Yes, he came by during our warm-up. First he reminded us of something he said during dress rehearsal: "'Watch me closely, and then any mistakes will be my fault.' Well..."

We had a good laugh and then he admitted that he accidentally turned two pages at once, thereby losing his place. He applauded us for going with the flow and getting back on track. When we got to that part in yesterday's show, he looked up at us with a sheepish grin, and I couldn't help but smile back.

After the maestro left, our choral conductor also complimented us on our recovery, and made the excellent point that people come to see live music because of its unpredictability. "If they wanted perfection, they would stay home and listen to their CDs." Which also made us laugh. Not that this means we shouldn't strive for perfection, of course. I suspect that's part of why yesterday's show went so well -- we were mindful of the night before, and therefore just that much more attentive.

And of course we all got a good story out of it, another addition to our choral folklore: "the night Maestro Cai skipped half of 'In Trutina'" ;)

You know, I don't think I've ever had a conductor work from memory, except possibly in high school where we mostly sang short pieces. These larger-scale choral/orchestral works have so many cues and meter and tempo changes for the conductor to keep track of -- I would be in awe of anyone who could do it. :) I am a bit in awe of conductors anyway, given how many balls they have to keep in the air.

I am feeling better, thank you, which is good because the librarian who works tonight called in sick. :P Good thing I have lots of student minions today...