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Sunday, January 13, 2019

The Messiah at the Angela Peralta and Lunch with Fred & Marion

Today we were off to the Angela Peralta theatre for our Sunday afternoon concert.  I’d picked up tickets for Fred and Marion as they wanted to attend as well.   After the concert the plan is to go out for lunch and catch up.

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A beautiful Sunday morning and Eric’s resting up for the concert.

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We caught the bus at 11am along with Ruth and Eddie and were off downtown.  A quick walk down Constitucion St. to the Plazuela and here we are.  When we arrived we saw Marion and Fred catching up with a friend.

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The Indians were putting on a drum display while we sat and waited to go in for the concert.  Farther north in Mexico you will see the Yaqui’s doing this but I don’t know what tribe this is and couldn’t find any info on the internet.   Yes gentle readers they are Indians in the United States and Mexico!

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Fred came over to sit with us and have a chat while we waited.  We were parked next to Fred and Marion in Las Jaibas  for quite a few years and we all became good friends.

11:50 and time to head inside and find our seats.

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When I picked up tickets for them Marion asked if I could get tickets in the first balcony….which is the same as where we like to sit.  She said she doesn’t like to be squished in with everyone else down below and that she can see better from the balcony…we agree!  Funny enough I got the exact same seats that they always sat in when they came to these concerts in years past.  How strange is that.

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The Culiacan choir and the Camerata Campbell orchestra is getting seated. 

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Today’s concert is much better attended than last weeks and each week Gordon tells us how important it is for us to come and….to tell all our friends.  You will never be disappointed with one of these Sunday afternoon concerts. 

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Pretty full today even people up in the nosebleed section!  Up that high you have to peer through the railings to see but…it is cheaper to sit there.

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The lead violin Olga Khudoblyak tunes up the orchestra. 

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Gordon Campbell welcomes us and speaks in English and Spanish so that everyone can understand.  He gives us a brief history of the Messiah oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741. 

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Part of the choir…the lady in burgundy on the very left is Gordon’s wife.

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The concert starts.

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The violin section with the oboes behind.

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Tenor solo by Jesus Miguel Holguin Blancas.

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When the choir started to sing “ And the Glory of the Lord” the hair just stood up on the back of my neck.  Amazing sound in this theatre.

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Baritone solo by Oziel Herrera Hernandez…..a very deep beautiful voice. 

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The double bass and behind the lady playing the harpsichord which is an instrument of the time period.

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Messosoprano Lucia del Carmen Ramirez Casillas.  A lovely voice but she didn’t seem to carry very well.

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The tenors and bassos.

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Soprano Perla Azucena Orrantia Duran….a beautiful voice that soared above the orchestra.  Just lovely.

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The concert is drawing to a close and the final number is “Hallelujah” and the audience rose to their feet.  Well not us…. but then we didn’t have anyone in front of us so we could see.  Back in March of 1743 King George II rose to his feet and since the king was standing everyone else stood as well.  Why did he stand?  No one really knows and now it has just become a tradition. 

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I could hear the odd voice in the audience joining in.  At the start of the concert the audience was invited to join the choir if they desired…no takers. 

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The soloists were invited forward to take a bow.

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All in place and….

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….a final bow by Gordon Campbell.  The audience had been asked to hold all applause until the end of the concert and all that saved up appreciation was just defeaning.  The loudest applause for a soloist was for the baritone Oziel Herrera Hernandez! 

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Gordon salutes the choir and asks them to take a bow.  A very powerful performance by a wonderful choir, superb soloists and a great orchestra….what more could you ask for. 

The good news was that they had toned down the A/C a bit this week and we were all only mildly chilled!

So now we had to choose a place to have lunch.  I prodded Marion to make a choice ( we were all too easy going about where we would eat) and she finally said lets walk down to Olas Altas and have lunch by the ocean.   Sounded like a plan.

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Wandering down Constitucion towards the malecon. 

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That is Fabula where we ate for ladies lunch two weeks ago.  A very pretty building.  I just love the red accents.

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Fred and Eric hiking along. 

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Now isn’t that a lovely view looking north.  The wind is very brisk but it is very warm and we are all comfortable.

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Marion had her eye on a specific restaurant and we walked along until we arrived at La Fonda de Chalio.  Looked good because it was very busy and Fred and Marion had eaten here before. 

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Looking south.

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Drinks were ordered and menu choices made.  Cold cerveza and in no time my lunch arrived.  I’d been craving a chili relleno and this one is stuffed with shrimp and cheese.  Yum!

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Marion and Eric ordered the stuffed fish filet and it was filled with shrimp and octopus and wrapped in bacon.  Very good.

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Fred had a hankering for shrimp which turned out to have their shells on which really makes a mess!  Good though.

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I got a nice lady next to us to take a photo and ….here we all are.

Only complaint of the day was that they allow dogs at the outside tables.  Not our cup of tea and not Fred and Marion’s either especially when the beagle that was tied to a local man’s table decided to urinate by their table.  Fred asked the waiter to draw it to their attention and ask them to clean it up but…he did not.  Just disgusting.  That was not the only dog as a few gringos has their with them as well.  Leave your darn dogs at home.   They do not belong where food is being served unless it’s in your own kitchen.  

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Lunch is over and we walk back towards the Plazuela and Benito Juarez street where we will catch a bus home.  The buses used to travel along the malecon close to where we were eating but not anymore. 

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Another very attractive building.  Too bad there’s always a vehicle out front spoiling my photos!

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Trudging along.

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I suggested that we should all have an ice cream cone to top off our meal and I didn’t get any complaints about that.  Here you can see Marion in front of the Helado shop located just south of  the Angela Peralta Theatre. 

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Now what shall we have.  I had cheese cake with some sort of berry in it and so did Marion.  I got Eric a Ferrero Roche and Marion picked “ Avocado honey” for Fred because….he likes avocados.  Nice green color.  

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A timed photo of us eating our cones.  Fred said his was delicious…who knew.  They were all really good and….just what the doctor ordered!  While we sitting there dribs and drabs of the singers, orchestra section and even Gordon Campbell wandered by.  They’d all had Paella at the Gala restaurant and were getting ready to board their bus and head back to Culliacan.  The baritone soloist was singing as he passed by and we all broke into applause and he looked behind to give us a sheepish and surprized grin.  Funny! 

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Yum!  Really good ice cream. 

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Now that little girl is really enjoying her cone!

Ice cream done and all chatted out we wandered up the street to Benito Juarez and caught the bus home.  Fred and Marion got off at the Luna Palace where they are staying and we continued home. 

A lovely performance, good food and a really nice visit with old friends ….what more could you ask for. 

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like a really nice day. I am still trying to get Bill to go to the theater.
    I know the cars parked in front of great pictures drive me crazy.

    ReplyDelete