Baritone therapy

I'm getting a little stressed about next semester, with my rediculously busy schedule, Giulio Cesare, and upper divisionals. But you know what the best kind of therapy is? Good-looking baitones. Just watch.

I know it's in Russian, but it's good to know that headphones are an international pain in the butt.


Some Mozart to cure the winter blah

On the vocal highwire

Sometimes, my voice surprises me.

After Alice made the comment that I might be a coloratura Rossini mezzo, I decided to take a closer look at Rosina's aria "Una voce poco fa" from The Barber of Seville. And, as anyone who has ever heard the aria knows, the repeated sections of the aria often include variations and ornaments. None of these are "officially" written in, but most singers who sing this aria put them in. I FINALLY got my hands on these variations and tried them out. Although some of the specific variations seemed to be aimed for sopranos (don't get me started on the topic of sopranos singing Rosina and other Rossini heroines. They just shouldn't and that's that. Maria Callas could, but she could have sung Figaro, Rosina, and Almaviva at the same time if she wanted to), but surprisingly, they fit in my voice. I won't be doing the high D# however; it's there, but it really doesn't like to be. Obviously, it's nowhere near being polished yet, but I know it can be. And that makes me happy.

My Russian education is continuing this summer, with a great deal of help. About a month ago, my dad had to do a funeral at a neighboring church because their pastor was in Germany visiting his daughter. The funeral was for a local farmer that many people knew, but no one had ever mentioned (to me at least) that his wife was Russian. During the preparations for the funeral, my dad talked to her several times, and mentioned that I was taking Russian and also that I'm a musician. So she told him to have me call her, saying that she would be happy to help me with my Russian. I've gone over to her house twice and have learned quite a bit! Who would have thought that in little Adams County, with our 30,000 people (lordy more people go to my university than live in my county), that there would be someone within 10 miles of me who speaks Russian! Funny story; she saw Dmitri Hvorostovsky sing in Moscow about 20 years ago before he really was anybody, and said that he was the only good singer in the whole show and that the chorus was especially bad. She also asked me where I work, and when I told her I work at a pizza place she shuddered and said, "No. No, don't work there. You protect voice, work on that." But I've enjoyed having someone to speak the language with and learn more of it myself. Fluency is my eventual goal, but if that ever happens, it won't be for years. But I've gained some new vocabulary and know some more complicated grammar structures.

Cat Pic Friday. Tacy's newest bad habit. Now we have to make sure the lids are down.

Vocal Poetry

Yesterday a pleasant surprise arrived in the mail; a belated birthday gift, in the form of Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Sviridov album (thank you Mom!). Georgi Sviridov, who died in 1998, finished the song cycle Petersburg, a vocal poem for Hvorostovsky in 1995, using poems by Russian poet Alexandr Blok. I read some Blok in my Russian lit class last semester, including his bizarre short play The Puppet Booth. His poetry does not employ many words, but those he chooses are powerful, even if the poetry is obscure and difficult to understand. Blok was at the beginning of what is known as The Silver Age of Russian poetry (the Golden Age being that of Pushkin and friends), which produced many of the early Soviet poets. I can't believe it took me until this past year to discover these poets, and I wish more people would read them. In my class, many of the poems we read also included the original Russian text, which was a big plus for me. Sviridov makes platinum out of these already golden words, and Hvorostovsky's dark-chocolate voice brings them to life with pianist Mikhail Arkadiev.

Also on this disc are Sviridov's Six Romances to words by Alexandr Pushkin, written in 1935. Of course, Pushkin is a totally different poet than Blok, and his style reflects that. Pushkin belonged to the Romantic age and uses more flowery and beautiful language than Blok. This is the man, after all, who wrote Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades. "To Nanny" is especially beautiful.

My advice? Go out and buy this album. Now. Right now. Honestly, this album is so good it makes everything else he's done look like crap. It's that good.

Mariinsky fever!

I just found the website of St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater, formerly called the Kirov, where the amazing and slightly creepy Valery Gergiev is artistic director. The Mariinsky is also the host of the famous Stars of the White Nights Festival of Music, which runs from May through July, this year celebrating 225 years of the Mariinsky. Here are just some highlights of this year's Festival:

May 12 (obviously already happened): Olga Borodina in concert

June 12 and 14: Great ballerinas of the Mariinsky ballet gala

June 17: Les Noces. Le Sacre du printemps. The Firebird

June 24: Bryn Terfel in concert

June 29: Dmitri Hvorostovksy in concert

July 12: Marking 225 Years of the Mariinsky Theatre La forza del destino

July 17: pianist Olga Kern

July 23 and 24: World premiere The Brothers Karamazov

As well as performances of Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades, Tristan und Isolde, Tosca, Don Giovanni, Carmen, The Love for Three Oranges, and all four operas of Wagner's Ring.

Seventy-nine days of pure bliss. The very thought of The Brothers Karamazov as an opera makes me want to scream with giddy excitement.

Semester Wrap-up

Finally the semester has ended. Finally. Despite the fact that it was one heck of a semester, I'm very glad its finished. 19 credit hours keep a person busy, and can drive that same person insane. Do I still have my sanity....I have no idea. So, we'll wrap up my second semester at the Jacobs School of Music in this way. Photos!! Bloomington in winter. I think I took this photo in February... Pei-Ting, my roommate from Interlochen, came to Bloomington in February to audition for IU.Joshua Bell and I after his recital with Jeremy Denk at IU on February 10. Yeah, he's awesome. And dang...I'm short. And I was wearing heels.Dmitri Hvorostovsky and I after a performance of Eugene Onegin at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, March 14. He's also awesome. And I'm still short. And still wearing heels.

omg eye contact!!Soprano Mary Cloud, myself, and soprano Jessica Skiba after our recitals in April. I'm a mezzo-soprano, although I sang "The trees on the mountains" from Susannah, a soprano aria, on my program. We're staying in mezzo territory for now, and I'm so glad. Opera Workshop!! Picnics during finals week.
Bloomington in the spring...

Infida! - Qual voce! ... - Di geloso amor sprezzato

And people wonder why I love opera...

Who says its cold in Russia? Its hawt!

After nearly 14 months of planning, waiting for tickets and then the performance, I finally saw Tchaikovsky's masterpiece Eugene Onegin, presented by the Lyric Opera of Chicago, with baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the title role. Early in the season, Hvorostovsky pulled out of half the performances, causing a bit of anxiety on this part, seeing as there was really only one performance that I could attend. Thankfully, he was singing that night. In fact, this was the last night he performed the role in Chicago, and supposedly for the rest of his career, according to Opera News in September 2006. The production by Robert Carson (presented at the Metropolitan Opera last season, and telecast across the world February 07) also featured Dina Kuznestova as Tatyana and Frank Lopardo as Lensky. Kuznestova's Tatyana was heartfelt and beautiful, with liquid high notes and a perfect Letter Scene. In the final scene of the opera, her face clearly showed Tatyana's anxiety as she struggles with the choice in front of her, and we knew that her final rejection of Onegin was concrete.

I wasn't sure how I felt about Lopardo's Lensky; his was a sound I wasn't used to in the role, but by the end of his first scene, he had won the audience over. His interpretation of "Kuda, kuda", sung just before the duel, was wrenching and heartbreaking. His Lensky almost seems to know that he'll die, making the aria all the more tragic.

But of course, Eugene Onegin cannot succeed without a strong baritone in the title role. And we had Dmitri Hvorostovsky, a singer who's name has become synonymous with Eugene Onegin. I had seen the telecast of the opera from the Met last year, with Hvorostovsky and Renee Fleming as Onegin and Tatyana, and his Onegin was cold and unsympathetic towards Tatyana. However, his present Onegin was much warmer and his rejection was easier to take, although it still breaks that heart to see. Instead of simply rejecting her in the traditional "Its not you, its me" fashion, which is how Hvorostovsky played it at the Met, he was much more paternal in turning from her affection, wanting to protect her. Only his last line in that scene was as heartbreaking as always "Learn to control yourself in the future. Not every man will be as understanding as me." (loosely translated) The rejection is always painful, and nothing Onegin could have said would have been easy on Tatyana. His flirtation with Olga in the party scene would have worked on anyone in the audience, and he dances well too. =) He played with cards and talked with Olga during Triqiet's song, and ignored Lensky's despair at Onegin's flirting with Olga. The duel scene had no scenery, with only the singers and the drama onstage. Most of the scene occurred in darkness, with the sun only appearing after Lensky was shot. Instead of taking a break in between the duel scene and the Polonaise, the time was used rather well. Hvorostovsky stepped away from Lensky's body and proceeded to change his costume with the help of several footmen. Needless to say, shirtless Dmitri was worth the price of admission. =) But perhaps the most passionate and emotionally intense moment in the opera occurred after Tatyana's exit, when Onegin, alone on stage, cries out in his despair. Hvorostovsky could not have expressed that very despair with any more perfection; it ripped your heart to shreds, although it was much deeper than that.

We waited by the stage door after the performance hoping to get a chance to see some of the singers. Some annoying (and reasonably untalented) saxophonist whom had been hanging around after Orfeo two seasons ago was again playing on the sidewalk. We saw a small crowd in the entryway by the stage door, and, assuming they also wanted to meet and greet, we went it. It was a good choice. We saw a few singers leave, but we either weren't sure who they were or how to pronounce their names, as in the case of the spectacular Ukrainian bass Vitalij Kowaljow, who sang Prince Gremin. But after about 10 minutes, there was a collective "Ahh!" as Dmitri Hvorostovsky and his white hair were spotted.

To answer the obvious question; yes, Hvorostovsky really is that good-looking, to the point of being overwhelming. He knows how to work a crowd and signed programs and answered questions, from the normal to the obscure. I was about 5th in line to talk to him, which I did. I worked with a former Italian diction coach of his while I was Interlochen, so I made sure to mention her. He seemed pleased and asked me to send her his love. Will gladly do. He also was kind enough to let me grab a photo.

Of course, I could post much more about the whole experience, but I'll spare you. I will say that Eugene Onegin is an underrated opera, and I wish that more people knew it. Anyone can relate to it, because everyone has experienced disappointment and regret, not to mention that Tchaikovsky knows how to express human emotion in a way that no one else has been able to. I adore this opera.