A beautiful day, materially and spiritually: for this evening marks the beginning of Advent. At the parish OF Vigil Mass, it was good to sing "Wake, awake, for night is flying", one of those hymns without which Advent Sunday seems incomplete; and I listened a little time ago to another one, "Lo! he comes with clouds descending", which I have enjoyed singing at this time of year in the past. After Mass, I went to another Advent necessity, a performance of The Messiah.
(Unfortunately the choir, harpsichordist, trumpeter and bass soloist were not of the highest standard: the last-named lost his place most embarrassingly in "The people that walked in darkness", the second-last named did not do much of a job of his part in "The trumpet shall [or rather, should] sound", the harpsichordist was inaccurate, and the choir didn't keep in time with each other in "His yoke is easy". I would have to say, it was the worst performance of Handel's masterpiece I've attended; even the booklet hadn't been proofread, both omitting parts sung, and including parts not sung. I hope they improve for next year, otherwise I will offer them 80% of the ticket price, and not waste 20% of my money as I did this year.)
Sorry to hear that, Josh. I went to the performance at the Sydney Town Hall - it was superb! Excellent soloists, and a massed 300+ voice choir. Afterwards I walked down to Darling Harbour and enjoyed a free performance by some US athletes who could perform extraordinary feests of leaping and somersaulting in the air, with no props - not even a mat. Then there were free fireworks (every Saturday in December,apparently.) Sydney is the place to holiday! Happy New Year, anyway! - Martin OP
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