December 15: Sounds of the Season

I toy with the idea of giving the yearly CBC program a miss. Finally, I drag myself out of the warm comfy bed at 5:20 a.m., quickly don warm woolies and bike the 3 blocks to the CBC building. Glenn Gould Studio is already near capacity. I snag one of the remaining dozen seats as Matt Galloway starts up Metro Morning. Nothing quite like hanging out with a bunch of CBC groupies. Lynn and I were locked in a bidding war for Q tickets--finally we decided to just take the other person if one of us gets the package. End result: we were outbid by another Jian Ghomeshi fan.

December 14: Memorable Messiah moments

I mouth along while Tafelmusik performs the Messiah. Odd: the first time I hear a man sing the alto parts. The soprano hits the high notes with finesse. The bass did not do as well with the low notes. This is becoming a tradition: first at Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul over Easter while in Montreal, offered free to benefit impoverished students like me. Top of the list of memorable Messiah performances has to be listening to Dame Emma Kirkby’s voice soaring over Handel’s tomb in Westminster Abbey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tiyDiIo4dg

Then there was the Handel Festival in Dublin to celebrate the 375th anniversary of the Messiah’s first performance. The dance performance to Al Green’s soul version of the Messiah last year was like no other. Then the sing-along at Massey Hall--now I can say that I’ve sung at Massey Hall (along with thousands others). Tonight’s performance is well-polished, notes soaring to the rafters of Koerner Hall.

December 11: Fancy frocks and frilly hats

December 3: kriskindlemarkt, Toronto style