This past Palm Sunday I finally attended the Messiah Sing at West Valley Presbyterian Church, the one where we, the audience, perform the entire work (2 1/2 hours or so). I've been wanting to do this for a couple years now. I'm happy to report that I handled it respectably, even the movements that I don't know so well because they're usually not included on Christmas programs. I had to be strategic about which movements I wanted to sing, because if I tried to sing every note written for soprano in that work, I'd have no voice by the end of the night. I like these Messiah sing-alongs, even though sometimes the more difficult movements end up as train wrecks :) Partly, I enjoy these events because they're the only venue where it's ok for me to sing "Rejoice greatly" in public.
While there, I heard a guy with a beautiful voice behind me and to my right, singing the tenor solos. Tenors, especially good ones, are always in short supply, so I thought to myself, "I should recruit that guy for my choir!" Later, when I turned around to take a peek, I realized: "That guy IS in my choir!" Which was reassuring. I believe it's his first season with our group - hope he sticks around!
I've been excited about my voice lessons lately, so much so that I am daring to post an audio clip from one of them. Normally I would be too self-conscious to do so, and I can certainly hear my own shortcomings in the clip. At the same time, though, this clip represents a lot of progress, considering where I started from a year ago. (I'm singing a passage from the aria "Una donna a quindici anni" from Mozart's opera Così fan tutte.)
Also this past week: watched the DVD of Lucia di Lammermoor from the Met production with Sutherland and Kraus. No happy endings there. Great singing, though!
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