A Different Opera, A Different Season, and Getting Inside

Turandot was on PBS today. It was the opera that started this blog, really. At the time I thought that except for a few parts here and there it was boring as all hell. Today I turned it on just before the aria that Paul Potts (I can't believe I just typed that man's name in my blog) made famous - Nessun Dorma. We sat through that and about 5 more minutes before Alex said in a tired voice, "I think I need to see a different opera right now." Thank goodness that Barber of Seville is on the DVR.

So there we were, watching Juan Diego Florez jump all over the stage during Ecco Ridente and it hit me - 7 days ago I was standing in the wings of THAT VERY STAGE!!! Sure I felt like I could hurl at any moment, but hey, I'd probably feel that way if I was brought there while healthy. Once again I have to wait for these things to transfer from my short term to my long term memory for the impact to really hit me. InSANE!!!

Anyway, Alex asked me to explain to him everything they were saying or doing so we went over how arias are named for the first few words, how they repeat, what coloratura is, what he's singing and why, and so on. He loves the part where the musicians are chasing him around asking for money. Can't find a quick link on YouTube for it. But it's funny. Trust me.

Voice lesson yesterday. Started Nel cor piu non mi sento (That's Cecilia Bartoli in that link!!) My teacher says it's much easier than the other pieces we've been working on. But since I know one version and the book we use has a slightly different version, it has a built-in challenge of me unlearning what I already know to learn the other version. And as always, me unlearning whatever mistakes I've manage to "teach" myself while learning the other version.

Two things to write about that deserve their own posts:

1. Met Opera's 2010-2011 season and their really cool online brochure

and

2. A group I just joined called The Opera Insider. Everyone should click that link, read about the group and join if you think it's for you. Note that their abbreviation is "toi." Very clever, no?

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.

Random Pamina

Here's something random and fun.

A friend at work convinced me to come out to dinner tonight to a local restaurant I've passed countless times but for whatever reason have never been to before. Husband and Alex came too because I was in one of those moods where I wanted to go out but also wanted to be with my boys.

So during the meal I heard the opening notes of Ave Maria. Before I had a chance to say, "That sounds like Ave Maria," the hostess at the restaurant began to sing. Beautiful, beautiful voice. When she was done the CD began to play the next track - the vocal accompaniment to Ach il fuhl's, Pamina's aria from Die Zauberflote. So the next time she passed our table I stopped her, told her how lovely her voice is and said that I expected to hear her sing Pamina next when the music started. She got so excited - turns out she's a grad student in voice and is singing Pamina this coming spring for a performance in her program. She was working at the restaurant while home on Winter break. We chatted a little bit about studying voice. I told her how Alex loves Magic Flute and used to watch the Met's English version and she cut me off and said, "Oh, with Nathan Gunn. Isn't he the best Papageno?" Ha! Um, yeah. So the conversation went there for a few minutes, got sort of silly, we compared notes of opera singers we've met and operas we like and then she sang Pamina. It was really nice. Alex was fading fast as it was well past his bedtime, but he sat on my lap and went into his Opera Trance, with that smile that he gets on his face.

Totally random. Love it.

Austism and Opera

On New Year's Eve one of our neighbors had a party from 5-8pm to celebrate Greenwhich Mean Time New Year's, which was 7:00pm local time. There are a lot of kids in the neighborhood so it was a great way to all get together, have a countdown and still all make it to bed by 10.

One of our neighbors has a 13 year old daughter who has autism and severe learning disabilities. I was hanging out with her and a 6 year old girl just being silly, then I asked if they wanted to hear a song. We were on a back porch with a closed sliding glass door. I didn't sing very loudly, just a few lines of Una Donna and then they started to laugh. The 13 year old threw her head back and laughed and laughed. When she calmed down I asked her what made her laugh. She said it was because it was so high. I asked if she liked it and she said, "YES!!!" Then the other girl demanded, "Sing more!! Sing!!!" and the older girl chimed in. Alex was there too. I sang bits and pieces and put my hands on their arms when I sang. Then the younger girl demanded that I sing it again and touch her arm at the same time. Ok... why? She said because it feels good, and the music feels good when I'm touching her when I sing. The older girl's father was there and he said that she has always been responsive to music. However they've never thought to play opera for her. I invited her over to sing with me and gave my number to her parents. I hope they do call - I had fun playing with the girls, and I'd love it if listening to opera could get a response out of their daughter.

How it Began

Looking back over the blog, I realize I never posted the story of the role opera played in my family's history.

Basically, opera kept my grandfather of of jail.

It was 1902 in Kiev and the czarist regime had a stronghold over the land. Poverty was widespread. Living conditions were deplorable. My grandfather Aaron, about 20 years old at the time, was one of a group of revolutionaries who were convinced that socialism was the answer. They decided to infiltrate the world of the rich to let them know how things really were for the rest of the country. They printed up leaflets decrying the deplorable conditions and promoting the socialistic ideal. But how would they get their message out to the wealthy? The opera of course.

On the day of the drop the boys hid along the side of the road near the opera house, watching the wealthy patrons arrive. They had often heard the clop clop clop of the horses pulling the fancy carriages of the rich off to the Kiev Opera House, but they'd never been close enough to see the furs, jewels and fancy clothing. They knew the rich were very rich, but had had no idea such opulence even existed.

Once the street emptied they made their move. With the help of an employee, they snuck into the opera house and up to the balcony. The plan was to drop the leaflets and run. But when my grandfather Aaron heard the music he was entranced. He forgot his mission and simply stared at the stage. He was transfixed. The other young men dropped their leaflets, ran, and of course were caught and arrested. Aaron stayed for the entire opera and snuck out at the end, a changed man. Afterwards he repeatedly risked arrest by sneaking into the opera whenever he could. That may sound like no big deal, but it was a huge risk. He was so enchanted by opera that he was willing to risk his life to hear it.

Because I don’t know the exact date of the incident, I don’t know what opera was being performed. For some reason I imagine it was Madame Butterfly. Why? I have no idea. Perhaps my aunt mentioned it to me once? But there's no way to know for sure.

Aaron brought his love of opera to the United States when he moved here in the early 1900s. The family always had subscriptions to the (old) Met, and at home opera was always on the radio or phonograph. My mother, aunts and uncles always had opera playing too. Every family gathering had an opera soundtrack in the background. Not loud and in your face, but just there. I think that's why it feels so familiar and comfortable to me. Growing up, my mom always had opera playing. Certain operas or pieces of music can transport me back to my childhood. Carmen, Marriage of Figaro, Die Fledermaus... I knew these operas without realizing I knew them.

Naturally, I rejected my parents music as a teenager. After all, it was the 80s and MTV was brand-new. I still played opera games, such as pretending that life was an opera and everything had to be sung. But it wasn't until I had a child of my own that I returned to the music that was such a strong part of my childhood. And I started writing this blog soon after.

Now Alex is enthralled by opera, and while I realize that he, too, might reject it at some point during his childhood, I'm confident that when he's an adult he'll be sharing his love opera with his children. Makes me all weepy and fuzzy to think about it.

Kazoo Compilation

Alex hums some favorite tunes into his kazoo.

The Rest of the Previous Post

Just reread the last post and realized that I sort of stopped in the middle of describing Alex's Tour of Opera on the DVR. We didn't simply watch JDF drink in the applause. (I just almost wrote applesauce by mistake.) Alex likes two parts: When Figaro's cart comes on stage during All'idea, and the thunderstorm scene near the end. He asks to hear the thunderstorm on recordings too, when there's no video. He'd gladly listen 10 times in a row, or more.

Anyway, then it was time for him to get ready for bed so he only heard it once that evening.

Random Ching-a-Ring Dreams

Short post about this-n-that.

Looks like Opera Chic made her way to Central Park yesterday. OC says,

Baritone Nathan Gunn was the soloist for the first work, Aaron Copland's "Old American Songs", the highlight being the final work of five, "Ching-a-Ring Chaw" to which Gunn threw himself into with great cadence and enthusiasm.

Ching a Ring Chaw? Ok. Read all about it and see the photos of a Famous Person eating a sandwich here.

Today Alex asked if I would take him to see Abduction from the Seraglio. I explained why I can't - he's 5 and just won't remember to wait until it's over to ask questions. Turns out his main reason for wanting to go was to see them spit watermelon seeds and throw the banana. Don't think I included the banana in my review - at one point Osmin comes on stage peeling a banana. One of the other characters enters so he throws the banana over his shoulder to deal with whoever it was. (Yeah, I know, I don't remember.) One of the guards catches the banana and starts eating it.

Another silly scene I left out of the description was when Belmonte tosses a little bag of coins to Osmin. It goes past him and lands at the feet of the male slaves. The slave nearest the bag makes nonsense conversation with Osmin - just noises with intonation. He answers in the same nonsense intonation language and they have this little conversation about what to do with the money, all in that nonsense. It was Very Funny.

New link added to the blogroll. --->

One of the posts there reminds me of a dream I had last night.

The dream:

Banawoman and I were going to see a new opera starring Mr. Gunn. We were getting ready when we realized that it was really late, as in, curtain was in 45 minutes. We ran to the airplane and were on our way when the plane suddenly landed, too far from the theater. No one would explain why it stopped. Meanwhile, the start time passed and we realized that even if we went, they wouldn't let us in. We were going to go home. Husband was at the opera so I sent him a text message that we didn't make it. I was really sad because we had been planning to go for about a year. Suddenly I remembered intermission - we could go in during intermission! So we headed back to the opera house. I don't quite remember how we got there. The next thing I remember was being on the street outside and it was sort of like the atmosphere before a rock concert. There were people all over the place, all waiting to go in. And that's all I remember.

And isn't that enough?

Insight From the Little Opera Singer

By now you've all seen Alex starring in his various videos, whether he's acting out a Beethoven's Wig song, imitating Papageno or launching himself into our homemade crash-pad.

Lately he has been composing music. I wish there were a way for him to record it, to actually sit down and compose. Sometimes he'll say, "I hear a song in my head right now," to which I reply, "One we know, or one you made up?" "One I made up," he'll say. Sometimes he'll just sing some tune of nonsense words with a real word thrown in every now and then. The tunes aren't bad, he changes tempos and it's hilarious when he uses a real word. The other day he was doing this in the bathtub where he was playing with a toy octopus. Every now and then he'd sing "octopus" in the middle of the nonsense language. It was awesome.

He recently told me that he prefers music that has words to instrumental music, and that's why he likes opera, even though he can't understand what they're saying.

He'll be 5 in June. I know I'm biased, but I think he's amazing.

Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for beautiful voices that fill me with happiness, melancholy, mirth and so on. You get the idea.

Cuban soprano, Elizabeth Caballero sings Ore dolci e divine in a live production of Puccini's opera La rondine:



Cuban soprano Elizabeth Caballero sings Ch'il bel sogno in a live production of Puccini's opera La rondine:



While I was getting all the links and descriptions for this, Alex came in and demanded that we watch both videos in full-screen mode. And I wish I had my camera rolling on him - he had That Smile, That Look on his face. I asked him if he liked it and he said all dreamily, "Yeah." Almost made me cry. Then he asked me what the opera is about.... Uh... time to do some research.

All The Numbers

So now I have a vague idea of how many people read La Cieca. Here are the YouTube stats on that video:

Clicks URL

390 http://parterre.com/

109 http://parterre.com/?p=1287

2 http://parterre.com/?tag=youtube

Let's see, that's uh... 501? Just from his page, just in one day. Even if everyone watched it twice (which I doubt) that's still over 250. The video itself has 645 views.

Thanks, La Cieca!

Hmm that means that hundreds of people have seen my messy living room. Ok so... that's a New York Yankees blanket on the floor. I put it there because I was attempting to do pilates (that didn't last) and figured it'd be more pleasant to lie on a fleecy surface. So pleasant that I almost fell asleep... The big cardboard box in the middle of the floor I brought home from work last week so we could make it into a car. We never did put the paper-plate wheels on but it had a radio and a cup-holder. There are big plastic bins around where we attempt to contain things but unless he's asleep or not home the containment fields are continuously breached. Umm... couldn't find Mr Potato Head's nose (even though we have 2) so that upper mouth is actually a nose. A mouth nose. He doesn't have two mouths - that would be silly. Oh and that looks like a giant "husband" pillow hanging off the couch, and the futon is practically sliding off the frame because a certain someone in the house likes to jump on it even though it's against the rules. So his love of opera does not prevent him from dumping his toys all over the room and jumping on the couch. Just like the rest of us opera-lovers, right?

So now would be a good time to report Alex's latest musical comment. We were listening to Barbiere in the car - La Calumnia. It's a bass part. Alex said, "This music is far down inside him." I asked him to clarify - did he mean, far down, like, a low note, or far down in his body?
"I mean in his pipes, where they connect. They must connect far down in his body."
Meaning, his throat. I thought that was interesting. Then we played "find the coloratura" and identified when the singers were singing "jumpy" coloratura and when it was regular operatic singing. Easy peasy. Then we got to Target, where I ran in to get 1 thing and spent $98. There's a reason we call it the hundred dollar store...

Today Alex started singing this. The reason I mention it is because about 2 weeks ago he asked to see that video about 20 times in a row, no kidding. Then that was it... until today when he started singing it. All afternoon. And now it's stuck in my head. A catchy little ditty but still...

And speaking of still -

I'm still debating on the Lucretia tickets. I just went here and typed in,

Should I pay the extra $75 and get the opera ticket now?

And the answer: My sources say no.

Humph. What do its sources know anyway.