Whirlywind

The days are just flying by!

I sang in the first Opera Project Wing performance last week. I sang two songs – Nel cor piu non mi sento and Voi che sapete. I did ok, but would you believe I actually FORGOT THE WORDS at one point? I fudged it and no one seemed to notice. People who know Voi che sapete will know where I made up a word. Hey at least the vowel was the same. And a few people actually approached me afterwards to compliment my voice and say how much they liked my performance. That was nice! I'm always so surprised when that happens. All I hear are mistakes, so I always assume that people are just being nice. But I also know they wouldn't approach me and say that just to be nice. So it's pretty cool!

The voice lesson following that recital I was lucky enough to have two teachers at once. Sometimes they talked about me like I wasn’t there. I was fine with that. I learned a lot about breath and legato line and how to really incorporate the two. Like my voice teacher says, sometimes you just need a different person to explain the concept to you a different way in order for you to get it. So I’ll see her today for a lesson, then I’ll be seeing the other teacher later in the week.

Then… on Friday. FINALLY! L’Elisir D’amore at the Met!! Juan Diego Florez. Ahhhh. And then on Sunday, another recital, where I plan to tackle Ombra mai fu. Then I'll write all about both adventures, hopefully while they're still both fresh in my mind.

Rainy Day Crack

My previous voice teacher told me that no matter how much you practice and prepare, if something goes "wrong" in a performance it's never the thing you expect it to be. That info came to mind the other day after performing "Se tu m'ami" at the Opera Project concert this past weekend.

I'm not usually a pessimistic type of person, but looking back at the evening…

• It was pouring rain. POURING.
• When I got in the car I noticed a bunch of CDs had slipped through the passenger seat cushions to the floor below Alex's seat, where they appear to had been stepped on. I scooped them up and put them in a little tote bag I found laying there.
• When I got to the green room (really a preschool classroom in a building adjacent to the church where the performances take place) there was NO ONE THERE. In reality that's a good thing, because I did some warm-ups, tried to tame my hair, etc. But I was a little concerned… WHERE THE HELL WAS EVERYONE? DID I HAVE THE WRONG DAY? Turns out that because of the rain, everyone else went straight to the church.
• Because of the rain, there were more singers than audience members. We sat in the audience when we weren't singing, to make it look fuller.
• Before I performed I went into the "backstage" office to change into my shoes. Things are piled up there, hoarding-style. I knocked into a precariously balanced tray and sent a box of stationery tumbling out and all over the place.
• My shoes felt strange… because I had put them on the wrong feet. Corrected that immediately.
• My panty hose kept rolling down every time I stood up. No one could see but I could feel it.
• I realized I never had agreed on a signal with the accompanist to begin. He started as soon as I got on stage. I was hoping for a moment to take a deep breath and center myself. Did so during the musical introduction.
• I didn't sing it as well as I know I can. I lost the air pressure, gulped on a word and then actually had a huge crack near the end.
• I bowed and smiled but felt like crying. I disappointed myself and felt like I let my teacher down, although she didn't feel that way at all.
• When I opened the passenger side car door to put my bag in, the little tote bag of CDs fell out and most of the CDs slid under the car. Did I mention it was pitch black and soaking wet out?

Apparently everyone else thought I did great. I guess I do hear the mistakes and the potential for improvement more than anyone else does.

Judge for yourself:

I'm not trying to be an overly-dramatic drama-llama here. It's just that, I know the potential sound I can produce, so I'm disappointed when I don't. Consistency, that's what I want.

On the plus side, during the performance of one of the singers after me, the pianist was missing a page of the music, and it took them a few tries to figure out just what the heck was going on. Plus he sang beautifully, and there was a huge thunderclap during a dramatic pause. So it's all good. My crack? Forgotten. By all but me.

Comte Ory in Multiples of Three

Saturday was packed with opera! I had a rehearsal for an upcoming Opera Project recital at 3. We got there promptly at 3:00 and I'm proud to say I think I sang pretty well! I did the song twice because my teacher arrived halfway through the first time. Then we all chatted briefly with the director. I told him that we were on our way into NYC to see Le Comte Ory, and who was in it. Well. He told me that the O.P. is planning on doing some sort of benefit next year for some sort of vocal award (can't remember the particulars of any of it) and happens to be an award that both Juan Diego Florez and Joyce DiDonato have won. And there's a slight slight infinitesimal chance that they would actually be at the event. I mean, let's be realistic. It's highly unlikely. Highly. But just the idea that there's even the slightest, less-than-1% chance that they could be there… OH.MY.GOD. Just the idea is leaving me floating in my happy place. And then off Husband and I went to see them in NYC.

We drove in and got there an entire hour before our restaurant reservation. We wandered around a little and then ducked into Bar Boulod for drinks.

The pink drink is some fabulous mixture of blood orange and absinthe. The other is kumquat and I don't recall what kind of alcohol. They were both yum.

Then we went to Rosa Mexicana where I had a mango laden drink and Husband had an uber-fancy margarita. Then he had a pear something with cinnamon simple syrup that I drank most of.

He ended with a glass of "sipping" tequila and I had a coffee with Kahlua, tres leches and Kahlua mousse. And that's just the drinks. The food was YUM. We ended up with their famous guac for two, then we shared a bunch of appetizers as our meal. Everything was delicious, PLUS we had room for dessert: The most scrumptious flan ever, with a scoop of absolutely delectable chocolate mole sorbet that was just TO DIE FOR.

We stumbled across the street to the Met where I bought myself a wind-up Nunzilla that spits fire!!! Look! I also got a Magic Flute flipbook, which Alex at first rejected but then later looked through and now loves.

We got to our seats with plenty of time to hit the restroom.

View from the seats:

And now, the opera itself.

Very loosely, the story line is, the men have gone off to fight in the Crusades. Their wives have vowed to live as widows until they return. The countess isn't married but her brother is one of the crusaders so she decides to live as a widow too. So they're all (allegedly) chaste and in mourning. The Count Ory, who happens to be in love with the countess, but apparently not THAT much, sees this opportunity to help "console" all these lonely women so he runs off with his assistant and comes to the village disguised as an old wise hermit, complete with long hair and a long beard. His assistant totes him as this mystical guy who can grant them blessings, etc. So he comes in and all the women are fawning all over him. Everyone lines up to ask him for blessings. He is all, come back to my hovel with me and I'll comfort and bless you all. Then along comes Isolier, his page. This is a trouser role played by Joyce DiDonato (who tweeted me back during intermission when I tweeted her a photo of my view of the stage!) So of course the hermit/count recognizes the page, but the page doesn't recognize his boss. He too is in love with the countess. The countess has asked for an audience with the hermit because she's so depressed. Isolier suggests that the hermit counsel the countess to fall in love with Isolier to help lift her depression. Isolier also tells the hermit of his idea to sneak into the castle dressed as a nun. So of course the count is all pissed off that Isolier is his rival, and of course he steals his idea. The countess comes, he counsels her, she falls in love with Isolier, there's all this confusion typical of Rossini and then the hermit removes his hair, beard and raggedy shift to reveal that he's actually the count. Everyone is royally pissed off, they chase each other around in circles, etc. End of Act 1.

Zipped out to the balcony for some fresh air:

Act 2 takes place in the Countess' castle. It begins with a terrible thunderstorm, complete with pyrotechnics on stage - they used some sort of arc-creating device like a welding tool to create the lightning, it was really cool. So all the ladies in the castle are freaked by the storm, then there's a knock on the door - it's a bunch of nuns who claim they have been harassed by the count. Except… it IS the count and his knights. We have an absolutely ridiculous scene where the count, dressed as a nun, thanks the countess for saving them… and gets very, very friendly. The countess is like, what the… why is this nun behaving this way… meanwhile… the count's assistant, dressed as a nun, has broken into the wine cellar and brought the nun-knights plenty of bottles. And I have to say that nothing pleased me more than to see Juan Diego Florez dressed in a nun's habit, spinning happily in the middle of the stage, habit flying out. The nuns-knights proceed to get trashed. Every time a woman from the castle came by they pretended to pray, but it was more and more difficult for them the more they had to drink. They sang, they danced, they formed a kick line. It was hilarious.

Then by far the best scene… Isolier gains entrance to the castle. When he learns that a group of nuns is there, he realizes that the count has stolen his idea and it's actually all men. Oh the horror, oh the scandal!! Isolier pledges to protect the Countess. They figure the count will try to sneak into her bed that night so Isolier stays with her. And of course he does, pretending to be the nun and claiming to be scared and unable to sleep. What ensues is confusing and hilarious. He gets into bed with them and somehow (perhaps because he's drunk??) doesn't realize that Isolier is there. So the three of them are pretty much all over each other. Isolier tells the countess (who at this point knows it's the count and not a nun) that if it makes the count happy, why not let him caress her? Yowza baby! It was quite interesting to watch, and watching through binocs gave it an added touch of voyeurism that opera is known for. They were seriously all over each other. Hands on legs, diving under her dress, snarfling each other and so on. It was this bizarre sensual mixture of, are we watching a woman with two guys (Countess, Page and Count) or a guy with two women (Juan Diego, Joyce and Diana)? At the end the husbands return and the count I guess gives up.

The singing was, of course, spectacular. At some points Juan Diego was a bit hard to hear. Diana Damrau… what a treat to hear her sing. Those high notes…WOW!! She seemed to have a little trouble with a few of them but for the most part she was spot on. And Joyce DiDonato…adorable. ADORABLE!

After intermission the people next to us didn't return to their seats so we got to spread out a little. Did they leave or simply move to other empty seats? Who knows…

Here are some videos the Met posted on their YouTube page, taken at the dress rehearsal... including the Menage a trois from act 2. As usual, if the blogger format cuts the video edge, click through to YouTube to see it.

Reporting In and Getting Excited!

Reporting in!!

Opera Project Recital was November 13. There are still a few shrieky, straight-out-of-my-mouth moments, but overall I think it's ok. I was feeling a little intimidated because all the other women who sang are absolutely fabulous.



The venue was interesting. It's a winery, hence the wine you can see in the video. And it's a castle, hence the wall hangings and chandeliers. Our "green room" was a conference room upstairs, through a gift shop/museum type area. Singing there was odd because there was pretty much no echo so it was hard to hear yourself.

There was no food there, and I hadn't eaten since lunch, so afterwards a friend and I went out for dinner. (Husband was home with Alex.) Oh also we got our picture taken for some newspaper... just did a quick search and can't find anything online.

Then a few days later I sang in the talent show for work. This was held in a theater at a local college campus. We had a rehearsal earlier that day and they asked me if I wanted a stool and where did I want the microphone?

Me: No stool, and I don't need a mic.
Them: No really, where do you want the mic?
Me: I don't use a mic.
Them: Don't you want to be heard?
Me: I'll be heard.
Another one of them, joking: She doesn't want to be heard.

Then, I sang.

"Oh. You don't need a mic."
"Yeah, I know."



Husband made this video. I really wish he had kept the recorder on. They applauded and applauded and hooted and hollered and I didn't know what to do! I bowed once and said thank you about a hundred times, and they were still doing it as I left the stage. I was shocked but I must say it felt pretty good! It was so strange to be on that stage. The spotlight was SO BRIGHT that I couldn't see a thing. NOT A THING. The other acts were fun. There were a few singers, a magician and a jazz guitarist. Also a poetry reading, a short story reading and a chair-yoga demonstration.

My goal now is to really stop all that head movement. I guess it's back to the mirror for me...

Coming up:

Cosi fan tutti next Saturday at the Met!!!! I was about to say that it's been over a year since I've seen Nathan Gunn perform but NO I saw him in March and again in April this year. Lucky me. A girl could get used to this.

In Mars news, remember that video I was an extra in? It's allegedly going to be released any day now. There's a preview here. Gulp. No, I'm not in any of those scenes.

Other Mars news, I'm going to see them in February!!! With the same group of people (plus a few more!) I met in Atlantic City. Planning is underway!!!

Opera Project Party TONIGHT!

Hasn't really sunk in that I'm singing tonight. Had a voice lesson on Wednesday and a vocal coaching on Thursday. On Thursday morning I got a message from the main guy saying that some people are sick, we might have to add stuff, can I please bring the music for what I did LAST time too... the Mozart piece... Yikes! So instead of going straight to my vocal coaching from work, I ran home and basically tore my house apart looking for the sheet music for Batti Batti. Sang it a few times with the coach. I have no idea if I'll have to sing it tonight but at least now I'm prepared. It was fun to sing in a way because I've learned so much since I last sang it. My vocal technique has improved, my singing has improved so so much. And since there's no time to go over the song with my voice teacher, I'm really concentrating on incorporating everything I've learned into singing the piece, basically overcoming old "bad" habits so I can bring the song up to where I currently am, vocally. The coach said that it happens all the time as people progress. The revisit something they sang a while back and have to relearn how to sing the piece with their "updated" voice.

Then next week is a talent showcase at work. No one is able to accompany me so I'm doing "If Music be the Food of Love," the soprano version, with the CD accompaniment that came with the music book. It's so fast, it's like running a race, but that's ok. I went over it with the coach and will probably see my voice teacher the day before that performance.

That evening my voice... vanished. GULP. I was totally hoarse, sore throat, runny nose. NOOOO!! Woke up yesterday unable to sing. Tried humming and lip trills... nope. I wasn't hearing the notes I was trying to make. I spent most of yesterday whispering or talking very quietly when I had to talk at all and drinking tea. This morning I woke up and my voice is back!! Whew!!

Of course nothing has really changed as far as my parents are concerned... Today I told my dad I was singing in a recital tonight and he said, "Oh that's nice. A solo???" and I said yes and he said, "Really? You're GOOD enough?"
Pause. "Apparently."
"Wow. You'll have to sing for me the next time you come visit."
Yeah, ok. Sure... I'd love to sing for you so you can cut me off and ask why I'm not singing in English, and then make fun of me. Can't wait...

But on to better things - TONIGHT! I'm really excited! I'll try to get someone to record it.

Mix-Ups, Repeats and a Photo

So tired I can barely think. So here I am, writing.

I thought I had a vocal coaching today. No one was there. Later found out that she thought it was tomorrow. Rescheduled for next week. Now I have no choice but to eat the apple pie I had picked up for her.

Next Opera Project recital is November 13th at a winery!! The accompanist isn't available for a rehearsal so we're going to repeat the program we did at the jewelry store. I like the idea of singing the same thing again - I wonder how I'll do it differently this time?

And on a non-opera, 30 Seconds to Mars note, look!

Dang, that's tiny. Even clicking on it doesn't make it that much bigger. Forget that. Click here to see it REALLY big, and then, FIND ME!! Hint: I was very near the front of the mob. More photos from the video shoot are here.

And now.... Zzzzz.

Down the Stairs in Heels

I know, I know, I owe you a long overdue post about the Opera Project recital. I'm sorry! Things have been hectic!! I'll explain that too.

So the recital... Got there about an hour early. The venue was the atrium of a store/mall sort of place. It was open, with a wide stairway on the side leading up to a balcony-ish sort of area. Behind that was a glassed-in room. That room was the green room. There were cookies!!! Shaped like martini glasses! Yum! Of course no one ate until AFTER they sang!

So they way they set it up was, the singer on deck would wait on the landing of the stairs, then when the previous singer was walking toward the stairs, the next singer would come down and they'd pass each other on the floor near the bottom of the stairs. It's like the act of walking out on stage isn't nerve-wracking enough... they had to add the negotiation of a long flight of stairs... which of course the women had to do in heels. So dumb as it sounds, I actually walked up and down those steps a few times, to practice. I think having that to focus on took away my nervousness.

I was in the 2nd half of the recital. It was fun! I had no problem on the steps at all. I was a little nervous just to start and you can hear that in the opening note, and I cracked (OUCH!) at one point on a lower note, but corrected it pretty quickly. I still hear all the spots where I need to improve, but I thought I sounded pretty good, for me!! I can't believe how much better I've gotten since changing teachers. It's amazing. I'm like a whole new singer. And it's not like the other teacher didn't teach me how to sing - she taught me quite a lot, but I guess I just needed to hear the same stuff told to me in a different way and POW all of a sudden I can get my voice on top of the air, control the breath more and so on. Of course that also makes me realize how much more I have to learn, but that's ok. It's exciting to know that this singing journey will last for the rest of my life. But I was relaxed, I remembered to open wider for the higher notes, use my breath and so on. Still need tons of practice getting it all together of course. But as you can see from my smile at the end of the song, I wasn't unhappy!

After the recital we hung around eating cheese and cookies. I had so much fun the entire night, really, hanging out with the other singers as we all cheered each other on. The next recital that I hope to participate in is in mid-November.

Recital Video!

This is the best I've ever sung in front of people, but of course all I hear are the mistakes. First of all, my face looks pinched as if there's something uncomfortable jammed up my butt. There wasn't. Then, I cracked. I didn't open wide enough. I started out poorly. Otherwise, I guess it's ok. Click thru to YouTube if the blog format cuts off the window. I'll write more about the evening another time, but I wanted to get the video up.

Being Brave!

Opera Project recital!! I sing tomorrow! In front of people!! And... I think I'm ready!! I'm excited and nervous at the same time. It's different this time because this is the first time I'm singing since I switched to this voice teacher. It's like a first performance. Especially since I've changed, I've improved so much since I switched. It's like I'm a new singer.

Things have been crazy. I had that one demerol-hazed rehearsal, then I saw my 87 year old vocal coach, whom I adore, she's so much fun and has so many great stories, plus she's an amazing piano player and has given me such wonderful advice about performing, then I had another regular rehearsal where I did much better. After THAT rehearsal one of the guys gave me an impromptu lesson. He said he really likes my voice - he thinks it'd be good for medieval music because I can sing the higher notes straight without going flat, and a lot of the older music was written for that type of singing. Singing them straight means I can do them without vibrato. I hadn't been thinking of that as an asset. I've been trying to figure out how to consistently maintain vibrato on the higher notes. Who knew it was a skill to hit them on pitch without vibrato?

Then I had a lesson yesterday. My teacher had a couple of visitors so after warming up they came in to listen to me sing Lascia ch'io pianga. They responded positively, said that my voice sounded very clear and pure. That's nice! In the middle before the higher notes she called out to be brave... so I did... and out came these gorgeous notes! It was all I could do not to giggle, but I forced myself through it and kept on going. Be brave... such simple words... and I listened and obeyed and dropped my jaw and supported my breath and OUT came the notes! I was reminded of that vocal eval from a few years ago where one teacher wrote, "Courage!" Maybe that's what she meant. Courage to trust myself.

My teacher and I talked about maybe coming up with a program of madrigal-type songs for me, in English, Italian and Latin. She pointed out how nice the music would be with a harp or harpsichord, and I joked that with a harpist I could then sing at wedding ceremonies. And then suddenly we were like, why not? Why not have a goal? I'm not sure at the moment exactly how to get from here to there, but the first step is to learn the appropriate music. The time will pass whether or not I work towards a goal. So who knows, it may never happen, but then again, maybe it will. As 30 Seconds to Mars says, Provehito in Altum - Reach for the Heights, or, Launch Forth into the Deep! Either way, I'm reaching/launching for it. With courage! I will, of course, report in again after the recital!! Hopefully with video!!!

ps must apologize if the font is all wonky. I wrote much of this entry from work in an email to myself and I can't get the formatting to change to the regular font.

30 Seconds to Opera

After a few formatting ups and downs, it looks like they've smoothed out the glitches in the Opera Project website... now look! I'm number 3 on the page. You know, the one with the two-line bio, sandwiched in between the long paragraphs that describe everyone else's accomplishments. But the point is, I'm there!! I'm not TOO intimidated! How in the world did I end up on this list with all these accomplished singers? I feel like someone is going to suddenly realize I don't belong there, because I still can't believe it myself.

So after this week's lesson we decided that I will sing Laschia ch'io pianga for the recital. The rehearsal is Sept 12. I can't wait to sing this in an echoing church. I'll have to put my imaginary cupola man up in the rose window. I showed his picture to my teacher



and she agreed that he's worth singing to! Hahaha!! Me and my silly celebrity crushes. But hey, whatever works to get me on top of the air. This week, it's this. Ask again next week.

I just have to laugh at myself here. I mean, come ON. Look at me. I'm singing to a tiny Jared Leto up in a cupola in a painting. And the other crazy thing is, I actually totally love his band. I mean, it's nuts. They are called 30 Seconds to Mars and they sound like a conglomeration of all my favorite 80s bands rolled into one. They have a cult following that just fascinates me. If I were a teenager I'd be in the cult. I could let myself fall into the cult now, if I weren't old enough to be the mother of most of the other fans. But they do some really fascinating stuff with their music, incorporating the audience as part of it, which is just amazing to me. As usual, click through to YouTube if the blog format cuts off the video window.



And they did this all over the world, and then had people record themselves, and they combined all the recordings into tracks on their album.

This track, for example, starts with the crowd making a tone and just bringing it up.



And the live footage on YouTube is amazing. They have so much energy. The intensity is not unlike opera. The music is different, but the feeling is the same. I mean, I'm sitting here, listening to This is War because it's playing in the window I opened to get the code, and I'm punching the air. And then laughing at myself for doing it. And yes, I do laugh at the pink mohawk. And yeah, I guess rock singers are allowed to go flat occasionally. I do cringe at the occasional flat notes and the sometimes screechy voice. On the other hand, I do love hearing the audience sing along. Look at the related videos to see more live footage - but beware, it's not all safe for work. The language is colorful, if you get my meaning. Just like his hair. But according to Twitter, the mohawk (now bleached white) was cut off today.

They play these giant arenas in Europe, but are still on the small club circuit here in the U.S. I would love to see them before they hit arena status here. They're actually playing about 2.5 hours from here this coming weekend, but it's just a wee bit too far for a solo round trip. I don't know anyone who would go with me. It's also a holiday weekend and the venue happens to be down the shore (that's, at the beach for people who are NOT from New Jersey) so the commute is probably more like 5 hours. On the other hand, tickets are only $25. So now I'm hoping that they come to Philadelphia in the near future, like maybe they can jam a date in there while they're in the area.

So, back to the opera. I'm starting to get excited to see Cosi in November. I have an extra pair of tickets for Le Comte Ory for Sat, April 2, Grand Tier Rear. Trying to figure out how to unload them. Craigslist? Ebay? One of those ticket brokers, like Stub Hub? A loyal reader here?

And getting back to Twitter... I've suddenly been really active there. Find me there and follow me!

Cakes and Lessons

Things have been very busy here in the I'd Rather Be Sleeping household.

First of all, Alex turned 6!!!! I still don't believe it myself. Check out the cake - how awesome is that???? And then... one of the toddler guests blew out the candles! Oops. Then I stuck my hand into a burning candle when I try to relight the others... but Alex held it together and waited for his chance to blow them out. It all turned out great in the end AND we had the R2D2 cake!! Artoo! Chocolate!! With chocolate frosting that was then covered with white buttercream frosting, then gray and blue and all the lines and so on. A friend of mine made the cake and then I helped her decorate it.




Here is Alex's first view of the cake:



The other Alex news to report is, he is in the process of being tested for our school district's Gifted and Talented program in music. He passed the first part and had the 2nd part of the testing today. I have no idea how much more testing they do. No one really seemed to know when I asked. But Alex says it's all been so so so so easy. So that's good!! The first part was for pitch. They played two tones and he had to determine if they were the same or different. Today it was for rhythms, same deal.

Then he has his very first recital this coming Sunday! He might play something on the piano, but I doubt it. Hopefully he'll go through with his stand, bow, stand presentation. Here he is practicing during a recent lesson when his teacher came to our house.





I have been getting into the groove with my new teacher. It's hard not to compare teaching styles - she and my previous teacher are very different. The past several months with my prior teacher she had been working on me singing through the low passagio. Now we're all about sound. Rounded, full sound. My first teacher used to stop me to correct diction and pronunciation. My new teacher focuses on... sound. Rounded, full sound. Raised soft palate, keeping on top of the air, keeping my voice on top of the airstream, focusing to a point over my nose, punching the air forward. I keep thinking, "Punch it, Chewie!" to remind myself. (Star Wars on the brain.) For some phrases she tells me not to worry about the words, just focus on getting the sound, the air in the right place, and then we can add the words back in. She recommended I do ab exercises. She has told me not to be afraid - and that I'm going to have to face my very soul (or something like that) in order to reach my goal. It sounds hokey but it made sense in context and still makes sense. It's really the same old story. I have to trust myself, trust my body and let the sound come. She is really good at sensing what I need to do to vary the sound for different vowels. And I really can hear an improvement. Husband says he heard it after the first lesson I had with her this time around. That lesson happened to be just before that vocal evaluation, and it definitely helped.

I record the lessons on my phone and later listen to the lessons without singing along. Then I sing afterwards if I can (like if I'm not at work or if Alex isn't asleep) and I can hear the difference. Just listening to her describe and demonstrate, and then pull it out of me, helps me figure it out even if I'm not actually singing. Mental, it's so mental.

I mentioned that I was learning some Handel piece. It's Lascia ch'io pianga, with a page of recit before the aria. My first recit!! Not that it's any different than singing an aria, except the tune is not really there yet. It hints at the tune of the aria and then BOOM the aria - and what a beautiful piece it is. Here's my favorite "listen and learn" role model, Cecilia Bartoli, giving her rendition of it. The aria only, no recit:



If I can sing it half as beautiful as she does, I'll be happy. I'm still working on controlling the volume once I get the airstream in the right place.

So, where have I heard this before? The movies???? It sounds so familiar. And WOW so sad. That's fine, I can do sad.

When I'm Not Singing

When I'm not singing, I go to places like this to do stuff like this:



You can hear Husband, "I can feel it on my arm hair" and me, "Am I going to get a shock?" And no, I didn't get a shock. But it felt pretty cool.

I actually did have a voice lesson earlier that day. It was a good lesson, really polished up Nel Cor and did some fun vocal exercises.

Alex has the opportunity to "perform" in his first recital. His teacher is presenting a recital of her students. The little ones who are still learning simply get dressed up, walk on stage holding their instrument (or in his case, he'll walk to the piano) and then bow. She'll play three chords: Stand, bow, stand. That's all. How cute is that? Of course it's the same day that my teacher is presenting her students in recital. In a different location. But his is at 1:30 and mine is at 3 so if he goes early, and I think he will, then I can scoot out and over to where my recital is to get there in time. I can warm up in the car.

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.

Random

Nothing specific to blog about, but I figured I'd start typing in the empty window and see what happens.

Let's see..

I've been watching the video from Saturday's recital and hearing all the mistakes. Missed legato, missed vibrato, wrong length on some notes, and what the HECK was I doing with my arms?

Then I wonder, what will I sing next? I have no voice lesson for the next two weeks so I have plenty of time to think about it. The next Opera Project recital is at the end of May I think, and there's a voice eval with the music school and the recital my teacher hosts of all her students. I need two songs for each of those. They can be the same songs but they don't have to be. We were talking about Art is Calling for Me and Nel Cor... although now that I've sung Batti Batti twice in front of an audience I'm thinking, maybe I should revisit Vedrai Carino and apply all the stuff I've learned since I last attempted it? I also want to go back to Gretchen as she's been sitting in the back burner of my brain for a while. And then what about the next Opera Project recital? I'd love to do Art is Calling for Me but that's not opera - it's a song about someone wanting to sing opera. Maybe if I ever get to the point where I can do two pieces I can have that be one of them. And then of course I'm itching to do a duet. I'd love to do La ci darem la mano. Let's face it, I'm going to learn all of Zerlina, one piece at a time. So now I just need a baritone to be my Don Giovanni. All the men I know are tenors. Where are all the baritones?

Tomorrow I'm going to the AVA Gala "Brava Philadelphia," where I'll see Michael Fabiano (who finally got himself a facebook fan page) and Eglise Gutierrez, among many others. Joyce Didonato was supposed to be there too but she had to back out. Oh well.

Mental Prep

Tomorrow is the Opera Project recital! So of course I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, and today I have swollen glands. Not too congested... mainly the throat. I hummed a bit in the shower this morning and then sang a few scales - the voice seems ok. I just practiced a bit, to get the breathing thing going on those trouble spots, and now my throat is a little sore and my head is a little spinny. However, I think I'm slowly figuring out, layer by layer, how to attack those sections of the song.

There's one section that comes really easily to me - 4:26 to 4:34 here. (And my fantasy, of course, is to sound as beautiful as she does.) But for some reason I was having trouble with 4:19-4:22. It was the whole mental thing ... I anticipated it and tensed up... same old story. So I separated my brain out to pay attention to my body in that later part, then I applied that to the earlier part, and it worked. Basically, it comes not only to using the low abs for the breath, but also to trust myself to do it. When I relax and just let it happen, it sounds so much better than when I think about it. I know the words, I know the notes, I know the rhythm. I don't need to think about it. I do at some points need to think about where to breathe, to remind myself to take a breath, but the rest, I have to just trust my body to do its thing. So the next thing I need to trust it to do is not go all hoarse on me tomorrow.

I got the program for the evening. I'm in act 2 which means I'll have time to warm up during intermission. Good. One less thing for me to wonder and worry about.

Deep breath... relax... go.

Legato, Laughter and RSVP

Created an event on Facebook for the upcoming Opera Project recital. The listing is open to the public, so click, and if you're on Facebook, RSVP.

Did I not say yesterday that I'll do what my voice teacher says because I trust her advice, especially when she makes me laugh? I know she didn't read that blog entry but she may as well have. Yesterday morning during our vocal exercises she had me do that chew-on-the-tongue thing to help relax. Again, too hard to do without laughing. But I suppose that on some level laughing relaxes you too, so it was effective.

Cool - while looking for and failing to find a link about tongue chewing, I found this blog entry about creating and maintaining the legato line while singing.

Daylight savings time has me all mixed up. I think I'm up too late but I'm not sure. But just to be safe, I'm off to bed now.

Opera Project Rehearsal and CHOCOLATE!!

Just rehearsed Batti Batti for the upcoming Opera Project recital:



The woman who gave me those extra lessons last time told me I have improved a lot and it sounds really pretty. *blush* I still find it hard to believe I'm actually doing this! It's still so odd to me to suddenly sing. I mean, I get there, I give the music to the accompanist and then suddenly I have to sing. I know that's what's going to happen, but it's still a sort of shocking transition from just standing around to suddenly singing. Funny, when I stepped onto the stage I actually said out loud, "I love it up here." And that love or delight or whatever helped me relax and sing my best. We went over a few parts where the accompanist and I had to coordinate speed, etc, then I was done.

Then I drove home through a torrential downpour with flooded parts of the road, tree limbs and wires down and general mayhem on the roads. That didn't prevent me from stopping at the market to pick up a few chocolate items - dark chocolate-covered marzipan, one of my favorites, and some ice cream and whipped cream to serve for dessert tonight since I have a friend coming over for dinner. The marzipan I ate most of on the under-one mile drive home of course.

Still All in My Head

Ack! It's all happening so fast. First of two rehearsals for the Opera Project recital is this coming Saturday. I'm singing Batti Batti and I go back and forth between thinking I'm not ready and feeling like I can do it. I've done it. I know I can do it. Plus I have a voice lesson that morning and we'll go over it. And of course I've been practicing. Suddenly I can hear myself letting air out all these places where I shouldn't. I hear that h coming out in between where a vowel has two notes. Last week during my lesson, in addition to the zombie vocal frying, my teacher pulled out the ole rubber band and was stretching it out as I sang. Silly as it sounds, it really helps. So I've been doing it at home. It's hard! I mean, my fingers are sore! But seriously, the visual of the rubber band stretching reminds me to keep the steady pressure and not stop for a h break where it doesn't belong. So I do my glottal stop, my vocal fry, my rubber band stretch, trusting that my voice will send out the correct note all pretty and bell-like, all the while remembering the words, keeping the breath low and steady in the abs, standing still, pressing my shoulders down, gazing out over the "audience" (or out the window, at home) and not fearing those certain vowels on certain notes. I was explaining this all to a friend today who was hanging out while I futzed around with the music. She laughed when I did lip trills. I remember when I first learned about them and how I couldn't get through a line without laughing, kind of like now and the vocal frying. We both laughed hysterically at the vocal frying stuff. But I've been practicing and it really does help. She was good because she assured me that the i vowel (that's long eeeee like see or si) on an F doesn't come out all screechy like I feel it does. She said it comes out like I'm comfortable singing the note. And since I can sing the same note just fine on other vowels, it's obviously all in my head. So what else is new.

Ready for the Opera, Part Two: Glam!

This time I'm the one who's ready.

Visited Incogneeto Vintage yesterday, the store owned by friend and fellow blogger The Vintage Maven.

Walked out of there with this dress:



The sparkly colors didn't show up until I fiddled with the photo shadow settings, which ended up making my hair look gray. It also made other things in the photo look weird. So just look at the dress and think of the hair as a glimpse into my future. Of course I'll ditch the socks (they're Alex's!) and change to pumps. Still unsure if I should wear black or off-black hose.

So here's more dress.

Front:




Back:



Then of course I had to whip up a pair of earrings to wear with it:



...and then I checked some other pairs I already had to see how they'd look.



They'd do, I think, but I like the ones I just made.

And then, after the opera tomorrow, I have another reason to wear the dress... I'm singing in another recital with the Opera Project!! I'll post more about that as the date approaches - it's March 27. Batti Batti here I come.

Still My Own Worst Critic

At my voice lesson this week my teacher insisted that I did a fine job. She said that we are our own worst critics... yep I've heard that before!! She also pointed out that I know what I can do in her studio or at home, and even if I didn't believe that my performance at the recital was as good as I believe I could be, the audience doesn't know it, and on its own, comparing it to nothing, I was fine. We talked about the unexpected things that can happen during a live performance, for example, expecting a chord and getting a note. That wasn't such a big deal for me, but it was an example. We talked about what was going through my mind and about how the more you do it, the more you learn... yeah yeah. I know. It was part counseling/cheerleader session, part voice lesson.

We worked a little on Art is Calling for Me, and then we're going to choose the next thing to work on. I want to sing Nel cor piu non mi sento. Since I'll be seeing Eglise as Lucia on Thursday, here she is to show us how it should be sung. And then I won't listen to it again until after I've learned it...



My teacher has another German lieder piece she'd like me to look at. Then eventually we'll go back to Gretchen, after she rests in the back of my brain for a while. That was a good tactic with Una Donna and Batti Batti, so hopefully Gretchen will work the same way. Or my brain will work the same way. Or something.

Day after tomorrow we head to sunny Florida and Thursday is Lucia di Lammermoor with Florida Grand Opera. There has been so much other stuff going on that I keep forgetting first about the trip and then second that we're going to the opera this week. Once I show up for the flight and then at the theater I imagine my brain will catch up with my body.