To hear Handel's "Messiah" in its entirety has been on my to-do list for a while; now I can finally check it off.
When I was checking out Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's schedule for December, I found two performances of "Messiah": One traditional interpretation led by Edward Polochick of Baltimore Choral Arts Society and one with a gospel twist, led by BSO's own Maestra, Marin Alsop. I ended up choosing the former because it was my first time hearing it. The latter seemed very interesting, though.
Prior to this event, I have only heard two numbers from "Messiah" on CD: "Rejoice, O daughter of Zion" and "Hallelujah!" After the performance, they are still my favorites. As I learned in my music class, the main character in this oratorio is the chorus, of which I haven't been a big fan before. Strangely, many songs, especially those arias sung by the vocal soloists remained me a lot of Peking Opera, or Chinese Opera in general in that they all repeat verses, elongate some words and shorten others. I used to hate it when they couldn't finish a sentence in 30 seconds of singing but now I started to like it. (Gosh, maybe I AM getting old.) New entry in my to-do list: To hear a Peking Opera in a live performance.
Last night's concert might also be my last with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. I still remember the first time we went to a BSO concert on a "college night", when they have special low tickets for students and some easy-listening program to introduce students into the world of classical music. The program was Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", a great choice for first timers. We couldn't even figure out when we were hearing "Spring" or "Summer". I was SO much younger then...
When I was checking out Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's schedule for December, I found two performances of "Messiah": One traditional interpretation led by Edward Polochick of Baltimore Choral Arts Society and one with a gospel twist, led by BSO's own Maestra, Marin Alsop. I ended up choosing the former because it was my first time hearing it. The latter seemed very interesting, though.
Prior to this event, I have only heard two numbers from "Messiah" on CD: "Rejoice, O daughter of Zion" and "Hallelujah!" After the performance, they are still my favorites. As I learned in my music class, the main character in this oratorio is the chorus, of which I haven't been a big fan before. Strangely, many songs, especially those arias sung by the vocal soloists remained me a lot of Peking Opera, or Chinese Opera in general in that they all repeat verses, elongate some words and shorten others. I used to hate it when they couldn't finish a sentence in 30 seconds of singing but now I started to like it. (Gosh, maybe I AM getting old.) New entry in my to-do list: To hear a Peking Opera in a live performance.
Last night's concert might also be my last with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. I still remember the first time we went to a BSO concert on a "college night", when they have special low tickets for students and some easy-listening program to introduce students into the world of classical music. The program was Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", a great choice for first timers. We couldn't even figure out when we were hearing "Spring" or "Summer". I was SO much younger then...
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