Next Year in May

A few weeks ago, I titled a blog post Next Year in _______. I took the space to refer to a place. I do have a venue now, but am not going to post it here (for those of you who are also my Facebook friends, it will appear there as the time approaches).  I also have a date.  An exact date because that venue only hosts concerts on Thursday nights, and only one was available in April or May of 2015, which is when I want to have the concert (after the cold weather is over, after Easter, and before the summer).  Night is not ideal for me as I tend to wind down and run out of steam at night.  Well, 7 to 8 is manageable (they told me the concert can't be more than an hour, which is odd, as the concert operas my teacher has been in are longer than that).  I can eat a big high protein supper of some kind at 5 and bring a protein bar.  Despite my best efforts, and even though I don't have to set the alarm on weekdays any more, I go to sleep between 11:30 and 12:30 and wake up between 7:30 and 8:30 am like clockwork.  And I never feel like napping.  And unlike people who say they can't sing on a full stomach, I, as someone with low blood sugar, can't sing on an empty one.  I am at my most energetic an hour or so after a high protein meal.  Once it's been longer than three hours since my last meal I start to "wilt".

I don't know yet if I will sing the Giovanna Seymour excerpts.  I can certainly do the duet with Enrico if my teacher wants to sing it with me.  He wants me to do the aria (cavatina and cabaletta with a duet section with Enrico in the middle) also.  It's not familiar to most people so I don't think anyone will care if I take the two ending cadenzas down to a G sharp instead of up to a B natural.  Well, there is certainly time.  I would feel more comfortable with the "Judgment Scene" from Aida and the duet from Samson et Dalila, or the one from Gioconda, but it's early days yet.

It's funny.  My partner has been in the middle of a health crisis and I had thought I might lose her, so I was really not thinking much about concert plans; just barely doing enough practicing to sound good with the choir and make sure I am spot on with the solo I am singing on the 30th.  I had written to the woman at the residence about the concert several weeks ago and had just about given up hearing back, so this was a nice surprise.

Anyhow, my partner is out of danger for now, so it really is just one day at a time.  I had a fabulous voice lesson about 10 days ago, and need to get back in that groove.