November 2003

TULLIO'S NEWS - STRAIGHT FROM THE DOG'S MOUTH

Giulio Cesare has been great. Lots of people have been pampering me while Mom's out there singing, and I discovered new rooms backstage at the opera - the technician's rooms! They're suckers for a hound dog! More adoring fans! All the backstage guys are in love with me, and give me bits of their dinners when Mom's not looking. Roast beef! Chicken! Tater tots! Cookies! There's also Brian, who's a total softy - - I give him the old "she doesn't feed me" stare, and he falls for it every time. Love that... There has also been a new development in my favorite conductor's life (he feeds me Altoids! curiously strong!) in that Mom and I brought him back a little replica of ME from our trip to Dallas. His name is Julius and he does not know where to pee yet. He's not very quick to pick up treats, either, so - - finders, keepers... I was a little nervous there for a bit, as I thought Mom had dragged yet ANOTHER strange animal home to live with us. But luckily we ditched him at Uncle Patrick's house and he's stayed there. Hopefully he won't learn where my stash of Bacon Treats is. They are MINE. I know more tricks than he does, anyway. He can't even figure out his leash! Oh well. I'm just snoring up a storm and doin' what I do best: loving everyone I meet. My fur's finally grown back after Mom's clipping job with the fingernail scissors this summer, by the way. And all is well with my back and eyes. So, until this Spring, Tullio fans!! 

THE INSIDER SCOOP TRIVIA FROM LAURA

Since I last wrote, I have jumped in unexpectedly in two places. I sang two shows of Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin. The shows went very well, and I got to meet up with my dear friend Mary Mills, who has moved there recently. Every time I've done this monster of a role, though, I have jumped in - even my debut in the role. I learned the music over Christmas a few years back to fill in for an ailing colleague, and put the show together for my first time in less than four days. This time in Berlin, I had twenty four hours. So I was very proud of myself when it went well, and I didn't forget anything - even any German dialogue (which was different from the last time I did it!!)

Then, I did a week of concerts with the San Francisco Symphony. I sang Mozart's Exultate, jubilate, and Mahler's Fourth Symphony. The latter piece, we also recorded. SFSO and Michael Tilson-Thomas have been recording a whole Mahler cycle for their own label, and I was honored to be a part of this project. Of course I will inform you all when it comes out! It's such a magical piece. I hope the recording comes off well.

Again, I'm doing a show with a certain "movie star" look (this time Jean Harlowe instead of Marlene Dietrich) so I have again shaved my eyebrows so we can draw them on in another place. This is becoming a habit. Hmmm. The only problem is remembering to put on my eyebrows in the morning and not wiping them off during the day. I look like an alien without eyebrows. I have the most fabulous costumes done by James Schuette in this production. LOTS of feathers, and beautiful beading and details. The gold lamé number at the end is especially beautiful. My wigs are pretty cool, too, as I'm usually not wigged in shows. The main one is a short-ish marcelled blonde one and the second is a braided "Elizabeth Taylor" Cleopatra wig. Everyone wants to know how I put all my hair under those wigs. Well, first, Heather, my hairdresser and makeup artist, parts my hair into sections and then wraps my hair around my head and anchors it with pins, so that it's as smooth as possible. She twists a few sections at my nape and at my ears into little pin curls and pins those. Then we put what looks like the cut-off foot of a pair of pantyhose over my head and anchor that with pins. That tamps down any stray hairs, and we're ready for the wig! Voilá!!

On the Opera Rara cd, to be called "La Partenza," I will be singing music written between 1830-1850 by neglected belcanto composers such as Savinelli, Rossi, Gabussi, Costa and the Polish Prince Poniatowski, along with better-known Ricci and Donizetti. It will be the world premiere recording of all the pieces, as is usual for Opera Rara. One of my favorites from the album is a song by Mexican bel canto composer Melisio Morales, a crazy coloratura polka about a butterfly titled "La farfaletta" ...

YOUNG ARTIST CORNER NEWSI have been revamping my young artist pages, and hoping that young artists will aide me in fixing my broken links and giving me feedback on programs, etc... I did a Master Class with the High School "Studio Students" at Houston Grand Opera. They were very talented, and all had something special about them. I came up with some ideas for them, which I made into a hand-out and I will be adding them to my "young artist corner" soon. There are some questions I always get from young singers, so I thought it might be interesting to address some of those issues. SO - I am adding a few "vocal techniques" and "ornamentation" pages, with what meager ideas I have on the subjects. Hopefully they will prove useful to some people. Who knows? I am also Young Artist Pages.