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Well, I'm glad to be done with that set of recording sessions. It's stressful to sit near people whose conduct doesn't meet your standards of discipline. Also I don't like Baroque music.
However, we the alto section sat behind the countertenor, whose demeanor and conduct were both unfailingly positive and unaffectedly charming. And he sang well, too; the soloists fell apart a bit tonight, requiring several retakes for mistakes, but his were much fewer. But yeah, he jammed hilariously (and silently) on air guitar between takes, revved his energy with some downward dog on the altar steps where we were situated, and smiled affably, always with a friendly word for the altos as part of the team. I'm not usually in love with the sound of a countertenor, but he did some honestly virtuosic things I was quite impressed with. So, sad to be done with him. He's moderately famous and also English, he'll probably disappear immediately off to his next gig, but glad I got to be on his team for awhile.
Also gratifying was the work with Melissa Givens, whose skill and ease I have always admired. She does frequent coloratura work here, and I'm constantly impressed with her. She was the first-soprano soloist on this Vespers, and a better one for the job you could not find, search you the history of sopranos. Everyone's always so heavy and wobbly, or even Baroque specialists are flat and disapproving, but she's just so clear and flexibly... dextrous. And Kelli, our homegrown second-soprano soloist (she's in the chamber choir), did a good job of keeping up with her, with an equally clear and nimble sound. I sure don't like the piece, but I still can't wait to hear the recording, because I bet it's gonna be surpassingly good.
However, we the alto section sat behind the countertenor, whose demeanor and conduct were both unfailingly positive and unaffectedly charming. And he sang well, too; the soloists fell apart a bit tonight, requiring several retakes for mistakes, but his were much fewer. But yeah, he jammed hilariously (and silently) on air guitar between takes, revved his energy with some downward dog on the altar steps where we were situated, and smiled affably, always with a friendly word for the altos as part of the team. I'm not usually in love with the sound of a countertenor, but he did some honestly virtuosic things I was quite impressed with. So, sad to be done with him. He's moderately famous and also English, he'll probably disappear immediately off to his next gig, but glad I got to be on his team for awhile.
Also gratifying was the work with Melissa Givens, whose skill and ease I have always admired. She does frequent coloratura work here, and I'm constantly impressed with her. She was the first-soprano soloist on this Vespers, and a better one for the job you could not find, search you the history of sopranos. Everyone's always so heavy and wobbly, or even Baroque specialists are flat and disapproving, but she's just so clear and flexibly... dextrous. And Kelli, our homegrown second-soprano soloist (she's in the chamber choir), did a good job of keeping up with her, with an equally clear and nimble sound. I sure don't like the piece, but I still can't wait to hear the recording, because I bet it's gonna be surpassingly good.