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!