tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18725217320245349252024-02-19T00:42:08.341-05:00I'd rather be sleeping (but opera is keeping me awake)My musings as I learn about and participate in opera.Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.comBlogger973125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-16217918075044092702014-06-25T10:52:00.003-04:002014-06-25T10:52:52.371-04:00Pre-Hijack 6 Month Update<div class="MsoNormal">
I seriously haven’t posted since JANUARY????? Yikes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So I guess I’ll squash 6 months worth of opera and Mars activity into
one post before hijacking my own blog to participate in an education chat over
the summer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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One topic at a time:<div>
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First… The WING is no longer. I’m not sure what happened. So … I’m back on the main stage, as they call it. I’ve performed in
two concerts. One was “April in Paris” and it was so much fun! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ByGcqtyAwaaPiFT4-zAJ_5xhSKJ_Nx6M8goZ7_le2UHAbb72K5VhIP0cORpMoTr8iJeg7vFlhGfES1HzTj58jFBxRop7Wp9BeMzVyAXCENjPy39Uckn9yVj8_TwVRLnKsW_mZLy_B2I/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ByGcqtyAwaaPiFT4-zAJ_5xhSKJ_Nx6M8goZ7_le2UHAbb72K5VhIP0cORpMoTr8iJeg7vFlhGfES1HzTj58jFBxRop7Wp9BeMzVyAXCENjPy39Uckn9yVj8_TwVRLnKsW_mZLy_B2I/s1600/photo+4.JPG" height="200" width="157" /></a>It was held at a historic mill – basically this large barn-like structure with some antique milling equipment still there. The stage is about 2 steps up from the floor. The floor was set with little round tables, cabaret style. There was a table of food at the back. And as the name suggests, it was all in French. Now, to back up… I had been working on Voi che sapete, then I learned of the theme about a week and a half before the show. French! Hmmm… back when I first began studying voice, I did learn a few songs in French. The easiest one for me to relearn in time to perform was The Tipsy Waltz. There were two Opera Project rehearsals and I had just one voice lesson before the concert. It’s such a short song that</div>
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I sang it through twice. See if you can tell when I spilled the wine all over my dress.</div>
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The next month we had another cabaret-style concert at the mill. This time I sang Voi che sapete. The person who recorded this for me probably didn’t realize he was recording it sideways! Here we go:<o:p></o:p></div>
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I still need to work on standing still! Also, breath control. Remember to breathe! But I’m doing so much better with keeping my voice on top of the air.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now I’m learning this silly aria from Barber of Seville. The maid sings it – it’s about how crazy the house is with everyone being in love with all different people, love is this terrible thing and OH NO SHE FEELS IT TOO. No video yet of ME singing it. Here’s a silly one I like. It doesn’t include the recit, which is a about 30 seconds long.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then the other day I found a CD I made of accompaniments for songs I was learning with my voice teacher. I sang through them for my current voice teacher and we decided to work on <a href="http://youtu.be/MY0eeotSDi8" target="_blank">Gretchen am Spinnrade</a> and Vedrai carino. And I’m going into it all with the attitude of DON’T FEAR THE HIGH NOTES!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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So that’s the voice lesson summary. Now, onto the performances I’ve attended.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.joycedidonato.com/" target="_blank">JOYCE DIDONATO</a> in Princeton! Yes indeed. She is amazing. Had front row balcony in a tiny tiny venue.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdFngrYKkpyGSZN5IxtQDfraDeaZs8d6ZFOYa2Y4mSRDbmOfpgI6zkAA8NlfdgVmaGG_jx8Zhv1K-O937Qu9kfp4nxI0WHKqnweN1o6n41Tew_hRYP2KmNV9Ujgm8ujCQ-Y-SjazrLimc/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdFngrYKkpyGSZN5IxtQDfraDeaZs8d6ZFOYa2Y4mSRDbmOfpgI6zkAA8NlfdgVmaGG_jx8Zhv1K-O937Qu9kfp4nxI0WHKqnweN1o6n41Tew_hRYP2KmNV9Ujgm8ujCQ-Y-SjazrLimc/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="200" width="149" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPAShyphenhyphen_ehDVLCBSz0RTdc8R6yoBqevxny9a98sgeyrXia1JEg8-WCfIJtrLRGmmQfTLfKPaE7UrrShWQxjp-3-e1pCAj7gtw8Y6thqW6l4eSiaaCphSP7_nse1iCzw05GNGrzMyI7Q3H0/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPAShyphenhyphen_ehDVLCBSz0RTdc8R6yoBqevxny9a98sgeyrXia1JEg8-WCfIJtrLRGmmQfTLfKPaE7UrrShWQxjp-3-e1pCAj7gtw8Y6thqW6l4eSiaaCphSP7_nse1iCzw05GNGrzMyI7Q3H0/s1600/photo+3.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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Then I saw her AGAIN in May at the<a href="http://www.metopera.org/metopera/season/synopsis/la-cenerentola" target="_blank"> Met. La Cenerentola.</a> Went alone. Went to the matinee. Took myself out for lunch at <a href="http://www.barboulud.com/nyc/" target="_blank">Bar Boloud</a> beforehand. Food and service were fab fab fab. I had the prix-fix 3 course lunch. There was pate with these tiny pickles, quiche and a pear tart. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1VEOMWHHpDqrwmwIPxGh0-p2cfBTevZEXuY8PBAmtPQrkQboofP9IflE5reKxPv8XbvYR37xGjeXVkEueWs8Y86LxD3iC6FR1Q7GpJ6XrFB0sTbg1INsnDKo-1ZxFmoH06r9uaD1dPg/s1600/photo+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1VEOMWHHpDqrwmwIPxGh0-p2cfBTevZEXuY8PBAmtPQrkQboofP9IflE5reKxPv8XbvYR37xGjeXVkEueWs8Y86LxD3iC6FR1Q7GpJ6XrFB0sTbg1INsnDKo-1ZxFmoH06r9uaD1dPg/s1600/photo+6.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5QMA_0wYpRV0rS6ia6u3dFwBvBLMAFbwu1m-N1wt3sFsF05akXvHK9Z0lfFgfpRfA4ve1ZnU6oG790tCiQz6hyphenhyphentFxxdhos-f9crvrIJxVaSvVmX509-B5L5fGQ3EefTWR6gtkO3IJDU/s1600/photo+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5QMA_0wYpRV0rS6ia6u3dFwBvBLMAFbwu1m-N1wt3sFsF05akXvHK9Z0lfFgfpRfA4ve1ZnU6oG790tCiQz6hyphenhyphentFxxdhos-f9crvrIJxVaSvVmX509-B5L5fGQ3EefTWR6gtkO3IJDU/s1600/photo+7.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijfvlz-YWbWbV3n7vf55nNNrwc72UrNVcLMEUV8BsbAYmpFAe75G9v83BNh9ScEAczXgMyTd5fXrIinpdNGNzJN6A-s4pEn7eQ8v3k5EKlTzaH9hwpC6sYwgAMkVamQmD3sDQnsproYmc/s1600/photo+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijfvlz-YWbWbV3n7vf55nNNrwc72UrNVcLMEUV8BsbAYmpFAe75G9v83BNh9ScEAczXgMyTd5fXrIinpdNGNzJN6A-s4pEn7eQ8v3k5EKlTzaH9hwpC6sYwgAMkVamQmD3sDQnsproYmc/s1600/photo+8.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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It was more food than I could eat. Then I went across the street to the Met and made my way to my seat in the orchestra rear. I was about 3 rows from the very back. View from my seat:<br />
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The opera itself was FABULOUS. But of course it was. How can any opera with Juan Diego Florez and Joyce DiDonato be anything but? She'll <a href="http://www.princetonuniversityconcerts.org/concerts/concert/brentano-string-quartet-joyce-didonato-mezzo-soprano" target="_blank">be there again next year</a>. And so will I of course!</div>
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<o:p>Next season I plan to see <a href="http://www.metopera.org/opera/the-merry-widow-lehar-tickets" target="_blank">The Merry Widow </a>and of course <a href="http://www.metopera.org/opera/la-donna-del-lago-rossini-tickets" target="_blank">La Donna Del Lago</a>. Nathan Gunn, Renee Fleming, Juan Diego Florez, Joyce DiDonato and John Osborn!!! Whoop whoop. Will convince the Huz to come with me to at least one of those.</o:p></div>
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<o:p>Finally, in <a href="http://www.30secondstomars.com/" target="_blank">Mars </a>news... not much. Saw <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2370718/" target="_blank">Artifact </a>in NYC. Ticket included Q&A and photo with Jared. He saw me and said, "Hey! The opera singer! We have an opera singer here!" And I swooped in for the hug. </o:p></div>
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Future Mars news: 2 shows in August, but they're sharing the billing with another band so I have a feeling the crowd won't be the same. We'll see!<br />
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And now, the next several posts over the summer will be related to a virtual camp I'm participating in, about school involvement in the community. And maybe opera stuff, if anything happens in the middle of the summer.<br />
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Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-62711425016759142462014-01-08T10:26:00.001-05:002014-01-08T10:43:37.592-05:00No Fear!<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Normally I don’t make new year’s resolutions, but this year
I did make just one: Don’t fear the high notes. There are notes that I can
comfortably hit and sustain, but for some reason when they turn up with certain
words in a song, or in a certain jump from another note, I swallow them. Why? Fear.
For some reason I’ve been afraid of sounding screechy or flat or just plain
wrong. But that fear was causing me to close up, which of course then makes the
note screechy or flat or wrong. So from now on my motto is, don’t fear the high
notes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I've been missing my previous voice teacher a lot lately. I can imagine what she'd tell me to do when the notes don't come out the way I want them to. Sometimes I can hear her voice in my head, telling me to lift lift lift my voice on top of the air, aim between my eyes, and so on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m working on The Sun Whose Rays are All Ablaze, from the
Mikado. There’s one note that under any other circumstance I have ZERO problems
with, but here for some reason I have a mental block. I think it’s due to the consonants.
The note is on the words, “our worth” and “awake.” I think the W is messing me
up. And let’s not even talk about the R in “worth.” In fact, let’s forget it
exists. The K in “awake,” too. Doing the W and then the R or K has been my
downfall. Sure I want to have good pronunciation, but the phrase is repeated a
moment later in notes that I sing just fine. It’s more important to keep a
beautiful, round, rich open tone than to worry about pronouncing these two
words perfectly. When I stuck that idea into my head, suddenly I could sing the
notes! Such a simple solution. I just need to practice, practice, practice so
that I do it correctly every time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At yesterday’s voice lesson there were a few
other people in the house, so for me it was a chance to practice singing in
front of people. I definitely felt a little self-conscious. But after a little
while I got used to it. I told my teacher how well I can sing in the shower and
she suggested I keep that relaxed shower attitude whenever I sing. Except, keep
my clothes on. Obviously.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">She actually feels I’ve progressed enough to sing with the Opera Project main
stage again. I’m not sure how to even bring that up with the director. I did
ask him if they plan on having Wing singers in any main stage concerts this year, but
they haven’t planned that far ahead yet. Then he told me that the Wing is
planning to do scenes from Marriage of Figaro this Spring. To me, that’s pretty
much a message to stay with the Wing. So for now I’ll just wait. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s actually no news on any upcoming Wing concerts for
the library series. However, I learned
that the showcase concert in May is going to be a little different this year.
In the past, they assigned roles for a few scenes, and also had people sing
arias or art songs. This time around they’re having auditions. I’ve been
working on Marcelina’s part in the duet “Via resti servita” and I (personally)
think that would be a fun one to do. But as much as I’d love to be in a scene,
the reality of the situation is, I can’t attend a whole bunch of regular
rehearsals, what with working full time, having a young kid who’s in swimming, baseball
and sometimes soccer, etc. It’s also hard for me to find the time to learn the
recit. I asked them if there’d be any possibility of a “park and bark” as I
like to call it, to see if I can sing an aria or art song, but they said that
Figaro will pretty much take up the entire program. So unless I get a part that’s
just me running on stage and singing, I might not be able to participate. That
makes me sad, especially because my former teacher created the Wing for people
like me, to get practice singing in front of an audience. I don’t have a future
goal of being a professional opera singer. I just like to sing. I kind of feel like a
scenes-only show (consisting of mainly high-school students) excludes people
like me – adults with a full time job and a family — and therefore goes against
my former teacher’s intention when she created the group. But the group has evolved, as groups do, and there’s nothing I can do about
it except continue to ask if I can do an aria. And I'll audition for the concert when the time comes. Hopefully it will all work out.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep on studying. And who knows what other performance
opportunities might crop up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-59236330574507418542013-11-20T11:57:00.003-05:002013-11-20T11:57:44.264-05:00Serendipity
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is time to write again. I toyed with the idea of
writing a different entry for each topic I want to write about, or to write one
long epic post covering everything that’s happened over the past few weeks. Decided to go with, "mini-epic."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I had been scrambling around looking for a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>voice teacher. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I gathered some recommendations and finally
ended up going to this guy someone recommended. It turns out he actually knew
my teacher, although he hadn’t known that she had passed away. So I had 2
lessons with him. He was very nice, but there was something about the entire
situation that didn’t click for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part
of it was, it was in a nearby town that has metered street parking. So I sort
of stressed over having enough quarters for the meters, and finding a spot near
his house. It threw off my timing because I had no idea if I’d end up with a 1
or 10 minute walk to his house. Also, he did want me to commit to a regular
lesson, which of course I understand, but I’m not comfortable doing that at
this point. So I felt a little pressure from him there, although he was
flexible for the 2 lessons we did have. I was sort of willing to deal with
those factors, but then he made a comment about me having to unlearn everything
my last teacher taught me so he can teach me his way. My stress over the
parking situation, the pressure to commit and that one comment led to my
decision not to study with him. He was super nice, but the situation just wasn’t
for me. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Meanwhile, I needed to prepare for the October 19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
memorial concert. I went to a rehearsal for it, coincidentally on the same day
as a 30 Seconds to Mars show. The last time 30 Seconds to Mars played that same
venue, I had an Opera Project rehearsal. So anyway I went to the rehearsal,
then arranged to meet one of the teachers/directors for a lesson. That was fun,
it went well. But generally he teaches only male students, so it was a one-time
thing. He gave me great advice and also recommended that I hook up with a vocal
coach. Bottom line, though, was that I need to take regular, weekly lessons in
order to maintain and improve. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then, the concert. I did pretty well, I thought. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/eqRRmI-FKbI?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Turns out
it wasn’t broadcast live on the radio station. However they did record it, so
who knows, maybe it’ll turn up online one day.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After that, I sort of despaired about finding a teacher. How
was I going to find a local teacher who I liked, who was as flexible as my last
voice teacher was? It was impossible. About 2 weeks ago I finally gave in and
realized that it just wasn’t going to happen. I actually said out loud to my
husband that unless a situation like I had before just fell into my lap, I’d be
giving up studying voice for a while. I knew I was giving in but I didn’t know
what else to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That very same afternoon, I received a call from a woman, a
singer and teacher, who had been very good friends (and was a former student,
40 years ago) with my voice teacher. Before my teacher died, they had discussed
this woman taking on my teacher’s students. Because she was so close with my
teacher’s family for so many years, they insisted that she give lessons in the
house, in the same room even. It’s what my teacher wanted. So that’s what she’s
doing. She told me that she’s still figuring out the scheduling, so is it ok
with me if we schedule from week to week? And she’ll charge the same amount but
will go 15-30 minutes longer. I seriously couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
I almost started crying. This was the very same day I had the conversation with
my husband. And BOOM something fell into my lap.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I did go for a lesson last week. I thought it would be
weird to go into the house but have a lesson with someone else, but it wasn’t.
It was actually comforting. It was great. It was natural. It was exciting. I
kept giggling during vocalizations, I was so happy to be there. She was a great
teacher too. So… I have a new voice teacher. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next time we'll go over what aspects of singing I need to work on, what songs I've done, what I'd like to do, what she thinks I should do and just make a general plan or goal.</span></div>
Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-77027836218823696332013-09-19T19:49:00.000-04:002013-09-19T19:49:43.573-04:00Back on the HorseI still have the recording of my last lesson with my voice teacher from March on my iphone. About 2 weeks ago I was finally able to listen to it without crying. I actually sang along and felt happy. I realized I was ready to study again.<br />
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About the same time, I learned that The Opera Project was presenting <a href="http://www.theoperaproject.us/4.html" target="_blank">a memorial concert for my voice teacher</a> in October. I emailed the director with the idea in my head that if I don't ask if I can participate, I definitely won't be participating. If I do ask, there's a chance he'll say yes. And he did. I actually got a little weepy when I got his reply, saying that he's sure she would have wanted me to perform. So I'll sing Sposa son Disprezzata.<br />
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Next, I realized that I really do need to get some lessons in between now and then, because I've lost some of the breath control, legato and other good singing habits. So I got a few recommendations, contacted one of the teachers and we set up a trial lesson. That lesson was yesterday and it went really well! It turns out that he was at the Opera Project Wing concert where I sang Sposa. So he's heard me sing, he knows what I can do, he knows where I need work and also... he knew my voice teacher. <br />
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In the middle of this lesson I was internally freaking out thinking that there's no way I'll be ready to sing this song by October 18. Typical. And like my other voice teachers, he did a great deal of psychotherapy along with the regular voice lesson stuff.<br />
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I cried a little on the way home, because I miss my (late) voice teacher so much. I can't even. I'm getting weepy just typing this. But today I listened to yesterday's lesson, and practiced, and I can already hear an improvement in how I'm singing. So hopefully I'll make her proud. Now I will add her to the ranks of people I love who are no longer here, who I imagine come to the concerts to hear me sing.<br />
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One more thing about this October 18th concert: It's going to be broadcast live on a local radio station. They have a website with a link to listen online. NO PRESSURE. Zoinks.Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-50863686633660275992013-08-03T21:39:00.000-04:002013-08-03T21:39:16.876-04:00Past, Present, FutureI really have no excuse for not blogging in so long. I keep having ideas of things I want to blog about, but I never seem to have them when I'm sitting in front of my computer.<br />
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So let's first do an update on Things That Have Already Happened.<br />
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Remember that contest I begged for votes for? Not the <a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/search?q=vote+for+my+vintage+cherry" target="_blank">vintage cherry</a> one. <a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2013/04/click-and-vote-another-contest.html" target="_blank">This one</a>, to win a Meet & Greet with 30 Seconds to Mars? Well, like the vintage cherry contest, I won this one too, thanks to everyone's loyal daily voting!<br />
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Here we are in the room while Jared Leto thanked us blah blah blah. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32jVgou0zlkyfivL70U0JCkj2s_hbJs_ldhw7n2F52l2gug_vWMow7Fy1-F73Db4p5QmNk_fM5A3w8EzCBJwOUTloUHF5UzIQyCg9gzQHQee8qBAZEZwhSQk4K6LlnxxYxb7b_AG1lH4/s1600/intheroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32jVgou0zlkyfivL70U0JCkj2s_hbJs_ldhw7n2F52l2gug_vWMow7Fy1-F73Db4p5QmNk_fM5A3w8EzCBJwOUTloUHF5UzIQyCg9gzQHQee8qBAZEZwhSQk4K6LlnxxYxb7b_AG1lH4/s320/intheroom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then we had the photos. Tomo, the "thumbs-up" guy in the black leather jacket, is the guitarist. As soon as he saw me he shouted, "OPERA SINGER!" So I gave him a big hug. Chatted with them a little, took this BORING photo... <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimRlErpeg70X4hR2qs6mMAyg7RmhGvB3JiITfl-qbHSaKkRkBZl3MIHfKV7SWm0L4rSt2rNGL2ELpiyjnLRPDt_5FI2204F7PnDEbu3uXapg1fNv_RiyeO24TJ1Thxw9HU0f7d8dpqpHY/s1600/mgstraight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimRlErpeg70X4hR2qs6mMAyg7RmhGvB3JiITfl-qbHSaKkRkBZl3MIHfKV7SWm0L4rSt2rNGL2ELpiyjnLRPDt_5FI2204F7PnDEbu3uXapg1fNv_RiyeO24TJ1Thxw9HU0f7d8dpqpHY/s320/mgstraight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So I asked for another, more creative pose: <br />
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This all took place before the concert, so even though we had been in the front of the line, we had no chance of getting on the barrier by the time we got into the theater. Instead we went up to the balcony and joined this row of photographers in the 1st row up there. They left after a few songs so then we had the row to ourselves!!<br />
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Next, let's have some singing updates. My last voice lesson was in March. I haven't had one since, and have been to only one coaching. I did perform, though. Here's what I did ... probably the best singing in front of people that I've ever done:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-RX21Oz1480?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br />
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I'm thankful that I did have a chance to show this video to my voice teacher before she died.<br />
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There's a memorial for her at the end of the month. It'll be nice, I think. I've had no one really to talk to about her, I've just been mourning sort of on my own, which is very lonely. <br />
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The other thing that's been filling my time and brain is that my son is now going to a special ed school for "smart kids with behavior challenges" ie, autism and adhd. We toured a bunch of schools, it was quite stressful. But we all like where he is now, him included. So things are settling down. I'm still doing a great deal of advocacy on his behalf with the school district over a few things, but things are getting done.<br />
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All this and I haven't really had time to sing. I sing a little, here and there, and of course in the car. But I feel like I'm losing my breath control and technique. I need a teacher. I have no idea how to find one, because I want MY teacher back. She didn't require payment up front, she understood that "life happens" and sometimes you have to cancel a lesson. I think I canceled maybe twice in the 4 years I went to her. Funny, my 1st two voice teachers sort of fell into my lap, without me looking for them. So who knows what'll happen next in my explorations.<br />
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More future stuff is, Met Opera tickets go on sale August 11. I want to see <a href="https://www.metoperafamily.org/opera/la-cenerentola-rossini-tickets.aspx" target="_blank">La Cenerentola</a> and <a href="https://www.metoperafamily.org/opera/die-fledermaus-strauss-tickets.aspx" target="_blank">Die Fledermaus</a>. It's hard to find someone to go with me though, and I don't have the money to shell out for an extra ticket in the hopes that someone will go. So I have a week to find a companion and convince them to pay now for an opera in April. Otherwise, I'm going alone. Wish me luck. I'll probably be going alone to <a href="http://www.princetonuniversityconcerts.org/concerts/concert/joyce-didonato-mezzo-soprano" target="_blank">Joyce DiDonato's recital in Princeton</a>, but that's no big deal... just a 20 minute drive. I can eat pizza for dinner and still make it to the recital. But it's more fun when going to the Met to make it an adventure. So, we'll see! <br /><br />
<br />Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-8268588610728416112013-06-19T12:42:00.000-04:002013-06-19T12:42:39.828-04:00Sad News<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I haven’t written for a while. I’ve thought about writing, but kept putting it off. You see, my voice teacher was very ill. She had to stop teaching in March. She had some surgeries in April. I visited her in May a few times. At my last visit, as I was leaving I told her, “I love you,” and she said she loved me too and, “I believe in you.” That was the last time I saw her. She passed away 3 days ago. I’m totally devastated and distraught. The comment I left on the <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/trentonian/obituary.aspx?n=deborah-covener-maher&pid=165400594&fhid=4714" target="_blank">obituary page</a> doesn't convey how strongly I feel the things I wrote. I know I'll eventually find a new teacher, somehow, and will continue to study and sing. But for now, I'm just feeling lost.</span></div>
Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-29052702150878119832013-04-29T16:53:00.000-04:002013-04-29T16:53:06.259-04:00Click and Vote! ANOTHER CONTESTHello, Dear Readers!! Remember last year when I begged everyone to vote for my Vintage Cherry, and remember how I won those tickets to see Elixir of Love at the Metropolitan Opera? Well...<br />
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I've entered another <a href="http://www.radio1045.com/pages/sharemars/?q" target="_blank">clicky-click contest</a>! One click a day. The top 7 win tickets to see and meet 30 Seconds to Mars!!! You can click once a day thru May 9. Please click, please share, please click and share again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that...<br />
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THANKS! <a href="http://www.radio1045.com/pages/sharemars/?q">http://www.radio1045.com/pages/sharemars/?q</a>Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-83144376038293212192013-04-05T12:26:00.000-04:002013-04-05T12:27:15.898-04:00The Random Gift<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just realized that I never did report back about the "special gift" that was part of my Elixir of Love Prize. I was excepting something related either to Elixir of Love or else to cocktails. Nope. I got a large envelope in the mail from the Met Opera a few days after the performance. Opened to find a random assortment of items from the gift shop:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCUgRiTOWIuPBO7cvJf60HBsWtCeF_BNwwb6ACiH0rQy3Ga7P-Ab83uCirmpJbZh5CCC4G8T9ZwEJl8vwpgN_ie9RlzPAt6w8jDHa6VvQZMyMhjKUnLIdq0sqdldsCGZzz6LG3Vm2ABA/s1600/cocktailcontestgift.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="239" mta="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCUgRiTOWIuPBO7cvJf60HBsWtCeF_BNwwb6ACiH0rQy3Ga7P-Ab83uCirmpJbZh5CCC4G8T9ZwEJl8vwpgN_ie9RlzPAt6w8jDHa6VvQZMyMhjKUnLIdq0sqdldsCGZzz6LG3Vm2ABA/s320/cocktailcontestgift.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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A bookmark, a deck of "What Do You Know About Opera" trivia cards, a blank sketch book with a Boheme-themed cover and the season book. It looks like someone went into the shop and randomly tossed a few items into the envelope. I'm not complaining - as I said before, the tickets were the real gift. It was just kind of humorous to get this random assortment of items. </div>
Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-39298987161641575572013-02-05T10:17:00.001-05:002013-02-05T10:19:06.706-05:00Yodeling Legato<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Wow. Just wow. I must admit I went into last week’s production of Elixir a little jaded, thinking, how could this be any better than<a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2012/03/double-dose.html" target="_blank"> what I saw with Juan Diego Florez and Diana Damrau</a>? It wasn’t better, because it was a different. It was equally as wonderful. I remember the very first time I heard Anna Netrebko sing I was moved to tears, back when <a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2007/12/enchanted-evening-men-in-tights.html" target="_blank">I saw her in <em>Romeo et Juliette</em></a>. Subsequently, hearing her in various recordings I’ve thought, what’s the big deal. Then I heard her again on Saturday. And BOOM! Tears. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Backing up, as usual, to the pre-opera activities... Realizing that it would cost approximately the same for the 2 of us to take the train as it would to drive, the Husband and I decided to take the car in. Plus then we wouldn’t be at the mercy of the train schedule. Those late night trains are all locals… putt putt putt between every.single.station.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So here I am, with the angry birds stickers apparently flying out of my head? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And you know, it's a good thing we drove, or we wouldn’t have been able to listen to the cowboy yodeling radio station we picked up somewhere near Newark Airport. I can’t make this stuff up. Well I probably could, but I’m not! We yodeled our way up the New Jersey Turnpike.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We went to the box office as soon as we got there. They had the tickets but “we don’t keep gifts here.” I even showed them the email from the rep saying that the gift and tickets would be at the box office. They had no idea. They took my phone into their little room, it was like handing my baby to a stranger. They returned it and suggested that I check at the shop. The shop people were like, that's not our department. Everyone was very nice, but they had no idea what I was talking about. So the mystery gift remained a mystery! I did email my contact and he said he’d mail the gift out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Anyway the seats were in the orchestra ROW R!! Right smack dab in the middle. Like, $300 tickets. That is enough of a gift! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1N8l8Ie0iMbaC_25wQSWrpKWwjFfPM4fXJyzNj6mdA_JE1EudjPzfy0-pR156ac7-SxjS4cSFh8aR_ojZsfjJLP922b87VUk38MOvDJMHiD-8IamisjJmOPi8AHhP_dvlUI1-0S6ZPR8/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ea="true" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1N8l8Ie0iMbaC_25wQSWrpKWwjFfPM4fXJyzNj6mdA_JE1EudjPzfy0-pR156ac7-SxjS4cSFh8aR_ojZsfjJLP922b87VUk38MOvDJMHiD-8IamisjJmOPi8AHhP_dvlUI1-0S6ZPR8/s320/photo+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For dinner we went, where else, to Café Fiorello. I really need to start going somewhere else for dinner. We were seated on the opposite side as when I was there last week, but somehow we got the same waiter. I kept forgetting to take pictures of the food because I was having too much fun. But here's a picture of my drink, a vodka something-or-other, off their cocktail </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">list. It had red grapes and I think half a lime in it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here's what remained of the antipasto plate before I remembered to snap a pic. Still on the plate I see zucchini parmesean, eggplant caponata, shrimp and white beans, grilled sepia (which is like calamari) and potato pie. It was all very yummy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">We also got the fried ravioli, which was ok but I wouldn't get again, and for dessert, the lemon tart, which was fa-bu-lous. No picture but you can imagine. The top was coated with sugar and then burned, to give it a hard crust like creme brulee. Fresh whipped cream on the side. Yum I'm actually drooling while typing this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And I even had a “star” sighting! Half-way though dinner, Pretty Yende, who had performed in the matinee, walked by with her entourage on their way out, carrying several beautiful bouquets of flowers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Back to the Met we went, to our seats in row R. Check out this view!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The opera was SO MUCH FUN! <a href="http://www.matthewpolenzani.com/music.shtml" target="_blank">Matthew Polenzani</a> was Nemorino. I think he should change his name to Matthew PoLEGATOnzani. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard such beautiful legato, ever. This coming from the person who could listen to the legato pour out of Juan Diego Florez all day… so you know it’s a big deal. Wow. And <a href="http://www.annanetrebko.com/" target="_blank">Anna Netrebko</a>. Her voice had a timbre to it that went right to my insides. Perfect resonance. Together they sounded heavenly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The other singers were, Mariusz Kwiecien as Belcore, the conceited army sergeant who wanted to marry Adina, and <a href="http://www.erwinschrott.com/us/home" target="_blank">Erwin Schrott</a>, who, by the way, is Anna’s husband! That must be fun… anyway he played Dulcamara, the maker of the magic elixir, which, as we all know, is actually a nice bordeaux. He was so funny!! In last year’s production, the character of Dulcamara was an older, more grandfatherly type guy. This time, he was more like a Barber of Seville guy – he had everything to cure anything, and he always had a woman nearby. <a href="http://www.mariuszkwiecien.com/#/personal" target="_blank">Mariusz K was adorable</a>, as usual. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It was weird… I was a little distracted at first. My mind kept wandering to other things… and then suddenly they began singing and that was it. All other things left my mind and I was just there, feeling the music. Maybe it was the seat location, I don’t know. But the singing just resonated through me. It was like a drug. It's why I love live opera. Because when it hits you like that, you want more, more more. But unless I win the $25 ticket drawing again this season, I won't be going again until next season. Technically that could be this calendar year, I suppose. I imagine they'll announce the next season schedule soon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Meanwhile, I'll announce what at the Special Gift is once I receive it.</span></div>
Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-12352856044617057962013-01-31T12:42:00.000-05:002013-01-31T12:42:01.185-05:00Vintage Cherry Rewards<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Remember a few months ago when </span><a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2012/09/vote-for-my-vintage-cherry.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I begged everyone I knew, and many people I didn’t know, to vote</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> daily for my entry in the Met Opera’s “Elixir of Love” contest? And </span><a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2012/10/winners-me-and-spoilfaces-others.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">remember how I won</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Not because my drink was the best, but because </span><a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2012/09/vote-for-my-vintage-cherry.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I nagged the most people to vote</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. The prize was, two tickets to see Elixir of Love at the Met, plus a “special gift” from the Metropolitan Opera. Well, finally, this coming Saturday, Husband and I will be seeing the opera. It’ll be interesting to see this new production, especially since<a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2012/03/double-dose.html" target="_blank"> I saw the other production TWICE last year.</a> This one stars Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So the tickets will be waiting for us at the box office, along with the “special gift.” We have no idea where the seats are, or what the gift is. I will, of course, post again afterwards with all the boring details. Stay tuned!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span>Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-70846699359981127762013-01-29T12:36:00.001-05:002013-01-29T12:44:23.600-05:00Comte Ory, Take 2<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I had no idea when I purchased opera tickets on a hot day in August that the performance date I chose would turn out to be one of the coldest days of the year. Last week’s cold weather (highs in the 20 degrees F) made wardrobe planning a little tricky. How much time would I actually be spending outside? How overheated will I get on a crowded subway, if I’m dressed for the outside weather? Of course I tackled this problem with my usual over-thinking, and ended up in leggings under a long skirt, also a many-layered shirt ensemble that ended up being pretty nice. And, as usual, I wore my hiking shoes, and stashed my heels in my pink purse. Here I am on the train, sneakily putting my feet up on the opposing seat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I met my friend at Penn Station and we headed uptown on the subway. We had a little time to kill so we puttered around the Met Opera shop, which was amazingly empty. I’ve only ever been there just before an opera, when it’s wall-to-wall people. Then we went to Avery Fisher Hall to use the Secret Public Bathroom. Anyone who is stuck uptown in that area of Manhattan, there is a nice bathroom in AFH open to the public. There’s even a bench and a full-length mirror. So we got ourselves together and switched out of our traveling shoes into our heels for the short walk to the restaurant. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As usual, we went to Café Fiorello. Don’t know why I always go there. Habit? It seems about as good as any other place in the area, and I do love the seafood. This time we shared a “Seafood Supreme Pizza” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">and for dessert, a tiramisu cake: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m not that into tiramisu, to be honest, but the cake was nice and light and fluffy. And of course we enjoyed a cocktail – this is a “metropolitan daquari” and was quite yummy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Next, on to the Met. And guess what? It had snowed during dinner. The sidewalk was a slushy slippery mess! We clung to each other like old ladies as we minced our way across the street.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Our seats were in the last row of the Grand Tier. There are only 7 or 8 rows so it’s not such a big deal…however that didn’t stop us from upgrading ourselves to empty seats directly in front of us in the first row. Here’s the upgraded view: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The opera was</span><a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2011/04/comte-ory-in-multiples-of-three.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> just as funny as I remember</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The soprano – Pretty Yende – was A M A Z I N G. This was her Met debut, filling in for someone who dropped out before rehearsals began, due to illness. As usual, the legato poured out of Juan Diego Florez like honey. And Nathan Gunn was pretty good too, except that he was kind of hard to hear over the orchestra. I’ve read reviews of other things he’s done where people commented on that, but I’d never actually experienced it until then. Anyway, I must admit, it was pretty funny seeing him and JDF dressed as nuns. You can see some of that </span><a href="http://watch.thirteen.org/video/2328603156" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, a few minutes in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Usually during intermission I like to go out on the Grand Tier balcony but the door was locked... Yeah, that's snow. You can see the fountain all blurry in the background.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">At the end of intermission we decided to put our snow-worthy boots on because we knew we'd want to make the mad dash for the subway the moment the curtain calls ended. So we were very stylish, sitting in our fancy clothes and clunky boots. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">People went NUTS at the curtain calls, hooting and hollering for the singers. It was kind of awesome. Everyone left the building with a smile. My friend and I joined the press of people entering the subway. There were so many people, someone had opened the emergency gate and we were herded through with the crowd. Finally made it home at 1am! Long day but totally worth it. Plus, I broke 3 rules!!! 1. Feet on train seat. 2. Upgraded opera seat. 3. Unpaid subway ride. I'm seriously living the rebellious life.</span></div>
Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-9394395404239167252013-01-23T10:30:00.000-05:002013-01-23T10:30:59.445-05:00Glittery!<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Opera Project WING concert was fun!!! The first part was scenes from Magic Flute, dialogue and some songs in English, some in German. It was cute! It’s amazing to hear these gorgeous, gorgeous voices coming out of such young bodies! Some of the girls are in 8th grade. How old is that, 14? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here’s the Iolanthe scene:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">See that tall girl with the long, dark hair, all the way to the left? Listen to her when she sings. Then remind yourself that she’s in EIGHTH GRADE! Imagine that voice in 10 years! We had a lot of fun with that scene. Some of it was improvised. I actually got some of my lines wrong, using words that have the same meaning, but still… not the right words. For example, my line was, “He’s extremely pretty,” but for some reason I said, “He’s exceptionally pretty.” Why? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. We had a lot of fun, also backstage was fun sharing glitter makeup to make everyone more fairy-like. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Before Iolanthe, I sang Sposa:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As usual, I hear all the mistakes… especially that weirdo crack sound near the end… a sound I have never ever made before in my life, and couldn’t reproduce if I wanted to. It was as if a gallon of mucous suddenly poured out over my vocal chords. Most people told me they didn’t even hear it. It seems so LOUD to me but I’m taking their word for it. I did pretty well otherwise, although I know I can sound richer. I was a little nervous, you can hear it in the 2nd syllable when I first started to sing. But I’ve practiced the song so much that the nervousness sort of went away as I continued singing. In the past, it used to creep up and get worse, so there’s something. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I was thinking this weekend how thankful I am that the Guy In Charge of the Opera Project saw my potential back when I auditioned… him letting me sing with the group opened up a whole world of singing to me, allowed me to find a great teacher and gave me these opportunities to grow and perform that I never would have had otherwise. I should write him a note. Although how to do that, without being awkward? Hmm. Maybe I’ll tell him, the next time I see him.</span>Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-35853460170187117632013-01-09T14:46:00.001-05:002013-01-09T14:46:27.578-05:00Prancing Around<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We’ve had one rehearsal for the upcoming concert and I have to say I think it’s going to be fun! I don’t do much in the Iolanthe scene except creep up on stage when I’m “called” from the deep, then sing my 2 lines, throw off my robe and happily greet my “fairy” sisters. I do a lot of smiling, I greet my son, smile at him as he sings and then the fairy sisters and I prance off stage. We will be wearing long flowy skirts and dresses. What are the chances I’ll step on the edge of my skirt and fall flat on my face, or even better, somehow end up pulling it off? Hopefully slim…</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We didn’t yet get to practice it all together. They were all learning a dance while I was shown my staging. We have another rehearsal this weekend, it should be fun. Even though I do sort of feel like a den mother, or girl scout leader, or whatever. I think (but I’m not sure) that all but one of the fairies are in high school. It doesn't matter. But I do sense a sort of distance. I'm the grown-up. If only they knew how much like a 16 year old I feel inside! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">At the rehearsal I also got to run through Sposa son Disprezzata with the accompanist. I finally have the timing and tempo correct. I think. There are a few parts where I have to remember to hold back on the breath at first, not to blurt it all out, so I have enough to finish the line. The other singers were coming in (with their parents, some of whom I might be older than…) while I was singing so it was good practice for me to have other people in the room and keep my focus. I did waver a little when I saw them look over. During the performance I focus on the back of the room, sort of toward the point where the wall meets the ceiling. And of course I will become the distraught, betrayed woman in the song, and try to get that emotion into my voice, all without losing my focus. That's the plan, at least.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">They’re also doing a few scenes from Magic Flute, in English. I could overhear the 3 spirits singing, 3 girls, they sounded great. I’m looking forward to seeing it all.</span>Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-51351040152565942592012-12-17T13:16:00.001-05:002012-12-17T13:25:57.677-05:00Voices of Angels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Saw the American Boy Choir "Voices of Angels" concert this past weekend, with special guest Nathan Gunn. The venue was a beautiful old chapel with super high vaulted ceilings. The sound bounced around in there like it was built for music. Maybe it was, I don’t know much about architecture. And the choir. They are, as their name suggests, boys. Boys with beautiful, beautiful soprano voices. A few of the older boys had deeper voices. It all blended so beautifully. Some of the boys were so little! They all wore long white robes with a red collar and a white ruffled neck.</div>
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It wasn’t exactly a church service, but there were readings between the songs, and some of the readings were religious. It was very, very moving. It was also really nice to see NG perform again. I was sitting in about the 10th row. Here’s the view from my seat, taken before the performance began:</div>
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The chorus started out in the back of the chapel and came forward singing. They eventually stood in the middle of the stage. Nathan stood by the music stand in between the poinsettias. The people doing the between-song readings stood behind that eagle statue. So I didn’t realize it when I sat down, but I was basically directly in front of him. I doubt that he saw me there. Well, maybe. At the end we all sang O Come All Ye Faithful together. I didn’t use my full-on operatic soprano, but I was loud and clear… No, not in a socially unacceptable way. There was a super loud organ playing and the entire room was singing, over 1000 people. He looked around at the people singing and I think he heard/saw me and gave a little hello-ish smile/nod. Like, tiny. Maybe. But probably not. I’m not delusional. Not about that, at least… And besides, he probably wouldn’t recognize me anyway. So like I said, I doubt that he saw me there.</div>
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The only weird thing to report was that, exactly at the end of each song, someone in the audience made a weird sound. Like a honk. I know it sounds crazy but I’m not making this up! Each time we’d all look over in that direction with a “What was that?” look on our faces. It didn’t take away from the beauty of the performance. </div>
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There was another, slightly longer performance the next day, but I was out seeing The Hobbit. So I’m sad to say, I didn’t get to see Nathan Gunn sing the Grinch song. But hey… I sang with him the night before. Me and a thousand other people, but still… Can I put that on my resume? </div>
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Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-74727621771432983112012-12-07T14:55:00.001-05:002012-12-07T14:55:51.452-05:00The Double-Take $10 Karma<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
So remember in my last post how I said I check Nathan Gunn's website occasionally to see if he'll be singing nearby? Apparently checking his page isn’t always the best way to find out where he’ll be singing. For example, let’s say he’s singing some holiday concerts about, oh, TEN MINUTES FROM YOUR HOUSE. Something like that might not appear on his schedule. However, it <em>does</em> appear on the bulletin board in the kitchen where I work. So there I was, drying off my lunch container when I saw this poster.</div>
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My first thought was, “Hey, that guy looks like Nathan Gunn.” And then, “Oh…wait a sec!” It was a very Bugs Bunny double-take moment.</div>
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One of my colleagues has a son who attends American Boy Choir School. She’s the one who put the poster up. She told me she can get tickets for $10, but they’re up the balcony. I thought, hmmm. I’m seeing Nathan from “up in the balcony” at the Met next month. For $150. I think can splurge and get the $40 ticket. After adding all the fees and so on the online ticket price would have been about $50. But I couldn’t tell where the seats were, so I called the box office. Talked with the ticket person about how if I knew a student I could get way cheaper tickets (like, $15 I think). She said if I hadn’t told her that she could have sold me student tickets. I was like, I couldn’t lie about that! She was so impressed by that (kept talking about karma!) that she waived all the fees –so the $40 ticket ACTUALLY COST ME $40! I guess there’s your karma. </div>
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The concert is in a chapel and it’s general admission. I plan on sitting squarely in the middle. The Husband would have accompanied me but alas our babysitter isn't free that evening, so I’ll be going solo. </div>
Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-46416885007078851632012-11-28T13:29:00.002-05:002012-11-28T13:29:38.034-05:00Another Catchy-Uppy<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Trying to get back into a regular blogging schedule, rather than this “1 post every 3 months” pattern I’ve fallen into.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Voice lessons are going well. I was supposed to sing at a concert in October but I was ill. Woke up with basically no voice. After discussion with my voice teacher she urged me to drop out, because if I tried to sing and didn’t do my best, I’d beat myself up. Then a few weeks later I got strep throat. Again, no singing. Then the subsequent concert was canceled because it was scheduled for right after Hurricane Sandy, which basically wiped out most of the electricity and half of the trees in New Jersey. So I missed about 3 weeks of lessons due to the storm and the infection. Didn’t sing when I was sick, obviously. So now I’m busy trying to work my way back up to where I was. Amazed at how quickly I’ve lost the placement and breath control. It’s coming back quickly too, but it shows me that taking that much time off from singing and from lessons is not a good idea. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For the concert I dropped out of, I was going to sing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr3WNaMJMA8" target="_blank">Sposa son Disprezzata</a>. For the concert that was canceled, I was given the role of <a href="http://youtu.be/9ofIoGT-FjU" target="_blank">Iolanthe in a scene from Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta of the same name</a>. Yeah I’d never heard of it either. Sounds glamorous to have the title role, but actually it’s a pretty small part in that scene. I’m fine with that – I don’t have the mental energy to learn a huge amount of new music in a relatively short period of time. I’ve also requested (not quite begged, but that’s how I feel) if I could sing Sposa in that concert. I’ve gone over it with the vocal coach, I’m confident with it and am eager to sing it to an audience. They did have some art songs and arias in the program so hopefully they’ll let me. Fingers crossed! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Currently listening to <a href="http://www.juandiegoflorez.com/" target="_blank">Juan Diego Florez</a>. I’ve written this about a thousand times before, but I must say it again. His voice. Sigh. It washes over me like a warm soft waterfall of happiness. Extremely excited that I’ll be seeing him in January in the same <a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/opera/comte-ory-rossini-tickets.aspx" target="_blank">opera </a>with Nathan Gunn. Speaking of Nathan Gunn... I haven’t blogged about the Gunnster for a while. I do check his <a href="http://www.nathangunn.com/index.php" target="_blank">website</a> for updates. He’ll be performing in Carousel in NYC around the same time he’ll be at the Met. Those tickets are tres $$$$ so I’m going to have to pass. That makes me sad but what can you do? He'll also be at Zankel Hall again in February but you know. <a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2008/04/awkward-moments-in-zankel-hall.html" target="_blank">Been there, done that</a>. </span>Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-67771554987450322542012-10-10T22:11:00.000-04:002012-10-10T23:22:35.517-04:00Meeting Adam Ant!Don't even know where to begin with this. I'm pretty sure I've written before how important Adam Ant's music was to me when I was a teenager (and beyond). So when I heard he was touring the US after a Very Long Break I knew I had to get tickets the moment they went on sale.<br />
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I got tickets to see him in Philly and New York City, two days in a row. The dates were originally set for February of this year, but due to I-don't-know-why they were rescheduled to this past weekend.<br />
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So. Friday night. Seeing Adam Ant for the first time since 1992. This would be my 7th or possibly 8th time seeing him. I can't even describe the annoyance I felt as the opening act went on and on. They weren't bad. In fact they were quite pleasant. But I was there to see Adam!!! Finally, FINALLY!! The lights dimmed and this weird recording began, of some guy talking about I-don't-know-what because I don't remember. The show was so much fun!!! I took some videos which I'll post here. His voice is nowhere near as clear as it was 30 years ago. I think ALL singers should take voice lessons!!<br />
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A video I took:<br />
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Same song, 1981:<br />
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You can really hear the difference in the clarity of his voice. He's been through a lot, both physically and emotionally, since then, but I do believe a few voice lessons with a good teacher will help him find that clarity again. And like I said, all singers, no matter what level of skill or experience, benefit from voice lessons. Even professional opera singers take lessons and go for coachings. <br />
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And yeah, that song is about fetishes. One of the many words I looked up in the dictionary after first hearing his music at the age of 14 or so. Other "vocabulary" words I learned from him included sadistic, masochistic, truncheon, akimbo and simian. Incidentally, none of those words showed up on the <a href="http://sat.collegeboard.org/home" target="_blank">SAT</a>. However I did get quite an education. Luckily, this was way before the Internet so my only source for information was a non-illustrated dictionary. I had to use my imagination. And trust me, I did. I was at that age where I knew there was <i>something</i> I wanted when I watched him perform these songs, but I wasn't exactly clear on the details. I since learned. Obviously.<br />
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So anyway I had a great time. I danced like mad, I did the Prince Charming.<br />
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And looking at that video now, I can see why he was so appealing to my 14 year old self; Partly a child, partly a young woman. That video could be for a child. It's a fairy tale. It gives advice to teenagers to not give a crap what anyone thinks about you. And you know. It's Adam Ant. In eyeliner and tight pants. I wanted...something. Just didn't know what. The timing was perfect.<br />
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Most of his songs are tales of or reactions to things that happened to him... and he may not have realized it, but they were also messages or lessons to all of us to basically do what you want, there will always be people who will try to ridicule you, cut you, take you down and insult you. Ignore them, and follow your own path. And be silly while doing it. And have a lot of sex. Ok I wasn't doing THAT at age 14 but it sort of flipped a switch in me, or maybe it was there when the switch flipped. Whatever. I can't separate them.<br />
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So like I said, I had a great time at the show the other day. BUT THAT WASN'T THE END!!! Oh no. For I had tickets for his show the NEXT night, in New York City. Free tickets, thanks to a friend whose husband knows people and got us on the list. The VIP list. Did I mention that the VIP list included a MEET AND GREET AFTER THE SHOW????<br />
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Now you all know how excited I was to meet 30 Seconds to Mars and tell them how they inspire me. That was an awesome experience. But this was different. I came to them as an adult. Adam Ant was indescribably important to me in my formative years. I changed from girl to woman while listening to and learning from his music. Totally.Different.Situation.<br />
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I made him a bracelet:<br />
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I had planned to write him a note but I didn't, because we didn't know until we got there if we'd have the Meet & Greet, and I didn't want to be all prepared and then disappointed. But I did plan what to say.<br />
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The NYC show was better than the Philly show, in some ways. The venue was larger and the energy was palpable. I didn't take any videos. I lost myself in the music. I was dancing and felt high with happiness. I realize I sound like a complete dork but I don't care, because that's how it was.<br />
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I knew that his last song would be Physical. And when it started, my stomach started doing flips because I knew that it wouldn't be long before I'd be meeting him. In the flesh. Face to face. (I keep quoting Blondie here, probably because I saw them last week too)<br />
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So they had us line up in a hallway that led to a doorway into a room. We went in to the room two or three at a time to meet him. There was a guy taking pictures with whatever cameras you wanted, both phone and regular. He took pictures the entire time so I have photos of Adam looking at the bracelet I gave him, which is kinda cool. It's a little blurry because the iPhone camera doesn't do movement well. Click on the image to make it bigger.<br />
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And now I'm going to write about the encounter in excruciatingly boring detail to most of you. But some of you will love it.<br />
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So when it was my turn, I went over and he held his hand out for a handshake. I said, "Hi, my name is Susan." He said... I don't remember. Nice to meet you, probably. Then I handed him the bracelet and said, "I made this for you." He admired it, said something like, "Oh isn't this lovely! I'm going to put it on right now." And he did. And I watched to see if it fit. And it did. He was wearing a thick silver bracelet of like a chain of skulls, so it matched. You can kind of see it in the above picture. I'm sure he thanked me but I don't remember. Funny, I don't really specifically remember any of what he said. I remember that he made intense eye contact and that he has amazing green eyes, and that's he's very soft-spoken... so different from his stage persona. He put his arm around me for this picture, also taken with my phone.<br />
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Then the camera dude got my friend's camera. While he was doing that, I turned to Adam and said, "I want to thank you for teaching my teenaged self everything... about life." And he very sweetly said something like, "Oh you know. Teenagers." And I said something about also wanting him to know how many wonderful friends I've made because of him, and then I hesitated (because it's against the rules at Mars Meet & Greets) and asked if I could give him a hug. He was like, "Of course." And I hugged Adam Ant. Tightly. And I almost lost it. I seriously was about to start crying. I said, "Thank you. Thank you." while we hugged. I had to let go or I would've started bawling, smearing mascara and snot all over his nice coat. Couldn't have that. Then we took this picture. Could I be standing any closer? He had me squeezered in. <br />
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Next, he was ready to sign an autograph. I don't really collect autographs, plus I actually already have his autograph from the last time I very informally met him. Through a fence. Yeah. So anyway... one of my friends was supposed to have gone with me both nights, but she had a baby five weeks ago. She had no childcare for the Philadelphia show so she had to miss it. She came to NYC and was able to score a VIP pass with us, but not the aftershow pass. She was ok with that because she wanted to get home to her baby. So I told him that she was supposed to be there but couldn't because she just had a baby... not exactly a lie... but anyway... I asked that he write the autograph to her, so he said, "Isn't that nice of you" or some other trivial thing along those lines, about how GENEROUS I AM for getting his autograph for SOMEONE ELSE (Ok, he didn't actually say that, but it was implied. Maybe. Probably not.) and wrote it out to her.</div>
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Next, my other friends got their meet and greet and photos while I waited on the comfy little couch you can see in my picture. Then the three of them were about to take a pic with him and they called me over. There was no way I was going to NOT be making physical contact, because, you know. So I scootched down in front of him, then realized I needed a little support, so I asked him if I could lean on him. Of COURSE I could. THEN my friend's camera died, so I grabbed my phone. AWKWARD MOMENT when we're all posing and he can't get the camera to work! So we were sort of laughing, and I was like, Are you sure it's ok if I lean on you? And he was like, Of course! So of course I did. If he had stepped back, I would've been flat on the floor. He was so sweet and gentle and patient and accommodating. So here's the group pic, taken with my phone: </div>
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We took another, but my other friend's eyes were closed. I'm not sure which of the two I cropped this pic from... Me leaning on Adam Ant while he smiles. </div>
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It took 30 years. But I finally got to meet the man who unknowingly guided me through my adolescence. Here's what I wrote on facebook about it:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="userContent">Guys. I met Adam Ant yesterday. Some of you
probably never heard of him, others probably thought he was dead! His
music taught me so much about life when I was a teenager. I'm thrilled
to pieces that I was able to tell him so, and to thank him, and tell him
how I made wonderful friends through our shared love of his music. And
we hugged. And all I could say was, "Thank you. Thank you." It was a
very emotional moment for me. Everyone should get the chance to thank
the person whose music or artwork has inspired them.</span></blockquote>
Longtime readers of my blog know that I truly believe that, and will always make a point of thanking my favorite performers for doing what they do, and for inspiring me. I have a feeling they never get tired of hearing that. Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-21321218953243022202012-10-03T20:26:00.001-04:002012-10-03T20:26:28.088-04:00Winners (Me!) and Spoilfaces (Others!)<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">THANKS to everyone who voted for my drink in the Elixir of Love contest… I WON!!! I sent facebook messages to groups of people, asking them to vote – opera people, moms groups, 30 Seconds to Mars fans, Adam Ant fans, college and high school friends. I also posted on some people’s walls and put the link as my facebook status every day, reminding people they could vote once a day. I tweeted it up the wazoo (I believe that’s an official term to mean, a lot) and asked people to RT. I tweeted people directly asking them to vote. People asked their friends to vote. And lo and behold…I got 527 votes! The guy in 2nd place got 334:</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then the Met sent me a letter saying that my drink “won the hearts of their fans…” Well. Not exactly.
But I’ll take the win! The contest said to get <i>everyone</i> to vote. That’s what I did. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The prize is, two tickets to L’Elisir D’amore and a special gift
from the Met Opera. The tickets and the special gift will be waiting for
me at the box office on the day of the performance. I will, of course,
report back afterwards. The performance is
in February so you’ll all just have to be patient.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And then while I was busy basking in my win, I ALSO won the Met’s
weekly drawing for $25 weekend tickets. So I got to see the Saturday
matinee of Il Trovatore from Orchestra Row R. I had a friend meet me,
but unfortunately she got there late and had to
watch the first act with about 35 other latecomers on a tv screen until
intermission. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The opera was interesting. The plot was ridiculous, of course… a
sort of loosely woven story of revenge, betrayal, misunderstandings and
death. But the music was wonderful and the singing WOW as usual. I loved
the soprano. She had such a sweet voice. She
made it all sound effortless. At times the orchestra was louder than the
singers, which was not ideal, but that was only at a couple of points.
This is the opera that has the famous “Anvil Chorus.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Afterwards, I got “involved” in a conversation on facebook with
someone who has a Bad Attitude. He actually gave me permission to quote
the conversation here, although I will leave his name off. Not that it
matters. You wouldn’t have heard of him, he hasn’t
sung anywhere. But for the sake of anonymity, let's call him, Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It all started when a <b><span style="color: purple;">friend</span></b> "checked in" at the Metropolitan Opera:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b> I wonder who the soprano is.... I saw the final dress... the MET was TRYING IT.<br /><b><span style="color: purple;"><br /> My Friend: </span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> They are trying it now...it's a mess<br /><b><br /><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <b> </b>Hahahahaha the only two great singers are Dolora and Morris.<br /><br /><b><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Who is the soprano?<br /><br /><b><span style="color: purple;">My Friend: </span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's true those two are the best. I don't remember some Asian woman. I'll look at the program on intermission.<br /><br /><b><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Wow. The same one I saw in the final dress on
Wednesday. She sings out of tune and I doubt she'll make it thru Act 3.<br /><br /><span><b><span style="color: purple;">My Friend:</span></b> </span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is guanqun yu<br /><b><br /><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> That's her. Should be singing Susanna from nozze, not Leonora.<br /> <span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><b><span style="color: purple;">My Friend:</span></b> </span>It was a mess. Dolora and Morris were great...it seemed like they muted the orchestra. How do you even do that?!<br /> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>ME!! :</b></span> Did we see the same opera? Carmen Giannittasio was Lenora.
She was amazing. The sets were a big clunky sounding as they moved
around but I thought all the singers were great.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>ME!! :</b></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Also the orchestra was pretty loud down in the orchestra. LOL. Row R.
They drowned out the singers at some points. Where were you sitting? If
you were under an overhang that could explain the muted sound.<br /><br /><span><span style="color: purple;"><b>My Friend: </b></span> </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I stood in the back and sat in a few different spots out
from under the overhang. The orchestra was muted and you (me I'm
guessing everyone) still couldn't hear the singers. I went to the
matinee sat afternoon and there was an insert saying that Carmen
Giannittasio was sick and that Guanqun Yu was taking her place and
making her met debut. The production was kind of awful...with Morris
Robinson and Dolora Zajick, and to be fair a few others, as vibrant
spots in the mediocrity.<br /><br /><span><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>ME!! :</b></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Oh! There was no insert in
my or my friend's program. I wasn't thrilled with the production but I
did like the singers. I thought the soprano sounded lovely.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><b><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> HILARIOUS.<br /><br /><span><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>ME!! :</b></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Which part is hilarious? There are so many choices...<br /><br /><b><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Trust me, you don't want to know.<br /><br /><span><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>ME!! :</b></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Hmm. Are you making fun of me for liking the soprano? I can take it, I'm a big girl. <img alt="wink" class="emote_img" src="https://s-static.ak.facebook.com/images/blank.gif" style="background-position: -80px 0px;" title=";)" /><br /><br /><b><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Lol. There were only TWO Verdi singings in that
ENTIRE cast, Zajick and Robinson. If we as singings, young and old,
begin to accept mediocre singing as the norm there truly is no hope for
our art form. I'm not sure if you're a singer but I challenge you to
research the singers of the past who have sang that role. Both L. Price
and M. Price, Millo, Milanov, just to name a few.<br /><br /><span><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>ME!! :</b></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> I don't have formal training in music - I'm one of those people
who started studying voice as an adult, for fun. So as an audience
member, I'm not analyzing every note or technique, and I don't know what
composer people have trained to sing or whatever. I experience the
performance as it is. I understand where you're coming from, however I
have no interest in knowing who sang the role before and how they sang
it. I'm there seeing who IS singing it. Does that make sense?<br /><b><span style="color: purple;"><br /></span></b><span><b><span style="color: purple;">My Friend: </span></b> </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lol Susan I wouldn't make fun of you...everyone has
different ears. I think she had a nice voice just not for Verdi. I am
curious about what specifically you liked. And please don't feel I'm
asking you to defend your opinion, simply want to hear it...I want to
know exactly what you thought. Feel free to post here or message me.<br /><br /><b><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> I thought I was having a conversation with an actual singer. Oh well. Continue on your journey sugar.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><b><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> I apologize, <span style="color: purple;"><span>My Friend</span>. </span>You know how I get about singing.<br /><br /><span><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>ME!! :</b></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Mr Snooty, Are you implying that someone who hasn't studied
formally doesn't have a valid opinion of a performance? I consider
myself an actual singer. I don't get paid and I'm not on a career path
but I love singing and I love performing. It's part of who I am. I don't
have to have gone to music school to have that passion. Your
patronizing attitude is one of the reasons opera seems so snobby to the
general public.<br /><br /> Each singer brings his or her own self to the
character. It's fine to love how a particular singer performed that
role, I have my favorites in certain roles too. But I try to see what's
good about a performance, and what's enjoyable... not what was wrong. I
don't go in expecting a sub-par performance because the singer isn't
"trained" to sing Verdi.</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><br /><span style="color: purple;">Friend</span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, what I liked was how pretty her
voice was. It was sweet. This was my first time seeing Trovatore and I
thought the sweetness of her voice was right for the innocence of the
character. I also thought the tenor was good too. Yes I've heard better
tenors, with stronger voices, but he was fine in the role. And the
reception they both got from the audience shows that I wasn't the only
one who thought so. She had one show-stopping aria and also a standing
ovation at the end. Are we to dismiss the general public's "opinion" as
because they're (we're) not "smart" enough to know what's good, so we
accept mediocrity?<br /><br /> If you guys don't mind, I'm thinking of
using this conversation as the topic of a blog post.. I won't name
either of you of course. But that "actual singer" comment is priceless!</span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><b><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> By all means use want you want. But please become a
learned singer so you and actually appreciate what you're hearing. When
you and a baritone, soprano and tenor who have no business singing
Verdi, yes that bothers me. And what bothers me more is when you have a
singer who claims they loves and are learning how to sing in an art form
yet doesn't want to do the research of what type of voices should be
singing the certain rep. I find that ridiculous. I'm very opinionated
when it comes to singing and I know tons of patrons who have never sung a
note yet know rep and who should be sing it. Don't be a dummy. Please
do some research. Trust me, I will help you with your very own
development.<br /> Best in your singing!!<br /><br /><span><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>ME!! :</b></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Thank
you for your well wishes. And no no no. There is more than one way to
appreciate and learn music. Your way is not the only way. You don't know
anything about me to say what I want or don't want to do. I started
studying at the age of 40. I see it as an achievement to finally do
something I've always wanted to do. I have a job and am the parent of a
special needs child. I squeeze in 30 minutes of voice lesson a week
unless parenting interferes. I am in it for me, to learn what I can do
with my voice, not to criticize the casting director at my local opera
company for putting the wrong type of singer in a role. I do agree that
you appreciate more the more you know. I appreciate opera singing more
than I did before I began studying voice now that I know a fraction of
what goes into it. I love learning to sing, I love singing, I love going
to the opera when I can afford the time and money. But let's switch
lives for a few days, and then you tell me when you have time and energy
to do anything else for yourself other than the weekly 30 minute
lesson. I do most of my practicing in the car because it's the only set
chunk of time I have alone.<br /> One piece of advice I have for you is to
be nice to everyone you meet, from the friend-of-a-friend mom who
studies voice for herself, the person measuring you for your costume,
the super who volunteers to be a soldier or townsperson or the person in
the box office selling tickets. You never know who is in the position
to do the hiring, or who they know. And you never know who is in the
position to buy a ticket to see you, or decide NOT to buy a ticket,
based on how you treat others. No matter how talented you are, if you
are as rude to other people as you have been to me, you will encounter a
glass ceiling when the decision for a role is between you and the guy
who maybe isn't as strong a singer but sure is nicer to work with.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><b><span>Mr. Snooty Spoilface</span></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Sigh.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yes, Mr. Snooty had to get the last word in. I let him, because it was obvious that he was not getting off the top of his cultural ladder. I suppose another option would have been to attack him. But I figured I went beyond the necessary by defending myself, and he wasn't worth my time to attack. I'm not proud that I played the "I'm the busy parent of a special needs kid" card. But... he called me Sugar!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I do believe that it's attitudes like his that keep opera inaccessible, by implying that you need to have all this background knowledge to "properly" enjoy an opera. What a load of garbage. You either like something or you don't. If you have some background knowledge, great, you'll understand it more. But it's not a requirement. And there was no mediocre singing that day. The Met doesn't hire mediocre singers. I realize that all the Snooty Spoilfaces out there will say I'm naive for saying that. And I don't really care. I go in to a production ready to be amazed, not prepared to criticize. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I think what really made me reply at all was that he called me Sugar. So patronizing. Part of me wanted to smack him so hard upside the head that he'd fly ass-over-teakettle against the wall. And truthfully, I wrote that only for the opportunity to write "ass-over-teakettle." </span></span></div>
</span></span>Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-71196330272254057582012-09-15T10:33:00.000-04:002012-09-15T10:34:31.903-04:00Vote for my Vintage Cherry!Thought that might get your attention!!! Vintage Cherry is the name of a <a href="http://bit.ly/PBYpfI" target="_blank">drinky-drink the Huz and I came up with to enter the Metropolitan Opera's "Elixir of Love" contest</a>. The entry with the most votes wins tickets to see The Elixir of Love. Which yeah, I've seen twice this year. But this is a new production with a different cast!!! You can vote once per day between now and September 23. This is my shameless plea to <a href="http://bit.ly/PBYpfI" target="_blank">PLEASE VOTE FOR MY DRINK!!!!!</a> <---click the link to go directly to my voting page. THANKS!!<br />
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Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-8572354615989373252012-08-22T12:56:00.000-04:002012-08-22T12:56:11.427-04:00The Lazy BloggerThis might possibly be the longest break I’ve ever taken from the blog. And really it’s just because I’m lazy. And busy. Busy being lazy. So what’s new? Let’s break it down. <br />
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Voice lessons: They're going great!! Working on the lower part of Rossini’s Cat Duet. Don’t have anyone to sing it with. How pathetic is that? I’m also working on Sposa son disprezzata. It’s sounding better and better. It’s in a perfect range for me. My main concern is keeping the air up and over and front for every note. I practice sections at a time to make sure each vowel combo gets lifted, lifted, lifted. <br />
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Opera: Got tickets to see Comte Ory at the Met in January! They changed their pricing structure. No more Grand Tier Rear. Bye bye jokes related to that. Now it's premium, prime and balance. Like steak, almost. So of course the prices went up too. Balance is the last two rows on the sides, except for the aisle seats. The price difference is ridiculous. So I got the best possible balance seats. Hoping we'll be able to move to slightly better seats like I've done in the past. And of course if they still have it, I'll enter the weekly drawing for $25 weekend tickets. And YES!! I'm excited to see Juan Diego Florez and Nathan Gunn in the same opera. Finally! Maybe. As long as no one cancels this time. I don’t think either of them will. I don’t think I’ll cry if they do, like I did last time, but I make no promises. <br />
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Other upcoming adventures: Seeing Blondie (again) in early October, and then Adam Ant (again, after a Very Long Hiatus) that same week, two nights in a row. Meet and Greet tickets for Adam are $300 so that won’t be happening. But, as usual, I have something in the works… the tickets for one of the AA concerts are courtesy of a friend’s husband’s friend… so the friend will work on the husband to work on the friend to see if there’s any way we can somehow participate in some type of meet and greet. I suggested she bake the guy cookies, or maybe even a cake. Because Adam Ant was my life in the early and mid-80s. Much like opera and 30 Seconds to Mars are now. Now, the idea of meeting him makes me crazy with excitement. And even though I kept my cool meeting Juan Diego Florez and 30 Seconds to Mars, I can’t help but wonder if I wouldn’t dissolve into tears meeting Adam Ant for real rather than down an alley and behind a fence like I did last time… in 1985. And since I have no idea if it’ll even happen, I’ve decided to simply refuse to think about it. Wish me luck. <br />
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Finally, YouTube: I have an accounts under Melfindel, TheLuindriel and Bookshelf23. I don't need or want multiple accounts so I plan to consolidate them soon... whenever that will be. Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-70932618939593560512012-06-04T11:10:00.001-04:002012-06-04T11:10:26.190-04:00Double Cross-DressingOnce again I find myself apologizing for the huge gap in posting. Last month was a little hectic, but things have finally calmed down enough for me to catch up. And guess what? I sang in a concert and I’m actually not disgusted with my performance! I mean, yeah, of course I hear all the mistakes, but I’m pretty pleased for the most part. Here, decide for yourself. <br />
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And yes, as you see, this is my “alternate” youtube account, because once again EMI has made copyright claims on the 30 Seconds to Mars videos I posted. I filed the same response as I did last time. If/when my Luindriel account is reinstated, I’ll quickly change the descriptions on all the Mars videos. <br />
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But back to the concert. I played Cherubino in drag in another scene, dressed as a girl from the village bringing flowers to the Countess. That was fun because I got to act, hiding behind other girls while they shoved me to the front, and then they spun me down the line to end the song with me presenting the flowers to the Countess on the last beat of the music.<br />
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I also sang in the chorus for scenes from Die Fledermaus, Madame Butterfly, Dido & Aeneas and The Mikado. If videos of any of those scenes show up anywhere, I’ll post links.Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-62027733237253660422012-05-08T12:53:00.002-04:002012-05-08T12:53:24.384-04:00An Interlude to my InterludeLots going on here! YouTube reinstated my page, hooray! And I'm doing scenes and an aria at an upcoming Opera Project Wing concert. But more on all that later. I'm breaking my (unintentional) posting interlude with something I haven't done in a very long time... A Gunn Interlude.<br />
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Here Nathan talks about his top 5 shirtless roles. He seems to be smeared with mud and blood alot. <br />
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Note his reversal of barihunk into hunkatone. Somehow "hunkatone" has a slightly different meaning to me than "barihunk," and it actually does seem to more accurately describe him. <br />
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And here's another topic on which Mr. Gunn and I agree: <a href="http://illinois.edu/lb/article/72/63047" target="_blank">His view on Opera vs "Popera." </a>I have had, while not quite arguments, let's call them... heated discussions, with people, on why Andrea Bocelli is not really an opera singer, nor are any of those contestants on the many singing reality shows out there who choose to squawk out an aria when it's their turn to compete. It's not that these people don't have talent. They do! But they couldn't get on stage and sing an opera, without a mic. <br />
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So yeah, speaking of getting on stage and singing, I'll be singing Voi che sapete and also doing the Cherubino cross-dressing scene in the upcoming Opera Project "Artist Development Wing" concert. Basically it's me and 15 teenagers. The youngest is I believe 13. We are all singing in the chorus for scenes from Die Fledermaus, The Mikado, Dido & Aeneas and Madam Butterfly. We have actual staging and everything. I'll report more on that... eventually. <br />Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-30807459951969793352012-04-02T17:21:00.000-04:002012-04-02T17:21:38.947-04:00From YouTube to You TombI'm out of town but had to make this quickie post to let you all know that YOUTUBE SHUT DOWN MY PAGE!!!! Apparently EMI records doesn't like people posting live concert footage of 30 Seconds To Mars, in spite of the fact that it in no way hurts record sales. So they've been filing copyright claims on youtube for live videos - I'm not the only one affected by this. After 3 claims, YouTube automatically shuts down the page. Nice!!! So there go all the Nathan Gunn vids, my singing vids, the John Osborn videos, I think I had a Christian Van Horn vid... all gone, along with all the comments. Camelot? Bye bye. Magic Flute? Gone, gone, gone. And what's even sadder about all this is, I think I trashed the Romeo, Camelot and Magic Flute vids from my hard drive a few months ago when it was too full. So when I return to home base I'll see if I can file a response or whatever to get my page reinstated, and if that fails, I'll make a new one. Meanwhile, the 4 people a year who access the "My Favorite Baritone" page are going to see a whole lot of "video not found" messages. Sorry, Nathan fans! I'll try to fix it as soon as I can. Meaning, at some point in 2012.
Now, my next challenge is to figure out how to send this blog posting from an iPad. Wish me luck...OH! I see a publish button. That was easy! ps anyone know how to add tags?Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-84720694461613621962012-03-27T12:05:00.001-04:002012-03-27T12:05:27.248-04:00A Double DoseFirst off: This blogging format has me stumped. It adds lines that I'm not inserting. So if there's a gap after the picture, scroll down for more text. I have spent far too much time fiddling with the formatting to no avail...<br />
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So here we go!<br />
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Having some serious sighing sighing moments here. I’ve been in this position before. It’s all Juan Diego Florez’s fault. You see, I saw him at the Met in L’elisir D’amore on March 9, then I won the weekly Met drawing for the $25 orchestra seat tickets. For the same opera. Juan Diego Florez and Diana Damrau. Again. So of course I went! Two weeks later. And now I’m in that euphoria that only comes from seeing Juan Diego Florez sing, twice in two weeks.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKk9v1Yhue0Legy4bvvHSIYaaoFEaDIFoKiDMBaxnBAVVUxe6hgHtPAPD7DN7-l6TkWjrWk2GK7g7yEikO6_YFPK67qY7OW6d012n8wGSOYmZgpE0MHxxViuJ0Sx7ciP7bZY1jRHw_B8/s1600/withleslie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>The opera was amazing. <strong><u>Basic plot</u></strong>: Nemorino (Juan Diego Florez) loves Adina (Diana Damrau) but she keeps brushing him off. She reads everyone the story of Tristan and Isolde, how Tristan drinks a potion to make Isolde love him. An army regiment comes to town and Sergeant Belcore (Mariusz Kwiecien) sees Adina and proposes marriage. She finally gives in and accepts. Nemorino is heartbroken. Then a traveling quack doctor comes to town, selling a potion that can cure anything. Nemorino asks about the love potion. Of course the doctor says he makes it. He sells a bottle to Nemorino, telling him that it’ll take a day to work, but once it does, every girl will find him irresistible. </div>
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Nemorino is very excited and drinks it at once. Of course it’s actually a bottle of wine and he gets drunk. The best part of the opera: Juan Diego Florez doing a drunken happy dance. Some brave soul recorded it from one of the performances:</div>
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If the blogger format cuts off the edge, click through you YouTube. It was HILARIOUS! <br />
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Nemorino decides to ignore Adina because he believes that tomorrow she’ll love him, so why bother her now. She notices this, and is upset that he’s suddenly not paying attention to her anymore. He didn’t even come to the banquet to celebrate her upcoming wedding to Belcore. Nemorino decides he needs to buy another bottle, and joins Belcore’s regiment for the sign-on salary so he can afford the elixir.<br />
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Next, the village girls share the news that Nemorino’s uncle has died, leaving him a pile of money. So naturally he’s suddenly an excellent catch. The next time they see him, they’re all over him, trying to get his attention and win his affection. He hasn’t yet heard the news of his uncle’s death, so he thinks that the potion is working! Adina sees the girls fawning over him and gets very jealous. <br />
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Nemorino is packed to join the army, and he sings the famous “Una furtive lagrima” on his way. You could hear a pin drop, that’s how quiet the audience got. Did Adina shed a small tear at the news of his leaving? If so, he can die happy. Meanwhile she bought his contract back from Belcore to keep him there, and blah blah blah happy ending she and Nemorino end up together, her friend ends up with Belcore and the doctor declares another successful outcome of his marvelous potion. <br />
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<u><strong>Adventure number 1, March 9</strong></u><br />
Train to Penn Station: <br />
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Walk uptown to Cafe Fiorello. Get seated here:<br />
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Yummy food, as always, including this rum-soaked cake topped with meringue. <br />
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We got out of there with minutes to spare. We literally ran across the street to the Met and dashed up the stairs as the chimes were ringing. Keeping our momentum, after the usher directed us to our seats (2 rows down and to the left, for row F) we went straight down to Row A (6 rows down and to the right) where as of that morning there were still 2 unsold tickets. The seats were still empty and most of the audience was already in, so we figured we were safe. We settled in, took a “view from our seat” picture and then up went the chandeliers, like, right in front of us. Holy cow! We had upgraded our seats, ninja-style! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhih-xI_x7xrPrqBen0VP6PDVkd-gbQPYEqsRbFA6I1nzqv7EqB9TZz8d2LYDSrTuAcZBdu1ZsVuZ-99vcEMp6hyphenhyphenmCy_76XP_LvGCSZ72rCKXVlDQKJ1Gxt0FFaRKCpqT_ABDVhB_U8MZ8/s1600/photo+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhih-xI_x7xrPrqBen0VP6PDVkd-gbQPYEqsRbFA6I1nzqv7EqB9TZz8d2LYDSrTuAcZBdu1ZsVuZ-99vcEMp6hyphenhyphenmCy_76XP_LvGCSZ72rCKXVlDQKJ1Gxt0FFaRKCpqT_ABDVhB_U8MZ8/s200/photo+5.JPG" width="149" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">During intermission we posed for a few pictures on the outdoor balcony on the Grand Tier level:</span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzrQSGgcVwRIwrDpF33R60MiMd_I4ah1IcaswDsYXAZv9NJDmLD50Od-rJOEJaYhNBqchZV50DxNu3NqQqz1Z4e9vVwkp2ODdmCkkeLnR1PCGxdHe_8BOLJOqhBexMRR1mM4uU6kAvpU/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzrQSGgcVwRIwrDpF33R60MiMd_I4ah1IcaswDsYXAZv9NJDmLD50Od-rJOEJaYhNBqchZV50DxNu3NqQqz1Z4e9vVwkp2ODdmCkkeLnR1PCGxdHe_8BOLJOqhBexMRR1mM4uU6kAvpU/s200/photo+4.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSTu-NgQ6IKJE9ikUnhqu3E4CN3MGfvmLhLmuUbwoVJp3PJp3tfN1a2FIfViT97pXHZnCIy2SFLDiK_ZbD8maHM_EKVEx9VGfgGGoWk9yACen1r_rhaYv7H9e26aAIXqxSe2QNZFc-5Os/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSTu-NgQ6IKJE9ikUnhqu3E4CN3MGfvmLhLmuUbwoVJp3PJp3tfN1a2FIfViT97pXHZnCIy2SFLDiK_ZbD8maHM_EKVEx9VGfgGGoWk9yACen1r_rhaYv7H9e26aAIXqxSe2QNZFc-5Os/s200/photo+3.JPG" width="150" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And at the end, we all turned on our cameras (and I do mean all, like everyone in my section) to take pics and vids of the curtain call. Here is a zoomed-in shot of the picture I took:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbudjhPEW1sAGwKXdmxxqBsRZ0o7aO_T8dKFC0MFaOwWahN1DPnJ7Wq1zlBkQm7z8KNqMMgmV0eoF4hukBUZqdZN4VoMTkpVhy1I597eLdwLlse_jPVAFvYJMOFW3iXB1fNqzEBZW_aG0/s1600/photo.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbudjhPEW1sAGwKXdmxxqBsRZ0o7aO_T8dKFC0MFaOwWahN1DPnJ7Wq1zlBkQm7z8KNqMMgmV0eoF4hukBUZqdZN4VoMTkpVhy1I597eLdwLlse_jPVAFvYJMOFW3iXB1fNqzEBZW_aG0/s320/photo.PNG" width="213" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">All in all, a fabulous evening at the opera. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong><u>Adventure number 2, March 24</u></strong> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So like I said, every week the Metropolitan Opera has a drawing for $25 orchestra seats for the upcoming weekend. I enter almost every week, and have never had my name drawn... until last week! Even though it was for the very same opera I had seen 10 days earlier... a chance to see Juan Diego Florez and Diana Damrau again... from the orchestra... for $25... I didn't hesitate. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlt_ML9hJe_wt-945r-w941WQ6zo0WHDB9co6K4m1-9QAMMfgI2PexmwnT36Jlzk4vFsMlIao4P73WgkLVbKdSehCs7WnGkt7brb7xwrUQODN0BjfFQ7Tg9eCuBYQ2cl4WsrOhPuKMrs/s1600/ticket.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlt_ML9hJe_wt-945r-w941WQ6zo0WHDB9co6K4m1-9QAMMfgI2PexmwnT36Jlzk4vFsMlIao4P73WgkLVbKdSehCs7WnGkt7brb7xwrUQODN0BjfFQ7Tg9eCuBYQ2cl4WsrOhPuKMrs/s200/ticket.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I grabbed a different friend, one who had never been to the opera before in her life, and off we went. We decided to drive rather than take the train. My very first time driving in New York City! It wasn't a big deal at all, really. We parked in the Lincoln Center garage, grabbed the tickets from the box office and went across the street to find some dinner. Ended up at Fiorello again... but outside. With this view: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOL8aCZ3L7ggLvUl0FKot2JJ3qHRO-cc8FigqAqcQjsf1PVApBVvK6vyLGRRvJ1RImZVGZJpZo7wnOiskgGTrQoV_cO2EyJ7FnIZm6RMgnP6XIVfkOLMm4BDMMDeTcCjj9KBrL4guEfA/s1600/viewfromdinner1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOL8aCZ3L7ggLvUl0FKot2JJ3qHRO-cc8FigqAqcQjsf1PVApBVvK6vyLGRRvJ1RImZVGZJpZo7wnOiskgGTrQoV_cO2EyJ7FnIZm6RMgnP6XIVfkOLMm4BDMMDeTcCjj9KBrL4guEfA/s200/viewfromdinner1.JPG" width="149" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course we didn't skip dessert ... nom nom nom chocolate mousse!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Dph08pNR2QWRFkopXnxWyTW3yNFV9faEc-T6iq6qEqQVh8HIfziKSMxgVuona6JozermzIu5ZZiUwhGAvfo5R0G2bvbiNuqbBHMmhKdCR3S82SyRfsDo7UlWTkjqWr0H7eWxKg5b2ts/s1600/mousse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Dph08pNR2QWRFkopXnxWyTW3yNFV9faEc-T6iq6qEqQVh8HIfziKSMxgVuona6JozermzIu5ZZiUwhGAvfo5R0G2bvbiNuqbBHMmhKdCR3S82SyRfsDo7UlWTkjqWr0H7eWxKg5b2ts/s200/mousse.JPG" width="149" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then we trotted across the street in our heels where there was plenty of time to hit the ladies room. We even did a little shopping at the table they have in the lobby from the gift shop. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52-c_b9Q8rBBzlRDkRt8dJW4XmzU0lF95TPC-wBb2XzGVYAMNSZ-k_TM7aUYDmvHe8M0-TydnHCN6cQO0x6WCIF6fm_erTR3RlKUwrWMODkuIzSrvJgWSvt96uSjyRCW0-rvGTuuV3vQ/s1600/pencil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52-c_b9Q8rBBzlRDkRt8dJW4XmzU0lF95TPC-wBb2XzGVYAMNSZ-k_TM7aUYDmvHe8M0-TydnHCN6cQO0x6WCIF6fm_erTR3RlKUwrWMODkuIzSrvJgWSvt96uSjyRCW0-rvGTuuV3vQ/s200/pencil.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The seats were far back enough that we were under the overhang of the balconies above. But there was no one directly in front of us, so we had a nice view:</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1EhOoqq31DDncmsO1sYeuph43Knw4OKlH6qDZMM4_5PEGKSgYmqv2edVig3-lTWV2TaMJ7-t9SBNoptzF3wdbfNu_CStIocGUlsZg8U6oy0AvdSpCwEc3DxHk1anCexyUMzszHw5Lot8/s1600/march24view1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1EhOoqq31DDncmsO1sYeuph43Knw4OKlH6qDZMM4_5PEGKSgYmqv2edVig3-lTWV2TaMJ7-t9SBNoptzF3wdbfNu_CStIocGUlsZg8U6oy0AvdSpCwEc3DxHk1anCexyUMzszHw5Lot8/s200/march24view1.JPG" width="149" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKk9v1Yhue0Legy4bvvHSIYaaoFEaDIFoKiDMBaxnBAVVUxe6hgHtPAPD7DN7-l6TkWjrWk2GK7g7yEikO6_YFPK67qY7OW6d012n8wGSOYmZgpE0MHxxViuJ0Sx7ciP7bZY1jRHw_B8/s1600/withleslie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKk9v1Yhue0Legy4bvvHSIYaaoFEaDIFoKiDMBaxnBAVVUxe6hgHtPAPD7DN7-l6TkWjrWk2GK7g7yEikO6_YFPK67qY7OW6d012n8wGSOYmZgpE0MHxxViuJ0Sx7ciP7bZY1jRHw_B8/s200/withleslie.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Intermission, I dragged my companion to the Grand Tier outdoor balcony for the requisite pictures:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJYo8oNn2_HrxCCxhDqqKPIXUdYwdgtbN0woYSUzPlVrtfM2ups6WsIesvPHve3YQutb-W9jUY1UxLwK93EX0L0pRyusPAHXj3enE3sXJqXYOU3FzSo2Oaj5y2udl03LHsYjvdKO8Oqk/s1600/tongue.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJYo8oNn2_HrxCCxhDqqKPIXUdYwdgtbN0woYSUzPlVrtfM2ups6WsIesvPHve3YQutb-W9jUY1UxLwK93EX0L0pRyusPAHXj3enE3sXJqXYOU3FzSo2Oaj5y2udl03LHsYjvdKO8Oqk/s200/tongue.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then as the final chimes were ringing before act 2, two very tall people came and sat directly in front of us! We immediately moved forward to two empty seats about<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>5 rows up: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now we were no longer under the overhand and WOW! What a difference in the sound! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I think the singers were even better the 2<sup>nd</sup> time I saw them. Juan Diego Florez sang one legato line the entire opera. Music flows out of him like honey, sweet and luscious and yum. Diana Damrau’s voice moved me to tears at some points. The opera is a comedy and I was sitting there with moist eyes because her voice was just that beautiful. And again, like on the 1st night I was there, for Una Furtiva Lagrima, you could hear a pin drop, the audience was that quiet, until the end, when everyone hooted and hollered. The people we were sitting next to in Act 2 were whooping and yelling like we were at a rock concert. So was I… At the curtain call too. I didn’t take any pictures during the curtain call, but almost everyone around me pulled out their cameras. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The rest of the adventure involved driving around New York City looking for the hidden entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, driving in the rain and fog on a road that suddenly exited into Newark with no warning, and eventually getting ourselves home safely. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm so happy that I got to see this opera again. I am in total Juan Diego Florez mode right now, listening to everything and anything I have. And melting. And wanting to see him perform again. And sad that I'll have a to wait a year for that to happen.</span> </span></div>Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1872521732024534925.post-38851439725054390472012-03-08T10:24:00.000-05:002012-03-08T10:24:26.159-05:00Old Wish (Hopefully) Coming True!Waaaaay back near the beginning of this blog I wrote about how totally awesome it would be to <a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2007/07/road-trip-air-trip-actually.html" target="_blank">see Juan Diego Florez and Nathan Gunn in the same opera</a>. Then, it almost happened, until <a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2008/02/misery.html" target="_blank">the infamous fishbone incident</a>. That <a href="http://luindriel.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-i-saw-nathan-gunn-in-his-underwear.html" target="_blank">all worked out for the best in the end</a>… and at the time I thought, eventually, EVENTUALLY, they’ll be in something together at the Met. Well, finally, FINALLY, that eventuality has arrived! Or, it will arrive, a year from now. <a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/opera/comte-ory-rossini-tickets.aspx" target="_blank">Look</a>! So, the question is, do I go see <em>Le Comte Ory</em> again? Ok. Dumb question. Nathan Gunn and Juan Diego Florez in the same opera. Of course I do. And I drag along as many people as I can!!! Hopefully neither of them will swallow anything throat-scratching.<br />
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Other tasty looking picks, for me, include <em>La Traviata</em> with Diana Damrau, and possibly the holiday performance, which next season will be a shortened, English version of Barber of Seville. What are the chances that I can drag Alex to that? He’ll be 8 ½ then. He’s familiar with the opera. He likes it. Hm. It’s a definite possibility. <br />
<br />Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10149585684469790767noreply@blogger.com1