Opera showcased at RWCMD

More rain overnight, but a dry day with blue skies and sunshine most of the time, but colder now after so much rain this week. I spent an hour on the phone to my sister June after breakfast. So pleased to hear that the latest medication she's been prescribed seem to be working and at last she's sleeping better. Then I got to work on my Sunday sermon. We had lunch early so we could walk to RWCMD for a two o'clock show in which opera students show cased their term's work, by performing different scenes from a wide range of operas all presented in the same stage setting with no scene changes, just some changes of costume by the singers, and a continuous flow from one scene to another. Cleverly done

It took place in the Richard Burton Theatre, and it's the first time I've been in there, let alone to a show. It's a smallish auditorium with stalls and two encircling galleries and the stage framed by a proscenium arch. At first the show was a little confusing, as the form of presentation was unexpected, and there was no time to read the programme beforehand. 

There were eleven scenes, from composers of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries plus a contemporary work by an unheard of composer. A quintet, quartets, trios, duets of singers performed and the eleven members of the complete company rendered a beautiful Handel Chorus I'd never heard before. An amazing variety packed into a ninety minute programme, performed with charm, gusto, good humour with superb acting and singing by everyone. 

I was glad the sun was shining brightly when we walked back through Bute Park. We called at the Secret Garden cafe for a drink. It was rather cold sitting outdoors and it was necessary to walk briskly the rest of the way. The river at Blackweir Bridge wasn't quite as high as yesterday but still pretty full. When we got back I completed my sermon before cooking a lentil porridge with broccoli spears in it for supper. There was only one thing I wanted to watch at nine, plus the evening news, so after we'd eaten with time to spare I prepared liturgical material for next week, then read another chapter of Diana's novel before Norwegian crimmie 'For Life' came on.

More foreign nationals are being let out of Gaza, including a group of Brits today, but still the killing of civilians continues. Hassan Nazrallah the head of heavily armed Hezbollah islamist militants in Lebanon has spoken publicly today about the situations in Gaza, warning of regional escalation but not committing Hezbollah to do more than it already is, with distractive surprise attacks along the the Israeli border. He stated that Hamas in Gaza had acted unilaterally without any of its allies knowing its plans, in some sense disowning his group of any responsibility but not criticising the outrage. Hezbollah's army is much more powerful and larger than that of Hamas, but for the moment, not interested in joining this fight. Netanyahu shows no sign of agreeing to a humanitarian pause, and cease-fire is not an option, regardless of the scale of non-combatant losses. It's just as insane as the mass murder of Israelis which precipitated this war. And the world seems helpless in the face of such ruthlessness. 

Lord have mercy upon us.