Hallelujah!

The lovely Yvonne joined a choir in Beziers a few months ago and has been desperately trying to fit in rehearsals despite commuting between here and London. Last night was lift-off in a little church in Pezenas packed to the rafters with a 300 strong audience, all, wrongly, dressed in warm clothes now that autumn is here. We squeezed into our seats in the very back row and immediately stripped down to our t-shirts.
Rossini's Mass is an extraordinary piece featuring, last night at least, a choir of 70, one piano (it was originally written for two, apparently), 4 soloists, and an accordion. Yes, you read that right, an accordion. A glorious mixture of arias, duets, quartets and some fabulous choral singing. The first Amen chorus is an absolute ripper - bubbling, rippling, complicated and long. Nonetheless it leaves you wanting more which, hooray, was supplied when it was repeated as an encore.
Bravo!