Two down, one to go.

Last night we gave our second Messiah performance in a beautiful abbey in Bornem, to a standing-room-only crowd. As on the previous evening in Sint-Niklaas, we performed the entire work without intermission, and the response from the audience when the the choir finished the final "amen" was really overwhelming. We had three curtain calls and then encored "Hallelujah", this time with the soloists.

I always enjoy hearing the Messiah, especially the choral parts, and as we soloists were seated in the front row of the audience, we were in a perfect position to listen, and let ourselves be carried away by the choir and orchestra's performance. There are some unbelievable harmonies happening in the choruses, and I was goose-bumped many times last night, especially at one place near the end of "Behold the Lamb of God"... unbelievable. If you have a recording of Messiah, listen to the last line sung by the choir, "... that taketh away the sins of the world." I dare you to not get the shivers!

Now we have one more performance this evening, and then the Easter holiday begins. Maggie and the boys are now off for two weeks, but unfortunately for me, I have to keep working this week, as I have an audition in Leipzig next Saturday, and then after that I will need to do some further preparations for Schubert, fast approaching in Canada. That is a reality for performers: frequently you are busiest when everyone else is on holiday!