"I'll be Baaaaach"

Hey there. It looks like my Bach voice is getting a real workout these days, as I now have seven cantatas, all new to me, to perform over six weeks:

• BWV 207 Vereinigtre Zweitracht der wechselnden Saiten and 208 Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd! (October 24th), Sint-Carolus Borromeus, Antwerp
• BWV 82 Ich habe genug (excerpts, November 11th), St. Andrew's Church of Scotland, Brussels
  
• BWV 70 Wachet! betet! betet! Wachet! and 90 Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende (November 21st), La Chapelle des Minimes, Brussels
• BWV 248 Weihnachts-Oratorium and Cantata BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die stimme (December 4, 5), Grace Church-on-the-Hill, Toronto

The Ich habe genug excerpts will be part of a larger concert that we are doing for Remembrance Day. Here is the poster:


So what else has been going on? Well, we had a great weekend, for a start. Saturday we went to the Bois de la Cambre and picnicked together with Stephane and his three kids, then got dressed up for Das Rheingold. I suppose we could have dressed down a little, since it was in the cinema, and there was no intermission to be seen at, but we all went to the trouble of looking nice. The boys were captivated; Malcolm knows more about Norse mythology than I do, so he was happy. Maggie liked Robert Lepage's hi-tech sets, and the costumes, and Duncan was able to keep up with most of the English subtitles. He asked a few questions but for the most part just took it all in. I loved the music, and my favorite was hands-down the Alberich, sung fantastically by Eric Owens.


Then Sunday we had a nice barbeque, and then headed off to see the Steve Miller Band in Antwerp. They were great, and along with the hits from Steve's heyday (1975-1985) they played a lot from their new album, Bingo! which was very heavy on the electric blues. Particularly good was Steve's new sideman and vocalist, Sonny Charles, who at 70 was amazing.

This week Duncan is away with his class on a week-long field trip, so it's a lot quieter around here than normal. It's been much colder, but at least it's been sunny and dry, so I hope he is having fun in Nettinne. Have a good week!