There are some things only a baritone can do...

Leather pants falls into this category. Proves once again that Dmitri Hvorostovsky is, well, amazing.

Graduation!

I did it! High school is finished. I graduated from Interlochen last Saturday at the end of a very exciting and busy week. Classes finished up on the Wednesday before graduation, with finals and other tests. Thursday and Friday were what is known as Festival; in other words, as many performances as can be fit into a day, each drawing very good-sized crowds. Opera Workshop on Thursday was totally full, making my entrance and exit a little difficult; thank goodness I didn't trip over anyone running out of the house. But the performance went very well, especially by Festival standards. The choir concert on Friday also went well, giving a final farewell to my days at Interlochen.

But of course, Saturday was the big day; graduation. I was given the Senior Honors cords Friday night at Honors Convocation, which I proudly wore on Saturday. The ceremony was beautiful, with performances from three of our five valedictorians, the other two giving speeches. Yes, we had five valedictorians. Five. President Kimpton's speech to the class was more than thoughtful, encouraging us to remain true to our art, but to also live in the real world. After all, art is meant for the fulfillment of the masses, not exclusively the artists.

After graduation, I said good-bye to my friends and teachers, packed up the remainder of my luggage, and drove the long drive home. I was able to go to my friend Emma's grad party (she's a day student) and say good-bye to her, and Mrs. Gaede (aka God) was also there. I sort of freaked out.

Am I glad that its finally done with? Yes, because it burnt me out from the intensity. But also no, because there is the possibility that I may never see some of those people again, and I miss them. But even after going through the misfortunes of a crazy roommate, extreme homesickness, a pseudo-Siberian winter, letdowns, there ended up being more positive than negative. I am most definitely glad that I chose to spend my last year of high school at Interlochen, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Opera again

Just don't ask.

The spring program for Interlochen's Opera Workshop class was presented on Saturday night, and an encore performance will occur next Thursday, during Festival. This program was very different from last semester's; we performed in the Chapel instead of Corson, there were few costumes (don't worry, we wore black, no nudity involved. It wasn't Salome), and instead of full chamber operas or acts of full scale operas, we performed scenes, which included everything from Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea to Frank Loesser's The Most Happy Fella.

Some of Interlochen's finest just "Standing on the corner, watching all the girls go by."

Last semester's program consisted of tear-jerkers; women dying of TB and Irish men drowning. But once again in contrast, this program was gnerally happy or touching, with the occasional touch of the bizarre. The only piece not sung in English was "Bei Mannern wilche Liebe fuhlen" from Mozart's The Magic Flute. Really, its too good to sing in English.

Sarah Powell as Pamina and Garret Rubin as Papagano. This duet was certainly the most adorable piece on the entire program.

Big kudos went to tenor Austin Barret, who stepped in at the last moment as Nanki-Poo in a duet from The Mikado; the tenor originally cast was expelled last week. Lucky for us, Austin is the biggest Gilbert and Sullivan fan around, and already knew the piece by heart. And not only did he learn dialogue and staging in a day, but he performed the role with amazing high notes and humor.

Austin Barret as Nanki-Poo.

I sang in Scene Seven from Britten's The Turn of the Screw. It was perhaps the most bizarre piece on the program, and certainly the most disturbing; the whole opera is more than creepy, but the music is mind-blowing. I sang the role of Miss Jessel, the dead governess who is trying to claim the soul of her former charge, Flora. The music for Jessel sits at the top of the staff most of the time, but it fits my voice perfectly, and I hope I get an opportunity to sing the entire role some day.

Emma Grettenberger as Mrs. Grose, Sarah Powell as Flora, and Erin O'Leary as the Governess. I made my entrance from the back of the Chapel, and put Flora into a trance-like state. So, in this picture, we are maintaining eye contact, which turned out to play out very well.

As Miss Jessel. Heck yes I got to be creepy.

Opera Workshop Crew, 2007.

Recital Fever...

Recital season is up and running at Interlochen, with about five senior recitals every weekend. I gave a recital last Monday night, the result of months of work. My parents were able to come up here for the recital, driving in the day of and leaving Tuesday morning after a cup of coffee at the Melody Freeze. Overall, I felt that the recital went very well. I was nervous (obviously)at the beginning, but the nerves slowly went away, and I felt more confident as the recital progressed. I felt that my Elgar pieces and the "Seguidilla" were my best performances of the evening. The Elgar pieces are more than difficult, and I had to pace myself so that I didn't run out of vocal resources by the time I got to "The Swimmer". And after that, I was on a vocal high that enabled me to loosen up for the "Seguidilla" and become Carmen for a minute and a half.

I was pleased with the results of all my hard work. After all of my stuggles this past year, I still made progress and survived. Not only have I survived my year at Interlochen, but I thrived. I'm very excited to say that I will be graduating from Interlochen with Honors, something only 55 of us are doing. It's strange to think that I'll be finished with my time at Interlochen in a month. It's a month I never thought would come, but here it is, and I've made it through!

Lydia's going to college!

I'm going to college! After many days of not getting the mail for fear of getting rejection letters from colleges, I finally got the letter I was looking for. "You have been recommended for admission to the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music." IU has long been my top choice for college, so getting in was very exciting for me. I guess my audition went better than I thought it did. So, next year I will be attending IU, majoring in Vocal Performance. I'm beyond excited! I'll be the fourth generation of Dahlings to go to IU; I think the first time I was on campus I was two years old or close to that. IU's always been part of the family legacy, and I find it difficult to remember a time when I hadn't heard of the University. I'm just so ecstatic that I've been accepted to IU!

Mozart, recital juries,learning Britten, falling down...all in a week's work

The last two weeks have been some of the busiest this year. Choir had our sacred music concert last Friday, which consisted of Mozart's Solemn Vespers, a Swedish piece called Saul (we didn't sing it in Swedish, thank goodness), and three hymn tunes with organ. The Mozart piece was done with a small chamber orchestra. Like most sacred masses and oratorios, there were solo parts, in this case a quartet in most movements and the famous soprano solo "Laudate Dominum", which is nothing but beautiful. I sang the alto solo in the "Confitebur" movement. It was the first time that I had sung solo with orchestra, and I was a bit nervous, but it turned out very well in the end, and I was more than pleased with the outcome of the concert. I'll admit, it was nothing less of exciting to sing with an orchestra. And to be singing Mozart with orchestra...amazing!

Rehearsals for Opera Workshop have begun; this semester's program has more, shorter pieces than before. I'm doing English opera again, this time the lake scene from Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw. I'm singing the role of Miss Jessel, the former governess (former because she's dead) to Miles and Flora, who, with the former manservant (also dead) Peter Quint, are trying to corrupt the children, and the new Governess is trying to prevent it, all the while not sure if it is actually happening, or if it is something of her imagination. Actually, it's one of the creepiest things I've ever come across, but it's wonderful music, and I'm very excited!

The jury for my senior recital was yesterday, and I got it! I had been nervous, mostly because my health seemed to be finally letting down its guard. It started on Saturday when I fell twice on the ice on the way to my first class, causing my head and legs to hurt and to leave me covered in water and a few bruises. Lovely. But after that it seemed that my throat was rather dry. Of course the two had nothing in common, only that they happened around the same time. So, after a trip to health services, I was told that my throat was a little red and that my tonsils were slightly swollen. I took some medication, gargled warm salt water, had some Cold Eeze, and went to bed very early. I had also felt very tired for the whole week, which I think was due more to stress and exhaustion than anything. Good think Spring Break is coming up, and I can sleep...

More Auditions

Last weekend I found myself in Bloomington for my Indiana University Jacobs School of Music audition. As far as auditions go, this was the one I was looking the most forward to, and also the one that caused me the most nerves.

My parents picked me up from Interlochen Wednesday after classes, and, after a long car ride, I arrived at home. I spent the night at home and after sleeping in on Thursday, my mom and I drove down to Bloomington, a very short drive compared to the drive to Interlochen. We stayed at a very sketchy Eccano Lodge that looked like it should be in "CSI: Bloomington" or "Law and Order: University Inspectors Unit". But it was fine. After wandering around Bloomington for a while, we returned to the hotel and got a good night's sleep.

Friday morning, we arrived at the Musical Arts Center (MAC) a little after 8 in the morning to see what my schedule was for the day. I had a music theory placement test in the morning, which wasn't a big deal. My audition, however, was a big deal (big duh there, let's point out the obvious). The audition was at 5:00 (4:58 if you want to be exact), and after warming up, I arrived at the room, and since I was early, I was able to sing about half an hour before I was supposed to.

This was by far the most nerve-wracking audition. My knees shook the entire time. Walking into that room, and finally doing something that I've been looking forward to for five or so years, was truly scary, but at the same time exciting. I only sang half of my Elgar piece, since it's so long, and after a shaky start, I managed to get control of it. I think the accompanist could sense my freaking-out when I was showing him the cut for the Elgar. "It's OK," or something like that. The high A at the end was good, in my opinion, which made me happy. I also sang my Bellini piece, which also went well, at least I hope so. I couldn't really tell what kind of reaction the faculty had, which didn't help the nerve factor. I've most definitely sung better, but I didn't crash and burn. I'm just dying to know how I did; I'll be in a perpetual state of freak out until I find out.

Friday night, my mom and I went to see Richard Strauss's Arabella at the IU Opera Theatre. It is a beautiful opera, and the performance was lovely. The singers were wonderful, and the production was beautiful; the sets and costumes were breathtaking. During intermission, I talked with an usher that had been a councilor at the DePauw Vocal Arts Camp two summers ago when I went. She graduated from DePauw and now studies at IU, and I was able to get her opinion on both schools.

We returned home Saturday afternoon, after having lunch with Laura and Nicole; it is always good to see familiar faces. We had snow and Simon Boccanegra on the drive home. Thomas Hampson is amazing.

So how do I feel about my IU audition? I don't know. I still can't tell how I did. I don't know how I stacked up compared to the other voice students that auditioned, or how tough it was to actually get from the screening round to the audition. There were parts of the audition I was glad about, like the high A that caused all of the faculty listening to look up, but there were other parts that were not so good, like having the accompanist step on the gas in the Elgar, even though I got back on track, and it seemed to turn out fine, but who knows? Of course I wish I could have a second chance, just to prove I can sing better. If I could know how I did, I think I would feel a lot better about the whole thing. So now I wait for the acceptance or rejection letter. The nerves are on end. Let's just say there's been a lot of praying going on...

Life is good...

Got to hear the last act of Eugene Onegin...life is good.

Audition Round 1 and some Pirates

Last weekend was the first of my college auditions. It seemed strange to finally be auditioning for colleges, since it is something that I've thought about and looked forward to since my freshman year. Last Friday, my parents picked me up from Interlochen and we drove to Lansing, Illinois (Chicago suburb, just south of Calumet City, home of the Blues Brothers), where my Aunt Jan lives. We spent the night there and went into Chicago Saturday for my audition with Roosevelt University. I think the audition went very well, especially for a first audition, and I was pleased with how it went. I was very nervous while warming up, but once I got myself under control, all was well. Didn't get to sing for Sam Ramey, but a student in the lobby showed me her aria book, which he signed, along with many other singers. I about fell to my knees.

Of course, half of the fun of this audition was getting to spend time in Chicago, which was time well spent. Ahhh, Chicago....

After another night in Lansing, my parents and I made our way back to Interlochen. I had my audition for DePauw University on campus on Monday. DePauw is one of my top choices, so I really wanted this audition to go well. I was feeling secure from the Roosevelt audition, especially with the Elgar piece I'm singing; "The Swimmer" from his song cycle for contralto Sea Pictures. It's a long piece that is very demanding vocally, with it's low Gs and As, and the final high A at the end. However, my DePauw audition did not go as well as I had hoped, although it was far from crash-and-burn. There had been a lot of time between when I warmed up and when I sang (they were slightly behind schedule), and I was still tired from spending a lot of time in the car and traveling. I breathed in some wrong places, and my brain had a huge leak during my Italian piece, but I fixed it in time. I had a lesson with the voice professor that came up for the auditions, and that went very very very well. I had worked with her two summers ago in a Master Class at DePauw's Vocal Arts Camp, and she remembered who I was, which was good. As I said before, the lesson went very well, and I felt that it overrode what hadn't gone well in the actual audition. I won't even go into my sight-reading...

Also this week was The Pirates of Penzanze presented by the Carl Rosa Opera Company, which is based in the UK. Even though I'm not the biggest Gilbert and Sullivan fan, I do enjoy Pirates, and I loved it! The baritone who sang the Pirate King sang, and looked, like bass Rene Pape. He stole the show. Two of the singers, Barry Clark as Major General Stanley and Rosemary Ashe as Ruth, were in the original cast of The Phantom of the Opera, singing the roles of Piangi and Carlotta. I remember listening to my recording of the musical as a child over and over and over until one of the tapes broke, and I never thought that I would ever see any of those singers perform. So, in that respect, it was even more incredible. Both singers are past their prime, but Ashe's high notes are still unmistakable. The rest of the singers were also very good, with a Juan Diego Florez-ish tenor as Frederick, a very loud (and sometimes a bit flat) soprano as Mabel, and a very good supporting cast. I was lucky enough to have a seat in the second row, enabling me to capture the wonderful facial expressions and such of the singers.

More auditions coming up in the following weeks. I'll keep posting!

What I won't be hearing or seeing on Saturday...

Dmitri Hvorostovksy in the title role of Eugene Onegin.

Opera!

Here is the full report from Opera Workshop weekend! Both performances went very well. We were all feeling confident after the Thrusday dress rehearsal, although another rehearsal in Corson would have been a good thing. However, the Nylons were there on Friday night, so we were unable to rehearse then. Corson is the biggest space I've ever sung in, except maybe for the Performing Arts Center (oh I'm sorry, the Arts United Center), but since it was opera, we were not miked. We had a shell around the sets, so the entire stage was not used. Otherwise, I don't think we could have been heard.

This is the inside of Corson, with the stage set for Act IV of La Boheme.

I sang on the Sunday performance. My parents were supposed to have come for it, but a blizzard in Grand Rapids prevented that from happening. I called them on Saturday, the day they were to have arrived, and they said that the highway had been closed and that they were staying in a hotel for the night, and perhaps they could come tomorrow, if Old Man Winter was permitting. However, the conditions did not improve much, and my parents came home the next day without being able to come to my performance. All of were very upset by this, naturally, and they wanted to be there more than anything, but it just was not possible. However, one of the moms taped the performance, so they'll have a copy soon! Another guy made an audio recording as well, which I'll also have to get my hands on.

This is the Sunday cast of Riders to the Sea with Kevin McLaughlin as Bartley, Sarah Powell as Cathleen, Emily Thebaut as Nora, and me as Maurya, with my old woman make-up.

Even though I was upset by my parents's not being at the performance, I was able to channel that emotion into the role. Maurya is an emotional role, similar in some ways to Verdi's Azucena, only not as crazy and much more accepting of the situation at hand. During the opera's final scene, when the body of Bartley is brought into the house, my emotions began to get the better of me, and a few tears were shed. I know this is a BIG no-no in opera, but the tears weren't enough to hurt my voice or my performance. I had plenty of long interludes to swallow and get control of myself, and it was fine. Had I totally broken down and started openly weeping, that would have been a different story. And I wasn't the only one onstage crying either; at the end of the opera, I looked at Sarah and Emily, who were playing my daughters, and we all had tears in our eyes. After the stage went dark and we went backstage, all of the emotion just let loose, especially seeing the other dead sons come onstage and "wake up" Bartley to come and joint them. I think that was one of the most powerful moments in the whole opera, and I'm so glad we got the lighting to do it. As I said before, I think the performance went very well. I was thankful for the compliments that I received, and very glad that people enjoyed it. I even got a hug from Ms. P.(!), which made me have a freak out in my head.

Here's another pic from Riders to the Sea. I once again am Maurya, with Sarah Powell as Cathleen and Emily Thebaut as Nora. Yes, I know I look a little funny, but I had to get the traditional-opera-throw-my-hand-out-to-the-side-for-emphasis gesture. And who really looks good while singing?

Here's the Sunday La Boheme quartet; Paul Wilt as Marcello, Austin Barrett as Rodolfo, Garrett Rubin as Schaunard, and Andrew Bogard as Colline.

Here are the two Collines; Beak San Kang and Andrew Bogard.

Me on my off night ( although all women were in the Riders chorus) with Sarah Powell and Emma Grettenburger, who sang the role of Cathleen on Saturday.

So, even though the disappointment of my parents not being able to see my first big performance at Interlochen, and even though the air feels like Siberia on a bad day, the performances were a huge success! They were very well received, and those who came seemed to enjoy it.

Suddenly I feel like I'm living in Yuriatin

Yuriatin, for those of you who haven't found the joys of Doctor Zhivago, is a town in that book. So, as I'm sure you've guessed, it's freaking cold here. More on that some other time.

As some of you know, I am now living in a new room. There had been some issues with my old roommate that became very apperent this past fall, and as much as we tired to resolve them, I finally came to the conclusion that a switch was necessary. So last Monday, with the help of Sarah and Jessie, I moved into my new room. My roommate and suitmates are all very nice girls, and it's a great situation.

This is Jessie and Sarah, the two girls who helped me move. They're awesome!!

Opera Workshop performances are this weekend (whoo!!!!). Our dress rehearsal was yesterday, which went very well. Here are just a few pictures I took, and I promise there will be more after the performances are done.

The first photo is of me as Maurya in Vaughn Williams's Riders to the Sea, with Sarah Powell as Cathleen and Emily Thebaut as Nora. The second one is of Matt Kirby and Austin Barrett as Rodolpho in La Boheme (we're double-cast), and Katie Smiley as Nora in Riders.

Bear Down Chicago Bears

Here's a treat for all of you: a video of The Super Bowl Shuffle from 1986. Go Bears!!!!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ1ryCgzDn8

Semester's End

1 semester down, 1 to go. I finished my finals yesterday, and new classes start on Tuesday. I'm actually sad that I'm done with my Russian Lit class, and I hope that Psychological Lit can stack up to it. We read Crime and Punishment among other things, so it's got to be good. We finished up Russian lit with the poem Requiem by Anna Ahkmatova. It's one of the most powerful and haunting pieces I've ever read. It's so subtle in describing the Soviet regime, and yet she cuts the reader to the core. Opera is in two weeks, and then college auditions begin two weeks after that, with two in one weekend.

We've had snow nearly every day since the we came back after break. It's pretty outside, but really cold as well. The students from the South have gotten used to the cold and the snow, but we'll all be sick of it come March, or April, or whenever it stops. It's reported to have snowed on graduation, oh the horror!

I have a digital camera now! Lydia's moving up in the techno world. Will an iPod be next? (gasps of shock and awe). Probably not. I'll post pictures as soon as I can figure it out to do it.

Book things

This is something I discovered from David. Get the nearest book and go to page 123, sentence 5. My nearest book was the French book that Seth gave me. On page 123, which happens to be the part of the book containing a section from Les Miserables, the sentence is this:

"Elle repondit."

It's quite interesting. Try it out!

Nessun Dorma...yes I know none of this has to do with Turandot, but I think you can figure it out.

Saw Sleeping Beauty with the Interlochen ballet last week, and it was amazing! Dance was one of the art areas that I hadn't seen anything of (except a short piece at Collage this fall), and I don't quite know what I was expecting, but it was wonderful! I'd say that some of the dancers, the men in particular, were just as good or better than what I've seen at Fort Wayne Ballet.

Just finished listening to Don Carlo on the Met broadcast; it's one of the great things about being home, since I have classes on Saturday's and can't listen to them. I had been looking forward to this broadcast for weeks, for many reasons. First, it's Don Carlo, enough said. Second, the cast was loaded (Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Rene Pape, Samuel Ramey, Olga Borodina, Patricia Racette, Johan Botha), Dmitri and Sam being two of my all time favorite singers. The only thing that could have made it better would be Placido Domingo singing the title role, although Botha did it justice. I've listened to many of the broadcasts over the years, but I don't recall the audience ever being this wild; they went crazy for the singers! The applause for the Friendship Duet, The King's Study Scene Aria, Eboli's O don fatale, Rodrigo's Death Scene, Elisabetta's Tu che la vanita, and the final curtain calls (Rene Pape and Dmitri Hvorostovsky in particular) were the loudest I've ever heard. It's such a wonderful opera, and even though it's very long and a bit complicated (had to watch the video about 5 times before I finally figured out the politics that go on in it), it's one of my favorites. The major characters are all very complex with great music to sing. The ending is a little strange, but who really cares? I don't, it's still great music. Rodrigo's Death Scene always makes me cry, and this was not an acception, especially with Hvorostovsky singing it. He sang the first phrase of O Carlo, ascolta in one breath! I love it I love it!!

Just in case you were wondering...and yes I know this is the third post in two days!

Here's the link to the video I found on You Tube of the Alagna-La Scala mishap. I haven't figured out how to actually post videos on this thing, and knowing me, I probably won't. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whqtu4A9a88

Oh, and one more thing

What's the world coming to these days? Placido Domingo was booed at the Met, where he was conducting a performance of La Boheme. Yes, Domingo got booed. Apparently he and Anna Netrebko (singing Mimi) weren't together some of the time. Critics say she sang beautifully, and that Domingo was just, well, not that good. I'd bet money egos had a little more to do with it than music or tempi. Who knows? I'm sure it got a bit overlooked due to the Roberto Alagna La Scala mishap. To update on that, they've called the police to prevent him from entering the building. This just keeps getting better and better...

Not that anyone really cares, but...

Tenor Roberto Alanga has been fired from La Scala. That's right, FIRED! After an apparently horrific "Celeste Aida" on Sunday night, he left the stage when the audience booed him, complete with an oh-so-Dahling wave of the hand. Of course, he said that it wasn't deserved. So, he got fired.

I've been reading another opera blog that is describing the whole saga (right from the heart of Milan), and it's nasty, folks. Alanga even got dissed by Franco Zeffirelli (it was his production of Aida), which is like a getting a death sentence, and what he said was nothing less of scathing. Of course, one might feel a little sorry for povero Roberto, but considering he said that he was bravissimo that night, but I really don't. I like his voice, but I've heard he can be a bit cocky, and here's a prime example. And he sounded well...um...Not so great on that aira (found the clip via YouTube).

I'd say this is about the biggest thing to hit opera controversy since the Kathleen Battle mishap, although some would put the "Little Black Dress" saga up there too. But even most of the huge divas or divos don't walk offstage in the manner of Alagna. Granted, it was rude of the audience to boo him, but this is La Scala; they've booed everyone.

So, things could get fairly interesting, for lack of a better word. We'll see if Alagna ever is hired to sing there again; right now his Manon Lescaut contract is up in the air, as is his wife's for La Traviata. Maybe we'll see Roberto and Angela slinging hash at McDonald's.

Squirrel attack!

In a week's time, Interlochen has gone from grey skies and rather warm temperatures to what looks like Siberia. There's about a foot of snow, and it keeps on coming down, although not nearly as much as it was last Friday, when it snowed for 12 hours. That on top of studying Communism and reading the "Grand Inquisitor" chapter out of The Brothers Karamazov really puts one in a cheery mood. The chapter is one of the most interesting things I've read, by the way, it just takes a lot out of you. No wonder Ivan was wiped out after reciting the whole thing to Alyosha.

Finally, after many days of wondering, I received my ARTS results. I didn't get any money, and my score was not what I had hoped it would be. But considering the day I recorded I was emotionally fried, I'm not that surprised, but rather somewhat frustrated.

Staging rehearsals began for Opera Workshop, and although we haven't actually staged much of it, we did a great deal of discussing the characters, a very insightful conversation. Some of the ideas Mr. Gentry has for Riders to the Sea are really interesting, like showing all Maurya's dead sons at the moment she mentions how they died or beginning by showing the final scene, with Bartley's body on the table. A lot of it depends on what lighting options are available to us.

A squirrel got into Mor and Rachele's room a few days ago. Somehow it figured out how to open up the window and got in. What is it with me and squirrels? They're taking over Interlochen, like the crows in Terre Haute, but we won't go into that.