March bliss

Well, who'd have thought? It's been a week of those impossibly perfect spring days here, with perfect breezes, no rain, ideal sun and finishing with the season's very first G&T, with Tanqueray, which I finally found in a good store here (Gall & Gall, a national chain).

Sunday afternoon included collecting a guest at Schiphol. Within 24 hours, the guest became an unwelcome and unpleasant guest, but realized it and left Monday afternoon. I hadn't expected this turn of events, but was *very* relieved. This left me with my house in the best shape it's been, brimming with flowers, fully stocked, and an entire week of no classes, so I set about enjoying it all to the full (and still am)!

I heard the best Bach St. John Passion that I ever expect to hear (having sung it twice, but never having actually heard it) in Amsterdam on Monday night, at the Concertgebouw, that famous concert hall in Amsterdam. The hall is full of red padded seat cushions, so one doesn't expect great things acoustically, but it's very clear and true and easy to hear everything. I particularly had wanted to hear this St. John, since its conductor was Frans Brueggen, the former recorder and transverse flute virtuoso, and one of my heros of the early music movement. He was a semester at Harvard in the '70s when I was in Cambridge, and he carte blanche invited anyone who was interested (tuition be damned) to attend his baroque performance class. Needless to say, I didn't miss one class. He's now 72. He's stooped, but given how he played the recorder (sitting, bent over, VERY long legs crossed), 30 years later would have to find him a bit stooped. And he's always smoked heavily. His conducting style utterly baffled me (seemed to conduct upbeats, and seemed always 1/2 beat ahead of the orchestra, but they're used to him and played flawlessly). It's his orchestra, the Orchestra of the 18th Century. Players are based all over Europe and come together for performances and regular tours. It's the best band I've ever heard. I'm so critical that I frequently don't enjoy live performances, but this one had me open-mouthed more than a few times. The choir was gorgeous -- the Capella Amsterdam -- only 20 singers, with a rich but utterly straight sound, similar to English choirs, but with more meat on it. The soloists were very good, but not great, except the counter tenor, who sang so beautifully. I'd never heard the alto solos sung by a counter tenor before, but now will want ONLY to hear them that way. The Evangelist was also excellent, which is always an impossibly hard role. It was a transporting evening and put a perfect end to what had started as a disturbing day. Tra-la, it's spring!