holiday time of year

Yep, this weekend (well, the past couple weeks, in fact) has been the typical holiday rush of rehearsals and concerts for us at the Oregon Symphony.  This past week we were rehearsing Handel’s Messiah for performances on Saturday and Sunday.  This was only the second Oregon Symphony performance of a largely complete version of the Messiah in decades†.  We last performed it under Bernard Labadie, music director of Québec’s Les Violins du Roy, which was one of the highlights of my career in the orchestra at that point.  This time around, we were joined by conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni, first guest conductor of the same august ensemble.  It was nearly just as rewarding for me as the first go ’round.  I love playing baroque music, especially with the vibrato eliminated and using the bow as the means of expression rather than focusing simply on the left hand.  The vocal soloists we were treated to were, as usual, top flight, and a joy to make music with.  And the Portland Symphonic Choir (in its chamber configuration) sounded terrific, especially considering the flying tempos in some of the very complicated choruses.  Working with Jean-Marie was also a joy – he’s grown tremendously since his first appearance with us on a run out concert years ago, and I hope that we get to work with him again soon.  His commitment to a very familiar score, with some unique interpretive points of view, made it a fresh piece again.

Saturday, sandwiched between the dress rehearsal and first concert of the Messiah, about 12 of us from the OSO rushed over to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral to join their choir for a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas, a cantata about the real life saint which became embellished elaborately in legend in the years after his death.  After our Messiah dress rehearsal ended at 12: 30, it was a 2:00 p.m. Britten rehearsal followed by a 5:00 p.m. performance, then a quick bite to eat and then back to the Schnitz for a 7:30 p.m. Messiah.  Phew! Lots of great music, but about eight hours of playing in total.  Then on Sunday, a matinee of Messiah, followed by another 7:30 p.m. Saint Nicolas.  Fade to black…

Luckily, I had some relief time off for the Comfort & Joy services this week, so while most of the rest of the orchestra is back at work this morning, I’m happily at home with a cup of coffee and my slippers.  My year’s work is done until we return from the holiday break in January.

Of course, by the end of the day Sunday, I was a bit punchy…

By the way, Portland’s Pink Martini (featuring OSO trombonist Robert Taylor) will be on tonight’s Jay Leno Show – don’t miss it!

† Just got this note from OSO cellist David Scolofsky:

Here is a list of Oregon Symphony performances of the Messiah during those years. ALL PERFORMANCES ARE COMPLETE PERFORMANCES, with the exception of those conducted by Sidlin in conjunction with PYP in 1996 and 1997:

December 22, 1974 (Smith)
December 17 – 18, 1978 (Avshalomov)
December 20 – 22, 1980 (guest conductor)
December 12 – 14, 1981 (DePriest)
December 11 – 12, 1982 (Christopher Wilkins)
December 15 – 16, 1985 (DePriest)
December 21, 1996 (Sidlin)
December 20, 1997 (Sidlin)

Because these Oregon Symphony performances were outside the classical subscription series each year, they were not in the usual symphony program and thus had a program of their own. It is likely, therefore, that I may not have every free-standing Messiah program and, as a result, the list above is not complete.

I might also mention that the Messiah was performed often during the 1970’s by the Portland Symphonic Choir, with its own orchestra, and did not involve the Oregon Symphony.

David