Not baby related.

Last night, we enjoyed a rare "adult" night out which consisted of what every one of our adult nights out do - dinner and some sort of concert.
Mary got to spend some time with Jordan, her favorite sitter (she wouldn't even give us kisses as we were leaving: "Nope. I'm playing.") and we enjoyed sitting at a restaurant table not having to count butter packets, stack jelly packets, etc.
:)

The concert was a performance of Sergey Rachmaninoff's "All-Night Vigil", which happens to be my favorite non-Mozart piece of music. I have been waiting and looking for a performance of this for a good long time (I remember a year or so ago, it was performed at St. Ignatius around the corner from my house, but I didn't find out about it until a couple of days after the concert. I nearly cried.)
So when I got my little postcard in the mail announcing that the Chicago Chorale would be performing it twice, once in April at Holy Family and again in May at Institute of Christ the King, I got tickets.

After a lovely dinner at Tatsu Sushi (highly recommended - affordable and non-pretentious, located on Taylor Street in the heart of Little Italy), we headed to Holy Family. Holy Family is a stunningly beautiful church, but if you live in Chicago long enough, you get sort of used to stunningly beautiful churches. This doesn't make your jaw drop any less upon seeing them, but you sort of come to expect it. So I enjoyed finally going to this historic church. Holy Family is a great story all its own. In 1871 as the Chicago Fire raged across the city, Father Damen (pastor, founder and Chicago street name) was in Brooklyn preaching a parish mission. He was informed of the fire, and he immediately prayed that his little parish, built with the nickles and dimes of immigrants, be spared. In return, he promised he would build a shrine to Our Lady of Perpetual Help and keep 7 candles lit there at all times. Though the neighborhood was devastated in the fire, Holy Family was untouched. The Shrine and the 7 candles are in the church to this day. Interestingly, Patrick and Catherine O'Leary (famous cow-owners) were a couple of Father Damen's parishioners at the time.
In 1987, plans were made to demolish Holy Family, just like plans were made to demolish nearly every beautiful church in Chicago, including my parish.

According to Holy Family's website:

In the summer of 1990, Father Wild told Father Lane and the parishioners that the Preservation Society had to have $1 million cash in the bank by Dec. 31, 1990, or the money would have to be given back and the church torn down. Father Lane and board member, Dick Barry, decided to reenact or replicate Father Damen's strategy to save the church from the Chicago Fire of 1871. A prayer vigil was held from Dec, 26 until Dec. 31, with the deadline on Dec. 31. The motto and plea was to "Say Prayers and Send Money." And the money came pouring in. But it was obvious that a more dramatic gesture was needed. An open house was held on Sunday, Dec. 30th, the feast of the Holy Family. The media were told of the open house and from noon to 5 o'clock, between 2 and 3 thousand people came to see the church. Each one had a story - my grandparents were married here, I was baptized here, etc. -and each one had a check or a cash donation. By the midnight deadline, a total of $1,011,000 had been received. The people had saved their big old church through the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

These photos don't nearly do this beautiful church justice.
Nor do they show the felt banners that were up front on either side of the altar. Seriously. Here is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in North America, and it's got felt within its walls. Do you think the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has felt banners? Or Dome of the Rock? Or the Wailing Wall? The 70s are over, folks. Let 'em go.
The material felt belongs in second grade classrooms and no place else in the universe. I remember an old USCG Master Chief always used to say, "Those are nice pants. Are they silk?" and upon the puzzled wearer saying, "No, they aren't silk", he'd respond, "Well, could they be felt?", which would make everyone chuckle. That's what felt makes me think of. That, and gas lines and ERA and Keep on Truckin' and CB radios and kids with Prince Valiant haircuts and smiley faces.
I digress.

The performance was preceded by a lecture by Dr. Yaroslav Gorbachev, professor of Slavic Languages and Literature at the prestigious University of Chicago. Though Dr. Gorbachev admitted music "wasn't his specialty" up front, the lecture was nevertheless a lot of fun. It is obvious that he loves his Motherland and it's obvious he loves Rachmaninoff. He had fun fact after fun fact about Sergey and his life. When he spoke about Rachmaninoff's marriage to his first cousin, he mentioned how they had to get married in a military barracks because the Orthodox Church refused to marry the couple. "Orthodox Church forbids marriage between first cousins. After all, this isn't England," said Dr. Gorbachev, which evoked much laughter. He spoke about the Revolution (which he called the "so-called Revolution, which was actually a coup d'etat") and what a tragic effect it had on all of Russia, including Rachmaninoff, who barely composed after 1917 and admitted something inside him had died when he fled his homeland.
I could have listened to Gorbachev talk for hours - he was young and adorable with a wry sense of humor.

As far as the actual performance...

One of my favorite recordings of "All-Night Vigil" is by the chamber choir Tenebrae. Their recording of this piece is flawless, as is all their work.
So I wasn't sure how Chicago Chorale was going to stack up.
Oh, they stacked up. They stacked up alright.

It was amazing. The voices filled all 15,000 square feet of that historic church and soared up to the 65' ceiling. It was a strong performance. I'm not sure where they found those low basses because I didn't see any Russian names in the program, but they did non-Russian low basses proud. And watching Bruce Tammen conduct is not only exhausting, it's so much fun.

I wasn't necessarily going to attend the May performance, but now I wouldn't miss it. If you are anywhere near Chicago, you have GOT to go see Chicago Chorale for one of their concerts.
I don't have video of last night's concert, but if you're unfamiliar with the piece, here are a couple of selections performed by Russian choirs.

Sigh.


Priidite, Poklonimsya (Come, Let Us Worship) performed by the USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir [shudder], 1986:

Come, let us worship God our King.
Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ our King and our God.
Come, let us worship and fall down before the very Christ, our King and our God.
Come, let us worship and fall down before Him.

Nyne Otpushchayeshi (Lord, Now Lettest Thou) performed by the Orthodox Singers Male Choir:

Fun Fact: Rachmaninoff requested this very piece for his own funeral. Fortunately, he didn't die in Communist Russia, and so his request was able to be granted. In my imagination, I have this totally awesome funeral, and this piece is performed as the casket leaves the church. My fantasy funeral is off the hook, y'all!

(This is the so-called "Prayer of Simeon", uttered by the old man right after he saw the Infant Jesus and right before he keeled over dead.)

Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word,
for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people — a light to enlighten the Gentiles,
and the glory of Thy people Israel.

Visit the Chicago Chorale website (where you can buy tickets to the upcoming performance) here.

Fun Fact: "All Night Vigil" was banned in Russia after 1917. The first recording was made in 1965, but was prohibited from being heard in the USSR. It was, however, available for export and is still regarded as a legendary performance.