Prague

I arrived last week in Prague to sing Mahler's 2nd Symphony with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra at the Prague May Festival on their European tour. My plane landed, and as we disembarked from the plane, there on the tarmac stood a man with a piece of paper with my name on it. Instead of getting in the bus like everyone else, he whooshed me and my luggage into the waiting black Mercedes and took me to the luxurious VIP lounge, where they told me my car to take me to the airport was waiting. Wow! I hopped in and was off in less than 3 minutes after landing! What a life! THIS is what people imagine an opera singer's life to be! Ha ha! If only if were always like this. (Thank you, May Festival!)
Hotel involved the now-standard "Oh, we didn't know you needed a feather-free room" (despite faxes, calls, reservations, etc...) and I had to wait only 3 minutes for housekeeping to show up to change out all my pillows and duvet, etc... Years of experience have shown that putting ALL your linens out in the hall in a lump seems to get housekeeping's attention. Problem is that most housekeeping staffs in EVERY country in the world involve minimum wage immigrants from some OTHER country who don't really speak the language that well to begin with, nor seem to ever read directions from the front desk. Oh well. At least I know the routine now.
My first night, I came upon the strangest sight - a square filled with people dressed up like cowboys, Union soldiers all on horseback and one lone indian and a guy who looked like Davy Crockett (no horse, though...) They were lining up for some kind of parade. It was surreal to be in the Czech republic and come across cowboys when I've just spent three months in Texas without seeing ONE!
Anyhow, running around town, I came upon some gorgeous Art nouveau architecture, and realized that some of my favorite pictures of Art Nouveau actually come from Prague!! The funniest thing was when I came into the restaurant of the theater where our concert was: it had a clock I had been drooling over in my picture file. Here I was, SINGING where the original was! And I didn't even know it! I really have to start researching more before I go someplace....
Prague was a fairytale, and we enjoyed our time here immensely. I'd love to go back when my camera really works... ;-)

Vienna

Saturday afternoon, I arrived with the entire San Francisco Symphony and the other soloist, Katarina, on a charter flight from Prague. I had a few hours to put things in order, send emails and rest at the hotel, then headed over to the Konzerthaus for a concert with the local chorus, the Vienna Singakademie. It was a bit of a rocky start, as the chorus seemed a little underpowered and the tenors continually flat. We had thirty minutes of break, then rehearsed bits and pieces with the orchestra. My husband and his friend best friend Onofrio brought me dinner - a half lobster and rice!! Yum! We then had another thirty minutes to get ourselves ready for the concert. At the concert, the chorus really stepped up to the bar and pulled out all their stops, and the concert was a huge success. We got a standing ovation from the Viennese public. Not an easy feat, I'm told. MTT seemed pleased. Mahler for the Viennese. Not a bad thing.

I've been to Vienna so many times, usually to see something director Peter Sellars was doing, so Vienna always reminds me of Peter. This time was no different in that respect. He had a show (Desdemona) whose last night was running at the same time as our concert, darn it. Next time... But at least I got to see some of the "Peter Sellars family!" He has worked with mostly the same team for years, and they do really become family after a while if you've ever worked with him.

My friends Kathy Kelly, Onofrio Colucci and Patricia Sellars came to the concert and we had a great time catching up a bit before they started to kick us out of my dressing room... Kathy and Onofrio joined us for a night crawl to Dreschler Café, where we met Jim Ingalls for a bite to eat. I found out my friends had seen Onofrio perform in Cirque du Soleil without knowing it (he was the clown who originated the role that opens O in Las Vegas) and that Kathy and Jim knew (and loved!) each other from working together at the Met years ago. It was fantastic to make all these connections. My favorite thing to do - see my friends from different lives enjoy each other!

Sunday, since we woke up the next morning and the world had NOT ended (some crazies were saying that a bunch of calendars pointed to 1am on Sunday morning being the end of the world...), my husband and I wandered around town with Onofrio and his wife and baby. It was a gorgeous day, and it was lovely just to stroll about and enjoy life as a Viennese person would. Here are some pictures.

PITTSBURGH LUCIA

I'm obviously trying to get some pictures up here! Here are some Lucia pictures with my lovely cast in Pittsburgh - more to come soon!!

HGO Ariadne

Just a few pictures from our run of Ariadne (more to come!) First with the INCREDIBLE Christine Goerke and old friend Jim Cameron, and the second of me in costume. It's so weird that I'm coming back to the same beautiful John Cox production after so many years - I debuted the role in this production and I love it! It is as fresh as ever!

Wish it didn't have to end...

PRAGUE!

I arrived in Prague yesterday, and it brought back memories of my trip here with my sister years ago. We spent a long weekend here for fun when she was on one of her European trips for work. We had a great time, but I didn't remember much of the city besides it being beautiful and having a lot of castles, and having fun with HER. This time, I took lots of pictures and got to see the city a little bit more, since I remembered vaguely where I was this time around.

Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year

May 20, 2011
Prague, Czech Replublic

To the Board and Trustees of The Dallas Opera, Jonathan Pell, and the patrons of The Dallas Opera:

I am thrilled to accept The Dallas Opera’s Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year Award. Singing in my hometown has been a dream of mine since I first decided to follow opera as a vocation. This award means so much to me, and is the culmination of years of hard work. It is extremely gratifying to have that work so appreciated, and for this I heartily thank the Dallas patrons who voted for me and Jonathan Pell at The Dallas Opera for inviting me to sing this beautiful role.

I would also like to thank my parents and sister, who pushed me from the very beginning to develop my passions and talent, and who have always been spectacularly supportive of my career.

My first experience of live opera was at age 10 at The Dallas Opera at Fair Park Music Hall. I spent my teens attending shows there with student discount tickets, sometimes coming to see the same show numerous times. This opera company has a profound effect on this city, and made an indelible mark on me as a young music student. As a Dallas native, having sung in choirs at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church and Highland Park High School and having studied voice at SMU, I think I am singularly qualified to know firsthand what this award signifies. I am mindful of the roster of names that I join here.

I still remember the late Joan Sutherland’s last Vilja Lied on The Dallas Opera stage while I was at SMU; I count myself fortunate to have been a misty-eyed witness to her farewell. I hope you, as the Board and Trustees, understand the importance The Dallas Opera has on the many lives the Opera touches. The caliber of singing at The Dallas Opera has always been sensational; I realize the competition I had for the Debut Artist of the Year Award this year alone. Consequently, I am deeply touched and honored that you are bestowing on me this award bearing the name of my biggest operatic idol, Maria Callas.

My only regret is that I cannot be there in person to accept this award: I am singing concerts with the San Francisco Symphony on tour in Europe this week and next. I would love it if you could entrust this award into the safekeeping of my parents, Linda and Larry Claycomb until they can bring it to me in Italy this summer; they deserve it as much as I do, with all the nurturing they have given me and my singing over the years.

It certainly takes a village to produce a great artist, and that village has been my beloved Dallas. A Texas-sized “Thank You” to you all for awarding me this prestigious distinction!

Sincerely,
Laura Claycomb

London BBC Rigoletto December 2010

I was happy to make a short trip to London to sing the third Act of
Rigoletto on BBC's "Discovering Music" series. They interviewed
Graham Vick about the opera (fascinating!) and then we played/sang
bits and pieces to illustrate certain themes to elucidate certain
musical points they wanted to talk about. Then, we sang the entire
third act.
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/events/483">http://www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/events/483
</a>

It was a great cast - - I'd never heard Madeleine Shaw, but she has
a wonderful voice, and I hope to hear more from her. And it was great
to sing again with Anthony Michaels-Moore, my Rigoletto: I haven't
sung with him since my La Scala debut many years ago in Linda di
Chamounix! Andrew Litton, with whom I made the recording of Thomas'
"La Cour de Célimène" conducted. It was nice to touch base again!

Despite the bad weather that had shut down Heathrow, I was able to get
together with friends while there, and my husband joined me (after a
loooong night at Luton airport with no trains or buses to the city)
for the weekend. We visited the Tate Modern (my favorite!!) and
wandered around enjoying all the Christmas decorations.

While I was in town, I also sang for MaestroVladimir Jurowski - a very
interesting man! He had some great repertoire ideas, so I hope that
something will work out soon to work with him. We'll see!!

Cleveland Orchestra Bach Lutheran Mass

Forgot the picture of our concert!!!

Cleveland 2010

So happy my Mom was able to come to the Bach in Cleveland while Dad
was at his umpteenth High School Reunion in Indiana. The concert went
well - it's such a beautiful piece (Lutheran Mass) but as we were
discussing with our conductor Frans Welser-Möst at our first
rehearsal, nobody ever does this piece! Such a shame. There's more
to Bach than the B minor mass, a couple of cantatas and some organ
pieces! On the second half was Rite of Spring and Afternoon with
Debussy's faun... :-) I can't wait to hear it tomorrow night, as
instead we were naughty and went to dinner!

We went out to dinner at Iron Chef Whatever his name is's restaurant
Lola with the other soloists, Kelly O'Connor and Andrew Foster-
Williams. FUN! and YUM! Fantastic dessert of brioche French toast
with syrup and BACON ICE CREAM! Who'd a thunk it but an American?

I'm in the throes of trying to source faucets and other sundry items
for our apartment in Turin, so Mom and I are on the hunt today! Wish
us luck! Here's the dress Mom got for me last year that I've only
started wearing this year - it's gorgeous! And she brought me a new
RED dress that I'll wear for the Giulietta Act of Les Contes
D'Hoffmann in Moscow. I can't wait! Thanks, MOM!

MOSCOW!

I leave tomorrow at the crack of dawn, but thought I should update
something on this blog, as I've been so busy I haven't had time to do
anything.

I have basically only taken pictures indoors or through the car window
this trip. One interesting one here was this one of a beautiful
bulding, now housing Pepsi and MacDonald's. How strange. Another one
I wanted to put up which didn't turn out well was the Plaza in front
of the Tchaikovsky Hall - it has been cordoned off as if they're doing
some big works there. In fact, they are fake works, I've been told,
because this was where protesters come every 31st of the month to
protest the blocking of the opposition in the capitol. Their
constitutional right to assembly is being abused, because any group
from the opposition is denied a permit to gather in Moscow. So every
31st, they show up here to proclaim their constitutional right to
gather and protest. And most of the time, they're arrested for doing
it, because they don't have a permit. It's Kafka-esque, but more
power to the people who are insisting upon their rights!

Ann Arbor/ Philly/ NY Carnegie Hall

Ann Arbor was another fantastic concert, in a beautiful hall with a
majorly weird acoustic. It's wide, like the Barbican, and directional
like the Barbican, as well. You hear one or another instrument well,
depending on where you're sitting. Onstage, you hear one or another
instrument well (and all the others badly), as well! I kept thinking
the oboe was really HONKING and even turned around to see if someone
had gotten sick and they'd replaced the regular oboist! It was just
where I was sitting. I got to see the orchestra with Tetzlaff, as
well, who played the impossible Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. It was
an extremely personal and edgy interpretation. He made no concessions
to "prettiness" or "look at my technical wizardry" - it was all about
getting his musical gestures across. His technique is amazing, but
what struck me the most dumbfound was the lack of pretension and idea
of "tradition." Wow.

The next day, my husband came in town for just the night. What a
treat! He was able to attend the concert, and we took part in the
beautiful party afterwards, as well. The next day, we saw each other
off at the airport and went each our own way - my beautiful husband to
Italy and me, to Philadelphia with the orchestra. What a life!

In Philly, it rained and rained and rained. I prepared Romilda for
Serse with the lovely pianist Don St. Pierre at Curtis, dreaming up
fun cadenzas and leaving others for "a rainy day..." I missed the
Liberty Bell again... The morning after the concert, I dragged all my
suitcases to the train station and made my way to Penn Station.

In New York, I worked every day with Gerald Moore on Serse, and found
that "rainy day!" Roulades, runs, and cadenzas ... We also ran
through some different repertoire to break up the Handel every now and
then. I had always told my friends that if I ever decided to sing the
Queen of the Night, to shoot me and put me out of my misery. OK, I
take it all back... I've decided to at least give a look at the Queen
of the Night - it's a nice exercise and might just be a nice role
eventually. What other role requires bravura, precision and yet is
supposed to be a mother and not some 14-year-old? I figure I can grow
into it! I used to think the role needed a steely-edged voice, but
finally just decided I'd try to sing it with MY voice and see how it
goes. Not bad, I must admit. Everyone's always asked me, so I
decided finally to listen! We'll see. It's an ongoing process.

I'll keep you apprised!

GRAMMY - - GRAMMIES!

WE WON!!!   Our recording of Mahler 8 with San Francisco Symphony won THREE Grammies!   Best Classical Recording, Best Choral Recording and Best Engineering!   We're so happy and so proud.   

For those of you who are curious, YES, I do actually get a physical Grammy - - but only in a few months' time.  I have to sign something that says I will not sell it on Ebay or something and then they will engrave it and send it to me a few months later.   Exciting!!  I'm wondering if I get one, two or three or what?   We'll see.  It's all very exciting.   And since I just sang in San Francisco with the Symphony, it has been fun - - everyone is super-excited. 

Now I'm on tour with SFSO with Mahler 2.  Next up is Ann Arbor, Michigan.  I can't wait!   

MOSCOW BOLSHOI YOUNG ARTISTS

My friend Mischa (not to be confused with Measha, but both pronounced

the same way!) had asked if I could help him with the new young

artists' program he was involved with at the Bolshoi Opera. He was the

young impresario who asked me for my first concert in Moscow a few

years back, and has become a good friend over the ensuing years. So

I became one of the consultants for the program, advising him on

structure, content and international coaches, and especially - OTHER

people to ask advice from besides me! He asked me if I might have

time to come to Moscow to work with the young artists sometime, as

they need new input from outside the regular Russian circle of

coaches, etc.. which has become a bit insular over the years. Jumping

at a chance to get more experience teaching, I used a week of my free

time to go to Moscow. I figured it'd be great to get to see how I

liked teaching people on a high level, help out the young artists with

whatever I could provide in know-how, experience or ideas, and it

would help Mischa's status within the theater, as I seem to be a big

deal in Moscow. Because of Mischa, no doubt!

My lizard face hadn't even begun to subside when I came down with a 

doozy of a flu, so I had to reschedule my trip about three times! All 

I could do was write on Facebook what my temperature was, blow my 

nose, drink water and moan. For some reason, moaning in bed actually 

made me feel better. Don't ask why. After a bunch of hulabaloo for 

my visa (they didn't want to give me an expedited visa at the Russian 

Consulate here in Italy because I'm not European), I got it thanks to some pulled strings and headed 

off to snowy Moscow.

Anyhoot, the young singers were spectacular! I didn't want to say it 

while I was there, as I wanted them to work hard, but they were all 

very special artists and very advanced - all on the road to having 

good if not great careers. Mischa, Dima and Catherine have put together a great group. 

Not only of singers, but of TEACHERS! Their main teacher, Dimitri 

Vdovin seems to really know his stuff, and we hit it off wonderfully 

while I was there. I think he's probably the best known voice teacher 

in Moscow at the present time. The one young artist who has studied 

with him for years has almost a perfect technique, which is no mean 

feat for a tenor! He will be singing Tamino in the mainstage 

production in a few weeks, I believe! I can't wait to hear more from 

these singers once they've had more than a few months to study with him.

In any case, my days there consisted of waking up (usually almost too late) for breakfast, rushing down to get something to eat before they cleared away the buffet at 10:29am, meeting up with someone to walk me to the theater at about 11:30 or 11:45, starting lessons at 12. They were supposed to be 45 minutes long, but quickly ended up being over an hour or so sometimes. I'd eat lunch around 3pm or so in the cantina at the theater. It snowed every night so there was a beautiful carpet of fresh snow during the day. I'd work until 6 or 7 and then go to the office to do some internet or go to dinner with Mischa and Dmitri, then go to my hotel and crash into bed. It was 

fantastic!

The singers seemed to grab the ideas I gave them and run. One soprano, Svetlana, with a huge spinto soprano voice, probably worked hours on her own on the things I told her to do the day after our first lesson, and came back the next day already implementing the exercises in her arias. It was like night and day. Others, I think I gave ideas that will need a little more time to gestate, but they all made great improvements not only in legato but in style and substance.  And they all worked very hard.  I ended up working a lot more technically than I had envisioned, but it was exhilarating to hear the difference when they got it right, and when they self-corrected afterwards! Yay! I am so proud of all the 

hard work that the young artists put in.

I gave an interview the last morning of my trip, which I'm hoping to find somewhere online. In it, I emphasized the fact that the Bolshoi NEEDS this program to develop young artists of a high artistic caliber not only for their own theater, but for Russian artists in general.  It's ridiculous that the great pool of wonderful Russian voices might have to go out of their own country to get practical experience in their training. The Bolshoi program fills this void. The only other program is at the Marinksky Theater in St. Petersburgh. The reason the Marinsky has such fame is not just because of its leader Gergiev, but because of the stars it has created on the international scene. If Anna Netrebko had only stayed at the Marinsky, she would never be the international star that she is today. Her glory reflects highly on the Marinsky, where she still performs. The Bolshoi needs input from outside in order to stay valid, meaningful, international andup-to-date in the operatic scene. It needs not only coaches from other renowned theaters to come as guests, but needs its own "stable" of singers to go elsewhere and gather experience and accolades, which they then bring back to the Bolshoi. I hope the directors of the Bolshoi will heed this need. There are a few singers in the young artists' program who will be ready shortly to go do auditions - winning auditions and competitions can only increase the esteem of the Bolshoi, and give these artists a varied and valid experience which they will then bring BACK to Moscow with them. This will increase the status and the artistic richness of the theater in immeasurable ways, so I hope that the theater continues to make this investment in the patrimony that their great young artists represent.

End of tirade!   Yay for the Bolshoi for taking this step!

Dallas - house!

After Cincinnati, I went to go visit my folks in Dallas for a week.
It ended up being perfect timing, as my Mom ended up having some
surgery and I was able to play "nurse" that week. So, sorry again to
all my Dallas friends I didn't get to see. I'd planned to hang out a
bit more, but alas, it was better that I stayed at home with Mom and
kept her company. Keeping her IN BED was hard enough! She doesn't
know what REST means.
But it was great to just have a week of "down time" with her and Dad.
My last day, I got a facial peel, thinking it would be no big deal. I
was majorly out of it for the plane ride home and looked like a
scalded lizard for a week at home. Nothing like arriving home to your
newly-wed husband and telling him "don't touch me!" Poor Tullio!
But I look fabulous now - no more old icky skin and sun damage! And,
yes, I am now being even more religious with the sunscreen. The
Italians don't understand us melanin-deprived people... They just
think that if I TRIED HARDER, I'd eventually tan. ;-)
Off to educate the Italian public...
Oh, and one of the best things I've done these past few weeks was - I
signed on a new home!!! I've bought a big apartment built in 1899 in
the Citt' Turin part of Torino and occupied by only one family. It's
a total re-do, but we're looking forward to the renovations! Can't
wait!! Wish us luck!

Sin City Carmina Burana

I arrived in coooold Cincinnati to find out that no four star hotel in town had ONE teensy room that hadn't been decked out in plumes and feathers and fluffed up real' good so there was lots of dander in the air for years to come. I will never understand why upscale hotels are so obsessed with luxury that they lose sight that some people are allergic to feathers! It's not enough to come in and cart away the

offending pillows, duvets, etc... if they've already been fluffed a gazillion times and released more dander than a chicken farm into the room! So I ended up at the only place downtown that had *A* room that had never had feather pillows in it. So they tell me. It was fine and the staff nice, but seemed pretty empty. Maybe because they don't have goosedown in every inanimate object? ;-)

Anyhow, we had a fantastic cast for Carmina Burana - Larry Brownlee was (again, as in Tanglewood last summer) a fantastic roasted swan; Stephen Powell was the most character-ful baritone soloist I've ever encountered and had the chops to back it up, and then me. Side note: I haven't seen Stephen in over 10 years (since Glimmerglass Don Pasquale) and it was like we'd just stepped back into each other's lives after 5 minutes. He's great and I've missed him! What a voice, too! He sounds better than I've ever heard him. Go, Stephen!! We played off of one another in the last big ensemble "oh oh oh totus
floreo..." - it was a bit more -ahem- earthy than you usually hear
it. Great stroke of genius from Paavo.. 

We had one audience member comment to us - "Well, here I thought it
was a family show, and then I started reading the supertitles, and
then you two... I wouldn't have brought my granddaughter!" I must add
this was said with a laugh, thank goodness!!

Paavo Järvi was a revelation - - I love how he makes music, I love the
humanity behind what he does and of course, the musicianship is
fantastic! We got along wonderfully, and I hope he will ask for me
again to do some other fun projects. I don't think I've ever sung
Carmina so well in my life! As he conducted, you felt such a
complete sense of mastery and control that you knew he could play with
the music in the concert, not just do it by rote. I think we all felt
that sense of ebb and flow of creativity, and his smiles or jokes with
different players during the concerts only added to that great play
between freedom and control that made both evenings so special. I
told him later myself that it reminded me of one of the most
remarkable traits of the late Richard Hickox - there was a humor and a
joy in making music that is rare to experience and needs to be
cherished when it is found. I hope Paavo can keep that, despite more
and more fame and acclaim.


The orchestra didn't have one weak section - and played beautifully in this HUGE hall.  I think it's the biggest symphonic hall in the U.S.   So-called "regional" orchestras in the U.S. continue to astound me.   Bravo, Cincinnati!

On the first half of the program, the orchestra played Les Nuits d'Été with Measha Brueggersgossman.   She is a force of nature! What a beautiful girl and a beautiful artist.  Listening to her, you realize how many colors and nuances we normally miss in vocal music.  I hope to hear a lot more from her.   And to stay in touch with her - - Measha, write me an email sometime, silly!


After our first concert, we  all went out until 1 or 2 am with Paavo to his favorite Italian restaurant in the main square downtown. We closed down the place.  Luckily, they gave us private room, as we got rather bawdy and loud.   VERY fun!   The next night, there was a party afterwards at a patron's apartment overlooking the whole city. Luckily, he was a FUN patron, and we closed down that party, as well.  Here are Measha and I, teasing Paavo, as well as our lovely patron (can't remember his name, but he had to kick us out with Carol Burnett's "I'm so glad we've had this time together" song at the end of the evening...)



The best part of the evening was that one of my best friends, Roger Roe, came down from Indiana to see the concert and to spend the evening with me! Unfortunately, all I have of him is VIDEO, which doesn't show up on this blog. SOOOOOOOOOOO happy to see you, Roger!!! If I can somehow extract some pictures from the video, I'll add them up here. What a TREAT to get to hang out with Roger and have him be my date! I know Tullio wouldn't mind...

Naples Fauré Requiem

I've been here in Naples a few days, and it's seemed like ages! My
old friend Detlef Roth is the baritone soloist on this concert, so we
have had a lot of fun hanging out and catching up. Tullio joined us
this weekend, as well as our friend Matteo from Turin. We've had a
grand ole time! We made the mistake of booking a hotel way in
advance. This is usually a good thing, but the problem is, nobody
told us the concerts weren't at the opera house! So we spent a bunch
of time going back and forth to the venue (farther out of the center
of town) in taxis or metro. Luckily, our hotel was in the middle of
the center of town, so we got to see a bit of Napoli. Anything is
fun with Matteo, so our walks around the town have been more than
entertaining! We have eaten and walked and eaten and walked. Not bad.
The concerts went well - it's a nice piece. Nobody thought to tell me
that Jeffrey Tate had such bad scoliosis (or whatever it is he has!) I
didn't realize he was so misshapen, so I was a bit taken aback that
someone could do such a physical activity as conducting with such a
handicap. I suppose it's NOT a handicap for him, then. Kudos.
Pardon me being frank, but it surely was the 10ton elephant in the
room that nobody mentioned. Only problem for me was the choir, which
is unfortunately the heart of this piece. The tenors would tilt their
heads back and bawl - always under pitch. This kind of all-balls-out
singing really does not favor French music (or any kind of music, if
you ask me...) so I had to make sure I didn't cringe when the tenors
came in. Luckily, they were a bit better for the concert, but
still. Hm. At least the sopranos were good!! The orchestra was a
bit unruly but pulled through in the end. Nice people, nice hall,
nice concert. Merry Christmas.
We're going to go to Mount Vesuvius tomorrow with Matteo, drop him off
at the Naples airport and then continue on to spend the night with the
Cuomos in Salerno before heading on to Martina Franca. It will be
great to see them again.

LA CHAMBER ORCHESTRA!

Well, I got home to Turin from Brussels/Lille, turned around and
repacked my bags and then was off to LA for my concerts with LA
Chamber Orchestra. I was feeling a little puny, but thought I'd get
over it. Instead, I came down with a rip-roaring cold/sinus
infection. I arrived in shambles at my sister's place in Long Beach.
We rethought our rehearsal schedule, I went to my sister's GP, who
drugged me up on a ton of antibiotics, as he said it looked
bacterial. You don't want to know the colors coming out of my nose...
argh. He seemed desperate to put me on steriods, but I resisted.
So, I sort of marked my way through the rehearsals, trying to be as
careful as possible. The orchestra was very supportive, and the
conductor very nice, but in addition to my being sick, we simply
didn't have enough time to rehearse all the music! I had wanted to
cut the one thing that rendered the concert so hard - a Mozart concert
aria with piano that was too low for me, but that we'd put on so that
the conductor Jeffery Kahane could play with me on the keyboard. So
we kept that one and ended up cutting my favorite Mozart concert aria,
"Vorrei spiegarvi o Dio" with the excuse that I was sick. Crap. But
all ended well, despite my worries - I made it through both concerts
well. We made an announcement beforehand and I managed to sing well
despite all the crud in my nose and running down my throat. But it
was super-frustrating, as I felt like I had to be continually careful
and couldn't just let loose. Oh well. I think I will take the
Copland Emily Dickenson songs off my repertoire list. They're too
damn low. And the next time I do a chamber music recital, it will
actually be chamber music and not orchestral music done with a
somewhat smaller orchestra. There's way too much great chamber music
out there that is never done to waste an opportunity to do some of it
doing music I could do with a regular orchestra instead. You live
and you learn.
At least I got to see my sister a bit, and hang out with her. I miss
her!

BRUSSELS for Serge's Concert

Serge Kakudji planned a concert to thank all of the people who have
helped him over the past few years, and my ex-boyfriend Jan offered
the "box" of his theater for the venue, so Tullio and I trekked to
Brussels after my Lille concerts to see his concert.
We spent part of the day listening to his "sound check" - which was
almost a run-through of the entire program. I had to stop him so he
wouldn't sing himself out, but overall, the whole concert was in good
shape. We then went to hang out with my good friend Anait and her
family. Since I'm godmother to her littlest girl (Nina), we thought
it was fitting that we spend some time with them!!! Anait, as usual,
obliged my sometimes obsessive nature and played through some of the
Strauss with me for my concert in L.A.

Serge's concert went swimmingly, and we were SO proud of him!  We hung out in the bar afterwards with friends, and got to catch up with a bunch of people, and everyone got to meet my husband.  Even Jan and he had a chat, which was a little weird but nice. Of course they knew each other over the years, as Tullio and I have been friends forever, but it was strange for all of us to meet again with our relationships so changed.   But we got over it quickly, and it was so nice to be able to have so many dear people to me all together in one room.  Of course I didn't take any pictures, idiot that I am...

Next, HOME!  via Charleroi...   I'm so glad Tullio rented a car!

Lille

So, we travelled to Lille, where my fabulous husband and my dear friend Tamas met up with me. All was well and good, despite the cold,

as Lille looked magical! In the center of town (right outside the opera house), there was a carousel. Everyone was in Christmas shopping mode. 

Tullio and I had a beautiful walk in one of the parks in town, where there was even a little zoo!  Here he is with the kookaburra, and a picture of their red panda!


I was able to work on my music for my Los Angeles concerts with a pianist who took a train in from Brussels especially for me.   Yay!  We worked for hours and hours in the foyer of the opera house, until I decided I might not have any voice left to sing the Messiah that night if I didn't shut up!   But luckily, I finally felt like I had the Zerbinetta aria under my belt.  It's so weird to sing a different version of something you already know.   Since this version is even higher, it took a lot of adjusting - everything just felt weird for a while.  Now I think it'll be weird to go back to the "lower" version!   ha ha!   This version has a f# or two, a few f's, a bunch of high e's but it all makes the high d's passing tones, so they're all much easier, strangely enough!   Go figure.  I actually like it better, even if it does go on a bit...

Bad new is that Emmanuelle's little girl did NOT get any better (had pleurisy in her lungs and pneumonia!), and even though she desperately wanted to do the Messiahs with us, she needed to stay with her baby in the hospital until she got better.    So we rehearsed with Paul Agnew, and he did a great job with the concerts!   It was as if he's been doing this his whole life, not singing!   He did get on the tenor's nerves, though, understandably, as he brought him in for extra sessions, etc...  If the tenor had ASKED for that, it'd be one thing, but to bring him in as if he's remedial and try to teach him the way YOU used to sing the Messiah is another. John Tessier is a fine singer and artist and didn't need it.  Oh well.  We missed Emmanuelle, but the concerts were still a success, because of Paul's doing.  

I have come to conclude that I really don't like the Messiah that much for my voice.  It just never FITS.  I like pieces of it, but harumph.    Maybe I should just enjoy it from the audience.  Everyone always says "it was sooo nice" the way I sing it, but I really don't feel like anyone goes away CHANGED by my singing in it.  There are other pieces through which people say I truly touched them - maybe I should concentrate on those...    It probably didn't help that I felt I was not quite over my flu/cold from Frankfurt and/or coming down with another cold.    Grrr.      Since we flew back through Charleroi, we spent our last day in my old stomping grounds of  BRUSSELS, which is a hop, skip and a not even a jump from Lille by train.

Here's a picture after our concert.  Please do not comment on the cow patty on my head.  It was an unfortunate hairdo decision and it will not be repeated.  Ever.     ;-)