The heat is on...

...By that I mean that we finally broke down and turned on the furnace, as the temperatures started to fall last week, and the early mornings started to get uncomfortably cool.  Oatmeal for breakfast, and soups and stews for dinner only warm you so far.  It would seem that we need to take some time this weekend to bring in some of the cold-sensitive plants from the balcony and terrace if we want them to survive the year.

Here are a couple of photographs to follow up previous blog entries.  One is from the Nozze di Figaro, where the gardener comes in to confront the Count with his fistful of flowers, damaged when Cherubino jumped down from the balcony, to avoid getting caught in the chamber of the Countess.

And here's one from the Brahms Requiem last weekend where you can see how the performance looked from the audience:

 
Malcolm got some photos back from school too recently, here's one of them:

No new photos yet for Duncan; his class photo is on its way but the individual portraits are done in the spring.  Here's Maggie's class photo.

I have had some good news on the audition front and am gearing up for some this month; more on those later.  As well we have received news that I'll be reprising the Britten "Journey of the Magi" piece from last January at the Eglise Protestante Chapelle Royale here in Brussels.  This Epiphany we'll be performing at the Great Malvern Priory Church, Worcestershire, where Piers Maxim, formerly of Brussels, is the new organist and choir director.  It will be nice to perform this piece again, and I look forward to singing for the first time in England.

The priory dates from just after the Normal Conquest of 1066, and the Malvern hills were the home of Sir Edward Elgar for over 50 years.  The timing could be better, since we will be in Scotland and London around Christmastime, and then back here for New Years' Eve, only to turn around and return to Malvern for the 6th of January.  I have to talk with the tenor, Leonard Hawkes; perhaps he and I can share the drive...