So, I'm going to Italy one week from Thursday and my affairs sure as hell ain't in order. Here's a list of things I must do before I can go (in no particular order):
- buy cargo pants with removable zipper legs (churches and museums in Italy don't allow shorts, but i can't wear pants all the time...too hot) - buy some new shirts - halt my mail service - send off any bills owed - pay the rent - get my euros boughten (today's exchange rate is $1.25 to buy €1...of course, fees will obliterate that) - authorize the cards for overseas purchases - clean my apartment and move furniture for repairs while gone (a story for later) - PACK PACK PACK - research what I might like to do in Florence/Venice (suggestions, folks?)
I'm also gearing up for ensemble music rehearsals for Pirates and Fille du Régiment. I'm not too concerned with my knowledge of the former, but the latter is kicking my arse. I don't mind the copious French to learn if the G. Schirmer score weren't so screwy. Some SADISTIC A-HOLE editor mostly stuck the English singing translation on the Tenor lines. I find myself having to cross out all the English words, as not to confuse them with the original French, and then highlight the French on another part, then write arrows to MY part..... as you can see, it all leads to a big hot MESS on the page. Why oh WHY weren't we told to use the Ricordi? No fussy English to deal with. Wide open spaces on which to write translations/IPA. I realize this is all a bit ridiculous in the end, but I am very particular about this stuff if I want to learn it properly.
Ok, I'm off to either attempt to learn my Fille score, or run around in circles figuring out how to accomplish stuff on that list!!!
April was the month of recitals. I think I set a record this year—five recitals in one month! I started things off with Meghan Garvin’s senior recital at SLU, then Stephanie Ball’s Masters Recital for WashU a few days later. One particular Sunday, I did a 3-recital marathon: Joy Boland at Christ Church Cathedral, Tom Sitzler’s Masters Recital at WashU and Anthony Heinemann’s senior recital (for SLU) at Union Avenue. Capping off this month of recitals was a concert in Belleville with Christine Brewer and broadway singer Anna McNeely.
One highlight for me from each (though there were many of note):
- Meghan’s Frauenliebe und –Leben
- Stephanie’s Roussel set (with flute)
- Joy’s Puccini arias from Turandot
- Tom’s rendition of Hoiby’s “Last Letter Home”
- Anthony’s Tosti/Donaudy set
- Anna’s Broadway show selections (loved her “Broadway Baby”)
- Christine’s dramatic-soprano encores (which will be released on CD soon)
This month of recitals gives me an itch to audition for Artists’ Presentation Society next year. I have rep that I’d love to put out there…plus I’ve been plugging away at character Tenor rep for some time now. It’s time!
A little over a week after seeing Christine Brewer’s concert in Belleville, I had the opportunity to see her again in an all-Wagner concert with the Saint Louis Symphony. She performed the Liebestod as well as the final scene from Die Walküre with Alan Held (whom I remember from Salome in Chicago). The former was sublime; the latter makes me want to rediscover the Ring Cycle. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
THE NEW TOY
A couple weeks ago, I bought myself a new tech-toy. Usually when faced with the urge to splurge on a tech-toy, I second-guess the purchase until I spin myself out of the temptation. It’s a good habit that has spared me money woes. Not this time, though. I now own software and video/audio connections to convert my VHS tapes into DVD format. It’s mostly an effort to downsize and simplify my life, but also to preserve some of my treasures…including a live broadcast of The Light in the Piazza from PBS, the 1982 Pirates of Penzance movie (a box office disaster which will probably never be digitized), plus a bunch of college plays and musicals. I also promised my family I would make DVDs of my sister’s wedding and various family vacations. Bring on the awkward memories!!!
ITALY [!!!]
A month from now, I get on a plane for Italy. There is so much to do between now and then, I cannot even begin to say. However, I can say for sure that I have my plane ticket, hotel reservations in every city (even Venice, which costs an arm/leg), plus my Eurail pass. So that’s getting somewhere. Since church choir will be singing in three of the cities we visit (Rome, Assisi, Florence), we’re gearing up for that with rehearsals. The repertoire is a mix of sacred works (classical and renaissance period) and American spirituals—which Italians tend to enjoy greatly since that form is not part of their cultural/musical history. So far, I’ve heard that while in Rome, we’ll be singing in a service at a major Anglican Church which reportedly has a Sunday attendance second only to the Vatican!! (Funny how in the birthplace—more or less—of Catholicism, we’ll be singing somewhere non-Catholic.) Oh, and a certain traveler in our group will be turning the big THREE-OH while we’re in Rome. Can we say Birthday debauchery?!?!! More on Italy as it approaches.
