think had much to do with the blood donation. I feel the tiniest bit of smug satisfaction that getting up at the time I usually do resulted in him needing to sleep before I usually get to bed. But really, being more sleep deprived than somebody else is not winning. It is indisputably losing.

In happier news, my shiny new gold cane and properly sized harem pants have arrived, so I think I have a complete costume for our performance on Saturday. I hope to carve out some rehearsal time on a few of the dances prior to then. Thankfully, all the rest of my evenings this week are freeeeee, and I plan to do some serious R&R so as to avoid getting sick.

Right. Dogs need walking. I need sleep and some time to digest the very generous pours of wine I received from the caterers during dinner. I try not to play the "I am the one paying the bills" card, but I never need to with these folks. They know.

Walkies and stuff. Yes.

Love.

Mun42

The Verdi Requiem last night was, if I may say so myself, pretty awesome. Given that this was a special one-night-only performance presented by an outside organization (but they hired us and the symphony, which is yay), I was delighted to see that the house was almost completely full. I was able to get comps for Mr. 42, solarwind, and another work friend who is awesome.

The last time I sang the Verdi Requiem, it was with San Diego Opera on the same day that San Diego Opera announced that it would be closing. We had world-renowned opera stars like Stephanie Blythe and Feruccio Furlanetto as our soloists, our numbers were nearly doubled by members of the opera chorus, and we had an extraordinary conductor in Massimo Zanetti. Suffice it to say, it was an extremely emotional experience. The LA Times called it "An angry Requiem for a premature, senseless death."

Last night's Requiem was a much more somber kind of emotional. We weren't just presenting an operatic Requiem, we were telling the story of how this music helped people retain their humanity in the face of unspeakable horrors. We also had the pleasure of singing in a smaller venue, so we could hear slightly better than we could last March. And with 100+ singers instead of 300+, I felt that each singer's individual contribution could be felt more, and that's an engaging and exciting feeling.

My goal last night was to sing the music on the page, to watch the baton to ensure that I was in time, and maybe even make some pretty music, and I definitely did that. I also got goosebumps every time we sang the Dies Irae theme, and my heart swelled with joy during the Recordare and the Agnus Dei.

There were a couple of actors that read dramatic texts that had been based on interviews with survivors (the man whose story we were telling, Rafael Schaecter, perished on the infamous death march from Auschwitz a month before liberation), and there was a bit where a lady said, "I can't tell you how the chorus sounded. All I can tell you is what the music meant to us." And though I can tell you, from my smallish sample of people around me, we sounded pretty good, what's more important is what that music meant and that we allowed that to shine through.

Not bad for a Thursday night!

Right. Off to work in the rainy rain (yay!). I got a ton of stuff done at work yesterday, so today I can finish up prep for the Big Lecture Series next week and have a worry-free weekend. I just hope the inevitable crash won't be too miserable. At least there are entertaining films at the cinema, fun dancing to do, tasty beer to drink with friends, and warm puppies to cuddle at home.

Love to All!

Mun42