It looks like there may be another booming storm cooking up out there, preparing to punctuate the tail end of a fine day. As with last week, Monday and Tuesday have been low on rollouts for the Big Festival, as it recuperates from a second crazy weekend and gathers itself for the last mad rush toward Sunday’s finale. Last night’s main event was Verdi’s big Requiem, with the Westminster Choir, the Charleston Symphony Chorus, and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra bringing the number of musicians on (or under) the Gaillard stage to nearly 200.
When the last libera me faded into silence, the jam-packed crowd thanked conductor Joe Flummerfelt and his charges with no fewer than four curtain calls. Many in attendance who made it to the end without nodding off (as I did last year) seemed to feel they’d fulfilled their church-going obligations for the next several years, with credit – this goes double for the present and former Catholics in the crowd. Music critic Lindsay Koob was there, with bells on (not literally, as far as I know); you can read his thorough account of the onstage business at sibling CP blog Eargasms. This blogger had an overview column to write for Wednesday’s newspaper, so I had to pass on the post-Requiem celebrations, but the SpoletoToday team was there.
Tonight it’s back to the Gaillard for the Spoleto’s second Festival Concert, an evening with Mahler, Strauss, and Dukas that I’m told hasn’t been selling as well as organizers had hoped. If there’s time afterward, I plan to catch some of the Upright Citizens Brigade improv act at Theatre 99. A brief encounter with that gang Saturday night was just enough to leave me wanting the full heat. Tomorrow, of course, is the premiere of Philip Glass’ much anticipated Book of Longing at Sottile Theatre, as well as jazz impresario Augustin Luna’s first gig at Recital Hall. The face of Spoleto 2007 will be performing on the keyboards himself at the Sottile, but be warned: Chuck Close’s painting is 28 years old. If you’re going to see Longing looking for that young Bruce Springsteen lookalike, you may be in for a shock.
Verdi mid-concert cellphone ring count: 2
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