No wives were bothered in the making of the photos of this dress rehearsal (see Inspirations).
Category: Theater
The Second Coming
The second coming of the Messiah was as wonderful as the first. The soloists were fantastic, the orchestra was superb and the Chancel Choir was marvelous. Janet, one of the Choir members and soon to be minister, and I were talking about how many great musicians and artists we have in New Mexico, especially given a population of only 2 million. I was telling her that it’s the “enchantment factor” — the beautiful environment and great climate that draw people to New Mexico — we are truly blessed to have so many exceptional performers to share their talents with us and truly enrich our lives.
Gunfight at the Frontier
Where else in the world, besides Albuquerque, can you attend a performance of Mozart’s Grand Mass in C Minor K. 427, then go to the Frontier, sit under the eye of The King, look at a collection of Indian rugs on the ceiling, and get a photograph of the guard in a gunfight with The Duke? The Grand Mass in C Minor was performed by the UNM Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Jorge Pérez-Gómez, and the UNM University Chorus, Professor Bradley Ellingboe, director, with guest Conductor Jena Reis. The soloists where soprano Leslie Umphrey, Associate Professor of Voice, UNM, mezzo soprano Drea Pressley, Sam Shepperson, co-director of the Opera Theater at UNM and baritone Michael Hix, Assistant Professor of Vocal Studies at UNM. The concert was excellent, although one woman at the end of the row in front of us brought her baby. I don’t know what she was thinking bringing a baby to a classical concert. About half way through the concert the baby got fussy, and the woman took her sweet time taking the noisy kid out of the theater. The people around her were nervously laughing at its squawks and cries, while the soprano gave her “mad dogs” for the little brat competing with her solo. She finally took leave, allowing us to enjoy the concert and the soprano to relax a little before her next solo.
Things To Do Thursday
If you are fortunate enough to live in the Albuquerque area, or if you are visiting during the month of December here are a few things you can do:
On December 1st at 5:00 pm, Quintessence Choral Artists of the Southwest will be performing “A Winter’s Journey” at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1100 Indian School Rd., NE, and at 3:00 pm on December 2nd at St. John’s United Methodist Church, 2626 Arizona NE.
Also starting Sunday, December 2nd and running through December 28th from 10-5 daily is the Annual New Mexico Photographic Art Show in the Fine Arts Building at New Mexico Expo (enter the San Pedro and Copper Gate). Our good friend and fellow photographer Susan Graham got a couple of photos of the demolition of the houses on our property in August in the show.
On December 4th at 7:30 pm, the UNM Symphony Orchestra is performing Mozart’s Grand Mass in C, K. 427 at Popjoy Hall at the University of New Mexico. Suzette, one of the lovely women in Wild Women Wednesday, is singing with the University Chorus.
On December 8th at 7:30 pm, the Central United Methodist Church’s Chancel Choir will be performing Handel’s Messiah with the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra, and on Sunday December 9th at 3:00 pm at Central United Methodist Church, 201 University Blvd, NE. My blog The Messiah is Coming has all the details. Laurie, Suzette, and Nicole Larson (all of whom have appeared in Photo of the Day, Etc. this month) are singing the Messiah with the Chancel Choir.
Wild Women Wednesday
Suzette came late to the Messiah practice tonight, sang and few bars and left. Then she called me and asked if I wanted to photograph some sexy girls. They were rehearsing for a Cabaret show in January, and wanted photos in costume. I certainly couldn’t pass up the opportunity of photographing sexy girls, so after the Messiah rehearsal, we stopped by and got some photos. The lovely ladies were wonderful models, and I ended up with so many nice photos, I had a really hard time deciding which ones to post — I started with the images that seemed to fit their Cabaret characters best.
The Messiah is Coming
Only seventeen days left until the Central United Methodist Chancel Choir with the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra present Handel’s Messiah. I am listening to the choir rehearse as I write, and they sound wonderful. Besides singing, the choir director has the choir do choral calisthenics and stretches so they will be in ship shape to deliver outstanding performances. The performances will be on Saturday, December 8th at 7:00 pm and Sunday, December 9th at 3:00 pm. If you live in the greater Albuquerque area, I highly recommend getting tickets to this concert. Tickets can be purchased on-line at http://holdmyticket.com/event/119812.
Handel composed the Messiah in 1741, a 100 years before the term photography was attributed to the process of recording images on a medium using a camera. Since the daguerreotype was one of the earliest photographic processes that resulted in a direct positive, I used a hand-colored daguerreotype effect on the photos of the choir doing their calisthenics, stretches and singing to represent an early time. It doesn’t take us back to the time when Handel lived, but it does give a sense of rehearsing the Messiah in the earliest days of photography.
Las Muertas
A few more photos from the Marigold Parade celebrating El Dia de los Muertos.
El Dia de los Muertos
We went to a live performance of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” last night (wonderful performance), then went to the Frontier Restaurant to eat and visit afterward, so we didn’t get home until almost midnight. Laurie reminded me that we set the clocks back an hour, so I set all our analog clocks to 11:20 thinking we were almost ready for bed. However, by the time I remember I needed to go outside and turn off the water to the drip system, did a kitty count, messed around on the computer some more, and finally herded the cats to the bedroom it was 12:20 again — I ended up staying up past midnight twice last night.
We went to the Marigold Parade and Festival as part of El Dia de los Muertos after choir practice this afternoon. The Marigold Parade was great fun and people from the various cultures in the Albuquerque area participated and showed off their creativity.
Inspirations
We went to “Inspirations” by Nicole Larsen tonight at UNM’s Keller Hall. It was a mix of singing, dancing, and drama that was very well done and entertaining. The show offered great music, beautiful singing, stylish dancing and emotionally charged theatrics delivered with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. The only problem was a pesky photographer who sat in the back of the theater taking photos during the first act; the clicking of the shutter and whirring of the lens stabilization system bothered his wife, who made him stop taking photos during most of the second act. Oh well! I need to figure when the dress rehearsals for show like this are and see if I could photograph the dress rehearsals, then people could go to the shows if they liked the photos and the review.
Off Center & Not Even 