I definitely owe you all a blog post. I should write as much when I'm happy as I do when I'm sad or angry.
Did I tell you I just love, love, love singing and playing Carmen?
I think this concert of excerpts will definitely be manageable. I don't find it scary and overtaxing the way I found the Verdi opera scenes concert. There are three (well, four) notes on which I have to really mind my ps and qs (meaning muster a low breath support and not panic), otherwise I can shake my booty and have a ball.
There is going to be more staging than I had originally thought: my hands will be tied during the Seguidilla (yum!) and once they are untied (before the scary ending) I can play with the rope and make a big gesture with it to help anchor me in that run up to the B flat. The scene will end with my putting the rope around Don Jose's neck and giving it a tug.
I will have a fan for Chanson Boheme.
And yes, I will really get stabbed at the end and will have to fall! (A bit nervous making considering that my left leg is held together with metal screws!)
I am just having so much fun. Now I need to make sure I don't develop post- partum depression.
Well, I just read that 2015 will be a big year for Hamlet. So maybe I can create a concert using scenes from the opera. I have been wanting to learn the role of Gertrude anyhow.
And my fever is gone!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Optimistic, but Fighting a Bug
We had our first runthrough of Carmen Monday and it was mostly OK. I have everything memorized except the end of the Act 2 duet and Act IV. If necessary I can write the words to Act IV on a piece of paper and stick on the back of the "death" tarot card. I have a set of tarot cards - that's the pagan part of me. I can certainly be spot on with the musical entrances.
As for vocal issues, I kinda sorta maybe can get up to that B flat (formerly a B natural) at the end of the "Seguidilla," but unless I let out a hideous yowl no one will care. Otherwise there are only three A flats to worry about, which are definitely part of my comfortable singing range. The hardest one is at the end where she sings "No, no, no" and the last one is an A flat . For me the hardest thing is always attacking a note like that off the cuff, although historically I can always do this up to an A unless I don't use proper support (I call it panic and freeze).
Leaving all that aside, I know I really make this role come alive. Well, I'm hot, and I'm a drama queen. That's all there is to it. That's why I am not ready to give up on opera yet, even though church music is in a much more manageable range. The tenor, whom I really enjoy working with, is also a stage director, so we really click in making this drama work. He told me to go to a prop store and buy a retractable knife so that we could really do the last act justice.
As for the second half of this post's title, as people know, I have ongoing problems with my sinuses. Since I have been drinking a lot of water and not having any citric acid, I have stopped clearing my throat, but my sinuses still drain all the time. But now I think it's more than just an allergic reaction to something, because I woke up Monday with aches (which I had - perhaps mistakenly - thought was the result of sleeping at my partner's on the bed that is piled with newspapers, etc.). Tuesday I was OK but yesterday I was really achey, and had chills, and had the kind of sinus blockage that you get with a cold. It did not interfere with my singing, thank goodness. I looked at the Neti pot instructions and they said I could use it "numerous times" if I thought I was getting a cold, so that is what I did. I am feeling a little better. I just have to get through the second runthrough tonight (I will warn the tenor not to get too close), and get through Saturday, which is the funeral I for the violinist, which I had mentioned. The choir is singing two anthems and I am in a solo women's quartet singing an arrangement of the 23rd Psalm (in German) by Schubert. I have sung it before (the second soprano part) but last time it was in a group of 8. After that, if needs be I can be quiet until the Sunday of the concert (May 4), although it probably won't come to that.
As for vocal issues, I kinda sorta maybe can get up to that B flat (formerly a B natural) at the end of the "Seguidilla," but unless I let out a hideous yowl no one will care. Otherwise there are only three A flats to worry about, which are definitely part of my comfortable singing range. The hardest one is at the end where she sings "No, no, no" and the last one is an A flat . For me the hardest thing is always attacking a note like that off the cuff, although historically I can always do this up to an A unless I don't use proper support (I call it panic and freeze).
Leaving all that aside, I know I really make this role come alive. Well, I'm hot, and I'm a drama queen. That's all there is to it. That's why I am not ready to give up on opera yet, even though church music is in a much more manageable range. The tenor, whom I really enjoy working with, is also a stage director, so we really click in making this drama work. He told me to go to a prop store and buy a retractable knife so that we could really do the last act justice.
As for the second half of this post's title, as people know, I have ongoing problems with my sinuses. Since I have been drinking a lot of water and not having any citric acid, I have stopped clearing my throat, but my sinuses still drain all the time. But now I think it's more than just an allergic reaction to something, because I woke up Monday with aches (which I had - perhaps mistakenly - thought was the result of sleeping at my partner's on the bed that is piled with newspapers, etc.). Tuesday I was OK but yesterday I was really achey, and had chills, and had the kind of sinus blockage that you get with a cold. It did not interfere with my singing, thank goodness. I looked at the Neti pot instructions and they said I could use it "numerous times" if I thought I was getting a cold, so that is what I did. I am feeling a little better. I just have to get through the second runthrough tonight (I will warn the tenor not to get too close), and get through Saturday, which is the funeral I for the violinist, which I had mentioned. The choir is singing two anthems and I am in a solo women's quartet singing an arrangement of the 23rd Psalm (in German) by Schubert. I have sung it before (the second soprano part) but last time it was in a group of 8. After that, if needs be I can be quiet until the Sunday of the concert (May 4), although it probably won't come to that.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Carmen Update and
Today I sang through all the scenes from Carmen that I will be performing in the concert, with appropriate breaks (eg, for Micaela's aria) and did not get tired. I get much less tired than I used to. No matter what things I still struggle with (I still can't open my mouth and sing a B flat off the cuff), enormous progress has been made. And it is not to take for granted that I am stronger at almost 64 than I was at 54. Many people are not. It is harder for me to step up onto a bus than it used to be, but it is easier to sing.
The "Seguidilla" no longer scares me. If that top note is only a B flat and I sing the run going up to it legato, it is not hard.
So here's what's still to be done.
Memorize the recit before the Seguidilla
Make sure I don't get left behind at the end of the Act 2 duet
Finish memorizing the Card aria and the death scene and decide how much of the dialog at the end will be spoken rather than sung.
Make a big push to invite people (the concert is free)
My teacher has given me some new exercises (mostly beginning the old ones on an "h" sound instead of an "l"). With these and with my assiduously keeping my sinuses cleared out, drinking 8 glasses of water a day and not drinking any juice or beverages containing citric acid (or eating any fruit other than melon or pears) my voice has much more shimmer and beauty, although my range has not increased. Interestingly, it's the bottom that in many ways sounds better. It used to sound scratchy. I got a lot of compliments on "O Rest in the Lord", which is a low piece, although it does not go below Middle C. And not giving up my valiant fight with the off the cuff B flat has made my off the cuff A and A flat sound better and it has made the B flat sound better when I sing it in the middle or at the end of a progression (which I can do).
The choir director seems to be in a friendlier mood. He was quite nice about handing out my concert flyers and said I could bring them to rehearsal Wednesday. And this past Wednesday he did not mention the Senior Recital in front of the group, although there was a lot of buzz about it, mostly among the women my age who are not trained singers. I think part of the reason they make such a fuss about this young soprano is that she is the age of their kids. I was a bit peeved that when we were rehearsing the Good Friday music in parts at one point the sopranos sang a progression up to a B flat and people (including the other altos) said "awesome". I was really mad so when the altos got to do our progression (up to a measly D) I sang it as loud and "Verdian" as I could. (Why oh why can't we have parity and get to sing a progression up to a G? That would be our equivalent of a B flat.)
Well, I should be pleased that all three pastors came up to me and complimented me on "O Rest in the Lord".
And I have set aside part of tomorrow early evening to make sure I am spot on with all the Good Friday music. Unfortunately, as I am singing alto, I can't learn it "by osmosis" by listening to the recordings.
Oh, and here's a pic from the living room musicale. Unfortunately all you can see is the tenor's back!
The "Seguidilla" no longer scares me. If that top note is only a B flat and I sing the run going up to it legato, it is not hard.
So here's what's still to be done.
Memorize the recit before the Seguidilla
Make sure I don't get left behind at the end of the Act 2 duet
Finish memorizing the Card aria and the death scene and decide how much of the dialog at the end will be spoken rather than sung.
Make a big push to invite people (the concert is free)
My teacher has given me some new exercises (mostly beginning the old ones on an "h" sound instead of an "l"). With these and with my assiduously keeping my sinuses cleared out, drinking 8 glasses of water a day and not drinking any juice or beverages containing citric acid (or eating any fruit other than melon or pears) my voice has much more shimmer and beauty, although my range has not increased. Interestingly, it's the bottom that in many ways sounds better. It used to sound scratchy. I got a lot of compliments on "O Rest in the Lord", which is a low piece, although it does not go below Middle C. And not giving up my valiant fight with the off the cuff B flat has made my off the cuff A and A flat sound better and it has made the B flat sound better when I sing it in the middle or at the end of a progression (which I can do).
The choir director seems to be in a friendlier mood. He was quite nice about handing out my concert flyers and said I could bring them to rehearsal Wednesday. And this past Wednesday he did not mention the Senior Recital in front of the group, although there was a lot of buzz about it, mostly among the women my age who are not trained singers. I think part of the reason they make such a fuss about this young soprano is that she is the age of their kids. I was a bit peeved that when we were rehearsing the Good Friday music in parts at one point the sopranos sang a progression up to a B flat and people (including the other altos) said "awesome". I was really mad so when the altos got to do our progression (up to a measly D) I sang it as loud and "Verdian" as I could. (Why oh why can't we have parity and get to sing a progression up to a G? That would be our equivalent of a B flat.)
Well, I should be pleased that all three pastors came up to me and complimented me on "O Rest in the Lord".
And I have set aside part of tomorrow early evening to make sure I am spot on with all the Good Friday music. Unfortunately, as I am singing alto, I can't learn it "by osmosis" by listening to the recordings.
Oh, and here's a pic from the living room musicale. Unfortunately all you can see is the tenor's back!
Monday, April 7, 2014
The Bitter, The Sweet, and the As-Yet Unknown
That's what life is basically; the bitter and the sweet.
Because I am trying so hard not to be a "downer", and because so many good things are happening, I want to start with
The Sweet:
1. All in all, yesterday's musicale event (where I sang the Act 2 duet from Carmen) went really well. I lost my note after the tenor aria (waiting for applause, which never came, probably because people thought we were in the middle of a scene) and then had no clue which note to start on. And I also got lost at the very end, but I caught up, and we ended with a kiss. And I just love, love, love acting this role.
2. This tenor and I have quite a bit of chemistry on stage, which surprised me. He's a hard person to read; I have no idea if he even likes me, but he is respectful and professional, and he has a great sense of humor.
3. The producer was very pleased. Here is what she wrote on her Web site:
Thank you, [BabyD], for your lovely comments about our musicale! I'm happy I was able to help you realize your dream of singing Carmen!!!!, and look forward to your May 4 concert. You've made great strides with Carmen. I'm very proud of you! It's not easy music! Thank you, also, for bringing your guest, tenor _________, to sing the duet, yesterday.
4. I am so grateful to have found someone who is really interested in me, in more of a holistic way. Sometimes her advice is questionable (about vowels; also about singing the higher notes in some portions of the duet) but her breadth of knowledge about various types of repertoire, style, languages, acting, and presentation is quite astounding, and since "the mentor" is not something I have had access to.
5. One of the women from the choir came and she was very supportive and complimentary. I also introduced her to the producer. I think they may really hit it off, as they both are interested in Spanish culture.
The Bitter:
The night before this concert, Little Miss Conservatory had her senior recital. Don't get me wrong. I think she is a major talent and is very sweet. I just resent that there seems to be nothing that I can do that can really be noticed or appreciated with her in the spotlight (which she just is; I do not think she grabs it unfairly) 24/7. There is just a subtle way, for example, that the choir director behaved about her recital that he has never behaved about anything I've been involved in, even if he attended it. And there is buzz among the women in the choir, including a number who would never attend anything I sang in. So once again, I feel my joy is tempered or tarnished by being outdone.
The As-Yet Unknown:
1. I still don't know if I am singing "O Rest in the Lord" on Maundy Thursday. If not, I am going to make a big push to sing something with the violinist after Easter, if for no other reason, then to memorialize the violinist who died. We were thinking of "Domine Deus". I also want to send him the music for "Erfreute Zeit" maybe to do in the summer.
2. I have no idea if I (or the choir) will be asked to perform (or whatever the appropriate word is) at the violinist's funeral. I had thought I might be asked because we had performed together. I thought it would be tacky to volunteer (this is one of those situations in which I have no idea where the line is between being pushy and going after something I want), but I did ask the choir director if "we" (meaning the choir) would be singing. He said "hmmm, that's a good idea; I will have to think about it", whatever that means. I have not heard anything, but there was a posting on the church's Facebook page that "musicians were assembling to give the violinist a send off with the music he loved". What musicians? If it will only be instrumentalists I am OK with that, and if the other mezzo (the woman who is older than I am, with a beautiful trained voice, who has health issues and does not sing out) is asked to sing I will be happy too. She was very close friends with the violinist and performed in his living room at salons from time to time, so she would have earned it. On the other hand....if they ask someone else to sing...Well, I can't think about that.
ETA: I heard back from the choir director, and he said that the other church that shares our building will be doing the Maundy Thursday service, so I will be singing "O Rest in the Lord" on Palm Sunday at 9. I suppose it is an all purpose piece that will suffice, although at 11 the choir will be singing something upbeat. I have sung it recently, so it won't need much rehearsal and it will be part of the season's Mendelssohn theme. I also used our email exchange as an opportunity to ask about the funeral. I said I had read that "musicians were assembling" and that I would be honored to participate in some way as part of a group or singing a solo. If they are only using instrumentalists that is fine. My only strong feeling is that if there is going to be singing it should either be the choir (or a smaller group from the choir who will be there on that morning) or it should be a soloist who had some relationship with this violinist, which would be one of the older choir members who actually sang with him.
Because I am trying so hard not to be a "downer", and because so many good things are happening, I want to start with
The Sweet:
1. All in all, yesterday's musicale event (where I sang the Act 2 duet from Carmen) went really well. I lost my note after the tenor aria (waiting for applause, which never came, probably because people thought we were in the middle of a scene) and then had no clue which note to start on. And I also got lost at the very end, but I caught up, and we ended with a kiss. And I just love, love, love acting this role.
2. This tenor and I have quite a bit of chemistry on stage, which surprised me. He's a hard person to read; I have no idea if he even likes me, but he is respectful and professional, and he has a great sense of humor.
3. The producer was very pleased. Here is what she wrote on her Web site:
Thank you, [BabyD], for your lovely comments about our musicale! I'm happy I was able to help you realize your dream of singing Carmen!!!!, and look forward to your May 4 concert. You've made great strides with Carmen. I'm very proud of you! It's not easy music! Thank you, also, for bringing your guest, tenor _________, to sing the duet, yesterday.
4. I am so grateful to have found someone who is really interested in me, in more of a holistic way. Sometimes her advice is questionable (about vowels; also about singing the higher notes in some portions of the duet) but her breadth of knowledge about various types of repertoire, style, languages, acting, and presentation is quite astounding, and since "the mentor" is not something I have had access to.
5. One of the women from the choir came and she was very supportive and complimentary. I also introduced her to the producer. I think they may really hit it off, as they both are interested in Spanish culture.
The Bitter:
The night before this concert, Little Miss Conservatory had her senior recital. Don't get me wrong. I think she is a major talent and is very sweet. I just resent that there seems to be nothing that I can do that can really be noticed or appreciated with her in the spotlight (which she just is; I do not think she grabs it unfairly) 24/7. There is just a subtle way, for example, that the choir director behaved about her recital that he has never behaved about anything I've been involved in, even if he attended it. And there is buzz among the women in the choir, including a number who would never attend anything I sang in. So once again, I feel my joy is tempered or tarnished by being outdone.
The As-Yet Unknown:
1. I still don't know if I am singing "O Rest in the Lord" on Maundy Thursday. If not, I am going to make a big push to sing something with the violinist after Easter, if for no other reason, then to memorialize the violinist who died. We were thinking of "Domine Deus". I also want to send him the music for "Erfreute Zeit" maybe to do in the summer.
2. I have no idea if I (or the choir) will be asked to perform (or whatever the appropriate word is) at the violinist's funeral. I had thought I might be asked because we had performed together. I thought it would be tacky to volunteer (this is one of those situations in which I have no idea where the line is between being pushy and going after something I want), but I did ask the choir director if "we" (meaning the choir) would be singing. He said "hmmm, that's a good idea; I will have to think about it", whatever that means. I have not heard anything, but there was a posting on the church's Facebook page that "musicians were assembling to give the violinist a send off with the music he loved". What musicians? If it will only be instrumentalists I am OK with that, and if the other mezzo (the woman who is older than I am, with a beautiful trained voice, who has health issues and does not sing out) is asked to sing I will be happy too. She was very close friends with the violinist and performed in his living room at salons from time to time, so she would have earned it. On the other hand....if they ask someone else to sing...Well, I can't think about that.
ETA: I heard back from the choir director, and he said that the other church that shares our building will be doing the Maundy Thursday service, so I will be singing "O Rest in the Lord" on Palm Sunday at 9. I suppose it is an all purpose piece that will suffice, although at 11 the choir will be singing something upbeat. I have sung it recently, so it won't need much rehearsal and it will be part of the season's Mendelssohn theme. I also used our email exchange as an opportunity to ask about the funeral. I said I had read that "musicians were assembling" and that I would be honored to participate in some way as part of a group or singing a solo. If they are only using instrumentalists that is fine. My only strong feeling is that if there is going to be singing it should either be the choir (or a smaller group from the choir who will be there on that morning) or it should be a soloist who had some relationship with this violinist, which would be one of the older choir members who actually sang with him.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
In Memoriam
I haven't written for a while, and was hoping to post something more upbeat, but in a way, this is, because it is acknowledging someone whose respect and support meant a lot to me.
One morning, after I had been singing at the Lutheran church for a year or so, after singing Mozart's "Laudate dominum", an elderly man, whom I had heard playing the violin (brilliantly) in a number of services came up to me and said "There's a voice that can carry in a 3000 seat opera house!" which totally astounded me, as I had been singing pianissimo. When he told me he was a retired violinist from the New York City Opera I was even more astounded and flattered.
After that, we "performed" several pieces in services (the "Laudamus te" from the Bach B Minor Mass and "Domine Deus" from the Vivaldi Gloria). We were going to perform the Bach cantata "Erfreute Zeit" when his eyesight and memory began failing. He never played again after that summer.
I knew that he did not have long, and when I heard that he was in the hospital with pneumonia I had hoped to visit him, but then this morning the church's Pastor posted on Facebook that he had died.
I don't want to link to his real name here, because for now, anyhow, I don't want people from the church who might "google" him to link back to this blog, although I am sure some of them already read it.
I miss this man for loving reasons and for selfish ones: he was part of my beginnings at the church when the trained musicians were fewer, and we were older. It was a golden age, never to come again, I suppose, and I should be grateful for having had it.
In other news, last night I had the first rehearsal of the Carmen duet with the tenor and the pianist. It was a little raggedy, but he has a magnificent voice, and is a superb actor as well. I love losing myself in the drama. This is where I am happy: singing (preferably something with no scary climactic high notes), acting, fussing over a costume and props, thinking about accuracy of time and place...
And the red shoes, which I wore at the Strand, totally rock.
One morning, after I had been singing at the Lutheran church for a year or so, after singing Mozart's "Laudate dominum", an elderly man, whom I had heard playing the violin (brilliantly) in a number of services came up to me and said "There's a voice that can carry in a 3000 seat opera house!" which totally astounded me, as I had been singing pianissimo. When he told me he was a retired violinist from the New York City Opera I was even more astounded and flattered.
After that, we "performed" several pieces in services (the "Laudamus te" from the Bach B Minor Mass and "Domine Deus" from the Vivaldi Gloria). We were going to perform the Bach cantata "Erfreute Zeit" when his eyesight and memory began failing. He never played again after that summer.
I knew that he did not have long, and when I heard that he was in the hospital with pneumonia I had hoped to visit him, but then this morning the church's Pastor posted on Facebook that he had died.
I don't want to link to his real name here, because for now, anyhow, I don't want people from the church who might "google" him to link back to this blog, although I am sure some of them already read it.
I miss this man for loving reasons and for selfish ones: he was part of my beginnings at the church when the trained musicians were fewer, and we were older. It was a golden age, never to come again, I suppose, and I should be grateful for having had it.
In other news, last night I had the first rehearsal of the Carmen duet with the tenor and the pianist. It was a little raggedy, but he has a magnificent voice, and is a superb actor as well. I love losing myself in the drama. This is where I am happy: singing (preferably something with no scary climactic high notes), acting, fussing over a costume and props, thinking about accuracy of time and place...
And the red shoes, which I wore at the Strand, totally rock.
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