SCHWAZ (6th September 2008)

from left to right: Amy Haworth, Rachel Weston, Heather Cairncross, Micaela Haslam

"It's amazing how much excitement you can cram into 3 days...

For logistical reasons, this was to be a slightly unusual schedule. The final orchestral (and our first) rehearsal was to be 2 nights before the concert, with the general on the following night, and just the concert on 6th. So, on 4th September, Amy, Rachel and I flew from Heathrow to Innsbruck via Frankfurt. Heather was flying from Berlin that morning and we'd planned to meet her in Frankfurt where we'd all get the same connecting flight. You guessed it - Heather's flight was delayed and she missed the connection, which meant that she'd also miss the rehearsal. The most frustrating thing was that she landed in Frankfurt just as our Innsbruck flight was boarding. So close! Anyway, there was nothing we could do except stay calm in the knowledge that we'd sung Tehillim together many, many times and knew the piece extremely well. On arrival at Innsbruck Amy and I hauled our cases from the luggage belt, then waited for Rachel's....and waited... and waited. Yes, her case had gone missing - going well. Thank goodness she had her music in her hand luggage.

In the square

Across the river

Johannes Kalitzke (conductor) had requested a short rehearsal with the singers prior to the orchestral, and I'm sure he must have been horrified when only 3 of us showed up, but after just a few minutes of singing he looked noticeably calmer. He trusted that we'd be fine, as would Heather. The Tiroler Symphonieorchester sounded terrific, Johannes was extremely good-humoured, and we knew we were in for a good concert. Heather showed up later that evening, though sadly Rachel's case didn't.

We had 2 whole days of free time, which was wonderful when the weather was so fabulous. We all took the cable car up to the mountains. I'm not a huge fan of cable cars and the ride seemed to go on for ever, but it was worth it for the view and the fresh air.

Cable car ride

View from the top

Still, we were in a lovely place and there was a fabulous pool, gym and sun terrace at the top of the hotel. Look at this for a view, and isn't this just the most inviting pool?

It was a great place to chill before the concert.

We drove across to Schwaz in good time for a sound check at the Tennishalle, which is exactly that - a slightly odd place for a concert, but it held a good-sized audience, and it had a good-sized bar!

Tennishalle

We were surprised and delighted to discover that some of our friends from Ensemble Modern had come to support us. We are so used to being on stage with them, it was slightly disconcerting seeing them in the audience. As usual, Tehillim was the last piece in the programme, so the non-air-conditioned building had plenty of time to absorb the heat from all the audience members, adding to the 26ºC it had taken on from the afternoon sun. Apart from the fact that I've never been so hot in living memory, the performance went really well. Johannes Kalitzke was calm and clear, and the players did a great job. After the concert, we were treated to a fabulous meal in a local restaurant, at a table strewn with Swarovski crystals. Magpie Weston was in heaven!"