Why does anyone sing? Singing is a way of expressing feelings. Making beautiful music while expressing those feelings can fill you with joy, even when the feelings in the music may be despair, depression, malice or whatever. When I sing I try to express those feelings, whatever they may be, and at the same time, I experience the joy of making music. And once I realized I had the potential to make it sound pretty and on occasion, to me, what sounds beautiful, I wanted to improve, improve, improve. I long for consistency in what I know I can do. So that essentially answers the next question of, why do I study? Simple. I enjoy singing. I enjoy learning the techniques. I enjoy finding the emotions in me, in learning how to get them out into the music. I enjoy learning how to connect to the music and how to meld together the emotions and the techniques. Of course there's almost always some aspect that doesn't show up when I try to meld it all together. But that's why I continue to study. I'm not looking for a career. I just want to enjoy and make beautiful music.
I don't have the academic background of reading music and understanding all the vocab and notations. Sometimes I feel like that holds me back. Other times I wonder, am I just using that lack of knowledge as an excuse? An excuse to not study something, or an excuse as to why I "can't" do something? I'm sure I can read up on it or even find out about an intro class at a nearby music school. And even if I don't, I don't think I can or should use that as an excuse. (Thank you to Susan Eichhorn Young's blog, Once More With Feeling for helping me realize that. It came to me as I typed the paragraph.)
I do love to do research and will listen to advice from different people. Note I say listen... not follow. I feel it is my right and also my responsibility to search out info and enrich myself, to learn as much as possible. I also realize that it's my responsibility to filter out the nonsense from what works for me. But then I wonder, without the formal musical background and without a great deal of experience as a student and as a performer, am I qualified to figure out on my own what to ignore and what to take into consideration? Is it wrong for me to test something out on my own if someone suggests something? Or, should it become part of the lesson with my teacher? How do I figure out when it's appropriate to proceed on my own, and when do I ask for her input? I mean, realize that if I want to go out and learn musical terms and so on, I don't need to bring it up in a voice lesson. There's not going to be a vocab quiz. It can only help me to know all the musical terms. But what if an experienced singer offers advice or something to try... what then? It seems so tricky. Is it ok to tell my teacher about it and ask her opinion, or should I simply try things out on my own and not tell her? But then I think, is that sneaky in some way? It's so confusing. If a student mention to his or her teacher, "I read..." or, "Someone suggested I try it this way..." is it in any way an insult to the teacher? Is it stepping on the teacher's toes? Does it imply somehow that they haven't been doing a good job? Or does it show that you, the student, are excited and want to try out different things? I honestly have no idea.
The only perspective I can bring to this is my own experience as a teacher. I am a teacher of English as a Second Language, although I am currently not teaching. When I did teach, my students were both adults and children, at all levels - from beginner to advanced. For me, teaching went far beyond the time spent in the classroom teaching the lesson. There was tons of prep time. Besides keeping up on the latest language-acquisition theories, I was always writing and tailoring lesson plans to fit my students' needs. I always wanted input from them on what they wanted to learn. They all had different goals. Children want to make friends. Adult ESL students want to be able to understand their children's doctors and teachers, to be able to communicate effectively with their employer and other members of the community. Some ESL students had high English proficiency but wanted to work on their accents. Others were looking for subject-specific vocabulary. The point is, as a teacher, I not only wanted my students to tell me their goals, I needed them too. And like voice lessons, language lessons also require a level of trust between student and teacher. Anyone out there who has studied a foreign language and then tried to use that language "for real," will know how difficult it is to speak a new language. So again I wonder, is the voice studio any different? Or does it depend on the specific relationship between the particular student and teacher?
Before I sign off, I want to urge my readers not to read into this more than what I've put on the page. I'm just thinking about the idea of the teacher-student relationship and what it entails.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Opera Pulse Script Writing Contest
I'm just thinking that I shouldn't post this link (which I have recently fixed. The link, I mean, not the contest.) since I'm entering the competition.... I sort of jokingly suggested it and they went with it!! I'm working on my script now. I knew all these years of writing "natural-sounding language" dialogues for the listening comprehension section of the TOEFL would finally come in handy. After the contest I'll post my entry.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Circus!
I have never been to the circus. Yes it's true. I remember when our aunt took my older brothers, saying I was too young to go. More likely two kids at once was all she could handle. And of course they brought me a flashlight. So I am very excited to report that I'm going!!! I'm going to the circus!! And this time I'll get to buy my very own flashlight! I'm very excited, and of course not thinking about all the anti-circus animal lovers out there. I'm going for the acrobats and trapeze artists. And of course the flashlight. And if you read that description in the link - motorcycle riders inside a sphere cage!!! High wire acrobatics!! Elephants!!!
Then later that same day is the Opera Project recital. I'm assuming that they won't have room for me and my short little very short 2 minute Nel Cor song but I'll go anyway to cheer from the audience because I'm like that. I cheer. And I'll bring my flashlight!!
Unless, of course, I join the circus after the show. You never know.
Then later that same day is the Opera Project recital. I'm assuming that they won't have room for me and my short little very short 2 minute Nel Cor song but I'll go anyway to cheer from the audience because I'm like that. I cheer. And I'll bring my flashlight!!
Unless, of course, I join the circus after the show. You never know.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Vocal Hormones
Not much to post but I feel the need to write... something... so I'm going with another one of those, "open the window and the words will come" moments.
Ok, here's something I've noticed over the past... well, more than the past year. I hope it's not a TMI type entry... that said...
Monthly cycles. We've all heard (unless you haven't, in which case, now you have) that the hormone changes affect your voice. Water retention and who knows what else, right? Well for me, I have noticed that just before my period, during the infamous PMS time when I hate everyone and everything, my voice sounds great. To me. Fascinating, because you'd think that I'd be even harsher on myself at that particular time in my cycle, since I am for everything else about myself. The mom guilt, the extra weight and so on... but I am pleased by how I can sing during PMS. In fact I can tell by the change in my voice that my period is coming in a few days. How wacky is that? Imagine how I'd feel about how I sound then if I sounded that way two weeks later. Or earlier. You do the math.
So I feel lucky that while I'm busy beating myself up for all the other stupid stuff, I don't do it about my singing. And also I know that if I ever do get the urge to have my singing skills beaten down during that time, I can always call my mom and sing for her. As much as she'll brag to the relatives, she doesn't hesitate to tell me to stop singing. At least she's consistent. Just like the monthly changes in my voice.
Ok, here's something I've noticed over the past... well, more than the past year. I hope it's not a TMI type entry... that said...
Monthly cycles. We've all heard (unless you haven't, in which case, now you have) that the hormone changes affect your voice. Water retention and who knows what else, right? Well for me, I have noticed that just before my period, during the infamous PMS time when I hate everyone and everything, my voice sounds great. To me. Fascinating, because you'd think that I'd be even harsher on myself at that particular time in my cycle, since I am for everything else about myself. The mom guilt, the extra weight and so on... but I am pleased by how I can sing during PMS. In fact I can tell by the change in my voice that my period is coming in a few days. How wacky is that? Imagine how I'd feel about how I sound then if I sounded that way two weeks later. Or earlier. You do the math.
So I feel lucky that while I'm busy beating myself up for all the other stupid stuff, I don't do it about my singing. And also I know that if I ever do get the urge to have my singing skills beaten down during that time, I can always call my mom and sing for her. As much as she'll brag to the relatives, she doesn't hesitate to tell me to stop singing. At least she's consistent. Just like the monthly changes in my voice.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Happy Birthday!
To me!!! The boys sang to me, reminding me again that I didn't marry Husband for his ability to carry a tune... cuz he dropped it all over the place. And of course I remember that two years ago yesterday I was in that hallway at the Met stage door, chatting with Juan Diego Florez and trying to get a decent pic with the iPhone.
Still don't know if I'm singing in the upcoming Opera Project recital. I'll go either way. I mean, obviously I'd go if I were singing... duh... but also I'll go if I'm not.
Today Alex and I sang together on the swing set. His current obsessions are Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Not only does he know all the music from all of the movies he's seen so far (3 of each!) he also has the Wii Lego game for each and knows all the music for each level in each movie on the games. He can explain the difference between the music of each movie in the Lego game and the actual movie ... and the differences in the theme songs between movies... and he knows the music for each character. He knows the backgrounds and the main melodies. He's taught me the background music so I can chant that while he does the melody. And we do all this while swinging on the swing set. In the correct pitch of course!! It's great fun... and no doubt tedious as heck to anyone else.
Still don't know if I'm singing in the upcoming Opera Project recital. I'll go either way. I mean, obviously I'd go if I were singing... duh... but also I'll go if I'm not.
Today Alex and I sang together on the swing set. His current obsessions are Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Not only does he know all the music from all of the movies he's seen so far (3 of each!) he also has the Wii Lego game for each and knows all the music for each level in each movie on the games. He can explain the difference between the music of each movie in the Lego game and the actual movie ... and the differences in the theme songs between movies... and he knows the music for each character. He knows the backgrounds and the main melodies. He's taught me the background music so I can chant that while he does the melody. And we do all this while swinging on the swing set. In the correct pitch of course!! It's great fun... and no doubt tedious as heck to anyone else.
Friday, April 23, 2010
What to Sing IF I Sing
I have a bunch of upcoming events. Maybe.
I have three songs that I'm shuffling around for the events, plus another I can toss in for the eval.
So here's how I've got it mapped out.... for now.
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.
- There's the voice evaluation for the music school in mid-May.
- 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.
- There's the recital my teacher puts on of her students.
I have three songs that I'm shuffling around for the events, plus another I can toss in for the eval.
- Art is Calling for Me
- Nel Cor and
- I've pulled Vedrai Carino out of the closet of my brain.
So here's how I've got it mapped out.... for now.
- Voice eval: Batti Batti and Nel Cor (or Art is Calling?)
- OP if I get in: Either Nel Cor or Vedrai Carino
- 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.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
All I Need is a Baritone
And then I could sing all the duets I want. Like this one.
As usual, click through to YouTube to see the entire frame. If you want. And yes, I know that it's a different singer as Pamina, but it was the only photo of Papageno and Pamina from that production that I could find.
Speaking of YouTube, they changed. Has anyone noticed this? I must be getting old. I was very comfy with the previous version. Now I have to learn where to click all over again. Whine, whine, whine.
As usual, click through to YouTube to see the entire frame. If you want. And yes, I know that it's a different singer as Pamina, but it was the only photo of Papageno and Pamina from that production that I could find.
Speaking of YouTube, they changed. Has anyone noticed this? I must be getting old. I was very comfy with the previous version. Now I have to learn where to click all over again. Whine, whine, whine.
Sing for Hope
How cool is this? I wonder where these pianos will show up.
The blog format cuts off the edge of the video. Click through to youtube to see the whole frame, especially if you want to see what's-his-name in the shots with Papagena. I mean, with Monica Y.
The blog format cuts off the edge of the video. Click through to youtube to see the whole frame, especially if you want to see what's-his-name in the shots with Papagena. I mean, with Monica Y.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
"Futures" Sticker Shock
Holy Cow!!! After conferring with my neighbor about which operas he and his wife want to see and on which day of the week, yesterday I purchased 2 subscriptions for the Saturday 6 series at the Met, Grand Tier Rear. The total was just under $2000. On my credit card. Divided into four payments. At least there's that. And the neighbor is taking 4 of the 6 performances so I'll get a chunk of the money back... but still... when they gave me the total, I think my heart rate increased a little. But now I am guaranteed tickets in the Grand Tier Rear for the two operas I want to see, Cosi fan tutti and Le Comte Ory. My neighbor will be keeping the Armida tickets and trading the others. I'll have to do it for them since the subscription is in my name, but I don't mind. I had originally wanted to go mid-week because the tickets are about $50 cheaper per seat, but then I figured that since I always take the next day off from work which is a "loss" of way more than $50, I still come out ahead by going on Saturday. Also there was no mid-week series with the two operas both in it. So now I am set and don't have to worry about switching tickets for myself. Plus, if Husband comes with me (as I may insist he do for Le Comte) we'll have an easier time finding a babysitter. I already know who wants to come along to Cosi.
And the best thing of all is, I don't have to sit around the day single tickets go on sale to the general public, waiting to get through online or on the phone!
As far as what to wear to these events... well, that all depends on how much ice-cream I eat this summer.
And the best thing of all is, I don't have to sit around the day single tickets go on sale to the general public, waiting to get through online or on the phone!
As far as what to wear to these events... well, that all depends on how much ice-cream I eat this summer.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Photos, Meetings, Gifts
Ann sent me the photos of our Die Zauberflote adventure. Here's one she took of me after our picnic dinner, and then the obligatory photo in front of the sign. You can really see my hair all rolled up into a bun in the first shot.
I think I was laughing during this picture because I felt like an idiot posing by the sign.
I met with the elementary school music teacher yesterday. Refer back to this post to see why. So we showed her what Alex does with the rhythm and pitch cards, then he played around on the piano for her. She told me about the assessment for the Gifted and Talented program. The initial assessment consists of playing two sets of tones or rhythms and the child has to simply determine if the two were the same or different. Like, stuff Alex does for fun. !!!! The second part of the assessment may not apply as it involves playing major and minor scales on an instrument. Maybe he can sing them. Which means I have to teach him the vocab and make sure he remembers which is which.
Today I submitted the application/recommendation form to the school for the program. The assessment is next month. Of course I'm not telling Alex anything about it. He thinks all 5 year olds can do what he does, because, as he told me the other day, "This is so EASY!" I was talking to one of my cousins about it (and by talk, I mean, commenting back and forth on a facebook status) and she pointed out how thrilled our grandfather, aunt and her (musical) father would have been - the musical talent is still alive in yet another generation. From Klezmer in the Ukraine (my great great [possibly one more great] grandfather) in the late 1800s to the Gifted and Talented program in music (hopefully) in 1st grade in the 2000s! I'm proud of him too! (even if he doesn't get into the program!!)
I think I was laughing during this picture because I felt like an idiot posing by the sign.
I met with the elementary school music teacher yesterday. Refer back to this post to see why. So we showed her what Alex does with the rhythm and pitch cards, then he played around on the piano for her. She told me about the assessment for the Gifted and Talented program. The initial assessment consists of playing two sets of tones or rhythms and the child has to simply determine if the two were the same or different. Like, stuff Alex does for fun. !!!! The second part of the assessment may not apply as it involves playing major and minor scales on an instrument. Maybe he can sing them. Which means I have to teach him the vocab and make sure he remembers which is which.
Today I submitted the application/recommendation form to the school for the program. The assessment is next month. Of course I'm not telling Alex anything about it. He thinks all 5 year olds can do what he does, because, as he told me the other day, "This is so EASY!" I was talking to one of my cousins about it (and by talk, I mean, commenting back and forth on a facebook status) and she pointed out how thrilled our grandfather, aunt and her (musical) father would have been - the musical talent is still alive in yet another generation. From Klezmer in the Ukraine (my great great [possibly one more great] grandfather) in the late 1800s to the Gifted and Talented program in music (hopefully) in 1st grade in the 2000s! I'm proud of him too! (even if he doesn't get into the program!!)
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Radio Broadcasts!!
I totally forgot that there are people "out there" who record radio broadcasts and upload them to file sharing servers!!! Hooray!! Now I can listen to Saturday's Die Zauberflote performance and yesterday's Armida performance as much as and whenever I want. These are not pirated recordings - they are the radio broadcasts. And they are free free free. And that's why I'm listening to Die Zauberflote again right now.
Monday, April 12, 2010
An Aha! Moment
Was hanging out on the swing-set this afternoon when the neighbor came by walking another neighbor's dog. (Yes, it's that kind of neighborhood, welcome to suburbia.) We were chatting about the Metropolitan Opera of course. He and his wife usually get a subscription but they didn't this year. They want to for next year but, just like me, for a variety of reasons they're not able to see 5 or 6 operas... and then it clicked... why not SHARE a subscription? You can exchange tickets for performances you'd rather see AND you can purchase single tickets. Plus you can pay it off in a couple of transactions rather than giving a huge chunk of change all at once. So they're going to look at the info and we'll see if we can agree on a subscription and a seating section. Woot!! That would leave my August 15th free of worrying about slow internet connections and busy telephone lines!!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Magic Flute & Armida - Two Operas in 24 Hours!
Two adventures to write about - the short version: Both operas were FABULOUS!!
And now to the nitty-gritty details.
Thursday evening was Magic Flute!!! Wow wow and WOW! Ann and I made our way to Lincoln Center and got the requisite photos in front of the fountain and the poster.
Fountain:
Posing with a larger-than-life Papageno:
You can't really tell from the photo but I had my hair in a bun, of all things. I had forgotten my sparkly barrette and it was hot, so I temporarily twisted it up, then decided to leave it. It came out later but I had it up for most of the evening.
The weather was so nice, we canceled our reservation at the Fancy Restaurant and grabbed a take-out dinner from a nearby deli. We had a picnic supper on a low wall with a view of both the front of the Met and the fountain. So here is the photo of my dinner - pesto pasta with chicken. It was quite yummy.
And the front of the Met with the Armida advertisement:
Eventually we made our way in to the Grand Tier Rear. View from the seats:
The music... ahhhh it's just beautiful. To hear it at the Met is like a dream come true. The sound in the Grand Tier is great. Matthew Polenzani was Tamino. His voice is like silk. Just gorgeous. Pamina's voice was so beautiful - beyond words. I fell in love with her as soon as she sang. And Nathan Gunn as Papageno. WOW. He is truly the Best Papageno Ever. He gets the comedy, the music, the timing, all of it. I've seen him in several different roles now and this was by far the best performance of his I've ever seen. The fact that I love the character of Papageno (who doesn't?) doesn't hurt. But he was WOW and there was no problem hearing him (as prior critics have complained) and he was just fab. And oh-so-adorable, especially when his hat was off. The duet he sang with Pamina - yes, I know I seem to cry easily at operas, but that duet did bring tears to my eyes - the beauty of the music, the singing and the words. I just can't help it. I am my mother's daughter. Luckily I was wearing waterproof mascara.
Queen of the Night, Sarastro and everyone - everyone blended together so beautifully. It was a package and it was great. The scenery - holy cow!!! Seeing Julie Taymor's production live, the entire stage, was amazing. It added so much magic to the Magic Flute. The puppetry - WOW!!! The scenery - amazing!! There was one scene with these giant puppet statue people with flaming heads. I mean, giant, like, 30 feet tall. They flanked the door to the temple I think before Tamino and Pamina entered for their trials. Their arms moved and did I mention that their heads were flame? I think it was done with orange cloth and a fan. It looked like real fire!!
What a difference to see the entire stage at once rather than the sections they show in the English TV version. The staging is meant to be seen all at once.
Everyone walked out of there smiling.
Very few tattles to tell:
A couple times there were these crashing sounds from the stage as if things were falling over... oops! Didn't see anything out of place.
Queen of the Night's sails clicked at one point as they were coming down during the aria. If that makes no sense, look here and here. (same production but in English) The costuming was a bit different, just a little. I could swear she was in bright red the whole time instead of the blue. And then audience applauded in the MIDDLE of her 2nd aria, after the first set of amazingly perfect runs up to that high f.
Also, after they unlocked Papageno's mouth, his tumblings caused the pipes to get tangled in the bamboo. Yeah I see that makes no sense either when you read it. Scroll up to the photo or look here. That English version has a section cut ... and the whole time they were singing that cut section, he was trying to untangle the string of the pipes from the piece that pokes up from his left shoulder. All without breaking character and while continuing to sing.
When Papageno ran up the circles (look in about the middle here) he fell and crashed HARD. It looked OUCH painful. His hat flew off. He didn't miss a beat but I bet he's sporting some new bruises.
The woman one seat over from me was worrying a cellophane wrapper during the entire first scene. I'm sure she didn't realize it - Finally I asked her to stop and she did.
And the best part - my own tattle - that morning I had checked the Met website and saw that a section of the front row in front of us in the Grand Tier was unsold. The seats were indeed empty so we moved down during intermission. Great view from the front row of the Grand Tier! Plus you get this little shelf to put your program down, put your feet up (!!!) or whatever.
After the performance Ann and I went back to our hotel and polished off a pint of Ben and Jerry's. I think it's a pattern - we go together to see NG and then eat ice cream in the hotel room. Didn't we do that last year after Rape of Lucretia? And speaking of Lucretia, Tamara Mumford, who was Lucretia, was one of the Three Ladies.
The next day, less than 24 hours later, I jammed myself into an over-packed Path train and went back into the city. I had 40 minutes to make my way to the Met for Armida. Decisions... figure out what subway to take, or hop in a cab? I decided that since my time was short, I was hot and uncomfortable from the crowded train AND I was schlepping my backpack with my overnight stuff that I should treat myself to the cab ride. I'm so glad I did! I opened the window, sat back and relaxed. It was exactly what I needed to relax and enjoy the day. I even thanked the cab driver for the relaxing ride. He said I was the third person that shift to thank him. I think it made his day!
I wove in and out of the various groups of schoolchildren and picked up my ticket at the box office. Look!!
Do you see? Orchestra Row E!! Like, right smack in the middle of the fifth row!! HOLY COW! I sat with John's talented and beautiful wife and adorable daughter. And then during intermission before Act 3, when John's wife and daughter were away from the seats, this other woman joined the row and immediately asked, "Are you friends with Renee? We're all friends with Renee. This entire section." Um... ok. "No, I'm friends with John Osborn." She replied, "Who's that?" I told her he was one of the tenors - the guy in the first act. She brushed that off with, "Oh, I got here late. Better late than never!" and she laughed. Um... ok. She was tall and expensive looking - long, gorgeous hair, designer head-to-toe, your typical NYC upper east side wife who was late probably because she was either out planning for a charity, having a private pilates session or possibly both. I complimented her earrings and she said that the woman in charge of the children's chorus made them. Turns out her that her teenage daughter, who was there for the entire performance, is in the children's chorus. She was very nice but also amusingly stereotypical. But enough about her.
I was next to a herd of photographers.
The constant clicking didn't bother me at all - I found it interesting - whenever the action changed, whenever the characters moved or interacted, there'd be a flurry of shutter clicks. Combined they must have taken over a thousand photos. I, personally, took about 10. Here's one looking straight up at the ceiling:
And a view of the curtain from my seat:
And the performance itself:
I had never heard of this opera before so I was going in fresh. So what I could figure out from the sort of mushy plot was, Armida is a sorceress out to prevent the army from their goal of capturing Zion. She's a soprano and there are 6 tenors!! The performance opened with a dancer suspended from a ribbon and spinning down to the stage. It was beautiful. She looked about 10 but I learned later that she's actually 25. She was Armida's niece and she represented love. Armida also had a sprite or spirit who represented vengeance. Onto the plot - the army is burying their guy-in-charge when Armida shows up and pretends to be a princess in distress. She begs the general (John Osborn) to give her ten soldiers to help her regain her kingdom. She charms the army and everyone falls for it except for the general himself, but he goes against his instinct and agrees to help her because everyone else wants to. The men then promote Rinaldo (Lawrence Brownlee) as their new captain. Of course Rinaldo and Armida have met before when she saved him, they fell in love and then he had to leave. Somehow her uncle holds some sort of grudge against him. The mean spirit or sprite "infects" the soldiers and then this other guy who thought that he himself should have been chosen to lead gets all huffy and acts like a big bad loser. He's busy badmouthing Rinaldo, who overhears and fights the dude for his own honor. Of course he kills him, then the general comes back and is all mad, and then I'm not quite sure what happens except that Rinaldo is charmed by Armida and they run off.
Act two is a reenactment of the story in ballet, presented to Rinaldo and Armida as entertainment. These demons come out and create a beautiful palace and garden, then these nymphs come out and in the ballet they all seduce the dancer Rinaldo. I have never been so close to professional ballet dancers. These men jump 5 feet into the air and land silently. They are all muscle. It was amazing. The women were great too. The demons and the nymphs included the chorus as well as dancers. The demons were in these wacky costumes with horns and tails. I took one blurry photo of them during the curtain call, using one hand and no flash, so it's hard to see, but you get the idea:
That guy to the left wearing what looks like knee pads had a very form-fitting costume. As in, I think everyone in the room was looking at his ... manliness. It was outlined in great detail. Had to avert my eyes to keep from staring. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. He was I think the main demon or devil from the underworld. The dancers interacted with him a lot - they carried him around, and he climbed on them to sing, so his outlined bits were displayed prominently. Not like me to go on and on about some guy's privates but there they were, pretty much in everyone's face!!
So anyway during the dance there's a part where they tempt Rinaldo with fruit, and then the nymph dancers are teasing the dancer Rinaldo and playing a sort of monkey-in-the-middle with him, throwing the fruit back and forth over him while he tries in vain to catch it. At some point the dancer is replaced with the real Rinaldo. There is a gorgeous love-duet in there somewhere. You see the little girl in red in that blurry photo? That's the 25 year old dancer. Anyway back to the opera...
Scene three, two of the soldiers (and the final two tenors) find their way into the enchanted forest and find Rinaldo. They help him realize that he has been charmed by magic and lead him back to battle, bravery, courage and so on. Armida tries in vain to keep him there with her. Then the demon/vengeance spirit and the love spirit battle (via ballet of course) around her and the bad spirit wins. Armida vows that she will seek vengeance and the curtain drops.
The music was full of Rossini's coloratura runs and vocal gymnastics. It was really really pretty.
John Osborn was absolutely awesome. Rossini coloratura is his friend. It seems to come effortlessly for him. The singing, the acting, etc - he was the character and the music flowed out of him.
Lawrence Brownlee has the most unbelievable voice. Except of course I was there so I do believe it. Like John, the coloratura just flows out. It was like beauty flowing out over the audience.
One of the other tenors stood out for me too, it was one of the two soldiers who saved Rinaldo in Act 3, but I don't remember who it was. It was hard to keep track of who was who.
Renee Fleming was Armida. She is so beautiful. She didn't really sing out in the first two acts. Her voice was very pretty but I was like, what's the big deal? Until the third act, when she SANG. And then I was like, Oh, I get it now. At first I was star-struck that I was seeing her, but she was such a good actor that I got totally into it and forgot it was her. If that makes sense. I guess that's the point!
After the performance I wanted to hang out but even more I wanted to get back to my boys - over 24 hours away from them and my arms ached to hug Alex! All the moms out there will understand what I mean!! So I trekked down to Penn Station (remind me NEVER to do that in my little boots again, ever!!) and hopped on the express train to get home to my boys.
Today I listened to the Saturday Afternoon Broadcast of Magic Flute. It was great to hear it all again so soon after seeing it. At one point I put on the English version video and tried to match it up for Alex to see and hear. It worked pretty well for some parts, like when the three ladies find Tamino, but then I had to pause the video for the cut parts and was too much trouble and he got bored with it so I turned off the video.
Now my little spot on the shelf where I keep all my tickets is empty. It looks so sad, all empty. But I'm sure it won't be empty for long.
And now to the nitty-gritty details.
Thursday evening was Magic Flute!!! Wow wow and WOW! Ann and I made our way to Lincoln Center and got the requisite photos in front of the fountain and the poster.
Fountain:
Posing with a larger-than-life Papageno:
You can't really tell from the photo but I had my hair in a bun, of all things. I had forgotten my sparkly barrette and it was hot, so I temporarily twisted it up, then decided to leave it. It came out later but I had it up for most of the evening.
The weather was so nice, we canceled our reservation at the Fancy Restaurant and grabbed a take-out dinner from a nearby deli. We had a picnic supper on a low wall with a view of both the front of the Met and the fountain. So here is the photo of my dinner - pesto pasta with chicken. It was quite yummy.
And the front of the Met with the Armida advertisement:
Eventually we made our way in to the Grand Tier Rear. View from the seats:
The music... ahhhh it's just beautiful. To hear it at the Met is like a dream come true. The sound in the Grand Tier is great. Matthew Polenzani was Tamino. His voice is like silk. Just gorgeous. Pamina's voice was so beautiful - beyond words. I fell in love with her as soon as she sang. And Nathan Gunn as Papageno. WOW. He is truly the Best Papageno Ever. He gets the comedy, the music, the timing, all of it. I've seen him in several different roles now and this was by far the best performance of his I've ever seen. The fact that I love the character of Papageno (who doesn't?) doesn't hurt. But he was WOW and there was no problem hearing him (as prior critics have complained) and he was just fab. And oh-so-adorable, especially when his hat was off. The duet he sang with Pamina - yes, I know I seem to cry easily at operas, but that duet did bring tears to my eyes - the beauty of the music, the singing and the words. I just can't help it. I am my mother's daughter. Luckily I was wearing waterproof mascara.
Queen of the Night, Sarastro and everyone - everyone blended together so beautifully. It was a package and it was great. The scenery - holy cow!!! Seeing Julie Taymor's production live, the entire stage, was amazing. It added so much magic to the Magic Flute. The puppetry - WOW!!! The scenery - amazing!! There was one scene with these giant puppet statue people with flaming heads. I mean, giant, like, 30 feet tall. They flanked the door to the temple I think before Tamino and Pamina entered for their trials. Their arms moved and did I mention that their heads were flame? I think it was done with orange cloth and a fan. It looked like real fire!!
What a difference to see the entire stage at once rather than the sections they show in the English TV version. The staging is meant to be seen all at once.
Everyone walked out of there smiling.
Very few tattles to tell:
A couple times there were these crashing sounds from the stage as if things were falling over... oops! Didn't see anything out of place.
Queen of the Night's sails clicked at one point as they were coming down during the aria. If that makes no sense, look here and here. (same production but in English) The costuming was a bit different, just a little. I could swear she was in bright red the whole time instead of the blue. And then audience applauded in the MIDDLE of her 2nd aria, after the first set of amazingly perfect runs up to that high f.
Also, after they unlocked Papageno's mouth, his tumblings caused the pipes to get tangled in the bamboo. Yeah I see that makes no sense either when you read it. Scroll up to the photo or look here. That English version has a section cut ... and the whole time they were singing that cut section, he was trying to untangle the string of the pipes from the piece that pokes up from his left shoulder. All without breaking character and while continuing to sing.
When Papageno ran up the circles (look in about the middle here) he fell and crashed HARD. It looked OUCH painful. His hat flew off. He didn't miss a beat but I bet he's sporting some new bruises.
The woman one seat over from me was worrying a cellophane wrapper during the entire first scene. I'm sure she didn't realize it - Finally I asked her to stop and she did.
And the best part - my own tattle - that morning I had checked the Met website and saw that a section of the front row in front of us in the Grand Tier was unsold. The seats were indeed empty so we moved down during intermission. Great view from the front row of the Grand Tier! Plus you get this little shelf to put your program down, put your feet up (!!!) or whatever.
After the performance Ann and I went back to our hotel and polished off a pint of Ben and Jerry's. I think it's a pattern - we go together to see NG and then eat ice cream in the hotel room. Didn't we do that last year after Rape of Lucretia? And speaking of Lucretia, Tamara Mumford, who was Lucretia, was one of the Three Ladies.
The next day, less than 24 hours later, I jammed myself into an over-packed Path train and went back into the city. I had 40 minutes to make my way to the Met for Armida. Decisions... figure out what subway to take, or hop in a cab? I decided that since my time was short, I was hot and uncomfortable from the crowded train AND I was schlepping my backpack with my overnight stuff that I should treat myself to the cab ride. I'm so glad I did! I opened the window, sat back and relaxed. It was exactly what I needed to relax and enjoy the day. I even thanked the cab driver for the relaxing ride. He said I was the third person that shift to thank him. I think it made his day!
I wove in and out of the various groups of schoolchildren and picked up my ticket at the box office. Look!!
Do you see? Orchestra Row E!! Like, right smack in the middle of the fifth row!! HOLY COW! I sat with John's talented and beautiful wife and adorable daughter. And then during intermission before Act 3, when John's wife and daughter were away from the seats, this other woman joined the row and immediately asked, "Are you friends with Renee? We're all friends with Renee. This entire section." Um... ok. "No, I'm friends with John Osborn." She replied, "Who's that?" I told her he was one of the tenors - the guy in the first act. She brushed that off with, "Oh, I got here late. Better late than never!" and she laughed. Um... ok. She was tall and expensive looking - long, gorgeous hair, designer head-to-toe, your typical NYC upper east side wife who was late probably because she was either out planning for a charity, having a private pilates session or possibly both. I complimented her earrings and she said that the woman in charge of the children's chorus made them. Turns out her that her teenage daughter, who was there for the entire performance, is in the children's chorus. She was very nice but also amusingly stereotypical. But enough about her.
I was next to a herd of photographers.
The constant clicking didn't bother me at all - I found it interesting - whenever the action changed, whenever the characters moved or interacted, there'd be a flurry of shutter clicks. Combined they must have taken over a thousand photos. I, personally, took about 10. Here's one looking straight up at the ceiling:
And a view of the curtain from my seat:
And the performance itself:
I had never heard of this opera before so I was going in fresh. So what I could figure out from the sort of mushy plot was, Armida is a sorceress out to prevent the army from their goal of capturing Zion. She's a soprano and there are 6 tenors!! The performance opened with a dancer suspended from a ribbon and spinning down to the stage. It was beautiful. She looked about 10 but I learned later that she's actually 25. She was Armida's niece and she represented love. Armida also had a sprite or spirit who represented vengeance. Onto the plot - the army is burying their guy-in-charge when Armida shows up and pretends to be a princess in distress. She begs the general (John Osborn) to give her ten soldiers to help her regain her kingdom. She charms the army and everyone falls for it except for the general himself, but he goes against his instinct and agrees to help her because everyone else wants to. The men then promote Rinaldo (Lawrence Brownlee) as their new captain. Of course Rinaldo and Armida have met before when she saved him, they fell in love and then he had to leave. Somehow her uncle holds some sort of grudge against him. The mean spirit or sprite "infects" the soldiers and then this other guy who thought that he himself should have been chosen to lead gets all huffy and acts like a big bad loser. He's busy badmouthing Rinaldo, who overhears and fights the dude for his own honor. Of course he kills him, then the general comes back and is all mad, and then I'm not quite sure what happens except that Rinaldo is charmed by Armida and they run off.
Act two is a reenactment of the story in ballet, presented to Rinaldo and Armida as entertainment. These demons come out and create a beautiful palace and garden, then these nymphs come out and in the ballet they all seduce the dancer Rinaldo. I have never been so close to professional ballet dancers. These men jump 5 feet into the air and land silently. They are all muscle. It was amazing. The women were great too. The demons and the nymphs included the chorus as well as dancers. The demons were in these wacky costumes with horns and tails. I took one blurry photo of them during the curtain call, using one hand and no flash, so it's hard to see, but you get the idea:
That guy to the left wearing what looks like knee pads had a very form-fitting costume. As in, I think everyone in the room was looking at his ... manliness. It was outlined in great detail. Had to avert my eyes to keep from staring. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. He was I think the main demon or devil from the underworld. The dancers interacted with him a lot - they carried him around, and he climbed on them to sing, so his outlined bits were displayed prominently. Not like me to go on and on about some guy's privates but there they were, pretty much in everyone's face!!
So anyway during the dance there's a part where they tempt Rinaldo with fruit, and then the nymph dancers are teasing the dancer Rinaldo and playing a sort of monkey-in-the-middle with him, throwing the fruit back and forth over him while he tries in vain to catch it. At some point the dancer is replaced with the real Rinaldo. There is a gorgeous love-duet in there somewhere. You see the little girl in red in that blurry photo? That's the 25 year old dancer. Anyway back to the opera...
Scene three, two of the soldiers (and the final two tenors) find their way into the enchanted forest and find Rinaldo. They help him realize that he has been charmed by magic and lead him back to battle, bravery, courage and so on. Armida tries in vain to keep him there with her. Then the demon/vengeance spirit and the love spirit battle (via ballet of course) around her and the bad spirit wins. Armida vows that she will seek vengeance and the curtain drops.
The music was full of Rossini's coloratura runs and vocal gymnastics. It was really really pretty.
John Osborn was absolutely awesome. Rossini coloratura is his friend. It seems to come effortlessly for him. The singing, the acting, etc - he was the character and the music flowed out of him.
Lawrence Brownlee has the most unbelievable voice. Except of course I was there so I do believe it. Like John, the coloratura just flows out. It was like beauty flowing out over the audience.
One of the other tenors stood out for me too, it was one of the two soldiers who saved Rinaldo in Act 3, but I don't remember who it was. It was hard to keep track of who was who.
Renee Fleming was Armida. She is so beautiful. She didn't really sing out in the first two acts. Her voice was very pretty but I was like, what's the big deal? Until the third act, when she SANG. And then I was like, Oh, I get it now. At first I was star-struck that I was seeing her, but she was such a good actor that I got totally into it and forgot it was her. If that makes sense. I guess that's the point!
After the performance I wanted to hang out but even more I wanted to get back to my boys - over 24 hours away from them and my arms ached to hug Alex! All the moms out there will understand what I mean!! So I trekked down to Penn Station (remind me NEVER to do that in my little boots again, ever!!) and hopped on the express train to get home to my boys.
Today I listened to the Saturday Afternoon Broadcast of Magic Flute. It was great to hear it all again so soon after seeing it. At one point I put on the English version video and tried to match it up for Alex to see and hear. It worked pretty well for some parts, like when the three ladies find Tamino, but then I had to pause the video for the cut parts and was too much trouble and he got bored with it so I turned off the video.
Now my little spot on the shelf where I keep all my tickets is empty. It looks so sad, all empty. But I'm sure it won't be empty for long.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Pre-Adventure Last Minute Fashion Thoughts
I've completely changed my mind about what to wear tonight for Die Zauberflote and tomorrow for the final dress for Armida. Instead of the trippy-skirt outfit (and I mean that in the literal sense, not in the psychedelic sense) I'm going to go with what I wore to the AVA Gala, which is also what I wore last year to La Sonnambula, Firebrand of Florence and Rape of Lucretia. And, come to think of it, to my first Opera Project recital. I was stuck in this, "Gotta wear something different" rut, but then I snapped out of it and realized it didn't matter - go with what works and what's comfortable... however comfortable one can be when one has jammed oneself into body-squeezing underwear.
Then, for tomorrow, this skirt and the brown shirt from the Carmen outfit.
Then, for tomorrow, this skirt and the brown shirt from the Carmen outfit.
Then instead of those sandals, I'll wear my little brown boots with the low heel. Incidentally, I'm wearing that outfit today and just took that photo in the ladies' room at work. It's hot today, in the 80s F, but it's supposed to be in the 60s tomorrow so it should be perfect. Also I have to keep in mind that I will have my backpack with me, so the fewer things I have to carry, the better.
Wheeeeeee I'm excited!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Sitting and Staring and Skirts with Heels
Spring weather is daydream weather! I've found myself sitting and staring a lot. Ok to be honest I did that all winter too. Let's face it, I do it all the time. I truly understand how my cat can sit on the couch, facing the back of the couch, eyes open, not moving. I'm so there.
Just now I was sitting and staring at the Operatic Anthology book I got several months ago - "Celebrated Arias Selected from Operas by Old and Modern Composers, Volume I, Soprano." I'm not familiar with most of the arias, although I've heard of most (but not all) of the operas. So I'm sitting here wondering, how do I know which, if any, of these would be appropriate for me to learn? Just an idle daydream, really. I keep flipping through it, imagining what the arias sound like. I could search on YouTube but that would require more effort.
Geez I sound depressed - sitting and staring, things taking too much effort...
Well perhaps a little Mozart will help!! Because I'm now going to announce that Thursday, the day after tomorrow, is the day I'll be seeing Die Zauberflote. Mozart!!! My plan is to wear the same outfit I wore for the Opera Project recital, you know, the one I kept stepping on and tripping over. At least I know the tags are off. Can't verify at the moment if the little plastic thing that holds the tags on is still there. I'm sure I'll forget to check until I feel something poking me during the overture.
Then the following day is the Armida final dress, if I figure out how to get the ticket that has been set aside for me. I have to check with weather but I think I'm going with the long, multi-colored skirt I wore to Carmen, Lucia and Grapes. I figure I was with different people for each of those so it's not like anyone will notice that I'm wearing the same skirt. Then a white lacy tank-top with a green blouse that matches the green in the skirt, and low-heeled brown boots. A fashion expert at Glamour actually gave me advice on what to wear - she recommended a day dress with heels, or slacks with a jacket and heels. I have neither of those outfits, so... a skirt and boots it is. But hey, at least the boots have a heel. Sort of.
Yeah, maybe it's time to go stare at the insides of my eyelids... Opera keeping me awake again and all that.
Just now I was sitting and staring at the Operatic Anthology book I got several months ago - "Celebrated Arias Selected from Operas by Old and Modern Composers, Volume I, Soprano." I'm not familiar with most of the arias, although I've heard of most (but not all) of the operas. So I'm sitting here wondering, how do I know which, if any, of these would be appropriate for me to learn? Just an idle daydream, really. I keep flipping through it, imagining what the arias sound like. I could search on YouTube but that would require more effort.
Geez I sound depressed - sitting and staring, things taking too much effort...
Well perhaps a little Mozart will help!! Because I'm now going to announce that Thursday, the day after tomorrow, is the day I'll be seeing Die Zauberflote. Mozart!!! My plan is to wear the same outfit I wore for the Opera Project recital, you know, the one I kept stepping on and tripping over. At least I know the tags are off. Can't verify at the moment if the little plastic thing that holds the tags on is still there. I'm sure I'll forget to check until I feel something poking me during the overture.
Then the following day is the Armida final dress, if I figure out how to get the ticket that has been set aside for me. I have to check with weather but I think I'm going with the long, multi-colored skirt I wore to Carmen, Lucia and Grapes. I figure I was with different people for each of those so it's not like anyone will notice that I'm wearing the same skirt. Then a white lacy tank-top with a green blouse that matches the green in the skirt, and low-heeled brown boots. A fashion expert at Glamour actually gave me advice on what to wear - she recommended a day dress with heels, or slacks with a jacket and heels. I have neither of those outfits, so... a skirt and boots it is. But hey, at least the boots have a heel. Sort of.
Yeah, maybe it's time to go stare at the insides of my eyelids... Opera keeping me awake again and all that.
Monday, April 5, 2010
This Week
Another adventurous week coming up!
Will be spending some time in NYC this week - I was lucky enough to be offered a ticket for the final dress rehearsal of Armida at the Met. If I can figure out how to actually obtain the ticket (that part was unclear, but I'll figure it out...) I'll go. Also seeing Die Zauberflote one day this week. Banawoman will be out East for that. I anticipate lots of laughter, yummy food and beautiful Mozart.
Now I will use the rest of this blank window to brag about my kid.
Alex has a weekly private music lesson with a very good teacher at Westminster. She uses these music note cards to teach rhythm, pitch and so on. She plays games with the cards and also teaches him patterns with each hand on the piano while singing along. She always tells me he's coming along very well.
Because of behavioral and social issues associated with PDD-NOS, he has a paraprofessional assigned just to him at school. One day before school started they were in the music room and he was showing his para what he can do on the piano. She was surprised, and then while he was doing this the school music teacher entered the room. Well, she was REALLY surprised! She was very, very impressed and amazed at what he was able to do. He was playing piano with both hands and singing along. I think that was the point that he was unofficially excused from the kindergarten music class. It's more a music experience than a music lesson, very chaotic and noisy - not an ideal situation for him anyway. The music teacher has asked to see his piano book but in my opinion it's the games and exercises with the cards that allowed him to learn the songs he plays on the piano. Well, it's all of it, but the cards make a huge difference. They're in spring break now, but I'll contact her next week to see if she and I can meet. The school also has a gifted and talented program for music, so I'll find out more about that. I'd have to apply by the end of April. How cool and brag-worthy would that be? I'll answer that question myself. Very cool. And very VERY bragworthy!
Will be spending some time in NYC this week - I was lucky enough to be offered a ticket for the final dress rehearsal of Armida at the Met. If I can figure out how to actually obtain the ticket (that part was unclear, but I'll figure it out...) I'll go. Also seeing Die Zauberflote one day this week. Banawoman will be out East for that. I anticipate lots of laughter, yummy food and beautiful Mozart.
Now I will use the rest of this blank window to brag about my kid.
Alex has a weekly private music lesson with a very good teacher at Westminster. She uses these music note cards to teach rhythm, pitch and so on. She plays games with the cards and also teaches him patterns with each hand on the piano while singing along. She always tells me he's coming along very well.
Because of behavioral and social issues associated with PDD-NOS, he has a paraprofessional assigned just to him at school. One day before school started they were in the music room and he was showing his para what he can do on the piano. She was surprised, and then while he was doing this the school music teacher entered the room. Well, she was REALLY surprised! She was very, very impressed and amazed at what he was able to do. He was playing piano with both hands and singing along. I think that was the point that he was unofficially excused from the kindergarten music class. It's more a music experience than a music lesson, very chaotic and noisy - not an ideal situation for him anyway. The music teacher has asked to see his piano book but in my opinion it's the games and exercises with the cards that allowed him to learn the songs he plays on the piano. Well, it's all of it, but the cards make a huge difference. They're in spring break now, but I'll contact her next week to see if she and I can meet. The school also has a gifted and talented program for music, so I'll find out more about that. I'd have to apply by the end of April. How cool and brag-worthy would that be? I'll answer that question myself. Very cool. And very VERY bragworthy!
Friday, April 2, 2010
AVA Gala - Wowwwwwwie!!!
Wednesday I went to the AVA "Brava Philadelphia," 75th Anniversary Gala.
Silly me, I didn't check the time on the ticket. I left my house at about 6pm, thinking I'd get there in plenty of time to grab a bite to eat before the performance. But when traffic stopped because of a truck stuck in the left lane, I pulled out the ticket for a peek. OOPS! 7:30 start time. Maybe I'd be able to grab a bag of peanuts somewhere...?
Traffic finally picked up and I made way to the parking garage below the theater. I just want to point out here that I paid $50 for the ticket and then $22 to park!!! There weren't enough spots in the garage so I had to leave my car in the middle along with the keys. They gave me a ticket for the keys which I promptly lost. But on the positive side, the lobby snack bar sold these little sandwiches so I was able to scarf something down in the moments before the bells went off.
So the format was, there were AVA graduates who were the "Gala Artists," and a group of "Resident Artists" who are still students. Everyone was great. A few of the resident artists had solos but for the most part they did ensemble pieces. They were all so good!! And the dresses - OMG one piece of eye candy after another. I'm still talking about the resident artists here. One woman had this gorgeous blond hair and was wearing the most stunning gown ever - it was this reddish/maroonish/brick color, shimmery, with shiny parts on the straps. Should have brought my binocs I guess... that's all the detail I can provide. There was so much glitz and rhinestone on stage. But why am I going off track with the clothing? The singing was phenomenal.
So in between the resident stuff, the Gala Artists came out and did their thing. And their thing was, sing. Oh no I've veered into Dr. Seuss land, sorry about that. I'm not going to write every detail about the evening... but I might come close! I should have taken notes, right? Everyone sang more than one piece. Here's what I remember.
Eglise Gutierrez. So so awesome. Words cannot describe. She did something from La Sonnambula and later a scene from Rigoletto. Legato, legato, legato. I think she took one deep breath at the beginning and then didn't need to breathe again until the end. Emotion in her face, her voice, her eyes. And she was wearing a beautiful purple gown and big sparkly earrings.
Angela Meade sang something from Abduction. She was in NJ Opera's production of it last summer. She is AMAZING. What a voice. The aria had a range from way down here to all the way up there and everything in between. Sounded like one of those arias that he wrote for someone specific. I don't know enough about Mozart to say more than that, but doesn't it make me sound knowledgeable? "Oh yes, he wrote that one for a specific soprano..." Ok, back to business. Her dress: Red gown. Spectacular. Let's see... checking the program...
Latonia Moore. Ok, I don't remember what she was wearing. Black probably? Gorgeous face but her hair kept falling in it!! She kept flipping it back. However it did not distract from her GORGEOUS voice. Madame Butterfly - blew me away.
Ok. Another soprano. Indra Thomas. Wow. WOW! And wow on the black dress with the green wrap! She changed it to a black gauzy type wrap later which made it even more elegant, if that's even possible. Hair pulled back into a tight bun with rhinestone crystals glittering everywhere. She looked like a princess and sang like a goddess.
It wasn't just a girls' night out. The guys - of course, Michael Fabiano!! Nessun Dorma. Don't think there was a dry eye in the house. His voice just washes over you. And after being in a production with him, it was so familiar. I was like, Oh yeah, that's right. He was great then and he's even better now.
Luis Ledesma sang the Toreador song from Carmen, surrounded by the resident artists. Like all the men, he was wearing a tux, but that doesn't stop me from imagining him all Escamillo-ed up. He seemed so familiar to me, I should check and see if I've seen him perform before.
James Valenti!!! We all remember him from this. He just made his Met debut in Traviata. You can read all about that in all the regular places. Here he sang O Sole Mio and had the crowd in the palm of his hand. And this man is TALL!! A tall tenor. Yes, I know, I barely push the bar at 5 feet, but that doesn't mean I can't tell tall from down here. I didn't realize just how tall he was until I saw him later backstage.
Before it started and also in between the singing, someone came out to introduce and thank various people who were involved in putting the evening together. The mayor of Philadelphia even showed up to say a few words. They also explained that Joyce Didonato was supposed to have been there but she injured herself (again?!) on stage in Chicago and needed surgery to repair a torn ligament in her knee. Ouch. But you know what? She's such a huge name, such a huge star, that having her there might have taken some of the spotlight away from the other performers. Not that I wasn't disappointed - but I wonder if the dynamic of the performance would have been different.
The crowd: What a mix. Several men in tuxedos, entire rows of them. Women in ball gowns. Women like me, in a nice long skirt and top. And then some people were very, very casual. Not quite pajamas, but not dressed up either.
The row behind me - one woman was eating Goobers, yes, you know, chocolate-covered peanuts, from one of those movie-size boxes, and offering them to her companions. Apparently she had a box of Raisinettes too. Another guy behind me had running commentary - "Wow. Amazing. Listen to that. Did you hear that?" and so on. It was what we were all thinking, but he said it all out loud.
The row in front of me - just as it was starting, one woman whispered something to her companion and a man two seats down let out this rude "shhhppp!"which did the trick, but still... Where was he when the same woman started humming along????
Over in the row of men-in-tuxes, this one woman kept talking to the people on either side of her. But it's ok. She was whispering. It was the loudest whisper I had ever heard. It echoed throughout the entire theater. It was amazing.
These minor incidents did nothing to mar the evening, they are merely amusing to relate.
When it ended I went back to say hi to Michael and give him a squeeze. You can see me doing that here. See my hand coming around? Squeezing. That's not a smile on his face, it's a grimace. Ok ok, I'm just kidding. I mean yeah I was squeezing but he was (I think) smiling. He was so sweet.
I finally finally got to meet Eglise in person! We have had comment conversations on facebook and it was wonderful to finally meet "for real." She had changed out of her gown but was still absolutely gorgeous in person. Her eyes are WOW! I felt instant warmth from her, as if we had known each other forever.
As usual it was super-crazy hectic back there with visitors and performers all wanting photos of and with each other. So after chatting for a moment I made my way back to the car where they let me have my keys back in spite of me having no idea where my ticket was. After a few crazy city-driving maneuvers, you know, wild u-turns, lane changes and so on, I found my way onto the highway and was home within the hour.
The only think I'd change: Next time I'm writing down what the singers are wearing so I can describe it here in greater detail.
Silly me, I didn't check the time on the ticket. I left my house at about 6pm, thinking I'd get there in plenty of time to grab a bite to eat before the performance. But when traffic stopped because of a truck stuck in the left lane, I pulled out the ticket for a peek. OOPS! 7:30 start time. Maybe I'd be able to grab a bag of peanuts somewhere...?
Traffic finally picked up and I made way to the parking garage below the theater. I just want to point out here that I paid $50 for the ticket and then $22 to park!!! There weren't enough spots in the garage so I had to leave my car in the middle along with the keys. They gave me a ticket for the keys which I promptly lost. But on the positive side, the lobby snack bar sold these little sandwiches so I was able to scarf something down in the moments before the bells went off.
So the format was, there were AVA graduates who were the "Gala Artists," and a group of "Resident Artists" who are still students. Everyone was great. A few of the resident artists had solos but for the most part they did ensemble pieces. They were all so good!! And the dresses - OMG one piece of eye candy after another. I'm still talking about the resident artists here. One woman had this gorgeous blond hair and was wearing the most stunning gown ever - it was this reddish/maroonish/brick color, shimmery, with shiny parts on the straps. Should have brought my binocs I guess... that's all the detail I can provide. There was so much glitz and rhinestone on stage. But why am I going off track with the clothing? The singing was phenomenal.
So in between the resident stuff, the Gala Artists came out and did their thing. And their thing was, sing. Oh no I've veered into Dr. Seuss land, sorry about that. I'm not going to write every detail about the evening... but I might come close! I should have taken notes, right? Everyone sang more than one piece. Here's what I remember.
Eglise Gutierrez. So so awesome. Words cannot describe. She did something from La Sonnambula and later a scene from Rigoletto. Legato, legato, legato. I think she took one deep breath at the beginning and then didn't need to breathe again until the end. Emotion in her face, her voice, her eyes. And she was wearing a beautiful purple gown and big sparkly earrings.
Angela Meade sang something from Abduction. She was in NJ Opera's production of it last summer. She is AMAZING. What a voice. The aria had a range from way down here to all the way up there and everything in between. Sounded like one of those arias that he wrote for someone specific. I don't know enough about Mozart to say more than that, but doesn't it make me sound knowledgeable? "Oh yes, he wrote that one for a specific soprano..." Ok, back to business. Her dress: Red gown. Spectacular. Let's see... checking the program...
Latonia Moore. Ok, I don't remember what she was wearing. Black probably? Gorgeous face but her hair kept falling in it!! She kept flipping it back. However it did not distract from her GORGEOUS voice. Madame Butterfly - blew me away.
Ok. Another soprano. Indra Thomas. Wow. WOW! And wow on the black dress with the green wrap! She changed it to a black gauzy type wrap later which made it even more elegant, if that's even possible. Hair pulled back into a tight bun with rhinestone crystals glittering everywhere. She looked like a princess and sang like a goddess.
It wasn't just a girls' night out. The guys - of course, Michael Fabiano!! Nessun Dorma. Don't think there was a dry eye in the house. His voice just washes over you. And after being in a production with him, it was so familiar. I was like, Oh yeah, that's right. He was great then and he's even better now.
Luis Ledesma sang the Toreador song from Carmen, surrounded by the resident artists. Like all the men, he was wearing a tux, but that doesn't stop me from imagining him all Escamillo-ed up. He seemed so familiar to me, I should check and see if I've seen him perform before.
James Valenti!!! We all remember him from this. He just made his Met debut in Traviata. You can read all about that in all the regular places. Here he sang O Sole Mio and had the crowd in the palm of his hand. And this man is TALL!! A tall tenor. Yes, I know, I barely push the bar at 5 feet, but that doesn't mean I can't tell tall from down here. I didn't realize just how tall he was until I saw him later backstage.
Before it started and also in between the singing, someone came out to introduce and thank various people who were involved in putting the evening together. The mayor of Philadelphia even showed up to say a few words. They also explained that Joyce Didonato was supposed to have been there but she injured herself (again?!) on stage in Chicago and needed surgery to repair a torn ligament in her knee. Ouch. But you know what? She's such a huge name, such a huge star, that having her there might have taken some of the spotlight away from the other performers. Not that I wasn't disappointed - but I wonder if the dynamic of the performance would have been different.
The crowd: What a mix. Several men in tuxedos, entire rows of them. Women in ball gowns. Women like me, in a nice long skirt and top. And then some people were very, very casual. Not quite pajamas, but not dressed up either.
The row behind me - one woman was eating Goobers, yes, you know, chocolate-covered peanuts, from one of those movie-size boxes, and offering them to her companions. Apparently she had a box of Raisinettes too. Another guy behind me had running commentary - "Wow. Amazing. Listen to that. Did you hear that?" and so on. It was what we were all thinking, but he said it all out loud.
The row in front of me - just as it was starting, one woman whispered something to her companion and a man two seats down let out this rude "shhhppp!"which did the trick, but still... Where was he when the same woman started humming along????
Over in the row of men-in-tuxes, this one woman kept talking to the people on either side of her. But it's ok. She was whispering. It was the loudest whisper I had ever heard. It echoed throughout the entire theater. It was amazing.
These minor incidents did nothing to mar the evening, they are merely amusing to relate.
When it ended I went back to say hi to Michael and give him a squeeze. You can see me doing that here. See my hand coming around? Squeezing. That's not a smile on his face, it's a grimace. Ok ok, I'm just kidding. I mean yeah I was squeezing but he was (I think) smiling. He was so sweet.
I finally finally got to meet Eglise in person! We have had comment conversations on facebook and it was wonderful to finally meet "for real." She had changed out of her gown but was still absolutely gorgeous in person. Her eyes are WOW! I felt instant warmth from her, as if we had known each other forever.
As usual it was super-crazy hectic back there with visitors and performers all wanting photos of and with each other. So after chatting for a moment I made my way back to the car where they let me have my keys back in spite of me having no idea where my ticket was. After a few crazy city-driving maneuvers, you know, wild u-turns, lane changes and so on, I found my way onto the highway and was home within the hour.
The only think I'd change: Next time I'm writing down what the singers are wearing so I can describe it here in greater detail.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Recital Report... Video to follow
The recital went pretty well! Of course I think I could have done better, but I think I did ok.
I had a lot of fun. I feel so privileged to be able to perform with the Opera Project. Everyone is so talented! It's great fun to hear, support and encourage each other.
When I got there I realized that the tags were still attached to my skirt! So I was up in the green room (also known as the preschool classroom at the church where we perform) with my hands down the back of the skirt to tear them out when one of the other singers, an older guy, walked in. Oops, caught me with my hands down my skirt! The skirt was so long that I kept stepping on it on the stairs until I just gave up and hiked it up past my knees when I was on the stairs. That was interesting since of course I was wearing knee-high hose... but luckily the only stairs were the ones leading to the green room... through an area that was under construction... so the steps are splattered with paint, the railings are covered with drop-cloths, the floors are bare plywood and there is large equipment in the corners - big saws with jagged blades and I don't know what else... because there were no lights over the stairs. Fun!! All part of the adventure.
We forgot to bring the camera, so Husband made a video with his iPhone. It's taking forever to load so I'll publish it later... for now... Not sure what I was doing with my arms ... have to remember to let them just hang next time. You'll see what I mean if/when the video ever loads!
...
Later: I gave up and uploaded it to YouTube. Here it is:
Friday, March 26, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
More Grapes and More Cake!
Photos and reviews of Grapes of Wrath are showing up online. Of course my review is the only one that counts so I'm not going to link to the others. But I will link to the photos. The photos there are excellent, possibly the best I've seen of a performance I've been to.
On to more important thoughts. I can't stop thinking about the cake pictured in my previous post. I didn't, I mean, I couldn't finish it. I ate only the part that was soaked with chocolate sauce, so there was a pile of leftover cake on the plate. I want those leftovers. Forget about the dude who asked me why I was standing next to the door to the theater. (where, I might add, I was allowed to stand, but later I realized it was near the top of a flight of stairs that lead to backstage, which I suppose led to the question? Yeah, ok...) The truth is they should be guarding the door to the kitchen in the restaurant. I'm liable to sneak in and steal the cake, or better yet, the pastry chef.
Opera Project recital is Saturday. I confirmed that admission is actually $15. I've been practicing NOT cutting the notes early to sneak a breath in, and suddenly I sound so much better! I sing the note the correct amount, take a nice breath and yes, there I am on time for the next line. When I finally managed to do it and I liked how I sounded I started laughing! I love that. I can't control it - I just start laughing when I have these "breakthroughs" and I hear the improvement. It's the joy of making music - it bubbles up and bursts out in giggles.
Cake. Cake. Cake. Yum.
On to more important thoughts. I can't stop thinking about the cake pictured in my previous post. I didn't, I mean, I couldn't finish it. I ate only the part that was soaked with chocolate sauce, so there was a pile of leftover cake on the plate. I want those leftovers. Forget about the dude who asked me why I was standing next to the door to the theater. (where, I might add, I was allowed to stand, but later I realized it was near the top of a flight of stairs that lead to backstage, which I suppose led to the question? Yeah, ok...) The truth is they should be guarding the door to the kitchen in the restaurant. I'm liable to sneak in and steal the cake, or better yet, the pastry chef.
Opera Project recital is Saturday. I confirmed that admission is actually $15. I've been practicing NOT cutting the notes early to sneak a breath in, and suddenly I sound so much better! I sing the note the correct amount, take a nice breath and yes, there I am on time for the next line. When I finally managed to do it and I liked how I sounded I started laughing! I love that. I can't control it - I just start laughing when I have these "breakthroughs" and I hear the improvement. It's the joy of making music - it bubbles up and bursts out in giggles.
Cake. Cake. Cake. Yum.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Grapes, Chocolate, Laughter and Rain
Had THE MOST FABULOUS adventure yesterday!!!
My friend Anna and I stepped out of our "mom" shoes and cleaned ourselves up for a night out. We caught a late afternoon train and arrived at Penn Station at about 4pm. It wasn't really raining, just spritzing a little, so we decided to walk up to the restaurant, a mere 24 short blocks up 7th Ave. Of course along the way it started to pour. We were leaping over puddles and trying to avoid other people's umbrellas. It was a short walk and we found ourselves at the restaurant rather early, but since it was pouring we had no choice really but to go in. We hung around and when eventually we sat down, along came Johnny O to join us. He's in NYC rehearsing for Armida and I had invited him along. We all had a blast! The food was good but we were having such a silly time I actually forgot to take photos of it. But then... the desserts. Oh.My.God.
I had the panettonne , a tall cake with raisins and hazelnuts that was served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. It was so huge I couldn't finish it. I'm still thinking about that cake and drooling.
John ordered the chocolate mousse. They came to the table with two metal buckets and started scooping mousse and whipped cream out onto his plate until he told them to stop. Scoop, scoop, scoop...
I was so eager to get started on my chocolate thing that I forgot to take a photo of Anna's limoncello creme brulee. I didn't forget to taste it though. It was to die for. Death by desserts. Still drooling as I type this.
While I had the camera out we took some more photos:
Anna and John:
Me and John:
And the other photos are on John's camera so I'm waiting... waiting... waiting for him to email them or post them to Facebook.
When Anna was in the ladies' room she overheard two women talking in excited hushed tones, "Did you see??? John Osborn is here! In the restaurant!"
Isn't that cool, that they recognized him?
He wasn't going to GoW so after taking pics of us under the marquee we parted ways. Once I get those photos, if they're decent, I'll post them.
Inside was crowded!! People everywhere going every which way. It was hard to get around. We did make it to our seat and I snapped a couple photos of my view from row D... which was indeed the 4th row.
The Chorale sat behind the orchestra. I could barely see them if I peeked through the orchestra. Then in front of the orchestra, as you can see, were the music stands for the singers. Jane Fonda, the narrator, sat off to one side. On the other side of the stage were some chairs for the cast members who weren't in the particular scene. It was semi-staged, so they wore costumes and moved about a little, but there were no props and they sang with books.
The music was so much better than I expected! I guess I was thinking, modern opera = modern, atonal music, but that was not the case at all. It was very accessible yet original. The story followed the book very closely. Some parts of the book were left out, understandably, but nothing different was added.
Jane Fonda was so very thin!! She was very glamorous in a long black skirt. She perched on a stool and read some parts aloud - much seemed to be directly from the book. I wonder how much she rehearsed because some lines she seemed to stop before the end of the sentence, and then pick up the next line as if it were a new sentence when it was actually part of the sentence before. It sounded a little awkward. She did that only a few times. Otherwise hear reading really added to the effect. A couple times she began reading as soon as the singers stopped, and she was cut off by applause. It was no big deal.
The singing was FABULOUS!!! Nathan Gunn, of course, was awesome. So what else is new. His daughter Madelyn was very good! While I believe that she would not have gotten the part if he wasn't in it, she was fine in the role. She has a clear, sweet voice and her acting was good. If she hadn't played the part I imagine that one of those childhood career performance kids would have gotten it. You know the kind, with the stage mother in the background pushing, pushing, pushing. But she was fine, she held her own and did a great job. There was a little boy in the production and he was just fabulous. Elizabeth Futral had a little too much vibrato for my taste, the type of vibrato that takes over the notes, but she was amazing. The entire cast was amazing. And it was so moving. You have to read the book. The events the family endures are simply heartbreaking, but the hope and goodwill shines through. The composer did an excellent job of showing how, although all this tragic stuff is happening, they still have hope, they can still smile about things... and the ending... well... I know when I read the book the ending was a huge surprise for me, and got me wondering how often that happened, because it must have... and it was in the opera too. I was expecting it but that didn't stop me from bawling. I could write the details here but it would sound very weird ... but basically, Rosasharn, who was pregnant, gives birth to a stillborn baby. Later when they're escaping to higher ground she and Ma come across a young boy and his dying father. R's milk has come in but she has no baby to nurse. The man is starving and needs food. The book and the music alike convey the seriousness as Ma and Rosasharn stare into eachother's eyes and Rosasharn agrees to nurse this man to save his life. As a mother who nursed a child, and Anna, who is still nursing her youngest, this draws out these deep feelings of nurturing mixed with the oddness and the question, would I have done that? And while I know I would have nursed any baby that was hungry, I honestly don't know how I would have acted in the same horrible situation. But that's just one of the many tragic (loss of baby) and hopeful (giving sustenance to a starving person) juxtapositions in the story. They caught it wonderfully in the music.
I also cried when Noah, the oldest, in order to obey Ma and "help the family" drowns himself in the creek, meanwhile Ma is calling, calling, calling for him. And then when the baby died and they put it in flowing flood waters as a message to people downstream... and earlier, in another tragic/hopeful moment she sang that if it were a boy she would name it Moses... luckily Anna had brought a handkerchief and we were passing it back and forth to dry our eyes.
Intermission was insanely crowded. The same as when we first got there, people were milling about in every direction. Anna and I made our way toward the restrooms and actually got separated by the crowd. I ducked around the line for the mens' restroom to call Husband. While there I ran into someone I knew from several years ago - a chorus member back from when I supered in Romeo. It was so chaotic and crowded, all we could really do was shout hellos to each other before getting pushed apart by the crowd.
Afterward, it was raining lightly so we decided to walk to Penn Station. It's a 20 minute walk and we had 35 minutes until our train. Well, half way there it began to POUR, and I do mean POUR. We ended up dashing along 7th Ave, leaping over puddles, getting soaking wet and laughing like teenagers. We made the train with time to spare where we learned that the ink on the back of the program runs when it gets wet. Anna had this huge purse and had put my gray pumps in when I changed to my hiking shoes. The program left blobs of black all over the shoes, and forget about the handkerchief. The shoes I managed to wash with a damp clean corner of the hankie, and then after doing our own Rorschach tests on it, we tossed it into the trash. We were soaking wet and having a blast. I laughed so much and so hard yesterday (except during the performance, of course) that I think I woke up with a laughter hangover today. Is that even possible? We didn't drink anything but overpriced sparkling mineral water so what else could it be? Can't wait to do it all again!
My friend Anna and I stepped out of our "mom" shoes and cleaned ourselves up for a night out. We caught a late afternoon train and arrived at Penn Station at about 4pm. It wasn't really raining, just spritzing a little, so we decided to walk up to the restaurant, a mere 24 short blocks up 7th Ave. Of course along the way it started to pour. We were leaping over puddles and trying to avoid other people's umbrellas. It was a short walk and we found ourselves at the restaurant rather early, but since it was pouring we had no choice really but to go in. We hung around and when eventually we sat down, along came Johnny O to join us. He's in NYC rehearsing for Armida and I had invited him along. We all had a blast! The food was good but we were having such a silly time I actually forgot to take photos of it. But then... the desserts. Oh.My.God.
I had the panettonne , a tall cake with raisins and hazelnuts that was served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. It was so huge I couldn't finish it. I'm still thinking about that cake and drooling.
John ordered the chocolate mousse. They came to the table with two metal buckets and started scooping mousse and whipped cream out onto his plate until he told them to stop. Scoop, scoop, scoop...
I was so eager to get started on my chocolate thing that I forgot to take a photo of Anna's limoncello creme brulee. I didn't forget to taste it though. It was to die for. Death by desserts. Still drooling as I type this.
While I had the camera out we took some more photos:
Anna and John:
Me and John:
And the other photos are on John's camera so I'm waiting... waiting... waiting for him to email them or post them to Facebook.
When Anna was in the ladies' room she overheard two women talking in excited hushed tones, "Did you see??? John Osborn is here! In the restaurant!"
Isn't that cool, that they recognized him?
He wasn't going to GoW so after taking pics of us under the marquee we parted ways. Once I get those photos, if they're decent, I'll post them.
Inside was crowded!! People everywhere going every which way. It was hard to get around. We did make it to our seat and I snapped a couple photos of my view from row D... which was indeed the 4th row.
The Chorale sat behind the orchestra. I could barely see them if I peeked through the orchestra. Then in front of the orchestra, as you can see, were the music stands for the singers. Jane Fonda, the narrator, sat off to one side. On the other side of the stage were some chairs for the cast members who weren't in the particular scene. It was semi-staged, so they wore costumes and moved about a little, but there were no props and they sang with books.
The music was so much better than I expected! I guess I was thinking, modern opera = modern, atonal music, but that was not the case at all. It was very accessible yet original. The story followed the book very closely. Some parts of the book were left out, understandably, but nothing different was added.
Jane Fonda was so very thin!! She was very glamorous in a long black skirt. She perched on a stool and read some parts aloud - much seemed to be directly from the book. I wonder how much she rehearsed because some lines she seemed to stop before the end of the sentence, and then pick up the next line as if it were a new sentence when it was actually part of the sentence before. It sounded a little awkward. She did that only a few times. Otherwise hear reading really added to the effect. A couple times she began reading as soon as the singers stopped, and she was cut off by applause. It was no big deal.
The singing was FABULOUS!!! Nathan Gunn, of course, was awesome. So what else is new. His daughter Madelyn was very good! While I believe that she would not have gotten the part if he wasn't in it, she was fine in the role. She has a clear, sweet voice and her acting was good. If she hadn't played the part I imagine that one of those childhood career performance kids would have gotten it. You know the kind, with the stage mother in the background pushing, pushing, pushing. But she was fine, she held her own and did a great job. There was a little boy in the production and he was just fabulous. Elizabeth Futral had a little too much vibrato for my taste, the type of vibrato that takes over the notes, but she was amazing. The entire cast was amazing. And it was so moving. You have to read the book. The events the family endures are simply heartbreaking, but the hope and goodwill shines through. The composer did an excellent job of showing how, although all this tragic stuff is happening, they still have hope, they can still smile about things... and the ending... well... I know when I read the book the ending was a huge surprise for me, and got me wondering how often that happened, because it must have... and it was in the opera too. I was expecting it but that didn't stop me from bawling. I could write the details here but it would sound very weird ... but basically, Rosasharn, who was pregnant, gives birth to a stillborn baby. Later when they're escaping to higher ground she and Ma come across a young boy and his dying father. R's milk has come in but she has no baby to nurse. The man is starving and needs food. The book and the music alike convey the seriousness as Ma and Rosasharn stare into eachother's eyes and Rosasharn agrees to nurse this man to save his life. As a mother who nursed a child, and Anna, who is still nursing her youngest, this draws out these deep feelings of nurturing mixed with the oddness and the question, would I have done that? And while I know I would have nursed any baby that was hungry, I honestly don't know how I would have acted in the same horrible situation. But that's just one of the many tragic (loss of baby) and hopeful (giving sustenance to a starving person) juxtapositions in the story. They caught it wonderfully in the music.
I also cried when Noah, the oldest, in order to obey Ma and "help the family" drowns himself in the creek, meanwhile Ma is calling, calling, calling for him. And then when the baby died and they put it in flowing flood waters as a message to people downstream... and earlier, in another tragic/hopeful moment she sang that if it were a boy she would name it Moses... luckily Anna had brought a handkerchief and we were passing it back and forth to dry our eyes.
Intermission was insanely crowded. The same as when we first got there, people were milling about in every direction. Anna and I made our way toward the restrooms and actually got separated by the crowd. I ducked around the line for the mens' restroom to call Husband. While there I ran into someone I knew from several years ago - a chorus member back from when I supered in Romeo. It was so chaotic and crowded, all we could really do was shout hellos to each other before getting pushed apart by the crowd.
Afterward, it was raining lightly so we decided to walk to Penn Station. It's a 20 minute walk and we had 35 minutes until our train. Well, half way there it began to POUR, and I do mean POUR. We ended up dashing along 7th Ave, leaping over puddles, getting soaking wet and laughing like teenagers. We made the train with time to spare where we learned that the ink on the back of the program runs when it gets wet. Anna had this huge purse and had put my gray pumps in when I changed to my hiking shoes. The program left blobs of black all over the shoes, and forget about the handkerchief. The shoes I managed to wash with a damp clean corner of the hankie, and then after doing our own Rorschach tests on it, we tossed it into the trash. We were soaking wet and having a blast. I laughed so much and so hard yesterday (except during the performance, of course) that I think I woke up with a laughter hangover today. Is that even possible? We didn't drink anything but overpriced sparkling mineral water so what else could it be? Can't wait to do it all again!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Yesterday, Breathe, Tomorrow
Yesterday was fun. Voice lesson in the morning where of course we went over Batti Batti and how to "fix" some of my trouble spots. It's almost all psychological of course. Breathing. Trusting that I have enough breath. Controlling the breath to avoid a blurty sound. Remembering to breathe at the right parts so I have enough breath. Maintaining the legato. Modifying a vowel in my mind so that it sounds the same to the listener, as the correct vowel, but the note is more ringing and bright. That was fascinating, because I simply thought of a different vowel and the sound changed but the pronunciation didn't. That easy, relaxed relief I feel in the second half, how to achieve that for the entire song. The first half is no more difficult or easy than the second. It's all in my mind... I think you get the idea.
Then I had an Opera Project rehearsal where I got to run through the song with the accompanist. She is so talented. I forgot to mention that last week, when we were trying to decide what type of intro she should play since the aria just starts with the singing, she quickly ran through the entire recit to see what came just before the aria. Like, out loud, softly and quickly, the way you zip through a song to get to the part you want to be at. Yesterday, she noticed that I was cutting off certain notes in the same spots, where they appear in the same pattern in different parts of the song, and she thought that perhaps I was doing it because I feel like I need to sneak a breath in. She said a lot of singers do it. She assured me that there is plenty of time for me to complete the note for the proper length and still get a good breath in there. She said that I was actually getting ahead of her when I was doing that! She kept assuring me that it was ok and that I had enough time. Full-time accompanist, part-time counselor of singers. The man who runs the group also mentioned the breath, using the breath, riding the breath. Basically everyone is telling me the same thing. Maybe I should start to pay more attention? I sang it a second time with more focus on controlling my breathing and I could hear the difference. I have it in me, I just have to trust myself. The parts of the aria that just flow out of me are when I relax, breathe and just trust my body to sing the right notes. Maybe I have to stop thinking so hard and just let go. Let it out. I'll try that, somehow.
Today I breathed a lot. All day, in fact. I bet you did too.
Tomorrow of course is GoW at Carnegie. I think I'm going to go with the multi-colored peasant skirt and brown top that I wore to Carmen and in Florida. It's uber-comfy, the skirt is so long that I can wear what someone I know calls "cheaters," meaning, SHHHHH knee-high hose instead of horrible all-the-way-up ones. Seriously. Who needs another layer of control top on top of the fancy overpriced flab-flattening underwear I'll be sporting. Hm. I can answer that question. I do. But I'm going to forgo that added "fashion" for the comfort of being able to breathe. And eat and drink! Another friend (who as far as I know is not going to Carnegie that night) might be meeting us at the restaurant for a drink before the performance. Should be fun!
Then I had an Opera Project rehearsal where I got to run through the song with the accompanist. She is so talented. I forgot to mention that last week, when we were trying to decide what type of intro she should play since the aria just starts with the singing, she quickly ran through the entire recit to see what came just before the aria. Like, out loud, softly and quickly, the way you zip through a song to get to the part you want to be at. Yesterday, she noticed that I was cutting off certain notes in the same spots, where they appear in the same pattern in different parts of the song, and she thought that perhaps I was doing it because I feel like I need to sneak a breath in. She said a lot of singers do it. She assured me that there is plenty of time for me to complete the note for the proper length and still get a good breath in there. She said that I was actually getting ahead of her when I was doing that! She kept assuring me that it was ok and that I had enough time. Full-time accompanist, part-time counselor of singers. The man who runs the group also mentioned the breath, using the breath, riding the breath. Basically everyone is telling me the same thing. Maybe I should start to pay more attention? I sang it a second time with more focus on controlling my breathing and I could hear the difference. I have it in me, I just have to trust myself. The parts of the aria that just flow out of me are when I relax, breathe and just trust my body to sing the right notes. Maybe I have to stop thinking so hard and just let go. Let it out. I'll try that, somehow.
Today I breathed a lot. All day, in fact. I bet you did too.
Tomorrow of course is GoW at Carnegie. I think I'm going to go with the multi-colored peasant skirt and brown top that I wore to Carmen and in Florida. It's uber-comfy, the skirt is so long that I can wear what someone I know calls "cheaters," meaning, SHHHHH knee-high hose instead of horrible all-the-way-up ones. Seriously. Who needs another layer of control top on top of the fancy overpriced flab-flattening underwear I'll be sporting. Hm. I can answer that question. I do. But I'm going to forgo that added "fashion" for the comfort of being able to breathe. And eat and drink! Another friend (who as far as I know is not going to Carnegie that night) might be meeting us at the restaurant for a drink before the performance. Should be fun!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Opera Project Blurb
Not only do I sing with them, I'm also on their email list. This came today. Not sure what the actual entry fee is, since the flyer posted around says that tickets are $15.
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The Opera Project opens its spring concert season on March 27 at 8 PM at St. Andrew’s Church, 50 York Street , Lambertville , NJ. Tickets are $18 and are available at the door. For information call 908-268-1264.
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The Opera Project opens its spring concert season on March 27 at 8 PM at St. Andrew’s Church, 50 York Street , Lambertville , NJ. Tickets are $18 and are available at the door. For information call 908-268-1264.
The concert of arias and duets will feature tenor Steven Snow and Deborah Maher doing “Ah, quegli occhi from Tosca. Also on the program will be selections from Cilea’s “L’Arelsiana,” Charpentier’s “Louise,” Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda,” Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” Puccini’s “Girl of the Golden West,” and Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Mikado”. These and more will be offered by this versatile company of artists.
Profits from The Opera Project support Doctors Without Borders. The Opera Project feels fortunate that they in some small way have been able to help the earthquake victims in Haiti. The artists donate their performances to keep classical singing alive and accessible in our community on an ongoing basis not just once but throughout the year without traveling to New York or Philadelphia. The Opera Project is keeping magical evenings of music alive in a little church in a little river town somewhere in New Jersey.
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Almost Forgot!!
Whoosh! Brain like a sieve is what I have. MONDAY - Three short days from now - is Grapes of Wrath at Carnegie. 4th row! And remember, last time row D turned out to be the 2nd row! But I have a feeling it'll be the 4th row here. I think I'm going to wear the same outfit I wore to see La Fille at the Met, to shake out the history and create new history in it. Not that watching JDF and Diana Damrau from the wings was bad, but the other stuff... bleh. Then when Banawoman and I go to see Die Zauberflote in April (I am fully aware that I have never posted the exact date, by the way) I'll wear this looooooong black gauzy flouncy skirt that I'm in danger of stepping on when I walk, with a gauzy colorful my-eyes-are-up-here blouse. I may wear the gauze ensemble for the Opera Project recital too. And if it's too long, I can always just pull it up to my armpits... Hahaha can you imagine? Of course I'm mostly joking but if I'm in danger of stepping on and then out of it I may just have to do that.
Is it just me, or does "gauze ensemble" sound like something a mummy wears? I'm jus' sayin'...
So anyway Grapes should be interesting. I'm curious to see Nathan Gunn's daughter Madeline perform. She must be talented or she wouldn't get the part, right? Did she have to audition? Or is it like, if you're good enough and it's the only way we can get your Famous Dad to sign the contract, welcome to the cast. I imagine no one auditioned at all - they probably know who they want for each role and just ask. I say that like I know when in truth I have no idea. And in truth I don't care how she got the part. However she got it, I do believe she wouldn't have gotten it if she didn't have the talent to pull it off. And it must stink to have people question your ability like that. Oh well. That's what happens to kids of performers until they prove themselves. I'm sure she will.
As usual I'll write a full report! But until then there's tomorrow's voice lesson, tomorrow's run-through with the accompanist and all of Sunday to get through.
Is it just me, or does "gauze ensemble" sound like something a mummy wears? I'm jus' sayin'...
So anyway Grapes should be interesting. I'm curious to see Nathan Gunn's daughter Madeline perform. She must be talented or she wouldn't get the part, right? Did she have to audition? Or is it like, if you're good enough and it's the only way we can get your Famous Dad to sign the contract, welcome to the cast. I imagine no one auditioned at all - they probably know who they want for each role and just ask. I say that like I know when in truth I have no idea. And in truth I don't care how she got the part. However she got it, I do believe she wouldn't have gotten it if she didn't have the talent to pull it off. And it must stink to have people question your ability like that. Oh well. That's what happens to kids of performers until they prove themselves. I'm sure she will.
As usual I'll write a full report! But until then there's tomorrow's voice lesson, tomorrow's run-through with the accompanist and all of Sunday to get through.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Muppetty
Everyone's probably seen this by now, but I had to post it here, just in case.
and while we're on the subject of the muppets, here is another:
and while we're on the subject of the muppets, here is another:
Sunday, March 14, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Trust
Voice lesson and Opera Project rehearsal tomorrow.
I still have this feeling of disbelief, like, how can I possibly share a stage with all these talented singers? How did I trick them? I go back and forth between feeling confident and feeling like I'm insane.
Guess that's typical. I almost typed normal instead of typical, but really, what is normal?
- I trust my teacher and will follow her advice, even when, or should I say, especially when, she makes me laugh.
- I trust I will not make a fool of myself tomorrow afternoon in the rehearsal.
- I trust the singers and the teachers there to offer moral and occasionally technical support.
- I trust myself not to come across as an insecure little girl, even if that's how I feel inside, especially after I hear other people sing.
I still have this feeling of disbelief, like, how can I possibly share a stage with all these talented singers? How did I trick them? I go back and forth between feeling confident and feeling like I'm insane.
Guess that's typical. I almost typed normal instead of typical, but really, what is normal?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Vocal Frying
Vocal frying? Kind of sounds like what happens if you sing too much, too loudly and for too long. And perhaps it is. Perhaps my voice teacher made up the term? Then again, maybe not, since I just did a google search on it and came up with all sorts of relevant results. So I thought, ok, I have to trust my teacher and do what she says, as she had me creeeeaaakkk my voice on an eeeeeee before doing a certain vocal run from middle C and up 5 notes. We had been going up and down that range and I couldn't seem to get rid of some sort of breathiness thing that was happening, even with a glottal stop. A glottal stop is that little clickish sort of thing you can do in your throat. You can make it audible or do it silently. I do it to prevent an H sound at the beginning of certain vowels on certain notes. So anyway she figured that my breathiness had something to do with my vocal folds, and yes I just typed that because I've always wanted to mention vocal folds, especially my own, because I'm like that. So she thought maybe for some reason I wasn't closing them all the way, hence the breathiness, and since the glottal stop wasn't working, she had me do what she called a vocal fry. Imagine what a zombie would sound like. Creaaaaak. Make the sound in your throat. Not voiced. Just a creaky spooky sound. Like let the smallest amount of air through, enough to make a creepy noise. Go ahead. Do it for about 3 seconds. Then find the note and go right into the exercise. 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1.
Not sure if it worked because every time I tried to do it I dissolved into laughter. But you all know I'll be frying in the car all week.
The other fun part of the lesson was us trying to fit two different versions of Nel cor piu non mi sento together, only they're written in different keys. I have one version from an iPhone app that's lower than the one in the book. However it has some nice ornamentation and we were trying to pick and choose which ornamentation to use. Then she was transcribing it to the other key and seeing what fit where, and writing the new notes on the music. And she said the song was easier than the other music I've been learning... so of course I had to go and find a way to complicate it. Further complications, which also explain some of my pronunciation and lyric mix-ups, is that every version of the song has slightly different words. Some have the same words but in a different order. So we're going to stick with the lyrics from the latest book because they're allegedly the most authentic. I just need to forget all the others... while at the same time I pull some of the ornamentation over. Without the words. Since they're slightly different. Arrrrghhh my brain is frying too!
Not sure if it worked because every time I tried to do it I dissolved into laughter. But you all know I'll be frying in the car all week.
The other fun part of the lesson was us trying to fit two different versions of Nel cor piu non mi sento together, only they're written in different keys. I have one version from an iPhone app that's lower than the one in the book. However it has some nice ornamentation and we were trying to pick and choose which ornamentation to use. Then she was transcribing it to the other key and seeing what fit where, and writing the new notes on the music. And she said the song was easier than the other music I've been learning... so of course I had to go and find a way to complicate it. Further complications, which also explain some of my pronunciation and lyric mix-ups, is that every version of the song has slightly different words. Some have the same words but in a different order. So we're going to stick with the lyrics from the latest book because they're allegedly the most authentic. I just need to forget all the others... while at the same time I pull some of the ornamentation over. Without the words. Since they're slightly different. Arrrrghhh my brain is frying too!
Friday, March 5, 2010
...and one more thing...
Don't think I've forgotten that I'm seeing Nathan Gunn from the 4th row later this month at Carnegie in Grapes of Wrath, cuz I haven't. There's just so much other stuff going on in Real Life that it has sort of slipped to the back of my mind. It's coming forward again and I'm getting excited. I'm starting to plan that adventure, including, of course, what to wear. Going with a good friend who has been wanting to see him perform forever. Can't wait!!
And then I'm seeing him yet again in early April, with Banawoman, at the Met. Grand Tier Rear, that's us. I mean, that's where we'll be sitting. We are busy planning that event as well. One thing that's not in the plan is me getting sick. Not that I planned it last time, but you know what I mean. Not that I don't like a little backstage action, mind you, just... not at that price. And not really that type of backstage action. Wait a sec, that sounds wrong. Ha! What I mean by action is, I don't want to develop acupuncture track-marks, thankyouverymuch, plus I'd probably be banned from the Met forever or something if it happened twice in a season.
Did I mention next season yet? Did I mention Nathan in Cosi in the fall and Magic Flute in English at the holidays? And then there's Le Comte Ory in April 2011, with Juan Diego, Diana D and Joyce D???? How fast will those tickets sell out? I guess I know where I'll be at noon on August 15.
And then I'm seeing him yet again in early April, with Banawoman, at the Met. Grand Tier Rear, that's us. I mean, that's where we'll be sitting. We are busy planning that event as well. One thing that's not in the plan is me getting sick. Not that I planned it last time, but you know what I mean. Not that I don't like a little backstage action, mind you, just... not at that price. And not really that type of backstage action. Wait a sec, that sounds wrong. Ha! What I mean by action is, I don't want to develop acupuncture track-marks, thankyouverymuch, plus I'd probably be banned from the Met forever or something if it happened twice in a season.
Did I mention next season yet? Did I mention Nathan in Cosi in the fall and Magic Flute in English at the holidays? And then there's Le Comte Ory in April 2011, with Juan Diego, Diana D and Joyce D???? How fast will those tickets sell out? I guess I know where I'll be at noon on August 15.
Always Catching Up
Seems like I just can't keep on top of the blogging. Not that anything particularly adventurous has occurred since the last time I posted. We did make another video though, based on Alex's idea to hunt for air in outer space.
Voice lesson tomorrow. Last week I realized that duh, I can record my lessons directly onto my iPhone, and then listen whenever. I even have an adapter for my old car that plays only cassettes! So buh-bye cassettes of lessons and hello digital technology!
Voice lesson tomorrow. Last week I realized that duh, I can record my lessons directly onto my iPhone, and then listen whenever. I even have an adapter for my old car that plays only cassettes! So buh-bye cassettes of lessons and hello digital technology!
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