Random, December 13

The end of the year means it’s time for all sorts of lists, and The Concert has found itself on one of them! Over at Musical Perceptions, Scott Spiegelberg, a music professor at DePauw, has compiled the top 51 (don’t ask) music blogs, based on the technorati ranking. Thanks to all of you who link to The Concert, I came in at #20! Not bad. The company is great, of course, and there are at least a dozen that I’m not familiar with. Our little blogosphere is growing up! I seem to recall a conversation with Charles two summers ago, in which we talked about the growth of music blogging, what it was going to mean for music criticism, who would get involved, etc.. It’s fun to see so much of that coming to fruition. As Lampie said in The Brave Little Toaster, “We are pioneers!” (Again, don’t ask…)

Need some new recipes for your holiday parties? Check out the musical egg recipes over at Soho the Dog. Be sure to read all the comments, too; music dorks are really funny! Who knew? (I count myself among them, so I can jest. The music dorks, I mean, not necessarily the funny ones.) Given my current roommate, I think the Eggs Reich are my favorite. Although the Eggs Rorem is pretty darned hysterical…

I’m not going to comment on the La Scala-Alagna scandal. As a performer myself, I try to refrain from giving my opinions about other performers’ performances (got that?), either on or off the stage. But for an interesting conversation on the topic, specifically on the relationship between star singers and general managers, head over to Parterre. And again, read the comments for some very thoughtful and thought-provoking ideas.

I feel a little loopy tonight, in case you hadn’t noticed. I only had 15 minutes of rehearsal today, and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Maybe I’m not used to it… I had coffee with a friend (one of those friends you meet by chance, see once every two years or so, but always have a great time with and wish you saw more; you know the kind?), talked with ER, took a nap, walked through the misty Portland rain to a yoga class near the hotel, and got yummy take out from the vegan restaurant in the yoga studio. Maybe it’s the exercise and healthy food, going to my head…

Dress rehearsal tomorrow, so I promise to actually do some writing about my musical endeavors. For now I’ll just say that it is good to sing this music, good to work with such wonderful musicians, good to work. Life is good!