Fidelio

Last night I had a great opportunity to hear Beethoven's immortal music brought to life again on the stage... Canadian tenor John MacMaster was singing the Florestan in Rotterdam, and when we met this summer, had offered some tickets to the dress rehearsal. Of course I was eager to accept; it was my first time in Rotterdam, first time hearing John in performance, and the first time I saw Valery Gergiev conduct.

The orchestra was the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and they were really fabulous... this was their first rehearsal with Gergiev, and the singers were mostly marking (although John sang out brilliantly). The assistant had really done a fabulous job, and he was earning his money as well, sitting on the edge of the orchestra pit, and singing the parts of those singers who needed to save their voices for opening night.

There were all sorts of blockages on the highway coming back, so the night was a very late one, and I had little rest, as I rushed off to drop off the car at the rental desk, and then met Wayne, our neighbor from Toronto, who had a few hours in Brussels before catching his flight to Marseille. We had a great time visiting the Grand Place together, as well as sampling some great Trappist beer and catching up on the family news on both sides...

As for our family, the school week seems to have gone smoothly... Malcolm has done very well on his mathematics tests so far, and Duncan is integrating well into the primary section. Maggie is tired from her first week with students so went to bed early this evening, but by all accounts she is looking at another fulfilling year.

My guest at the Fidelio was Peter Tomek, my opera coach, and we had lots of time in the car to discuss the coming year. I'm hoping to do some new piano-voice recordings of my audition arias, and also work on a chamber music project with Peter here in Brussels if I can. More on that later,

Have a good weekend!