Today is the first day I really look forward to the new year. “The old has gone, the new has come! ” Future seems positive and full of hope. I have had one thing to look forward to already – a cute roommate with a brand new cute haircut. The air is cool but the sun is shining brightly, and though the migraine bothers me quite much, the burden on my heart’s lifted and Handel’s Messiah is playing in my head the entire day, pleasantly, of course. His burden is easy; His yoke is light.
I believe I witnessed a personal miracle last night. Though it might seem insignificant, even irrelevant, to others. We went to SF Symphony Hall for Handel’s oratorio Messiah. This was my third Handel Messiah experience, if I don’t count Hallelujah chorus, which I myself sang Alto in the choir when I was in Buf. The first time I listened to Messiah live was at National Music Hall in Taipei few years ago. The second time was in 2004 when I just got to the Bay Area. I found out the annual You-Sing-It Messiah concert in San Jose and invited some sisters to join me. It was awesome but pity that I could only sing Hallelujah’s Alto part properly; I’ve never practiced other songs. (As opposed some sister in the choir, they’ve done the entire, well, abridged, Messiah before!) This time, I decided to visit SF Symphony and enjoy a more “orthodox” performance conducted by Jane Glover.
Due to the weather and traffic, we got there just on time but still a bit late that we didn’t make it to the seat when Sinfony started. Naturally, we weren’t allowed to go in along with dozens of other people (maybe more than a hundred.) The usher told me it’d be around 20 minutes. I thought, For Unto Us a Child is Born, my favorite, is often the 10th track (it turned out to be the twelveth) in most complete Messiah albums; I should be able to be in my seat by the time they get to this song. However, when I went over and asked the usher when exactly we could get in, she pointed at (Chorus)For Unto Us a Child is Born on the program, said “After this.”
I was devastated.
I was depressed enough when I discovered that we had to stay outside and miss 20 minutes of the performace. I hate to miss Sinfony. It’s supposed to be beautiful and get you right into the mood. And now she told me I’m gonna have to miss my favorite song!? (HL joked, “Shall we go home now?” Man… at least we’ll always have Hallelujah okay? ) I stood by the stairs where I could get the best sounf from inside, trying hard to enjoy the music while the chatters on the corridor became louder and louder. I was anxious. Two songs before “For unto us”, I saw our usher responded to the usher at the other side saying something like “after this?” A sparkle in the darkness. I saw a thin light of hope and I started to pray, “please let me get in before For unto us.” And we did.
I can talk more about the performance, like how disappointed I was at the Soprono who missed at least 3 notes during the entire performance (or I just didn’t like her interpretation?), or how different the conducter decided to present the oratorio from the way I prefer (afterall, I have listened to more than 10 different Messiah recordings. I know my preference when it comes to interpreting Messiah.) But I think I’ll leave this small miracle as my conclusion of the night.
It was beautiful and satisfying
and, darn…. when will my migraine go away?