I can't keep up!!! How do those opera singers with complicated schedules and different operas every night do it??? That's what I want to know!!! A week and a half of rehearsals, competition, and concert have got my head spinning!
On Monday night I gave a recital at the home of a great patron of the arts here in Alaska. I was so excited to finally be giving a house concert -- I imagined it just like those days in the 18th-19th centuries when Schubert gave little house concerts...sigh...:) It was so neat!
My patron has a beautiful house with a huge living room and large arching windows -- from which you can see Mt McKinley and a couple other mountains on clear days -- which is neat considering her husband climbed Mt McKinley about 30 years ago (and has a fantastic poster size photo of him on the wall on top of McKinley -- I tell ya, are Alaskans cool or what???) The guests started showing up promptly at 6pm with home-baked struedels, meatballs, sushi rolls, cheeses, taquitos, and fresh baked bread -- of course, I ended up singing for my dinner quite literally.
I started out the program with an aria from Bach's "St. John Passion" and proceeded to greet the crowd in German -- yes, I pulled the showing off card! and why not? I'm proud of being able to speak another language! One of the things I really have yet to learn about recitals is programming issues -- I tend to love the long, slow, beautiful songs more than the fun, happy, funny ones -- so in the end, I'm extremely tired vocally from all my tough songs. Ach!
In the end, I got some very helpful, sweet, and encouraging comments that I will treasure through this audition season. The other day I got my first denial of an audition -- which I won't say was from Sarasota Opera -- but the difference this year is my attitude towards the auditioners. This year my motto is, "Too bad for you, your loss!" and I'm banking on it to get me through. But which is also where I have to curb my irrational, impulsive mind -- which has the urge to actually write the people and tell them what a mistake they would be making to not accept me into the program. And then I wonder if anyone has ever actually done that -- and what the directors would think about that -- and if the boldness of the move would actually change their minds.....yeah, probably not.
So, I stuff that excitable side of me back down and accept their decision to not hear my wonderful performance -- not trying to be egotistical, this is all part of my new mindset to stop putting my singing down -- and focus on getting ready for the smart people of the world, which I will mention is Opera Colorado, who have intelligently granted me an audition!