Boldly going where no choir has gone before….
The Choral Cruise is currently visiting Norway! Brandenburg Artistic Director Bob Porter is sending us daily updates.
Captain’s Log – Stardate 18.06.26
Day one of this exciting trip started for me with a quiet, direct train journey from Portslade to Southampton – not really very far but seemingly stopping a hundred times. It didn’t really, but my excitement made it feel like that. A short taxi ride to the port and then into the Cruise terminal. Check-in was friendly, smooth, quick and efficient and I was very soon having lunch by the pool.
Our two Canadian ladies had a close call. Having flown to Heathrow without incident, their coach to Southampton was mysteriously cancelled and the replacement further delayed - they made check-in by 15 minutes. PHEW! Then one of our group, having boarded and settled in was taken ill so had to leave the ship hurriedly before it sailed. What a shame. We are waiting to hear how she is.
We are a large bunch of around 80. Some regulars know each other, many don’t – but that will change quickly. We are quite a mixed group with singers from America, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Mallorca and Australia (and all parts of the UK)! Our Welcome Drinks Reception was fun – loads of potential new friendships starting to fall into place, and that was followed by our first rehearsal.
We don’t sound brilliant yet – BUT WE WILL!
An early night for most as Day 1 is always tiring.
Captain’s Log – Stardate 19.06.26
Day two and we really start to settle in. On sea days we can have two rehearsals and some serious progress was made. By the end of the day, we have (more-or-less) learned:
Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus
Fauré: Cantique de Jean Racine
Kander & Ebb: New York, New York
Rachmaninov: Bogoroditse Devo (bit sketchy atm)
Nothing really polished yet, but definitely in a good place to fine tune the details going forwards. We had a Russian pronunciation lesson from Michael and some hints on French pronunciation from Sandy. I broke the choir 15 mins early so that the Bass section could learn a special contribution to show off to the others the following day (more of this tomorrow).
The evening was devoted to the Captain’s cocktail party and Formal Night in the restaurant – and it was clear that the Brandenburg contingent set the Dress Code bar pretty high. The food has so far been excellent – last night I had an exquisite seafood salad, Filet Mignon for main and some delicious coconut ice cream – which I finished off with a glass of Jamiesons. YUM.
Captain’s Log – Stardate 20.06.26
Day three, and the second sea day as we continue to steam North.
In the morning session we welcomed a large number of non-Brandenburg passengers and they had fun joining us for the traditional Cruise round (music Tallis – lyrics Porter) and then the up-tempo New York, New York. Later on, we introduced the funky bass section to the rest of the choir as the rhythm section of the Camila Cabello number Havana. In the Pentatonix version there is wonderful beat boxer providing the rhythmic pulse – so as I anticipated we wouldn’t have a beat boxer, the bass section takes on that responsibility with body percussion.
Yes, it started with a bit of an element of dad-dancing but the groove is growing and it will be fab!
The ship continues to be a joy with seemingly every possible luxury available.
No major mishaps, but I was furious with the Cruise Director who scheduled a Wine Tasting just before the evening rehearsal. One of the sopranos actually dropped off to sleep!
We hit land tomorrow in Olden – hurrah!