Back in "Tranna"; wine tasting; birthday party; a new gig

I've been back here for several days and have gotten over my jet lag, although I'm still not quite myself... flying really does take it out of you!

My first action upon arriving was to take the TTC down to Musik, a club/event hall at Exhibition Place, check my bags, and attend the Halpern Wines Grand Cru wine festival. It was an absolute blast, and I got to sample a good number of wines, meet the wine makers, and enjoy the food supplied by Pusateri's catering. In fact, Alessio, the head of Planeta winery in Sicily was on the same plane from Milan, and we recognized each other immediately and talked about his winery... we've had the Planeta Nero D'Avola many times, and quite enjoy it.


The great thing about this wine festival was that I was able to make some connections with mostly French and Alsace wine producers, and make plans to visit their wineries later when I return to Europe. Phil Kaegi, our neighbor and friend is a wine buyer / broker for Halpern, and Maggie and I and our extended families have been enjoying his suggested wines for several years now. The great thing about the wines we get from Phil is that they are often from smaller wineries, or are unusual; there is a chance for tasting a wider range of wines than are commonly available at the LCBO. It's been a real educational experience having expert advice, and I find that my tastes are changing.

After a few hours there, I had only sampled maybe 10% of the wines available, and made sure not to overindulge, although I suffered pangs of guilt pouring out the remainder of the samples. It is a TASTING and not a DRINKING, I reminded myself, and decided to call it a night. I took a taxi to Bruce's place, where he had just arrived home from singing in Victoria. We had a modest dinner (Wendy's bacon-cheeseburgers, if you want to know the truth, something hard to find in Europe) talked and caught up on each others' news a bit, and then crashed.

Friday was a singing day, and we went through the Mozart together. My voice was none the worse for wear for my recent flu, and the travel, which was a relief. I paid a visit to my sister and her new baby, who had been considerably smaller just after he was born in August... she and her husband are doing well and their little boy is growing fast and is very cute.

Saturday evening was a birthday party for me, hosted by my sister and brother-in-law, and my parents and other sister also attended. After a delicious dinner prepared by my sister, I was content, and starting to get tired and ready to go home, but my aunts and uncles and cousins started pouring in the front door, and we all settled into another party, with even more food, wine, cigars, music, etc... it was a great time, and they brought much good cheer, and birthday cards, and good wishes. As much as I wanted to stay late and party into the wee hours, I left when the party started to wind down, and was in bed by 11:30.

It's tricky when you come home for something like this; you naturally want to visit everyone, and eat and drink and laugh and spend time talking, but eating late, staying up late, drinking fine wine and talking all night isn't good for the voice. It's hard to be self-disciplined about it, but after all, it's a working trip, not a vacation. They don't tell you these things when you are starting out, but you have to think about performances like an athletic event. I wouldn't stay up late partying the night before a triathalon; I certainly won't the day before I sing! (Yes I know it's extremely unlikely that I will ever run a triathalon, but you get my point).

I had a nice birthday present as well on Saturday morning; the conductor I had auditioned for in Antwerp called and emailed with the offer of a modest solo part in Handel's Dixit Dominus, to take place on November 17th... of course I said yes, and luckily have done the work before with David Cameron and Melos. Bruce had a score to lend me, so I'm all set to review it this week and be ready for the rehearsal on the 16th, and then the performance the next day. This ensemble is a period instrument orchestra and chamber choir, and the conductor is a really quite interesting and very musically intelligent guy; I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to do something with him.

Now it's time for lunch, then some warming up to get ready for the first rehearsal of the Brahms this evening.