Lose Yourself in the Music

What a quarter! Before Christmas break I was handed the 50 page Act I Finale of Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri. We started the quarter singing and read through this psycho finale- in Italian! We were told to practice saying the Italian as fast as we could. That next week we were off-book (memorized) and learned our staging. This, in the midst of beginning our opera rehearsals and learning a new Verdi song for the same event. For some reason this stressed me out and I was not looking forward to the actual performance. (In addition to the scene and my Verdi song I was also going to sing my favorite aria. I sang Santuzza's aria from Cavaleria Rusticana by Mascagni.) The performance was in Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West. The hall is beautiful and the perfect size and acoustic for vocal performances. The Evening of Italian Opera and Song took place on Feb. 5. It was fabulous. After the shaky dress rehearsal in our Lotte Lehman concert Hall, everyone sounded great. It was fun singing in that hall and I had been so concerned with not forgetting my text in the Verdi song but it went great with a little creative tweaking. When the scheduled program was over Professor Brecher made some comments and recognized Tenor, Eduardo Villa in the audience. He then announced that Mr. Villa would be singing Vesti La Giubba!!! From I Pagliacci this is one of the best arias ever! (The sad clown, rice crispies, Seinfeld, Bugs Bunny etc.) He is amazing! Such a strong voice.

That next Wednesday Eduardo Villa offered a master class. He worked with the tenors that sang the first set at the Italian performance. He offered some great advice including keeping an 'eh' space in the back of your throat regardless on what vowel you're singing. He also told us a joke- There are three registers of the male voice. The bass register, the baritone register, and the cash register.

That next Sunday was the Hearts for the Arts Valentine Concert. They asked the group that performed the L'Italiana in Algeri finale to perform it for that concert. The space and sound weren't ideal but it generally went well. My teacher Susana Poretsky sang at the same concert. She sang Carmen's famous aria (Thanks, Lucy). She is incredible and very energetic. Her showmanship is something I aspire to.

Feb. 25 Opera Santa Barbara came to UCSB and auditioned some of the grad students. Susana suggest I sing Stride la Vampa from Verdi's Il Trovatore. Santuzza's aria has been my go to aria but I had to trust that she knew what was best. She did tell me there aren't many singers right now that can do Azucena (the Verdi role). She's the gypsy queen and absolutely crazy. What a great role!

January 12 soprano Kathleen Rowland gave a masterclass at UCSB. She gave the example of thinking of your mouth in an inverted megaphone. The large opening at the back of your throat and the smaller opening at the front. She also reiterated the importance of correct posture. You'd be surprised at the strange things singers do while singing. Some hunch over, or lean to the side, etc.

The Chamber Choir's concert this quarter focused on water music. The first set was comprised of some interesting songs written for the ferry accident on the Estonia that resulted in 852 deaths. The program continued with some very creative songs and included some American classics; Shenandoah and Deep River. (See earlier blog about Thomas Hampson on Shenandoah.) Our encore piece was a popular French song along the lines of La Vie en Rose.

The March 10 concert of the University Singers (the women's chorus) was titled, Portrait of American Music. The first half of the concert was selected voice majors singing songs by American composers. I was asked to sing 2 of my Charles Ives songs. What's funny is I had thought about which of the 7 from my recital I thought I should do. Then, when I asked Susana which 2 from my recital I should do, she suggested, without knowing which I had already thought about, the same two. There is a Certain Garden and, my and Susana's favorite, In the Mornin'. (I also talked about In the Mornin' in a previous post.

One of my favorite websites is Amazon.com. I often just browse around and one day I found a MET day planner. I bought it and each page has a picture of a production or rehearsals and I found that I love writing my own productions, concerts and rehearsals in it. It helps me keep an eye on the larger musical picture.