What to Sing IF I Sing

I have a bunch of upcoming events. Maybe.

1. There's the voice evaluation for the music school in mid-May.
2. There's possibly an Opera Project recital near the end of May. Well there's definitely an OP recital but they're not sure they have room for arias this time around - more on that later.
3. There's the recital my teacher puts on of her students.
   

I'll need two songs for the evaluation, two for the student recital and one for OP if I can sing with them next month. Overlap is allowed of course.

I have three songs that I'm shuffling around for the events, plus another I can toss in for the eval.

1. Art is Calling for Me
2. Nel Cor and
   
3. I've pulled Vedrai Carino out of the closet of my brain.

So here's how I've got it mapped out.... for now.

1. Voice eval: Batti Batti and Nel Cor (or Art is Calling?)
2. OP if I get in: Either Nel Cor or Vedrai Carino
3. Student Recital: Art is Calling for Me and Nel Cor
   

The voice eval is a few days before the OP event. Shouldn't I sing there what I'd sing for the event? I'd certainly know by then if I'll be in. I'll find out next week. As of now they're doing tons of Wagner, the Lucia sextet and then some duets. I so want to do a duet! They told me they'd find someone for me for a duet so I'll talk to my teacher about what I could do. I'm stuck on Zerlina now and would love to do La ci darem la mano. But as usual, I need a baritone. I guess if I could possibly do it I'd just have to learn my part and ask them if anyone wants to do it with me. I feel so green about this stuff. But as usual I digress. As of now the program is full, although the fact that whatever I'd sing would be very short, like 2 minutes, is a plus.

So the plan for tomorrow's voice lesson is, I'm going to sing the three pieces for my teacher and then we'll decide together which one(s) I can get into shape to perform. I like having a plan.

Caaaarrrmmmeeennn!!

I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THURSDAY!!!! I specifically didn't go to the HD broadcast of Carmen today because I want to see it fresh, fresh, fresh. I haven't even read any reviews. But I did listen to the radio broadcast and it was FAB. It was SO COOL to hear Liz sing. I am so excited for her, and to be going to the Met, and to be going on a looooong "date" with Husband, that I'm ready to explode. Explode, I tell you.

So I listened to the radio broadcast - I realized I could listen to the streaming broadcast of the local classical station on my iPhone, meaning, I could go anywhere and still listen. Great, because during intermission we all went outside and joined some neighbors for a walk. One of the girls was at that New Year's Eve party, the one who kept demanding that I sing, sing sing. She's in 2nd grade so she's older than 6 - I guess she's 7 or 8. I told her what I was listening to, explained that it was LIVE and that I know one of the singers. We all ended up at the track field at the nearby school. This girl was so cute. She took me by the hand to lead me to the bleachers to sit and listen. She sat with me and listened for a good half an hour after the interminable intermission ended. She loved it. She kept saying, "Is that your sister?" and I kept saying, "She's my friend, not my sister!" Then she kept asking me to sing a note like that. Ha! Not bloody likely. But I showed her how to sing using her abs, opening wide like a yawn and so on. She was belting out the notes like nobody's business!! She had never heard real opera before. She said her mother watches it on TV - "You know, that woman with the curly hair?" Took me a moment before I realized that I think she meant Susan Boyle. All I said was, "Someone who wins a television contest is not an opera singer. The people you're hearing right now dedicate their lives to studying music and opera, they go to school for it and do nothing else." It was so much fun to share the excitement of the broadcast and the general excitement of live opera with her. She kept telling me that I was so funny, I think because I don't act like a "regular" adult. I tend to talk to kids like they're adults rather than talk "kid talk" to them, if that makes sense. Sharing the experience with her made it even more special.

Then to top off the fabulous day we had tamales for dinner. Oh and I did have my voice lesson this morning. For the very first time, I actually didn't have my music with me! I had taken it out of my bag to go over when to breathe. I do the breathing but sing it only in my head , not out loud. I might have left it on my desk at work. Uh, not that I practice my music while I'm at work. Ahem. I'm sure it was while I was waiting for some work-related computer program to load. So anyway we went over the words and some diction stuff, then for fun worked on Art is Calling for Me. That's going to be fun once I really get it together. We have a lesson next Saturday before the afternoon recital. Should be fun.

Next: What to wear on Thursday, and also, what in the world should Husband wear? He's anti-suit/tie. Dress pants, dress shirt and jacket, sans tie? We'll see. I'm sure I'll post pictures.

Really what I want is, when we're backstage, to be able to put 1 foot, just 1 toe, onto the stage and get a photo. Silly, I know, but that shouldn't surprise anyone.

Art is Calling Me, And So Is Lust OopsIMean LOVE in a Pan

Aha! I have found the song I want to sing next!!! I emailed my voice teacher about it and she said it was on her list of suggestions for me!!! And that she has the music AND the CD accompaniment. The best and cutest version I could find on YouTube doesn't allow embedding, go figure, so you'll have to click here to see it. Go ahead, click. It's fun. Obviously there's a bit of improv/embellishment there that I won't be doing, but the song itself is so cute.

Those tenors, so sweet, if they made love to me, I'd be a success, THAT I DO know.

Hahahaha!

You have to watch through to the end to where she checks her watch. Hilarious! And so refreshing after focusing on poor, poor Gretchen all these months. The poor thing. Of course I'll finish and improve Gretchen at the same time that I learn how to be a prima donna donna donna, but I'm definitely ready for something light and silly, yet still vocally challenging.

I wonder if this version by Jennifer Larmore is stepped down to mezzo. I've tried ooo-ing along with other versions online, just to see if I can hit all the notes, and I'm trying to memorize the words. Not doing too much - don't want to get lectured again about doing too much to fast.

In other news, there is no other news. But here's a recipe for this ... this... this STUFF that one of my coworkers brought to the office yesterday. I'm drooling just typing this sentence.

LOVE IN A PAN
Preheat the oven to 350 ^o

1¼ cup sugar

2 containers (refrigerated tubes) of crescent roll dough

16 oz. cream cheese (2 normal-sized boxes)

1 stick butter/margarine

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

In a 9” x 13” baking pan, roll out one container of crescent rolls in the bottom of the pan.
In a mixing bowl, beat or mix 1 cup of sugar with the cream cheese and the vanilla until well blended.
Spread the cream cheese mixture over the bottom layer of crescent roll dough.
Layer the second container of crescent roll dough over the top.
Melt the butter and pour it over the top crust.
Mix the remaining ¼ cup of sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle it over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes at 360 ^o

Caution: This delicious mass will rise while baking. You might want to put a cookie sheet under the pan in case the love overflows.

I've already had suggestions from some people that this should be renamed Lust in a Pan, but you didn't hear that from me.