Advent, Day 17

[wiseheart]

Our concert was a great success. The children's choir performed lovely, too, considering that the great majority of the kiddies is younger than 10 and Monica had to build the choir back up from scratch after a Covid-related two-year break.

We were good, too, if I say so myself. Of course, the pieces chosen for the concert were beautiful: "Gloria sei dir gesungen" by Bach, two different versions of Ave Maria, by Bepi di Marzi and Peter Wolf, respectively, "O Holy Night" by Adam, "Panis Angelicus" by Franck, a choir version of "Stille Nacht" and three traditional Christmas carols re-worked for multiple voices. It was a true delight to sing them, and the spectators were truly impressed.

The only minus point was that the heating was clearly shut down in the church after the evening mass, and it was very, very cold. Fortunately, I suspected something like that and wore several layers of warm clothing under my black-and-white finery that we are supposed to wear on concerts, but even so, I've never been so cold in my life. And that includes the time we tapsed around in Vienna by double-digit minus degrees all day!

Coming home, I started with an Aspiring, continued with a tumbler of black currant vodka, then with a large mug of tea - and those who know me also know that I don't particularly like alcohol and positively hate tea - and ended with a hot medical drink called Neocitran. That's a lot of cold medicine, taken profilactically, but I'm now starting to warm up just a little bit (there's 23°C in the flat and I'm wearing four layers), so perhaps, if I'm very lucky, I won't get a really bad cold for Christmas. *fingers crossed*

Comments

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Glad it went well.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

So am I. It is a very different feeling, going into Christmas with a concert bringing us into the right mood. Or it will be, once I've thawed out completely. *g*

[red-day-dawning.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hope you don’t get a cold for Christmas!!! Glad that the concert went well. The choice of songs sounds lovely. Stay warm, my friend.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I'm doing my best. :)

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

And that's why all singing teachers tell their students to never accept an often well-payed job in church concerts... I hope that you will be able to fend off a cold!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

And we don't even get paid for it! *g*
Now, a day later, I still feel reasonably well. I hope I snipped the thing in the blossom, but we can never know. Thank God for Aspirin and Neocitran. Of course, a well-insulated flat isn't a disadvantage, either. It's quite cold outside, but we still have 23°C within, and the radiators are on level 3 (the large rooms) or 4 (in the two tiny rooms, where said radiators are really tiny), respectively.

[meathiel]

Good to hear the concert went well but boo @ the heating. Or rather the non-heating!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is, we didn't even realize how cold it was while singing — we were too nervous and excited. But once we were done, everyone started shivering.

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

I have been leaning very heavily on my hot water bottle in the past month. I find nothing better for warming up, particularly when combined with a fleece wrap. Old stone churches do not cope well with cold weather, although the good news is that in summer they are an oasis of cool.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Actually, this is a very large, very modern, fairly new concrete church: hot in summer and cold in winter. But we don't have to pay rent for giving our concerts there, so we take what we can get.

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

the church that my family went to when I was a kid wasn't very well heated and this was in New England. New England winters and a mother who would not let me wear pants to church. You do the math.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear! *facepalm* Why must some mothers be so unreasonable?

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

The program sounds wonderful — all some of my favorite pieces. Wish I could have been there! It is going to be cold here for Christmas weekend — in the low 20's Fahrenheit (-6.66 celsius). We have not had weather that cold since the 1980's! And for me, that is as cold as I ever hope it will get, in other words, too cold. There is no way I will be warm. I already have a touch of bronchitis, so am NOT looking forward to the low temps.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Bronchitis is evil — and it tends to last forever! I used to have it every single winter in my childhood, so I certainly know what it is like. *hugs*

How odd that -6°C counts as very cold where you live. That is fairly normal over here, actually considered rather mild for winter. I think I'd die from the heat you consider normal for summer.

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, our whole city is practically shut down. Everyone is staying indoors and, if they can help it, off the streets. We usually have a few (of what we consider cold) freezes during the winter, that is, nights where the temperature hovers right at freezing. 10 degrees or more below that, especially for an extended time (3 days) is very rare here. Our news stations and government are broadcasting how to stay safe in the cold weather. They are issuing advisories on how to protect ourselves, kids, and animals against wind chill, frostbite, and hypothermia. We've been asked to wrap/insulate our water and gas pipes, run water in a thin stream from indoor faucets, and dress in layers, especially if heading outdoors.