The Rest of the Previous Post

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

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

Another Interpretation of Barbiere

And you get a quick Italian preposition lesson too!

Back on Track

Voice lesson coming up this Thursday. In the airport and on the plane on the way to Chicago I read through the music, tapped out the beat, matched the words to the beat and sang it in my head to get the tune. It's cool because I'm really learning to read music. Then last week Alex was playing with Husband's electric guitar tuner. Guess what? It has an audio input mic and a little screen with a frequency meter, and lights that come up for sharp and flat- it's awesome! So now I'm testing myself for pitch. I'll think, ok, let's sing a B. And I'll try to hear it in my head, and then sing it. The meter tells me if I'm close. It's great! I'm getting better with practice.

I clipped out a few arias, duets and ensembles from the recent Barbiere. I can't stop listening to Dunque Io Son. I think I have a girl crush on Joyce... or at least on her voice! It's soooooo beautiful. So I emailed the song to my voice teacher with a message saying that THIS is what I want to sound like... can we do it? I was kidding of course. But a girl can dream, no?

Future Coloratura-er? Oh And I AM Going To See It Again

Scary stuff! Today we were listening to the recent Barbiere on our way to Alex's swimming class and he asked to hear Cessa again. I have to post something on John's wall on Facebook - he's a hit with the 3-4 year old set! Then in the locker room he was making these funny almost laughing sounds - like coloratura. It was awesome. On the way home we listened to the opening of Act 2 and Alex was giggling and laughing at how silly the music teacher sounded and how "the other guy" was getting annoyed. He still goes on about how he wants to be an opera singer, he sings bits of Papageno and Figaro... maybe he's expanding into tenor roles, ha ha. Might as well prepare for it all since there's no way of telling how his voice will change.

Oh well this post just proves that I'm a mother before anything else. Duh. I should also post that John mailed me the CD insert with Nathan's autograph. I got it today. Here's a picture:




















I sent John an email asking when his CD is coming out so I could post the info.

You know, listening to him sing Cessa, I think it's ridiculous that everyone says that JDF is the only one who can do it. That's so not true, and so not fair. I actually brought that up when we were out last week. Wow that was an entire week ago! And one other thing I want to say about that is, we tasted each other's drinks. Did I taste his? I don't remember... I must have. Peer pressure, you know, heh heh.

I have to say again what an awesome time I had in Chicago, not just the opera and after, but the whole time. It was wonderful to be on my own, to do what I wanted, when I wanted, to take an uninterrupted shower! And of course the opera... and of course meeting Nathan for 5 minutes... and of course hanging out with John and friend afterwards... I realized I haven't hung out with guys without my husband there since before we were married. It was refreshing!

All is Calm... For Now

Yes folks. I just called the Lyric and spoke with Kelly. She confirmed that Nathan WAS sick and had to cancel, but he is back and he is currently scheduled to perform in the remaining three performances. Just in case, the replacement's name is Philip Gothard (or something like that... can't find him on google, must have the spelling wrong)

Just in case.

One Week!!! Chicago! Barbiere! Lyric! Nathan Gunn! Candy Eggs! And So Much More!

One week until my JDF-less trip to Chicago!!! One week!!! A week and a half until Barbiere at the Lyric!! And hopefully a little visit backstage after the show! C'mon John O, don't forget! Of course a little message on Facebook before I leave won't hurt.

Google maps has a street view with panoramic photos, so I've actually located the stage door on the picture. So now I wonder... what will happen? Assuming John remembers to put me on the list... I'll go there after the show and I assume there'll be someone there with some sort of list that I'll hopefully be on... and then what? I envision a long hallway, lots of doors, people scurrying about... where to go? How to find John? How not to be totally starstruck if I see/meet Nathan Gunn or Joyce D (whose blog I've been reading and commenting on), who I know are just normal people but still... how not to totally pee in my pants? Or in my dress... In a way it's good that JDF isn't going to be there. True, I wouldn't have had the backstage invite (which I'm still not counting on, just in case...) but the whole starstruck thing - I'd probably start crying and then pee in my pants. Charming.

Ok, let's get realistic. Flashback: 1985. Age: 18. I'm crazy for Adam Ant, INXS, Duran Duran. Ok, never met Duran Duran. But I met Adam Ant and did I pee in my pants? No. In fact, I had a little argument with him because he insulted me. Stupid man. What about INXS? Hung out backstage with them. No big deal. Eurogliders? Anyone remember them? They should have been more popular here than they were... so I wrote them letters when I was in high school. Later met them... and they had the letters. Did I pee in my pants? No. The drummer propositioned me. Did I pee in my pants? No, I didn't really understand what he wanted... but that's another story. The point is, I was starstruck yet I was totally cool. Of course that was before I had a baby... damn better start doing kegels.

Another issue... a thank-you gift. Can't show up backstage empty-handed. Flowers are inappropriate and cumbersome. I have this cute book of anecdotes called The Bumper Book of Operatic Disasters. I looked for it online and found two sequels. Ordered both on Feb 13. Where are they? Not here... so if they don't come this week... there goes that idea. Next idea: an Allfathers Egg. It means schlepping a 1 lb chocolate egg to Chicago and then to the opera house. Hmmm. They're good but... is that a good thank-you gift? Worth the schlep? Candy... not sure. Then what do I do with it if he forgets? Give it to Nathan when he leaves the theater? Better not write a note with it... or maybe I can have an alternate note to stick on it... there's an interesting thought. Prepared for any situation. Heh heh. Ok for anyone who doesn't know me, it's a joke, ok? I'm not writing an alternate note. "Hi, I was going to give this to someone else, but... here... enjoy!" Heh heh.

To the 4 people who read this blog... any gift ideas? Leave me a comment...

Ok, off to find my xanax.

Lungs, Glorious Lungs

And so it continues. Both Alex and Jim were at 102 this morning.

• Jim went to the doc. Diagnosis: Bronchitis approaching pneumonia, throat infection sinus infection.

• I called the pediatrician about Alex: "Oh, it's going around. It's probably a virus. If he still has a fever on Friday morning give us a call."

And that's the difference between a high fever in an adult and in a child.

To make this opera related...

Today I tackled that tricky part very very slowly, one note at a time, then did lip trills, then chanted the words, then very slowly sang the words. I think I got it. And just for the record, we're talking about 2 measures of music here, not much. It's like my brain has some sort of block when it comes to learning all the components of the measure - rhythm, notes, words.


Two weeks until Barbiere!!!!

My View from Row P???

How do I find these things? Each word is a different link...

Article about John Osborn

I know there might be one or two Juan Diego fans out there who glance at my ramblings from time to time. I also know that there are mixed feelings about the whole Chicago thing, from the comments I've read at Opera Chic , Parterre and other places. So to supplement my previous review of JDF's replacement (well, can ANYONE really replace him??) I will paste and link here an article from the U.S. One, that free paper I mentioned before that had this article about about John Osborn, the man who has the difficult task of reminding everyone of their disappointment. But like I said before, I don't think he or any of the ticket-holders have anything to worry about. Believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to seeing him again.

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How to Work It

Yesterday I went alone to see a local production of Rigoletto. Here I am on my way out the door.

I couldn't get a comp anything so, luckily, since I'm a grown-up person with a job, I plunked down the cash. I bought the ticket the afternoon of the show and was in the 2nd to last row in the balcony! Not a big deal - it's a small theater.

The opera was fantastic. It was semi-staged - the orchestra was on the stage behind a smoky screen, and all the action took place downstage. The woman who sang Gilda was FABULOUS!!!! But that's not why you're reading this...

John Osborn was great. His voice is not as light as JDF's but it's close. It was almost too light for the role here. He can hit the high notes NO PROBLEM. So already during the opera I realized that I wouldn't be disappointed in Chicago. I felt like he was holding back strings of coloratura that weren't appropriate for Verdi, but WHOAH I can't wait to hear him sing Almaviva!

Afterwards I went to the reception. It was weird to be there alone but a bunch of people I knew from last summer eventually wandered in - some of the chorus, some dancers, etc. So once the cast was there, the director of the opera company made a toast and introduced each person, thanked everyone, blah blah blah. That's when I made my Move.

I made my way through the crowd until I was near John. He was trapped in conversation by some elderly Patron of the Arts blah blah blah. The talk turned to traveling to see operas...seemed like an appropriate moment so I shoved my way in, stuck out my hand and introduced myself. (excerpts follow as I don't remember exactly, you know how that is)

Me: Excuse me, John? Hi, my name is Susan. I'm going to Chicago next month to see Barbiere.

Him: That's great!

Me: Actually... I was going to see Juan Diego Florez...

Him: Ohhhhh you're one of THOSE people!! (with a laugh)

Me: It's ok, I don't think I'll be disappointed.

Him: I know, I can sing. (said laughingly and nice, not snotty)

I asked him if he was going to sing Cessa because from what I heard he can, and he was like, "I sure am!" And dorkingly enough I actually gave him a thumbs up and was like, "Alll riiight, now I can go and report back to all the opera blogs I read. People want to know."

I mentioned that I have my own silly blog, and he said, "No, they're not silly, they're all great!" or something like that. He seemed thrilled that I was going to give him a good review with the blog audience.

I also told him that I was going specifically to see JDF and Nathan Gunn together and he went off on how wonderful NG is, and Joyce D, and the entire cast, and if I come for one of the first three performances I'll see an all american cast, which is unusual for an opera... I told him I'm coming on the 19th, and he said, "Oh, that's the 2nd to last performance."

And then he said: What's your last name? How do you spell it? Will you come back to say hello? I'll put you on the list.

Me, totally stupid: How do I do that?

Him: You just come to the stage door and give them your name.

Me: Oh! (I think I thanked him but I can't remember!)

I wrote my name, email and blog url on a napkin and said, "Now don't sneeze in this," as I handed it to him. Meanwhile he had begun an animated conversation in Italian with someone he addressed as Maestro - but it wasn't the conductor of this particular show. So I interrupted one last time and had Mr. Italian Maestro take our picture "for the blog." ;)

He said he'd put my info into his blackberry so he remembers to put me on the list that day.

He was really nice and jokey-friendly. Very easy to talk to.

And then I giggled all the way home.

So... the question is... will he remember?

Did I Mention that I Love the Internet?

Turns out one of my online opera friends has access to many many opera recordings... I now have Nathan Gunn as Figaro in San Francisco Opera's Babiere, The Met's Die Zauberflote with Nathan as Papageno and I'm in the process of obtaining one of 3 different dates of the Met's Barbiere with Juan Diego Florez!!! I also have the info to get a video of Billy Budd with Nathan as some other, smaller part, but I don't think I like the opera enough to take the time to download it.

Gracias a mi amigo que tiene la llave a todas las grabaciones!

Debo escribir en espanol de vez un cuando. Por que no? Si la gente que leen mi blog no entienden, no me importa. Yo se que hay mucha gente en el mundo que si, entienden espanol.
Pero como puedo poner acentos y tildes? No se parece en el keyboard y no se como ponerlos. Pero esto no tiene nada que ver con opera, por eso...

Maintenent, en francais. No... je ne raconte rien... il y a boucoup d'ans... and I'm sure I'm spelling it all wrong...

Ma, italiano? Io parlo? No, non parlo italiano. Mais je desire estudiarla. Ha ha una mezcla.

Ok all this talk of opera is keeping me up waaaay past my bedtime. So what else is new?

"It's Orgasmic!"

The other day I brought the Barbiere videotape to work and had Denise meet me in the little library where we have a tv/vcr combo thing. I popped in the tape and played Count Almaviva's final, outstanding, mind-blowing aria. I've seen it several times already and I'm still blown away every time. So we're both sitting there gaping at Juan D.F. on the tv and Denise utters, "It's orgasmic." That says it all!