Next Year in_______________

My communist mother used to have a saying: "Don't mourn, organize!" so it is getting to be about that time again.  The time I start thinking about next year's concert.

Each year - I hope - I build on what I learned from the last time.

So what did I learn from Carmen?  I suppose that I have to find a different kind of audience.  I can't rely on my social circle because there are just too many other things they'd rather be doing, no matter how much they care about me.  Which I suppose says something about the nature of my social circle.  I have a significant other who is elderly and disabled, no blood relatives, no bffs, really, or the ones I have don't live in New York or they are up to their eyeballs in family problems, and a large circle of acquaintances who have season tickets to hear the best music there is, or who trawl the city for free concerts.

So what's next?  There's a Salvation Army residence near the church where my teacher's group has sung concert operas.  In fact one of the women in the choir lives there.  They have a performance space, and I don't think I would have to pay to use it.  My choir colleague says that the acoustics are not great, but my teacher says it is a "nice" place to sing and that people are appreciative (my built in audience - and if people don't come no one will give me a "look" the way the woman did when I didn't have a big enough audience for Carmen.)

My teacher said maybe we can sing together.  He is dying to do excerpts from Bolena.  I bought the score and now I'm getting cold feet.  I can probably do the duet with Enrico if we take a cut in it (the last portion has a long repeat, for me in a very high tessitura), but do I really sound all that great up there?  I think I sound better as Amneris, aside from the treacherous duet with the tenor.

Well, when I have my next lesson I will talk to my teacher.  I might be happier if he and I did a reprise of the concert I did with the other bass several years ago. We did the Judgment Scene from Aida, the Vengeance Duet from Samson et Dalila, and the duet from Gioconda which I have now nicknamed the "Domestic Violence Duet".  Then we each sang two arias of our own choosing.  But it's early days yet.  I haven't even contacted them about reserving the space.  I am planning to start the process next week.  It can be in late April (Easter 2015 is early) or early May.

I can hear how much better I sound just at choir practice.  Yesterday I sang the alto part (very low and very florid) in a Bach cantata.  The reasoning behind that is that the soprano part is a chorale that sounds on the recording as if it is being sung by boy sopranos.  Then I switched gears and sang the soprano part (including a limpid high G sharp) for the piece we're doing for All Saints Day.  Well, any mezzo worth her salt should have that kind of complete package. The choir is getting bigger, mostly with experienced choral singers who don't have solo voices, really, which is just fine, so I am enjoying myself more.

And I had another idea for a solo for Advent.  There are several versions of "O Magnum Mysterium" that are written as solos.  I will try to get the sheet music.  We have sung two different choral arrangements of this during Advent.