Sunday, December 29, 2013

On the Road: Christmas in Washington

It had been a long time since we last spent Christmas away from home.  Over the past few years, our tradition had been to spend Christmas Day here in Vermont, then travel down to visit my parents in Washington, DC the next day.  But my father lobbied for us to come earlier so that we could attend his Christmas concert.
via Choral Arts Society of Washington
As discussed in a previous post, my father has sung with the Choral Arts Society of Washington for nearly 40 years.  The annual Christmas concert at the Kennedy Center was an important family tradition growing up.  Neither my wife nor our daughter had ever been to one so I suppose it was high time.

The group has a relatively new conductor.  Founder Norman Scribner retired in spring 2012 after 47 years and was replaced by Scott Tucker, most recently of Cornell University.  Choirs generally reflect the personality of their directors and a more relaxed, playful atmosphere is quite apparent in the new regime.  This year's concert was sponsored by the Italian Embassy so Italian music was predominant, including works by Andrea Gabrieli (1532-1585) and Salomone Rossi (ca. 1570-1620), a Jewish composer entirely new to me.  Also on the program were selections from Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols and Handel's Messiah, for both of which the Choral Arts Society was joined by the astonishingly talented Children's Chorus of Washington.

Three highlights for me:
  1. Holst's sublime setting of "In the Bleak Midwinter," a piece I have sung myself - hard not to tear up for that one.
  2. My father's performance in the smaller Chamber Chorus.  He claimed he was nervous but it certainly didn't show.
  3. The sing-along at the end of the concert, a long-standing tradition.  In addition to the usual choral power pieces like "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," we sang verses of both "White Christmas" and "Silent Night" in Italian.
Overall, it was a very short visit - just two full days wedged between our travel days.  It was supposed to be three but the ice storm here in Vermont held us back a day.  So, not too much time for the touristy stuff.

My parents did introduce us to a new (to us) restaurant on Monday evening: Napoleon Bistro & Lounge.  It's a short walk from their apartment so they've been many times.  However, the restaurant has just hired a new chef so the menu was new to all of us.  My Wife and I split the pate appetizer, then I had the hangar steak.  I also got a bite of the chocolat fondant for dessert.  All were lovely.  She had the duck confit, but thought I'd ordered better - that doesn't usually happen.  The raviolini was a big hit with Our Girl.  She cleaned her plate.

Back to the land of ice and snow on Thursday.  It was a nice visit - short but relaxed.  Hopefully, we'll be back again before too long.

20 comments:

  1. It sounds like a lovely time! So glad the weather wasn't to much of a hindrance.

    Wishing you a very Happy New Year!

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  2. We haven't been anywhere for Christmas for 12 years. That was the last time I saw my parents. My younger son was just about to turn 1. They haven't seen him since nor have they ever met their granddaughter.
    But that's life.

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  3. Sounds like a lovely visit.
    How special to hear your father sing at Christmas.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. It definitely was. For my daughter, especially, it's really important for her to know this part of his life.

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  4. To forever associate her grandfather's voice with songs of grace and universal possibilities-- this is an exquisite gift you have given your daughter. As a grandfather, I am much moved by this post.

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    1. Thanks, Geo. My own grandparents have long passed, but I carry aspects of them with me daily. I hope it will be the same for her.

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    2. Gosh. What a beautiful response from such a fine mind to your 'What I did for Christmas' post. All I got was, 'do you really throw stones at Canucks?' ;P

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    3. In any event, this was a nice post. It sounds like you and your loved ones enjoyed a very special time.

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    4. It was a nice visit. But it was also very nice to come home and have a few quiet days before heading back to the mines. Sure is cold, though...

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    5. I cannot fathom the brutal cold of the East coast. I know we're farther North than you guys but I'm pretty sure I couldn't withstand the temps + wind chill of the eastern seaboard/vicinity. I've only just this winter acquired my first puffer jacket! :)

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    6. It's been a brutal couple of weeks. Ice storms are just nasty - much worse than snow. We do get a lot of snow here but the cold, even this week, is really nothing compared to what I used to experience in the Upper Midwest. Those Arctic blasts across the prairie are quite a thing to behold.

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  5. I hope you had a very happy holiday on the go. May you and your family have a happy new year as well.

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  6. Wow, sounds like a great visit! The concert sounds just beautiful..

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    1. It was lovely. I think they struck gold with the new conductor. The choir's always been good but I love the direction they're taking now.

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