2007.12.28. Pacific Northwest Ballet performs Nutcracker at McCaw Hall. Wonderful stage design, and quite nice costumes and orchestra. An fun evening. First time for me to see Nutcracker on stage, even though it plays here every December. Surprised to see the house being quite full, .

2007.12.24. St. James Cathedral's Vigil of the Mass at Midnight. Arrived at 11pm for the carol service. All seats were taken. Stood for an hour. Left at midnight after the midnight mass started. Beautiful singing (better than yesterday's musical).

2007.12.23. Jesus Christ Superstar at Paramount Theatre. A rock musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber about the last week of Jesus' life. All conventional. Nothing interesting. Single stage. Loud sound. Title role was played by Ted Neeley, whose voice is close to broken.

2007.12.21. Seattle Men's Chorus's "Home For The Holidays" concert at Benaroya Hall. Fabulous. 200 voices, interestingly arranged into 3 parts, especially the Jumble Bell which is Jingle Bell disguised in a dozen ways (lyric and arrangement by Barnes). Funny verses in in Americana Carols and Teddy Bears' Holiday. Small comical ensembles interleaves with the whole chorus. Remember and Light a Candle was sung in such a grace. There was even a "reproduction" of the painting American Gothic. The entire concert was sign language interpreted. One verse of Silent Night was performed with no sound. The encore piece was most energetic, no instrument, but with some dance movements.
Black outfit with hidden decorations, red AIDS ribbon in the suit pin-hole.
One on piano, one drum, one percussion, one guitar, sometimes one clarinet. One guest saw player, who also played a tiny toy-harpsichord. Sign language interpreted.
Overall, beautiful and highly enjoyable.

2007.12.16. Mount Zion Mass Choir at Benaroya Hall. Over 60 voices. A couple of outstanding soloist. One on drum, one a guitar, one on other percussion, two on keyboards. After intermission, the UW Gospel Choir joined (close to 100 kids with less than 10 black). All under the direction of Phyllis Byrdwell and her keyboard. Male voices in the middle. No complicated arrangement.
I originally thought that this was a children's choir from Israel. Well, still it was fun. The audience was enthusiastic.

2007.12.10. Moor's 100 year birthday

Open house celebration of Moore Theatre's 100 year's birthday. Presented by Seattle Theater Group. Short performances on stage started at 5pm. In the balcony, this man has attracted many kids (alike). Hors-d'oeuvre in the lobby, Starbucks' coffee and hot chocolate at the door. Short guided tours (lasted maybe 5 minutes) every half an hour. Historic photos and ticket stubs lined walls of balcony level, one of which advertised the new hotel offering rooms without bath for $1.25, and rooms with bath for $1.5. Opening on December 28, 1907, The Moore Theatre was one of the grandest theatres at the time. The historic Moore Hotel, once boasted the city’s only Olympics-sanctioned indoor swimming pool.

2007.12.8. Another Microsoft holiday party. My first time at Meydenbauer Center. Quite convenient. Only a block away from the transit center (30 min by bus from downtown Seattle). Two divisions were hosting parties then, on different floors. The one I went with didn't bother to check badges. Practically anyone can come in and gorge himself. About 500+ gourmands were present in this large exhibition hall that seats 2000. Food and desert buffet, plenty and in good quality. Free wine and beer. Gambling tables aligned the walls.

2007.11.7. A John Denver Holiday Concert at Seattle Repertory Theatre, featuring Dan Wheetman, a former member of the Denver band. 6 in all: 1 base, 1 keyboard, 3 guitars (and other strings), 1 vocalist. They all sang. A large screen showed some nice photographs of Denver or by Denver. An happy event, but nothing spectacular.

2007.12.5. Laser opera at Laser Dome. Another Bravo Club event. Quite elaborate patterns, however, some resemble screen-savers. Fun show. Sound quality has much to improve. Program:

Vagner - Das Rheingold, overture - Georg Solti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic

Rossini - The Barber of Seville, Largo al factotum - Samuel Ramey, bariton; Riccardo Chailly conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala, Milan

Puccini - Gianni Schicci, O mio babbino caro - Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano; John Pritchard conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Borodin - Price Igor, Polovtsian Dances (V) - Charles Mackerras conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir

Donizetti - Lucia de Lammermoor, chi mi frena in tai momento (sextet)? - Maria Callas, soprano; Ferruccio Tagliavini, tenor; Piero Capuccilli, baritone; Bernard Ladysz, bass; Leonard del Ferro, tenor; Margreta Elkins, mezzo-soprano; Tullio Serafin conducts the Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus

Offenbach - The Tales of Hoffmann, Belle nuit, o nuit d'amour - Joan Sutherland, soprano; Huguette Tourangeau, mezzo-soprano; Richard Bonynge conducts the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Berdi - Aida, Gloria all'Egitto, ad Iside - Placido Domingo, tenor; Aprile Millo, soprano; James Morris, bass; Samuel Ramey, baritone; Dolora Zajick, mezzo-soprano; James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana, Intermezzo - Renata Scotto, soprano; Placido Domingo, tenor; Pablo Elvira, Baritone; James Levine conducts the National Philharmonic Orchestra

Korngold - The Dead City, Mariettas lied - Renee Fleming, soprano; Jeffrey Tate conducts the English Chamber Orchestra

Verdi - Rigoletto, Bella figlia dell'amore (quartet) - Cheryl Studer, soprano; Denyce Graves, contralto; Luciano Pavarotti, tenor; Vladamir Chernov, Baritone; James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Tchaikovsky - The Guardsman, Pochudilis mne budto golosa - Renee Fleming, soprano; Valery Gergiev conducts the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre

Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro, Cinque.. dieci.. venti.. trenta - Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano; Bryn Terfel, baritone; Myung-Whun Chung conducts the Roma Orchestra Dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Bizet - The Pearl Fishers, Au fond du temple sait - Marcelo Alvarez, lyric tenor; Salvatore Licitra, tenor; Daniel May conducts the City of Prague Philharmonic

Puccini - Turandot, Nessun dorma! - Luciano Pavarotti, tenor; Zubin Mehta conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra

2007.12.1. Microsoft Windows group Christmas party at Benaroya - nicely decorated for the holidays. Buffet dinner on the 1st and 2nd tier at 7pm, desert buffet at the atrium afterwards. Each person receives one ticket for alcoholic drinks. Seattle Symphony holiday concert 8-10pm.

Rossen Milanov, conductor
Joshua Roman, cello
Julian Schwarz, cello

Corelli: "Christmas" Concerto
Barber: Die natali, Choral Preludes for Christmas
Vivaldi: Concerto for Two Cellos in G minor, RV 531
Grainger: Molly on the Shore
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
Tchaikovsky: Selections from The Nutcracker

Food wasn't very good. The conductor was too much into acting. Gerard Schwarz's 16 year old son was better than I expected. Audience was a bit "uneducated" than usual. People walked in and out between pieces and applauded at wrong times. Some whispered during their entire time at the concert. They should have been in the atrium where a band was playing and people were dancing and socializing.
The reception for the security group at Fairmont was much better, in terms of food. Plus drink was free. It was a very small room. So, had to make small talks with people I don't (care to) know. Did return here with my host after the concert for another (and better) round of desert.
Well, working for Microsoft seems to have some merit.