Matthew Zadow's opera blog: Lots of rehearsal here in Newfoundland

It's been quite a nice time here in St. John's, even with the cold and damp maritime climate. So far we have managed to stay above the freezing mark, and while some days have been very damp and rainy, there have been some bright spots, with temperatures breaking into the double digits, and some bright blue skies.

I landed without any trouble in Montreal, and was planning on meeting Bruce after my flight from Brussels, but while lining up at the gate, they paged him and he didn't show up. I ended up getting on the flight without him and didn't get news until I had landed in St. John's...

Apparently there had been some heavy weather in Toronto, and his flight had been delayed for two and a half hours, so he missed the connection. Finally he made it to St. John's after a stop in Halifax.

I made some explorations around the town and made note of some nice places to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner here... it seems that St. John's is a very tourist-centred town, especially in the May to October period. This time of year the cruise ships aren't docking in the harbour, so it is much quieter, but I can imagine that it is a hopping place in the summer.

We've been eating a lot of seafood: the other day for breakfast I had crab cakes; another morning it was smoked atlantic salmon and a poached egg; another morning it was fish and brewis, which is hard tack (dried bread) soaked overnight, salt cod, pork scrunchions and fried onions. That stuck to my ribs for the day. One night Bruce and I had mussels, and my variety was with Jiggs' dinner, which is shredded brussels sprouts, bits of salt beef, cabbage, green beans, carrots, turnips, and cubed potatoes. That is a mussel recipe that Maggie might enjoy, so I'll try to duplicate it when I get home!

On a wet and rainy Tuesday Bruce and went out to the University by cab to have a little sing through of the Messiah together. It's always great to get his advice, and it felt good to sing through the piece a bit after a couple of days off.

I took advantage of a bright and clear day on Wednesday to go for a nice run... I started at the hotel and ran to the Basilica of St. John the Baptist which is high up from the water, where we will sing the concerts... I continued to the top of the harbour, then ran up to the inland freshwater lake at Quidi Vidi. From there I ran around the lake and then passed into the village itself, and then started up the headland to Cuckhold's Cove road, and then to Ladies Lookout trail up to the lookout, which is the highest point of Signal Hill. From there it was a quick jog over to the Cabot Tower on Signal Hill, where Marconi made the famous first Transatlantic radio broadcast back on the 12th of December, 1901. From there I stopped at the battery of guns that guarded the harbour in years past, and then followed the road back down to St. John's proper and back along the streets to the hotel. It was a nice 11km run with 239m elevation, which was good for the leg muscles. There were many spectacular views, although once I cleared the headland of Signal Hill and was exposed to the winds from offshore it was a bit chilly.

Then we got heavily into rehearsing, with afternoon Wednesday, and again Wednesday evening with orchestra and choir. While I knew the mezzo Allyson McHardy and tenor Ryan Downey, I hadn't sung with them before, so it was great to listen to them, and also to meet and hear soprano Hélène Brunet. The Basilica is huge, seating around 2500 people; at the time of its completion in 1855, it was the largest church building in North America, and remains the second largest in Canada after Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal. The windows are very beautiful, and the ceiling is quite dramatic, in polychromed and gilded wood.

Thursday was an early start as the Hélène Brunet and I went up to the university to give a masterclass to six graduating voice students. That was really quite a great pleasure as the level of singing was very high... Hélène and I led the masterclass as a team, and that was nice because it let us amplify on what each other had said, and the students seemed to respond very well, and appreciated what we were telling them. As well the teachers were great, and had no issue at all with our suggestions, but rather welcomed them. I really came away with a very positive feeling of mutual support, which seems to be the norm here in Newfoundland, and the "good luck for your juries" cookies in the hall outside (see photo that follows) were in keeping with that spirit.

Today I have been lying low and resting: tonight is the first performance, and then we have another on Saturday, and then it's a quiet Sunday before the later afternoon flight to Montreal and then home. I plan to do a little swimming in the hotel pool today, and also look over my music for the Bach Cantatas that I sing next weekend in Brussels...

I append here some photographs... first the masterclass photos...