We�re doomed, Captain! We�re doomed!
5:37 p.m.
Last night the UpIands Musical Society met to rehearse for our upcoming concerts at the music department. One of the altos, who has been suffering from a rather bad cold and who happened to be my kids� nursery school teacher, asked one of the tenors how the rehearsal was the other day of the choir they both belong to as she hadn�t been there owing to her illness. This brought on a rant about political panderings, something this particular vocal ensemble has been plagued with forever and the main reason why I never joined it. I said this out loud, and the alto just lit into me rather viciously about how unfair it was to say that when they made good music. My friend Herr Doktor Professor the baritone to my right reserved comment, seeing how I was attacked so vehemently, but told me afterwards that that was precisely why he had never joined either, even though attempts to recruit him had been made repeatedly.
I did sing once with that ensemble as an invited soloist at a concert given as part of the sesqui-centennial celebrations of our university. On that occasion we were accompanied by harpsichord, the university owning a beauty by a renowned Quebec harpsichord maker but which, characteristically, has to be tuned before each performance. In this case it was not. It was so out of tune that I was never really sure what I was supposed to be singing at any given time. It was pretty awful. Unfortunately I was never invited back as a soloist, not because I�m not competent, but because I�m not famous. It was all right for me to sing at a concert honouring my place of employment, but when they did the B Minor Mass of Bach several months down the road, I was not the soliste invit�e, but rather someone from Quebec City highlighted the programme. So you can understand why I am not so anxious to associate myself with that ensemble.
Our rehearsal last night was long and arduous. I am finding this to be a less-than-rewarding experience as I feel that my talents are underutilized. Vlad is always shushing me for one thing, and now she�s relegated me to second soprano while she takes all the upper melody lines and most of the solos, even when they�re not stipulated for soprano. I also find it really hard to tune to her, so much so that I asked Herr Doktor on the way out (I drove him home) if I was the one out of tune or if it was she. He admitted that he has a hard time tuning in that group anyway, since the altos are so weak and no one really seems to know what they�re doing. Well I know what I�m doing. I even practised my music this morning.
It almost makes me wonder if she is trying to ease me out of the group by making my life in it intolerable. She would never just ask me to leave, but perhaps if she keeps depriving me of the limelight, knowing that it bothers me, that I might just quit and then she can replace me with someone who �blends� better. If it were anyone else I wouldn�t harbour these kinds of thoughts. But I never really know what Vlad is thinking, and I�m not sure I entirely trust her; and if she should happen to stumble on this diary, I�m doomed.
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