We are back in Toronto and back at work. Aida has been rehearsing for a full week already and everybody's mood is great as I could see at a rehearsal visit this afternoon. Britten's Death in Venice, the second production of our fall run, is scheduled to start rehearsals on Friday.

Also, on the last day of this long weekend I finally collected the fruit of my summer thinking time: a very precise idea of how our 2014/15 could work. Very exciting.

And, on a completely unrelated matter, our Music Director Johannes has found an apartment in a wonderful neighbourhood.

2010/2011, we're ready to go.

After five days of rain it is freezing cold here now, 8 degrees Celsius.

For the end of this year's Festival I attended the final performance of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette yesterday. I had already seen Bartlett Sher's production when it was new two years ago, also with the young Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze as Juliette and our great Canadians Russell Braun (as Mercutio) and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the pit, who conducted with even higher intensity than last time around. The major point of interest for me, however, was Piotr Beczala's Roméo taking over the role from Rolando Villazón. Beczala must be one of the most accomplished and stylish singers today. It was a pure pleasure to listen to his performance with wonderful French style and diction as well as effortlessly floated high notes. We have tried to get him to the COC, without success so far. We will try again.

Tomorrow afternoon we will be back in Toronto.