Show Time, again

Just got back from the premiere of Poulenc's extraordinary 'Les Dialogues des Carmelites', which tells the story of an order of carmelite sisters in Compiègne who get beheaded in the aftermath of the French Revolution for, er, well, it's never really made clear. Still, it's a tear-jerker, rendered more powerful by Poulenc's piano-bar harmonies. So if your taste in theatre extends to nuns being killed to a backdrop of Erroll Garner, this is the show for you. After a bit of research we might discover Dave Brubeck's setting of the Treblinka massacre; you never know.

Still nobody out there

It really has been a long while since I posted anything here, but life has gone on just the same: joy, disappointment, gain, loss and everyone's a wee bit older but not necessarily wiser.

My personal plus for 2009 was getting back on the conducting podium. I honestly hadn't realised how much I'd missed it since stepping down off the box and easing myself past the violas after a performance of Madama Butterfly in 2004 before taking my bow on stage. The fare this time was nowhere near as well-known or acclaimed as Puccini's megahit, but Alfred Bruneau did write some good tunes and his works really do merit a bit more attentione than they currently enjoy. The icing on the cake is that I've recorded it, the CD to be released in early 2010. And it sounds incredibly good.

Future possibilities include appearances in Rotterdam, Spain and Canada. I love life.