And...done

After one heck of a semester, I'm back at home and bouncing back from Bloomington. I've realized how much I've learned and grown in this semester, and when I look back on what I started with in January and what I've learned and accomplished in these 4 months, I'm a bit shocked. This semester, I...

-Made my operatic debut
-Covered another role
-Had a few "social" firsts
-Discovered that I'm a music theory nerd
-Started learning some "big girl" music (arias from The Rape of Lucretia, Semiramide, and Idomeneo, and my teacher gave me the okay to look at Mahler's Kindertotenlieder)
-Planned to go to Italy!!!
-Officially became an upper classman at IU
-Started planning my junior recital
-Had "the grad school talk" with my teacher, which sort of developed into...
-"The career talk"
-Decided to do an independent music theory study for the spring semester, studying the vocal works of Sergei Rachmaninoff

And of course there are many other experiences that have really changed me this semester, and while it was sometimes unpleasant, it's made me a better person. It's been a whilrwind of a semester, and it went by so fast.

Confusion

In theory, I should have all of my classes scheduled by now. But...there are always problems. This may involve me pleading with the Russian department about letting me be late to a class twice a week. This class conflicts for 10 minutes twice a week, and while my theory professor is ok with it, I have no word yet from the Russian department. In the words of my professor, "Well, you can go and beg on your knees and see what happens." But he said to not cry, because then he'd feel bad.

But in the spring semester next year (if it works out), I'll be working one-on-one with this same theory professor in an independent study course. For my topic, I've chosen to look at Rachmaninoff's songs and see how the poets he chose to set influenced his style. Of course, his later works are hugely different from his earlier ones, and I'm looking to see what the trends of poetry, or the styles of the poets he chose, had to do with that change. This professor is a Rachmaninoff specialist and only here for two years, so I want to take advantage of the opportunity to work with him. I met with him on Tuesday to discuss my topic, and we should be finalizing everything before the end of the semester.

The last weekend of The Most Happy Fella is coming tomorrow, and on Saturday are auditions for the first two operas of the season here! Then two weeks of class, three days of finals, and I'm done!

Snow!

Monday marked the first "official" rehearsal for Giulio Cesare with the entire cast and Maestro. As of today, we have a month until opening night.
The rehearsal itself, in my opinion, went quite well. We had an hour break in the middle, and instead of being a good student and practicing (I hadn't had a chance all day, seeing as I was busy from 9 a.m. until right then), I went to dinner with some of the other cast members. This was fun, because I made $5 in rehearsal that day after answering a question Maestro posed. Does this mean I'm a paid opera singer? ;)

The dinner crowd consisted of myself and my double, 4 countertenors, and a baritone. That's right, 4 countertenors. Before this show I didn't even know 4 countertenors. But we had a good time, and I enjoyed getting to know them a little better. Somehow we ended up talking about our dating lives and such, and after they talked about theirs, one of them asked me if I was seeing anyone. I said I wasn't (which is true), but that I'm working on it (which is also true). He looked me in the eye and said, "Oh don't worry, there are many fish in the pond, and the pond is a big place." I can honestly say I've never been asked about my love life before, especially in a group of people I don't know that well. But it made me laugh and I had a good time.

And to make this week even more interesting, the university closed today due to snow. There was already a few inches on the ground, but by noon we had a foot of snow. So, after watching a Disney movie with the housemates, we went out and played in the snow. I haven't played in the snow for years, so this was quite interesting. And, as many many many college students have done, we went tray sledding. That's all I'm saying about that. But now my body's a little worn out. We rounded out the snow day by watching The Fellowship of the Ring, the extended version. But I got work done afterwords in preparation for tomorrow's opera rehearsal. But the snow day was very much needed, and I had a blast!

Can I just move to Europe?

The concert yesterday went very well, in my opinion. The Bach really pulled itself together, and all of the soloists really sounded wonderful. And of course, the children's choir was just as adorable as is possible. As I said before, I could go on about the musicians, but I won't.
After the concert, I went to dinner with one of the other altos in choir, Alison. Her husband, Helmuth, is from Austria, and besides the three of us there was our choir director, Jon, another member of the choir, Kelly, a graduate piano student who sings with us, Alice, Heidi-Marie, Alison and Helmuth's daughter, and two Italian astrophysicists, Massimo and Claudia. I was definitely the youngest person there, but I didn't mind in the least; I've always gotten along better with adults then people my own age.
So, the first course is brought out. Yes, course. Sorry, I may get a little carried away. The first course was individual quiches and a mixed greens salad. I love quiche. A lot. So after we were finished, the main course is set out. We had almond-encrusted salmon accompanied by a sweet salsa. Along with this were sauteed zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, and basil, peas with shrimp, and a citrus rice dish with basil and maybe saffron. It was, in a word, amazing.
So I thought this might be the end. But no! There's more! After that came the bread and cheese. And really good European cheese. After the cheese came desserts. Homemade puff pastries and a coffee-chocolate mouse. And on top of all of this, when Alison invited me on Tuesday, and I mentioned that I was very excited to come, she said, "Oh, don't be. It's not going to be much."
omg.
But besides the wonderful food (this is honestly the best I've eaten in months), the company was great! Alison and Helmuth are very sweet and interesting people, and well rounded in many subjects. Discussion at the table covered everything from politics (both American and Italian) to things at church to literature to the stupid things undergraduates do (but I was informed that I do not fall into that category) to how Jon met Chelsea Clinton when he was at Yale. Part of the flavor of the conversation came from everyone's varied backgrounds. Jon grew up outside of New York City, Massimo and Claudia are from Rome (and moving to Paris by January), and here I am from Lake WobeDecatur. I didn't get back to my house until midnight, and was beyond tired; I'd been up since 7 that morning so that I get some studying done before Thomas picked me up for church at 10. But it was entirely worth the exhaustion.
And I'm thankful that I can have opportunities and experiences like this. Although it may sound odd, this is the sort of experience one doesn't expect to have when growing up in a place like Lake WobeDecatur. Being cast in an opera, learning Russian, and working with world-class artists also fall into this category. It blows my mind sometimes.

Almost done

My last coaching with Marcello before the break was on Friday. He told me that I've improved, and even sounded good on some parts. We had time after we were finished with the diction part, and went on to actually singing. As I've said before, he's on the pickiest coaches I've worked with, but brilliant. I've never really done recitative before this, and he's been a great help making it sound good.
In about 45 minutes I'll be getting picked up for the choir concert at my church down here in Bloomington. We're performing a bunch of different Christmas and Advent selections, including Bach's cantata "Hertz und Mund und That und Leben". Even though this is a volunteer choir, we've actually got a voice major on each part plus quite a few people who know what they're doing. Jon, our director, got a few members of the Early Music Institute (EMI) to be our orchestra, plus some outside soloists (he told me and the tenor in our choir that he would have picked us for those solos, but I came in kind of late and the tenor had his junior recital to prepare). Our soprano soloist was in opera workshop with me last year, singing Maria to my Anita in "A Boy Like That", and is actually the one who introduced me to this church down here. The bass soloist sang Figaro here last year and Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor this fall. His voice sounds slightly like Nathan Gunn's, only with more "bass" qualities. He's also one of the funniest people I've ever met, and Jeff and Kelli's (our pastors) kids just love him. I could go on but I'll stop.
My first two finals are tomorrow; Russian at 8:00 am (honestly, Russian is a language that really shouldn't be spoken before 10:00 am. It's unhealthy) and French at 12:30. Then nothing until my music theory final Friday at 12:30. I have no idea what the heck I'm going to do for three days, and really wish I could take it earlier (already tried, won't work sadly) and get home sooner.

All fached up

Today I sang for the first and last time an aria from Britten's Billy Budd. This opera is based on the novella of the same name by Herman Melville, and has an all male cast. There's not even a pants role, sadly. Therefore, I'll never be in this opera. But in English diction, I got a chance to sing one of the arias as part of an "all fached up" day.
Surprisingly, very few people sang, especially given the excitement that had gone into setting this up. There were three of us who sang something we'll never sing again. A tenor sang "My man's gone now" from Porgy and Bess in his falsetto, and blew everyone away. Seriously, his high C is better than most women's. He might consider a career as a countertenor. One of the other women in the class sang "Joey" from The Most Happy Fella, which nearly every baritone sang this year at cattle calls. In fact, between that and the many people who sang it in her studio, that's how she learned it. And I sang "And farewell to ye, old Rights o Man" from Billy Budd. It's a very beautiful piece, and surprisingly tonal by Britten's standards. Billy sings this only minutes before he's hanged for killing Claggart, and in these final moments he explains that he's at peace, and that all of the horrible things that are about to happen to him don't matter now. I felt like I sang it well, but after I was done, Ms. McNair said to me, "Didn't you just feel the energy in the room that you created? It was wonderful!" And then went on to explain that no matter what you're singing, if you take it seriously, so will the audience. She then said to me, "You go and be Billy Budd!"
Later in the class, she herself sang "The Devil went down to Georgia" and played the violin part. It was, to say the least, freaking amazing.

What?

My week:
Russian exam
"All fached up" day in English diction
French listening exam
English diction exam
Theory homework
Italian diction coaching for Giulio Cesare
Musical coaching for Giulio Cesare
Voice lesson
Work on theory project
Church choir rehearsal
Dinner with Stephanie in celebration of her engagement

Oranges, shoes, and pancakes

Since it's closing night tonight, I'll post some photos from The Love for Three Oranges.

These are the infamous blue shoes I wear in the opera. Fabulous, no?

Members from my studio in the opera. From left; Jessica as a Romanic, Jerome as an Eccentric, Ariel as a Tragical. Leah as Fata Morgana, me as a Comical, Charlotte as a Romanic, and Kelly as Princess Ninetta.
Towards the end of the opera, the King sings that Leander, Clarissa, and Smeraldina are sentenced to "death by hanging." After one of the dress rehearsals, David (in the photo, another chorus member), being his usual funny self, declared, "death by pancakes". Now it's hard to keep a straight face during that part of the opera. Thanks.

Also, we're having an "all fached up" day in my English diction class. Before I continue; "fach" is a German word that is used to talk about voice types. It's not a curse word. Anyway, for this "all fached up" class, we can sing something we'd never sing in real life. For example, one of the tenors is going to sing "Glitter and be Gay" from Candide. And me? "And farewell to ye, old Rights o Man" from Billy Budd, which is a baritone aria; I'll sing it in my octave though. And be channeling Nathan Gunn the whole time.

Giulio Cesare Dicton Boot Camp

My first diction coaching for Giulio Cesare was on Wednesday. We're fortunate to have an Italian, Marcello, as one of our vocal coaches/accompanists, and he's also helping us out with the Italian diction. I haven't taken Italian yet, but I did have some diction coachings back at Interlochen with Donna, and I feel like I've got a good ear for languages. So, I thought my Italian would be in at least decent shape.
So, after my lesson, I wnet up one more flight of stairs to Marcello's office, and we begin the coaching. I read the text aloud, and he corrected me. I didn't realize just how many small intricacies there were in Italian diction, like the implied double consonants. I didn't seem to be screwing up on too many ideas, but the ones I did were huge; consonants and vowels. Marcello told me often, "No, you're using too much consonants, and your vowels aren't pure." I actually didn't realize I was putting diphthongs in some of these words, and its harder than heck to not say them. But Marcello was really a huge help. I was able to mention that I hadn't taken Italian yet, and he said, "Oh! Well you're doing well then." And whenever I would come close to saying something correctly, he would sort of jump in his chair and say, "This is best one." So now I have a lot of work to do between now and our next coaching, which will probably be after the Thanksgiving break.
Speaking of Thanksgiving...
It can't come soon enough. End of story. This semester has been my roughest yet in more ways than one, and it has left me totally exhausted. My white noise machine has helped me sleep, but I still haven't felt rested in about a month. So this break and a chance to have some quiet will be greatly appreciated.

"You'll see a performance, a special kind of opera, striking and original..."

Last night was la prima of The Love for Three Oranges at IU. My parents came down to Bloomington for the performance, which I thought went very well. I never cease to be amazed at how much energy is gained from having an audience. The house was fairly well filled up too, which was nice. The group of the chorus I'm in, the Comicals, actually start out in the house, sitting with everyone else. And because of our costumes, we all got some bizarre looks, like "Doesn't that girl realize that dress went out of style 15 years ago?"

If anyone is interested, all performances will be streamed live via the IU website, starting at 7:45 in the evening (central time). You can access it here. =)

But my costume. Oh my the costume. Well, here's a photo.

One of the baritones in the cast told me at intermission "Girl, whenever I see your floral dress, I just want to puke." It made me laugh. Too bad you can't see the cobalt blue shoes in this photo.

Now I can actually talk about this.

It's official! The lists are posted!

I bought my score early this week and am busy learning my role. Nireno does have an aira, but it is often cut, as it will be in this production. Obviously, there are going to be lots of cuts, because Giulio Cesare uncut is almost Wagnerian in length. Since the aria is cut (I actually haven't seen it in any editions of the score), my entire role is recitative, plus the small ensemble at the very end. I've really never done recitative before, so this will be extremely good for me, and will really push me as far as memorization. Nireno is actually a very interesting character; he's an instigator, telling many of the characters, especially Cleopatra, "No, don't do that. Why don't you do this instead?" and working behind the scenes for his favorable outcome. This namely involves getting Cleopatra and Ceasar to hook up and for someone to take down Tolomeo. And these both happen.

Thursday the entire cast met with our conductor. The opera isn't until next semester (last weekend in March, first weekend in February), but learning the stylistic elements and preparation needs to begin as soon as possible. I only knew a few of the other singers going into the production, and a few others I had seen but really never met. I dashed to the basement of the MAC (Musical Arts Center) as soon as our first staging rehearsal for The Love for Three Oranges, of which I am in the chorus, was over. In the basement where all the dressing rooms and such are, I saw two or three guys who appear to be looking for something. I was right in assuming that they were also looking for the same room I was. One of them says to me, "Oh, are you in the cast? How wonderful!" and introduced himself. We finally found the room, which turned out to be the women's chorus dressing room, all ready for The Merry Wives of Windsor, which opens next weekend. My first impression on meeting the entire cast is that I'm very young. When I say young, I mean I'm the only person under 20 in the entire cast. Consequently, I feel like a small child. But I'm excited to learn this role and be a part of this wonderful and beautiful opera!

Here's a closer look at the cast list. I still can't believe my name is actually on it.

Breaking News

I found out only a few hours ago that I've been cast as Nireno in IU Opera Theater's production of Giulio Cesare! I'm absolutely beside myself with happiness and cannot believe this has happened!! More updates to come.

More freak-outs

Here's what my last week or so has been like:


Monday, 22 September: I receive an e-mail that golden age soprano and former Jacobs School Distinguished Professor of Voice Virginia Zeani (who sang with everybody; think Corelli, Simionato, Domingo, Pavarotti, del Monaco...you get the idea) will be giving two masterclasses here in honor of her 60th anniversary of her operatic debut as Violetta, which coincides with IU Opera Theater's 60th anniversary. And we opened this season with La Traviata. I sign up for the Wednesday masterclass, prepared to sing "Parto, ma tu ben mio". This is big stuff, guys.


Wednesday, 24 September: I sing for Miss Zeani in the masterclass. I was very pleased with how I sang, one of those few circumstances where I walk away from a performance feeling very happy. Miss Zeani turns to me and asks, "Tell me, have you ever considered that you might be a soprano?" I told her that I had, but that I feel more comfortable as a mezzo. She said, "Very good. You have a very beautiful voice, very lyric. Your legato is very beautiful, and your diction is excellent. I just thought, 'She has such a beautiful voice, maybe she could sing Mimi, or "Senza Mama" or other Puccini.' But if you feel more comfortable as a mezzo, then stay there. Sing what you love. You can do Mozart, and someday Werther."
Alice, my teacher, who was a student of Miss Zeani and lived with her for 12 years, talked to her afterwords about the soprano/mezzo debate, since this has been an ongoing thing with my voice. They both agreed that I should stay a mezzo for now, but later on I may move into soprano repertoire. Like, 15 years from now.


Thursday, 25 September: Miss Zeani gives a closed masterclass for students of three specific studios, one of which was the one I'm in. I soaked up every word she said in these masterclasses. She's done so much, sung with so many people, and knows so much that its impossible not to. And on top of that, she's a very fun and sweet person, full of stories about everyone you can think of, and has a great sense of humor. Basically, I want to be Virginia Zeani. My parents considered naming me Virginia, you know, but obviously didn't pick it. Zeani's first teacher's name was Lydia though. So there you go.


Friday, 26 September: I see that I have a new voicemail on my phone, and I listen to it. It's a message from Alice; "Hi Lydia, this is Alice. Please call me back as soon as you can. Bye." Of course, my first thought is that someone has died. I don't know why, but that's what I thought. But then I thought, "Why would she be calling me?" So, I called her back promptly. She tole me, "I got a call from the opera casting committee, and they want to you to do a callback for Julius Caesar next Thursday, singing Cornelia's 'Priva son'." I have never been more stunned and surprised in my entire life, and never never never imagined this would or could happen. I kept saying "ohmygod ohmygod" over and over and feeling absolutely and genuinely shocked.

Saturday, 27 September through Wednesday, 1 October: Prepare for callback. Insert embellishments to A section in the da capo. The aria is memorized.

Thursday, 2 October: I skipped my morning classes to get physically and mentally warmed up and prepared for the callback. When I get to the MAC (Musical Arts Center, where we perform all of our operas), I'm, of course, early. But once everyone shows up, I realized that there have been 4 mezzos called back for this role. That's right, 4. Three graduate students and myself. And since everything is double-cast, this means I have a 50% chance of being cast. I'm not hopeful that this will happen, since I'm only a sophomore, but I'm still thrilled I got called back. I was the first to sing, and despite a less-than-perfect beginning few measures, I believe I sang well. I was very nervous for many reasons, but overall I am happy with how I sang. The casting committee is made up of about a third of the voice faculty (it changes every two years, I think), plus conductors and directors. My teacher isn't on the casting committee this year, but I told her to keep my posted if she hears anything about how I sang. So....we'll have to see what happens. As I said before, I don't anticipate being cast, as much as I would love to be.