Right Now

[Karppoo]

Thank you for asking. Consert was very good. But quite short.

Vivaldi music is so goog and Tampere Chamber is very good orchestra. Boys sing nice and I think audience were pleased to concert. But I can't wait Guildford and see Libera!

[maartendas]

Last week my boyfriend and I visited Paris for five days. We had both been before but this was the first time together. Paris is an amazing city, with a huge variety of sights and atmospheres. Two things struck us as odd though and I wanted to post them here to see if maybe FandeLoK or someone else can explain them for us
One was that sometimes waiters in restaurants were very slow in giving us the bill after we asked for it. Twice we just went to the counter after waiting a considerable amount of time. On both occasions the waiter in question seemed really busy but we thought: if they let us pay they can more easily help other customers. Were we just impatient tourists?
The other thing was seeing armed soldiers near the Notre Dame and on train stations. This really freaked me out a bit. Is this a normal security procedure in France? The only time I remember seeing soldiers in full uniform and with guns just walking around was in Israel.
Okay, these two questions aside though, let me end on a positive note: we loved the Waterlilies by Monet in the Musee de l'Orangerie. An absolute must-see if you ever get the chance.
Oh, and be sure to visit an Atelier du Chocolat and don't forget who told you

[john45]

sometimes waiters in restaurants were very slow

Waiters in France have a reputation for being rude but "indifferent" would perhaps be more accurate.
The explanation can be found in the two words at the bottom of the menu - "servis compris". In other words, a service charge is automatically added to the check and tipping is not expected. As a result, there is no incentive for the waiter to be attentive to your needs.

[Yorkie]

Okay, these two questions aside though, let me end on a positive note: we loved the Waterlilies by Monet in the Musee de l'Orangerie. An absolute must-see if you ever get the chance.

How does it compare to the version in The National Gallery in London Maarten? Can't say that I know very much about Impressionism.

#edit~ I knew their were a few different water lilies painted by Monet but who knew how many! That one in the l'Orangerie does look good:

Water Lilies

[maartendas]

Hi John, yes, we discussed this topic of service/tips as well during our trip and I roughly guessed the same as you described.

Yorkie - the Water Lilies in the Orangerie are two oval halls with four paintings each, covering the entire length of each wall, each having a specific mood or atmosphere. They were designed for this space exclusively by Monet and the only light in the rooms is daylight - we were lucky it was very sunny when we were there. The overall effect is more like stepping into these paintings rather than looking at them. It's a unique and amazing experience.
The Orangerie website gives a small Quicktime panoramic impression to better show you what I described but it's nowhere near experiencing the real thing.

http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/homes/hom ... 4_u1l2.htm

[Lumi]

I will be flying to London tomorrow morning – haven't started packing and haven't really planned how I'll spend my six days there.

St Paul's music lists are finally out and it was a bit of a disappointment: the choir does not sing the evensong on Monday and on Tuesday there is a special service where entry is by tickets only. But perhaps evensong on Friday and three services on Sunday will be enough.
The mass setting for the Sung Eucharist on Sunday is Victoria's Missa Simile est regnum caelorum and the anthem is Byrd's Ave Verum. So I'm looking forward to that especially.

I'm also thinking of attending Solemn Mass at Wesminster Cathedral on Saturday. It's at 10:30, so I figured I should still be able to get to Guildford reasobably early in the afternoon. And I guess I need to also take a look at what they are singing on Monday and Tuesday.

[maartendas]

For all those who are traveling to the UK, here's a handy guide to let people think you're a native

[Murkskis]

To talk about flights- I came across one HP theme soundtrack:
[BBvideo 425,350][/BBvideo]
*The flight scene during 'Care of Magical Creatures' Class

[maartendas]

After 9 years we're again in the Eurovision final And with a great song from a great artist!

[BBvideo 425,350][/BBvideo]

[Lumi]

Came back home late last night. It was a very nice trip – I'll try to write something about the concert later.

During five days I attended two evensongs and a Sung Eucharist at St Paul's, an evensong (Lay Vicars) at Westminster Abbey, and a weekday mass at Westminster Cathedral. St Paul's was brilliant – on Sunday they sang Victoria's Missa Simile est regnum caelorum and it was just amazing. Based on the few recent recordings (one in particular) I had been wondering how much I like their present sound, but well, about 30 seconds into the Gloria it was pretty evident that they sing at as high a standard as ever. At that point I was seriously regretting missing the Mattins about an hour earlier.

Another highlight was the mass at Westminster Cathedral, where on Tuesday it was just the boys there and they sang Britten's Missa Brevis. Just amazing – so focused, precise, a flawless tone. What blew me away the most was the way they sang very long phrases, beautifully, finishing them as strongly as they had started them, not a hint of unsteadiness. I don't mean that this is something the other choirs necessarily lack, but it was still one of the first things that I noticed when they started singing. I've never heard them sound like that on a recording – and obviously they sound pretty great on them.

My visit to the British Library was great as well. When trying to register for a reader pass I was told my prood of address was not "official enough", however they were kind enough to still give me a temporary pass for the day. I then was able to order items to the reading room and – I'm still recovering from this – they actually handed me an actual 1724 copy of the two volumes of William Croft's Musica Sacra. Needless to say, it was in a very fragile condition and I was terrified to death to handle it.

The cover and the first 20 or so pages were already separated from the rest of the book, and turning them (very, very slowly...) was easy enough. But after that I wasn't confident it would be possible to turn the pages without causing further damage to the score, and so I obviously did not proceed. Unfortunately the anthem I wanted to see the most was at the very back of the first volume, and so I never got to see it. The other one would have been in the second volume, but at that point I was so freaked out about having in my hands an almost 300-year-old pile of valuable paper – about to break into a thousand pieces at any moment (well, at least that's how it felt) – that I decided to end it at that and return the scores.

So I did not really get what I came to the BL for, but what an insanely amazing experience that was.

[maartendas]

Wow, thanks for sharing those wonderful, experiences!
(oh and congrats on making it to the Eurovision final too, hehe )

[Lumi]

(oh and congrats on making it to the Eurovision final too, hehe )

Ah, I guess all the status updates on Facebook are about that then rather than ice hockey which was my guess.

Well, at least I was remotely aware that the competition is being held around now.

[maartendas]

Well, it's a far cry from 18th century choral singing, that's for sure.

Looks like Finland's entry sparked some controversy over a pro-gay rights statement:
https://www.allout.org/en/actions/eurovision

[maartendas]

Today was the official presentation of the new Dutch Protestant hymn book (some Belgian churches are involved as well). I wrote the words for two hymns, and my version of St. Francis' Canticle of the Creatures was chosen as one of the songs during this morning's official presentation, with 2,000 attending. I feel really proud

[kay]

Maartendas, you certainly have a right to feel proud of yourself, what a wonderful achievement.