Omnes Flores

 

If you look just up the street from our house, you'll see a beautiful garden with this memorial statue of the late Astrid of Sweden, the wife of King Leopold III of Belgium, surrounded by gloriously blooming tulips.  Since I took this picture though, it hasn't been very warm, and has instead been drizzly and grey.  We did have a lovely spot of bright weather yesterday, so that we had the top down in the car after church.  Bruce took advantage of the nice weather to have a pipe and a martini on the back terrace.  Seriously, he is having a good time despite the pensive look on his face in the photo below!

I am happy to have completed the Carmina Burana performance at the BOZAR; it was my second production of this piece and I felt far more involved in it than the first time.  It holds a number of special challenges for everyone involved, but for the baritone voice it is particularly difficult, so I am reasonably satisfied with how things went.  Bruce was able to attend, and that was really a magnificent thing: to have your mentor there for a debut in such a beautiful and famous recital hall is priceless.

The hall is everything that I hoped it might be; 2000 seats, designed by the father of Belgian Art-Nouveau Victor Horta, and an acoustic so well-designed that one can sing quietly without any tension about being heard.  There is plenty of balanced sound from the orchestra, and you even get a little reassuring sound coming back to the stage, but only just enough.

In other news, I include a picture of Malcolm celebrating his 14th birthday, which also happened this past week.  He received a number of very nice presents and birthday wishes from friends and family, and enjoyed the birthday cake (carrot with cream cheese icing) that Maggie made for him by request.  She used the same recipe that she chose for our wedding cake, and it has become a special favourite for the whole family now.

Malcolm and I also had a school visit this past week to discover the different curricula offered next year.  He's decided to continue with the most flexible programme offered, which is the Latin-Greek option.  That means that in addition to the standard core courses (French, Mathematics, Flemish, English, History, Geography, Music) he will study Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Latin, and Greek.  It seems like a lot of different subjects to juggle but we have encouraged him to pursue classes that he enjoys, and so far Latin seems to be one of his favorite courses.  He was tempted to do the applied science option, but that would have meant no more Latin or Greek, and he is hoping that he might get in some laboratory work if he can be excused from the English class.  This year he was exempted from English and so was able to do extra Flemish instead.

Duncan is preparing for his performances of Peter Pan (with his drama class) and the end-of-year dance spectacle; both are fast approaching.

Bruce and I are doing some planning this week, and are starting to finalize the itinerary for next week.  After my next two concerts of the Brahms Requiem this coming weekend, we leave Monday for a short road trip to Scotland.  Already we have scheduled the trip by car to Amsterdam, the newly renovated Rijksmuseum; then the ferry to Newcastle, a tour of Alnwick Castle, and then a visit to Rob and Viki's in Garvald and a day or two in Edinburgh.  Then it will be long drive down to southern England, before the drive back to Brussels via Canterbury, Folkestone and through the Eurotunnel to Calais.  As you can see we are ready to go!

Looking ahead

 

Spring is well established here, and we have been enjoying the weather immensely... Maggie and I are so happy that we chose to get a convertible car; it's like riding a motorcycle, in that you feel so much more connected with the natural world outside the cabin.  Here's her commute through the Bois de La Cambre to get to her french class.

We have been driving together pretty much every day for the last week or so, going to her physiotherapy appointments.  I didn't write about it when it happened, but on the last day of her school ski trip in Switzerland this past winter, she injured her right knee, and after a course of preliminary physio it became clear that she would need surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament to restabilize it.

That happened a week ago, and she's already noticing a major difference in how secure her knee is feeling.  The daily physiotherapy will be a couple of months long, and she'll be off work for much of that time, but she's very happy to have had it done.  We are taking the opportunity to have lunch together more often, and with the weather it's nice to be outside on the terrace.

Yesterday was a day off for all four of us though, because of the religious festival of the Ascension.  Duncan is back at school today but Malcolm is having a pont; this is the day in between a Tuesday or Thursday holiday and the weekend.  As our American cousins usually take off the Friday following Thanksgiving Thursday so as to make a four-day weekend, so the Belgians take a "bridge day" to make a longer holiday, whenever they can.

The British "Mothering Sunday" already happened, but in Belgium as in Canada this weekend is also La fête des Mères, so that will mean more spoiling of Maggie by her sons, and to some lesser extent by her husband.  There are lots of flowers and chocolates in display windows everywhere, and yesterday we had an early Mother's Day cake/flan, with a sable crust, and an unbelievable cream filling with fresh fruit for dessert, after our afternoon meal.

I sang through all of Carmina Burana - some parts more than once - with Peter yesterday evening, and it was fantastic to let fly with it!  The first time I performed it in 2011 was a little stressful so I am very happy to explore it a second time, and I was surprised how free it felt, despite the many challenges involved.  There are two more rehearsals with choir, orchestra, and conductor coming up on Sunday and then on Wednesday, in advance of the concert on Friday.

It is exciting to sing for the first time in the BOZAR... I was there again last weekend for a concert:

• Giya Kancheli, Morning Prayers
• Robert Schumann, Concerto pour piano et orchestre, op. 54
• Franz Schubert, Symphonie n° 8, "Inachevée", D 759 (achevée par Anton Safronov)

The Schubert in particular was very interesting; as Schubert died during its composition (hence the informal title, "Unfinished"), we know the first two movements very well, but apart from his preliminary sketches, there have been a number of attempts to complete the last two movements over the years.  This most recent version was published by the Russian composer Safronov in 2007, and was reasonably successful to my ear.

The Kancheli "Morning Prayers" piece was interesting from my point of view, as it illustrated how great the BOZAR is as a concert hall... the piece was modern, with lots of winds, recorded sections, and atmospheric colours, but it also had a very difficult part for bass flute.  Many of the notes in the solo part were at the absolute rock bottom of the flute register, sustained for long phrases, but the sound of the low flute carried perfectly in the hall.  It is encouraging to be able to hear a lower woodwind in its extreme low register, even with the orchestra; psychologically I am gratified to know that even with Orff's large orchestration in the Carmina Burana, the textures will lighten up when I have to sing, and I don't need to push to be heard.  It's enough just to sing richly and everything will be fine.

I've also received the poster for the Brahms in Antwerp, later on in May, here it is!

Speaking of Schubert, Peter and I are discussing a reprise of our Brussels recital in the Chapelle de Boondael.  We were very happy to do Die Schöne Müllerin there at the invitation of the commune d'Ixelles last spring, and on the topic of "unfinished" Schubert, we are thinking seriously about making the Schwanengesang or "Swan Song" cycle part of our next concert.  It is not a real cycle, in that it was posthumously assembled for publication by Schubert's brother, and unlike Müllerin or Winterreise it includes texts from three different poets, but it is much admired by Schubertians for its dramatic range.  I've only sung one of its fourteen lieder before, the famous Ständchen or serenade, Leise flehen meine Lieder durch die Nacht zu dir; In den stillen Hain hernieder, Liebchen, komm zu mir!

Here's a link to Dietrich Fischer Dieskau in 1958, with Gerald Moore on the piano.   I am looking forward to many of the pieces in it, including the very creepy Der Doppelgänger, the thirteenth (!) song in the cycle... oooOOOOoooo!  But more on that later...

Willibi-Walibi-Woo

Saturday was a particularly busy day.  We were up early to feed Duncan a good breakfast, and then he and I walked together to his Karate test.  The entire examination was about 90 minutes, and the sensei took particular notice of each and every one of the students.  In the formal examination he spoke to the assembled students and their families about a number of individual students, and included Duncan, whom he praised for taking care of the younger students, and making them feel welcomed and encouraged.  That is something that Duncan has done since he was a very small child, so I wasn't surprised to hear it from his teacher, but was glad that those are character traits and behaviors that the sensei values as well.  Duncan was successful at his examination and moves up to his first belt.  Based on the kind of structure and positive culture of respect that this dojo fosters we will be very happy if he continues to study Karate.

Then it was a dash home for a quick sandwich and then Duncan and two of his friends and I hopped in the car and took off for Walibi, the local amusement park.  It is built much the same as Canada's Wonderland, and has similar rides.  There are a number of roller-coasters, a white-water rafting ride, a fleuve, and so on.  The boys made an immediate bee-line for the Loup-Garou (Wher-wolf), a large wooden roller coaster, and then proceeded to try almost every ride they could, with his buddies only opting out of a couple really terrifying ones.  Duncan was brave and tried every one to which he was given admittance, even the scary ones, and I stuck by him, and miraculously escaped serious harm...

Physical harm anyway.  One ride which was borderline for psychological damage was the "Dalton Terror", a free-fall tower 77 metres tall.  After being seated in groups of four, one is slowly winched upwards to the top; there is a pause of a few seconds, and then the carriage is released, beginning a four-second free-fall that reaches speeds of 110 kilometres per hour, before magnetic brakes slow the descent and ease the carriage back to the ground.  I found the drop to be extremely unpleasant, and must say that if that is what free-fall feels like, it must take incredible courage to jump out of an airplane a second time.

Being very early in the season the park was only at about 15% capacity, so we never waited in line for more than a few minutes; usually on the roller coasters there were perhaps two people in front of us each time.  There were more gentle rides as well, interspersed between the more frightening ones, such as a guided boat trip, with lots of wild geese and ducks, and one had to walk a reasonable distance between each ride, so one had time to regain one's equilibrium.  The chain swing carousel got a second ride, as did the Loup Garou, and we even got in some bumper cars, my personal favorite.  Near the end of the day we got some cotton candy, and then finished off with a ride on the very large ferris wheel, which was just right.  Here are some photos:

Sunday was a nice day, and Duncan was given the flowers from the communion table after the service, which he appreciated very much.  Then we headed over to the Gardners' home for an afternoon lunch of heroic proportions, with beautiful sunshine in the garden for a glass of rosé champagne, followed by lots of excellent conversation, delicious food and good company.

Birthday presents have arrived on time today, and cakes have been baked and iced, so I am sure that Duncan will have a wonderful day.  Malcolm is being patient as the older brother; he knows that his own birthday is coming very shortly…

Duncan hasn't decided yet what he wants for his dinner, but as tomorrow is the Fete du Travail and they have no school, perhaps we will eat out, and go see the new Iron Man Movie?  Any film starring A-list actors such as Sir Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce and Robert Downey Junior that ALSO involves flying suits of armour and major explosions can't be bad…

In musical news - yes, this is actually supposed to be a music blog - I am continuing to prepare for Carmina Burana.  The first rehearsal is coming up this weekend so I have to rehearse it daily as part of my "endurance training".  I also have been asked to sing some Mozart arias for an opera festival committee; they are doing some planning for 2015 and would appreciate hearing me later on in June. In other news I was very happy to bump into La Monnaie's dirigent Peter de Caluwe yesterday; he has recently been the recipient of a great many awards and honours, so it was nice to congratulate him in person.  I look forward to the next project with La Monnaie, in a season or two, but in the meantime I count myself very, very lucky to have lots of contracts with other companies to keep me busy, and many other companies to audition for.

Speaking of that, back to Carmina...

p.s. Here is an interesting article from the Guardian Music Blog about pianist James Rhodes.  I can relate to the author's sentiments; although unlike him I have been very lucky to have not needed a psychopathic teacher in Verona (as I have a very sane, nice one in Toronto), and even more lucky not to have had my own decision to pursue art cost me my marriage, necessitate time in a mental hospital, etc.  I also do not recommend this career as a weight-loss regimen!  But as someone who returned to a career in art after a number of years in a large corporation I found his story very moving, and inspiring.  Perhaps you will find it so, also?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/apr/26/james-rhodes-blog-find-what-you-love