Jet lag finally hit me, after another sleepless night on a redeye flight from Washington DC, train to Gloucester and going at Three Choirs Festival all day so when I got back to the hotel and finished yesterday’s blog post, I was ready for bed about 10:45 pm.
Alas, I was awakened by some noisy partygoers somewhere else in the hotel at 1:39 am, PLUS the constant loud wailing from the seagulls (!) and the sound of their collective loud voices and laughing woke me up. Once up, I tossed and turned (and looked at my email—bad girl!) until after 4 am, finally drifting back to sleep and not waking until 8 am.
Luckily there was plenty of time to get ready for the Three Choirs Festival outing beginning with a 35-minute bus ride at 9:30 am to the medieval Berkeley Castle, which has been standing here for 900 years, being built in 1170 AD by the Berkeley family (pronounced Barkley).
Can you believe this description as found in the guide book:
Not many of us can boast of having our private house celebrated by Shakespeare, nor of having held in the possession of our family for over eight hundred years, nor of having had a King of England murdered within its walls, nor of having welcomed at our table the local vicar, John Trevisa (1326-1402), reputed as one of the earliest translaters of the Bible, nor of having a breach battered by Oliver Cromwell, which to this day we are forbidden by law to repair even should we wish to do so.
Of course, I was waylaid by the sight of the colorful flowers along the entrance!
As you can tell, it was a beautiful day!
Here are some interior shots:
I was happy to renew my acquaintance with John and Rosemary Allsop, the parents of organist Christopher Allsop, all of whom I met at last year’s Three Choirs Festival in Hereford. You remember, when his parents introduced me to their son, he said that he already knew me through my blog! See what I wrote last year:
Do you remember my mentioning an English couple I met on the historic walking tour and how they told me their son was the assistant organist at Worcester Cathedral? Well, tonight I met him! His name is Christopher Allsop and his mother asked if I would like to meet him during the interval (intermission).
What I was so surprised is Christopher said he already knew me from my blog! And today was just a formality to finally meet in person!
“People in England know you because just Google ‘Three Choirs Festival” and “reviews”, and your blog comes right up!”
In fact he said that a number of people in England had been reading my blog for years!
In the Allsops’ parish church in Twickenham is buried William Berkeley (1605-1677), the governor of Virginia, who was supposed to relay a message from King during the colonial time when taxes were in question. Remember the Boston Tea Party? However Berkeley got sick and died and never delivered the message. History may have changed had he not gotten sick!
By the way, at last night’s spectacular Verdi Requiem, only two women stood at the end, but no one else did. I’m guessing the two women were Americans where a standing ovation is almost customary after such a phenomenal performance. Guess a SO is not automatic here, which I’m afraid in America is almost trivial.
Here’s what my long-time friend Joe Hansen said on Facebook about the Verdi Requiem and Berlioz’ The Damnation of Faust (which I missed since I was en route from North Carolina)
Twenty four hours of incredible music and performance beginning with Saturday evenings partially staged rendition of the rarely heard Berlioz“The Damnation of Faust”and concluding tonight with a world class performance of the Verdi “Requiem” conducted by the newly appointed principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra – Edward Gardner. Hearing the Philharmonia Orchestra reach such a level of perfection on very difficult works on successive nights is awesome and inspiring! The same can be said of the festival chorus. Although the casts of soloists change for different roles, they always seem to have the foremost stars for each role. Daytimes, also, are packed with more great music and lectures.
Joe is here with Rick Cicinelli and Noreen Naughton and I saw them all shortly after I arrived but forgot to take their pictures.
Here is the official photo by Michael Whitefoot Photography of last night’s performers.
Hello, Katherine. My brother, Don Conover, occasionally forwards your wonderful blog to me. He knew that this Summer I had wanted to attend at least one of the Three Choirs events this year at Goucester Cathedral and particularly their exciting presentation of Vaughn-Williams “A Sea Symphony.” Unfortunately, though, I was unable to make this work for me this time ‘round. I’ve never yet attended a Three Choirs event and am very curious about how you approach attending this amazing festival, i.e., attending all or part of the offerings, finding accommodation, etc. Thanks, Jim Conover
Hotel rooms are scarce so I always start looking for a booking about a year in advance. Next year the Festival will be in Worcester. I join the American Friends of the Three Choirs Festival so I get first crack at getting good tickets. I even stay up late in Hawaii so when the Ticket Office opens at 10 am in the UK, I am ready to start my ticket order. Even still, when I look for tickets on the first day and within a MINUTE of the opening times, seats are already taken. I suggest you contact Rich Arenschieldt at [email protected]—-chairman of the American Friends, Three Choirs, for further information about joining.