I took this picture in Nice, France, because it seemed like the right thing to do. I liked the idea of a sort of modern-day troubador offering his or her (or their) services for baptisms and so on. You don't get a lot of call in the US for special music for a baptism, and I thought perhaps we could start a trend. So if you want singers for your baptism (or your child's, or any other person for that matter) then you know where to call. No, not the number in the picture—call 412-421-5884. By the time you paid the transportation fee for the person or persons from Nice, I'm sure that we would be much more reasonably priced.
Other than finding out where I could get singers for my special ceremony, whatever it might be, I didn't encounter much singing in France. Or any, really. The holidays were over, and nothing new had started up. Had I wished to pay 20 euros to the local community center in Antibes, I could have joined a chorus of sorts, but I didn't feel like spending that much money on something that I didn't know what I was getting into. Offhand, I'm guessing that the musical quality was not particularly high.
I did, however, encounter a good many creches. Apparently the big thing for Christmas in Provence is creches. I was told that small villages have competitions to see who can outdo all of the other villages. I don't know whether these are live creches or statues—unfortunately I found this out too late in the trip to do my due diligence. I'm guessing, though, that whichever church it is in East Liberty that has the live creche with a real camel on Christmas eve would win the contest.
The creches that I did see were in churches. We visited Monaco for the purpose of visiting the Maritime Museum and Aquarium. Really! We did not stop to roll even a single die or pull the handle of a single one-armed bandit. Over to the right is a picture of a sea urchin to prove that we were there. But we did stroll around the old section of Monaco after the musuem, including walking past the palace. The whole place looks a bit like a movie set. There is no trash, and there were hardly any people that day. It was a bit odd.
We wandered into the cathedral, and they had an exhibition of 100 creches. They were all sizes, materials, provenances, and so on. There was a tiny one out of Swarovski crystal, and large ones of wood and ceramic. There were creches from Bavaria and Peru and Africa and you name it. It was a bit overwhelming, really.
A week later Tony and I had a look around the cathedral in Antibes (at least I think it was a cathdral - it was pretty small, but that doesn't mean anything, I suppose.) I was delighted to discover a "Creche Provencal." It was full of delightful details that one could have studied for quite some time. Below are a few of my favorite shots.
And I apologize for a post that is about the lack of choral music, rather than the opposite. But as I noted at the start, you can remedy this by calling the Camerata office and booking a group for your baby shower, high school reunion, or renewal of vows. What we can sing for is limited only by your imagination. (Well, mostly.) It's a bit late for this year's Super Bowl parties, but how about next year? Actually, scratch that one, because I'm quite sure the Steelers will be in it, and I'll be in no fit state to co-ordinate a choral performance : )
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