Christmas in Dallas 2006

Dallas

After that, I went home to Mom and Dad's for Christmas in Dallas. They have moved, so we spent the entire vacation futzing with workmen and trying to get the house works finished. I wonder if they're even done NOW. So, if you're looking for them, call on their cellphones! I had a good time, trying to bring everything in order, and it was great to work on a project with Mom, Dad and even Lisa! So we had the whole family together for the holidays. Unfortunately, Tullio couldn't come, as he had had knee surgery and needed to stay stationary back in California. So his favorite dog sitter spent the holidays with him there. We joked that his only requirement for a fast friend is "Got a can opener??" If so, he's your BUDDY! I think they must put something in that canned food of his! In any case, I miss him horribly, but luckily, I don't think he misses me. Or the travelling. He's happy in retirement, so I think I will leave him there. Thank you to my sister for letting him retire to California with her. I know he's not easy, with his failing health.

Philadelphia Messiahs 2006

Next, I left for Philadelphia, where I sang two Messiahs with Richard Hickox and the Philadelphia Orchestra. It was strange - I'd been running around so much, then to come back to the Messiah was like a time warp. I caught a cold. So I didn't see much of the city (no Liberty Bell for me) and tried to just stay quiet so I could save up for the concerts. My last night, I had a strange thing happen to me, that only *I* would do... I noticed a girl in the lobby, crying her eyes out, and finally went over and asked her if she was OK. She launched into a long story about how her long-distance boyfriend (who'd asked her to marry him) had invited her in town to see him. He sent her the plane tickets (which left the next day) and said he'd pay for the hotel. She didn't have that kind of money. She didn't really understand why he wanted to keep her in a hotel, since he lives in Philly, but just thought he was treating her nicely by giving her a room. They were going to meet up at the Hotel. Well, it turns out he's actually married which he revealed to her probably AFTER their first night in the hotel. When he revealed that he was married, instead of just saying "OK, let's continue the affair," she broke up with him. So, utter and sheer ass that he is, he didn't pay for the second night of her hotel. And she didn't have a credit card or money enough to pay for the hotel room. It sounded like the most elaborate type of scam, and I was trying to figure out what she was trying to get out of me, but gave her the benefit of the doubt and checked out a few things with the concierge. Sure enough, her story panned out - he'd seen the whole story unfold before his very eyes, and the boyfriend had paid upfront, but then come downstairs and GOTTEN HIS MONEY BACK for the second night! Gads. She wasn't beside herself so much about not having someplace to sleep, but more about losing the "man of her dreams." She really thought he wanted to marry her. He even has kids. But she couldn't change her plane ticket, and barely had enough money to get to the airport the next day. So I bought her dinner and told her she could sleep in the extra bed in my room. She spent most of the night telling me more about the story, and thanking me for being so sweet. I know she could've been some kind of mass murderer or a scam artist out to get my valuables (I locked my stuff in the vault in my room, just for safety's sake) but told them downstairs what was going on, so they were also keeping an eye out on us. And I figured it was a sign that for once, in the City of Brotherly Love, singing "The Messiah," I really needed to live the Christian ideal and risk helping someone. It turns out, she was exactly who she said she was: a hairdresser from some small town in the Midwest. She recontacted me later to thank me again, but I haven't kept in touch. I hope she's found a REAL knight in shining armor that she was seeking.

Serge in Brussels 2006

Brussels

Next, the "boys" came to Brussels to the KVS to do their show - - I took Serge to see his first opera at the Monnaie Opera: a dress rehearsal of La Traviata. Needless to say, I think he enjoyed it. What a perfect piece to start your operatic education!

Vienna Dec 2006

Vienna

The next two weeks saw Jan and me travelling to Vienna twice to see shows in the New Crowned Hope Festival. It was an interdisciplinary festival, taking the last pieces of Mozart as its starting point. It was a celebration of Mozart's life, but with no Mozart! Artists from all kinds of third-world countries converged on Vienna, dreaming up the sort of utopia that Vienna and Europe could be in the future. I was lucky enough to see Kaaija Saariaho's new opera, Simone Weill. It was supposed to star Dawn Upshaw as the title role, but unfortunately Dawn had been diagnosed with cancer, and was going through therapy for that. Keep that lovely lady and fantastic artist in your prayers! I also saw Faustin's piece with our whole gang of Congolese buddies, and New Zealand director Lemi Ponifasio's piece Requiem. I also was so glad to get to know the works of video artist Lynette Wallworth from Australia. My favorite piece of hers was a dark room into which you are invited to carry a white bowl. In the room, there are three seeming spotlights onto the floor, which are actually video projections. When you put the bowl under this pool of light, you see worlds of fascinating underwater creatures, as if under a microscope. When I talked to the artist later, she told me that these images were from scientists' underwater nocturnal films of the spawning of coral. So you basically were holding a world of creation in your hands! Beautiful!!!

Among all the amazing people at this festival was Alice Waters, the founder of San Francisco Bay area's restaurant Chez Panisse. (Pictured at right) She was one of the instigators of the "slow food" movement, using local vegetables which are in season, supporting responsable and sustainable farming, and returning to the use of cooking and eating meals together as a the important part of social fabric that it is. Alice raised awareness in Vienna of the richness of their own organic farmers, and raised the challenge to Viennese school administrators to be the first city in Europe to feed their children only organic foods. She gave a beautiful sit-down dinner of local farmers' foods, and I was lucky enough to be included. Delicious!! And enlightening! I'm embarrassed to say that I lived in the Bay area almost four years, and never once ate at Chez Panisse! It is on the top of the list the next time I'm in town! Check out her entry in Wikipedia.