Night out at the Symphony

Friday
R had a medical appointment this morning, so while he was out I got some jobs done. When he got back we decided to go out for lunch at First Watch, a breakfast/lunch place not far from us. In the afternoon I went out to buy Christmas cards and a few other things. Having had a good brunch/lunch, we just had a light meal before going out to our first Symphony concert of the season, which was Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, which I knew of, but had never heard, except for odd excerpts. It is actually a series of six cantatas which Bach intended for performance in church service during the Christmas service. The Symphony and May Festival Chorus performed three of the six this evening, No 1 describes the Birth of Jesus, no 3 The Adoration of the Shepherds, and No 6 the adoration of the Magi. The conductor was Richard Eggar, a British conductor and keyboard player, and he conducted from the harpsichord which he was playing at times center stage. A wonderful performance for the season.