I just come back from a performance of Handel's Messiah at the historic Chung-dong First Methodist Church, in City Hall Station in Seoul. I have to say, they were pretty fantastic and throughly enjoyable. I feel a bit strange that I can enjoy classical music this much, as I really hated it when I was younger.
A clip of "Rejoice Greatly" with the awesome soprano Myung-Sung Han
I used to get really bored and wonder why they were shouting to such loud noise. But after months of my ears swimming in a audio sea of sugary-sweet, "oily" K-pop, I guess the familiarity of this music is comforting to me. My mom played this music a lot at holiday dinner parties, and "Hallelujah" is used in many American films. Also, when I sit back and take in the enormous amount of time and effort the musicians and the choir must have put in to pull this off, I begin to feel that this is not a performance but rather a gift. I think of my old roommate Allison's scholarship award speech that the actor's performance was a gift of sacrifice. Bathed in the waterfalls of sweet soprano voice, I feel the hard work that they have put in. For less than $10 I got to see a professional grade, heart-moving and goosebumps-inducing full on choir and orchestra.
See what people are capable of creating. Isn't humankind fascinating?
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