January holiday; tartan and toasts

We have had snow on the ground for at least a week, and most people are unequipped to deal with it.  I had to go out and purchase a snow shovel and some sand, to keep the sidewalk clear in front of our house.  While it is a legal requirement to keep the walkways/pavements clear, almost no one has complied, and I would imagine for the elderly it is quite hazardous to try to navigate the snowy and icy sidewalks.  Other than a little snow removal January has been pretty relaxed for me since I last posted; I have had no matters of any great urgency to attend to, and so have been rather indulgent with reading lots of novels, watching police tv shows and staying up later than usual... but now that the first rehearsals with others are approaching I am returning to a more normal rhythm, but am glad for having had the time to rest.

Upon our return to Brussels on Sunday the 6th of January, we got back into the normal routines fairly quickly, but made sure to have our own little Epiphany celebration with the galette des rois.  This year Maggie got the fève for the first time, so she at least was happy, Duncan a little less so... La reine boit!

That first week was unexceptional for us, but then Maggie left for a week of skiing in Saas-Grund, Switzerland with her class.  What is good for the goose is good for the gander; as has been far more usual for me to be working abroad, and for her to be the solo parent, but we managed without too much trouble.  The menu for the week leaned toward things that Maggie doesn't particularly enjoy, but that the three of us gentlemen like, such as oxtail curry, moules marinière, fish, liver with bacon and onions, that sort of thing.  While the week had its charm, it was wonderful to see her back home again...  but it was a short stay, as she leaves again this afternoon for five days in Rome and Pompeii as part of her ongoing teacher training.  I think the average temperature forecast for Rome this coming week is temperatures in the low teens, so I hope she enjoys the break from the winter weather here.  Our temperatures have been nothing like those in central Canada, but the damp makes me feel more chilled somehow than I feel in Canada's clearer, drier air.
 
Last weekend was the Burns Supper at St. Andrew's Church of Scotland, ahead of Burns' actual birthday this coming Friday.  As I mentioned in an earlier post I had ordered a Macpherson ancient colours tartan from the kiltmakers at Kinloch Anderson in Leith, Edinburgh, and was happy to inaugurate it while giving my first speech at a Burns Supper, and indeed - apart from a quick toast at a friend's wedding - my first formal speech since I was a teen-ager. 

 

It was really quite a pleasure to research and discover the many connections between Canada and Scotland since the first visit to Canadian shores by European explorers, and my audience was most appreciative and generous with their applause.  For those who are interested I am sending along a link to the text of my speech, plus a link to the audio recording of its delivery.  (* please note: I apologize for the poor quality; it was captured on my phone and so isn't the best audio, but it gives you some idea of the atmosphere that evening).  I hope that you each get a chance to have some haggis; the boys and I will have ours on Friday night, courtesy of the Stone Manor British store here.  When we lived in Kingston we frequently enjoyed our haggis at the Kingston Brewing Company on Clarence Street; I'm not sure if they continue this tradition today but I can't imagine why not.  If you have the chance get out there and try some, it's delicious, and comes in both meat and vegetarian varieties.

Today I am working on some Bach recitatives that I will perform this weekend, at the Chapelle des Minimes here in Brussels.  To paraphrase AC/DC, I'm looking forward to getting "back in Bach" mode, prior to the St. Matthew Passion which I begin coaching with Peter Tomek and Bart Van Reyn next month...

Happy Robbie Burns Day!

Back to normal

 

I thought I'd share a few photos of the Priory and Malvern itself.  Here's a picture of morning light coming in through the priory windows... such beautiful colours on the old stones.  Below, a view of the altarpiece and the window behind it, taken at evening.

 

 
The music was enjoyable.  It was cool to be singing plainsong chant from the middle ages in a priory which was first built in 1075, quite possibly by someone who came to England with William the Conqueror.  The other music was quite satisfying, with the Britten Canticle IV the biggest success artistically; I was so happy to have the chance to sing it again, and this time in England, in the opening days of Britten's Centennary year!

Malvern is really quite beautiful.  It was for many years a spa town; Roosevelt convalesced there are as a child in 1889.  C. S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the composer Edward Elgar were residents for many years, and George Bernard Shaw premiered many of his plays at the Malvern Theatre.  The afternoon of the concert we all went out hill-walking, and on our way home visited the pub where Lewis and Tolkien used to meet for a pint and a pipe together.

 

There was more Narniana to be had after the concert, as the boys were shown the view from the "wardrobe" door behind the altar, and saw what looks like a very famous lamp-post.

After the concert we had a nice pint or two at the pub, with conversation with the Curate, Peter, who was very patient with Duncan's theological questioning...

Then we headed off to bed, as we had an early start the next morning, with many goodbyes from the Maximinas...

 

Now Maggie is at work this week, but only this week, as next week she's skiing with her class in Switzerland, and then will be in Rome for part of the following week.  The boys are fine; Malcolm got his cast off yesterday and as soon as he had a chance began some long-overdue flute practice.  He's got a Telemann piece that I particularly like hearing, and he is eager to make up some lost time.  No problems with the wrist, but he has to be excused from gym for the next month to be on the safe side.  Duncan is happy to see his friends again, and to get back into his weekly activities once more.

I am happy for the quiet around the house, as I have lots to prepare.  The next couple of months will be fairly relaxed but then March will be an absolutely crazy month, with

• Fétis Requiem Antwerp March 3rd
• Puccini Messa di Gloria Brussels March 8th and 9th
• Bach St. Matthew Passion Antwerp and environs March 22nd, 25th, 27th
  

... none of which I have finished learning yet, so I have lots of study this month and next.  The St. Matthew is huge, beautiful and artistically quite demanding, so that is where I am starting.

Back to work!

Halfway to Malvern

January 4th, 2013, 14:30
Maggie and the boys have stopped to rest their legs and I'm staying with the car for a bit.

We had a lovely dinner with Rob, Viki, Katie and Honor yesterday evening, of a baked brie, then steak and oven roasted potatoes, a great salad and a chocolate layer cake to celebrate Rob's birthday. Malcolm and I also managed to have a nice pizza lunch with him at Zizzi's - a name that made Malcolm laugh - at the Oceanfront centre. We also had a chance to try out a nice cherry red telecaster and the new superchamp amp head at the music store there.

Rob was very nice to let us hang out with him and do guy stuff on his birthday. He was also good enough to go with Malcolm and I to Kinloch Anderson to pick up my new kilt. Yee haw!

Apart from the four beautiful waistcoats that Maggie made for me in the 1990s, and a few shirts that I had made in Hong Kong about ten years ago I've never ordered bespoke anything, so it was really quite exciting to make the call. Macpherson ancient colours tartan isn't readily available, and so the order must be placed with enough advance time to have it woven, and of the three examples I saw, this one is definitely my favorite, with lots of lighter blue in it to complement the red base colour, and a few less pronounced accents of green, black and yellow as well.

We did a little fashion show, and Rob got on his Ancient Cameron, so we were well matched and well dressed for dinner. Kilts aren't cheap, but through our many trips to visit Rob and Viki, Maggie's ancestry, the Gillespie connection to Macpherson and of course our St. Andrew's Church of Scotland connection in Brussels, I've been waiting to get a kilt for a while. English Canada was absolutely dominated by Scots immigration in the first half of our country's history; I plan to speak about many of these Scottish-Canadian influences during my speech at the Burns Supper coming up later this month.

Now we are starting to get close to our destination, and have stopped once for a picnic lunch (thanks to Viki) gas and jelly babies, and another time now for a restroom stop. We followed Viki's recommendation for the westward route, and enjoyed the countryside very much. As we had bypassed the southwestern route on our last toad trip eighteen months ago due to uncertainty about the youth riots in Liverpool and Manchester, much of the drive was new to us, and we enjoyed having a look about at beautiful scenery. Some of the road signs seem to us to be rather funny in an unintentional way, such as "Heavy Plant Crossing" (I didn't know that the plants walked around, but maybe things are different in Scotland... are they farming triffids up north?).  Malcolm's favorite was what he called an "existential road sign": it said, "Changed Priorities Ahead".

We have been sharing the driving and I am feeling okay vocally after a long time with a sore throat. I finally caved in and took a Dayquil yesterday and the results were remarkable enough that I took another today, so hopefully I can sing tonight and of course tomorrow. It will be great to sing Britten, Cornelius, Warlock, John Stevens 15th-century 'There is No Rose of Such Virtue' along with some of Piers's own compositions, including a extensive unaccompanied plainsong trio from the 12th-century Play of Herod, from the Fleury play-book which Piers has transcribed and arranged. I haven't sung this kind of music in a long time, and performing it in the Great Malvern Priory which dates from just after the Norman Conquest will be kind of shivery, or 'goose-bumpy'. I'm also really happy to get a crack at the Britten 'Magi' again, and hope that we can better our performance of last year in the Chapelle Royal in Brussels.

On the ferry

It's just after midnight, early morning of the 2nd of January. The steady rocking of the ship changed slightly, perhaps because of a slight course correction, and it awakened me; fortunately, based on the sounds of slow breathing of Maggie and the boys it would seem that I am the only one thus affected.

We had a great time last night at the gala that followed the performance, and as much as all of us knew that the show was ending, and looked forward to a break from La Traviata and change to new projects, it was still a bit jarring to actually say goodbye to new friends after a long rehearsal and run of eleven weeks. Many of the cast will be returning to La Monnaie in the coming seasons, and other collaborations elsewhere are already planned. These little reunions are to be looked forward to, but everyone needs to go do the next project. I can't even imagine how it must wear on one to do these long-running musicals that run eight shows a week, sometimes for years.

Maggie and I had a lovely time at the reception afterwards, which was catered absolutely magnificently with many varieties of cuisine... I opted for the foie gras on thinly sliced magret de canard with extra fine green beans and pine nuts, Canadian Lobster, chicken teriyaki, fresh pasta nests, and then a selection of excellent cheeses. Maggie looked lovely, and Andrea had brought along champagne and a recording of the Blue Danube Waltz as a Vienna present, so we all got up and danced, through it and into Scott Hendrix's DJ set, which had the whole place really swinging.

The transit network in brussels is free on New Years' Eve and runs extended hours and routes, so we made it home very easily and found the boys in bed asleep. We were up at a reasonable time and got things packed before leaving in the early afternoon for Amsterdam. The drive was pretty stress-free with light traffic, and we made it in under three hours, with a stop for gas. Then we drove onto the ferry and had our picnic dinner, and explored the ship.

The "commodore" cabins were the only ones left available at booking time, but while these are slightly higher in price this is offset by an ocean view, breakfast and - to our great surprise - a comp minibar. There are four single beds, quite warm and comfortable, and I must say that the combined effects of Gravol, a continuing cold, some Heineken, a warm cabin, the activities of the last little while, and the gentle cradle motion of the boat have combined for a very early bedtime, which perhaps also explains my awakening at midnight.

The sky is clear and the stars are visible through the portholes, as is dim orange light from cities along the distant shore. When I awoke earlier the moon had risen over the starboard stern, and moonlight was coming into the cabin, but now it has tracked away westward or we have turned, so it is darker in our room now and I will try to get some more sleep. Next stop: Newcastle and then it's on to Garvald.