Holiday Music Is PEOPLE!

[chaosvizier]

So the other day my good buddy angledge gives me a great Christmas gift: a ticket to join her in Lincoln Center for a Handel's Messiah sing-along.



Handel's Messiah out-and-out rules. Of the many pieces of classical music that can be recognized by anyone straight off the street, the Hallelujah chorus easily ranks in the top five overall, and for choral pieces might be second only to Beethoven's Ode to Joy. The rest of the Messiah, however, is almost as energetic and exciting and, I dare say, fun to sing. Even for those of us with sub-par voices.

The National Chorale hosts the Messiah sing-along every year in Lincoln Center. This was their 40th anniversary, and some folks in attendance had been there for a great number of those 40 performances. We, however, were new. And, as such, we did not know about the "bring your own score" aspect of the performance. So, we didn't sing much. But we still had a great time.

The four soloists were clearly enjoying themselves, most notably Sir Basso Profondo, who looked so stern and robust when performing that you could have slapped a lance and a suit of armor on him and sent him out to slay a dragon. The conductors were also having a blast; each piece was conducted by a different maestro, each of whom would take a moment to talk about the piece, practice a moment, or maybe just make jokes. All in all, about 25 pieces were done, about a third with soloists and the rest with the audience participation.

The audience was definitely there to sing. I was standing next to a talented soprano (not angledge, who is more alto really), and Ang was just a few seats away from an outstanding tenor. There was a high school choir in the back, and scattered throughout the audience one could make out strong voices leading the crowd. Again, without scores we could not fully participate, although I did know most of the words and phrases, and some of the music to boot. Don't be dissing all of my baritone powerz. Just most of them.

High points included the soprano's sexy green dress, the organist who took a turn conducting while playing the organ, the first conductor who got the audience loosened up, the very fabulous conductor who was... well, just fabulous, Sir Basso Profondo, and 2000+ voices singing "Hallelujah".

Low points were few, but most notably the audience's collective mauling of "The Lord Gave the Word". Also, we had the worst waiter ever at dinner just before the concert, and the National Chorale's ticket-ordering website mechanism was clearly programmed by, and then promptly staffed with, monkeys.

If we had known to bring our own scores to follow along, it would have been perfect. But hey, we're n00bs at this. It was still amazing, a lot of fun, and worth doing if you like this kind of musical venture.

Thanks, angledge, and merry Christmas!

Comments

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

Too bad it wasn't Beethoven's Ninth. You wouldn't need a score for that:

"Dingos, Dingos, running for thee,
Mauling every kid in sight,
When they catch one, eww, how gory,
Dingos howling with delight.

Thin ones, tall ones,
Fat ones and small ones,
Plump and juicy,
Soft and ripe.
They will chase kids till they can't run
And then they'll sit down for tripe."

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

Indeed! Everything's better with dingos!

Heh... "Plump and juicy, soft and ripe". That's still funny, ten years later.

[malkatsheva.livejournal.com]

I love you guys so much!!! **eyes watering with laughter**

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

That day of dingo dirges was a thing of true beauty.

[drlaurac.livejournal.com]

Memories, light the corners of my mind.....

[kokopellinelli]

Oooh, that sounds like a lot of fun!

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

It was so much fun. I love singing. Even if I sing badly. It's good stuff.

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

Dude, I've heard you sing. You have a good voice. Now quit fishing for compliments.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

I think my voice has gone a bit south. Luckily Rock Band has given me a chance to practice more, so I'm getting back in the swing of things. Or rather, I'm getting into the swing of pretending I'm Michael Stipe.

[kokopellinelli]

You know what? I kinda want to draw a "group photo" of Sir James and the crew of the Omni. That probably means it'll never happen, but if by some freak of nature it DOES, would there be anything in particular you want in it, or any particular way you want the characters to look? I plan on going back through the chapters you've already done and skimming for physical descriptors.

Or you can tell me to bugger off and not lay pencil to paper.

Hugs!

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

I really liked your drawings from last year, and it would be awesome if you had the time and inkling to do it again. I'll email you so that you can better ignore the idea. ;-)

[kokopellinelli]

WOO!

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Messiah sing-alongs are awesome! Now that we sing it in an actual choir concert we rarely manage to go to them any more, but they are lots of fun. Glad you had a good time.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

It was awesome. I'm not skilled enough to sing in a real choir, so I get to live vicariously through the audience and assume that the good singers can drown out my caterwauling.

[ajmcoqui.livejournal.com]

Yay for holiday music! It sounds like such a great experience. :)

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

It was a lot of fun. Next time I'm bringing a score so I can at least howl in time. ;-)

[trishalynn.livejournal.com]

I'm-a totally wanna go with next time, okay?

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

Next year! Messiah party! Come for the singing, stay for the drinking... or more singing. Whichever. ;-)

[marasca.livejournal.com]

I think I saw this performed several years ago (though without the audience participation). Isn't there a bit about sheep? I liked that song.

(user pic = not a sheep)

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

I've seen the Messiah performed as is a few times, but this was the first time I was at a sing-along. And yes, there is a sheep bit. "All We Like Sheep/Have Gone Astray." We sang that bit. The conductor even commented that it was the "funny" part of the Messiah.

(your pic = highland coo, feeding on tires)

[malkatsheva.livejournal.com]

Did they have boy tenors or super-duper sopranos to handle "Then suddenly there was with the angels/A great number of/The Heavenly Host?"

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

The soprano was very good. In addition to being extra-sexy. They had the real professional soloists do the solo parts, and then the audience sang the chorus bits. I was part of the multitude of infernal hosts, singing off-key and deharmonizing.

[bad-latin.livejournal.com]

How fun! We also did a Messiah sing-along at our church. I was sitting between a tenor who couldn't hit the high notes and a bass who kept singing the soprano line. And all three of us were in the choir. So it was not quite as professional grade as the performance you attended. But still fun!

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you were sitting between me and... me. ;-)

[evilfuzzymonste.livejournal.com]

I never knew there were Messiah sing-alongs anywhere. *drool* Good excuse to travel next year. I gotta say, though, if you like Baroque oratorios, have you ever immersed yourself in Vivaldi's Gloria? It's my personal favorite.

Ever heard of Too Hot to Handel? It's a gospel rewrite of the Messiah. Fabulous show. I think it only gets performed here in Denver, though, as the Colorado Symphony's conductors wrote it.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

When I was in High School, our chorus instructer had the balls to have us do Vivaldi's Gloria. It was awesome, and I agree with you- it is one of my favorite pieces of choral music. Alas, there no Gloria singalongs; I would go to one of those as well. But Messiah is definitely worth it. Go forth, and find one! Or come to NYC next December. Either one. ;-)