Of Packing and Other Demons

One of the things few people know about me is that I detest packing. Really, I do. I never know what to take, what I will or won't need, and how to efficiently get it all in a suitcase. And I always forget something- my glasses, contact solution, extra batteries, or some other thing that has to be sent in the mail. I'm trying to pack fairly light for this trip, taking the clothes I'll need for my Elixer of Love chorus costumes (sun dress and a cocktail dress), the opera scenes and St. Christopher concert clothes, and of course, what I need to wear every day (uh, doiyey!) I'm bringing Tolstoy's Resurrection with me too, and my laptop and camera. And lots of batteries, because my camera uses them up like no one's business.

This morning I did get information about my host family from the Scuola. I don't know who they are, but was told that they will be waiting for me at the bus station in Urbania. I'm very glad I chose to live with a host family instead of sharing an apartment with other students. My Italian is next to nonexistent, so trying to convey questions such as, "When do you want me to come home at night?" and "Do you have Internet?" might be a challenge. But a good one. :)

I still can't believe I'll be in Italy this week!

1 week!

At this time next Saturday, my 4-hour bus ride from Rome to Urbania should be on its way.

Excitement? Yes.
Nerves? Yes again.
What still needs to be done?
1. PACK!
2. Make copies of the "Cosi fan Tutte" and "Falstaff" scenes
3. Makes copies of my arias
4. Refine "L'Elisir D'Amore" chorus music
5. Call a few people here and there

Another reason I love Dostoevsky

Despite the darkness of tension of his novel "The Devils", Dostoevsky still manages to throw in some humor:

"Only Lyamshin had been there before, and he was telling everybody that the saint had ordered him to be driven out with a broom and had thrown two large boiled potatoes after him with his own hand."

Das Rheingold; the low-down

Yesterday, Lisa, her sister, and I went to the Indianapolis Opera to see their semi-staged performance of Wagner's Das Rheingold, the first opera of his Ring Cycle. I'd never been to Indy Opera before, and had no idea who was singing in the cast. And I wasn't sure what to expect from this performance.

And, as Wagner always does, I was blown away.

By far the most memorable singer of the opera was Greer Grimsley, who sang Wotan. Previous to seeing Rheingold yesterday, James Morris had been my only Wotan in live performance. And he set the bar extremely high. How high? Check it out here. You almost don't want to hear anyone else sing the role. So whenever I heard of anyone else singing Wotan, I was always a little skeptical, measuring the singer up to Morris.
I had heard wonderful things about Grimsley's voice, especially from his performances of Wotan in Seattle, so I was excited to get to hear him. And he blew me away! His voice cut easily over the orchestra, which was behind the singers. His performance was commanding, and his performance was magnetic. It's good to know that once Morris no longer sings Wotan, there's someone out there who can more than fill his shoes.

The performance was called a semi-staged concert version, but it didn't have that feeling. The "set" was various levels of scaffolding on the orchestra pit that were raised and lowered at the beginning and end of each scene. A screen was almost entirely lowered over the orchestra, showing images conveying each scene's setting; water for the Rhein, a mountain with a fortress for Valhalla, and a descent into a mine for Niebelheim. The only really cheesy moment with the screen was when Fafner killed his brother. A large metal pole-thing twirled across the screen, "hitting" Fasholt, and causing blood to appear on the screen. But the way in which the giants were depicted was very interesting; on either side of the stage were higher sets of scaffolding. Each bass stood on either scaffolding with a light projected on them, casting a large shadow on the screen. It was interesting and it worked well.

The singers were also semi-costumed. The Rheinmaidens wore flowing sparkly dresses, all different colors and teased Alberich (Richard Paul Fink, dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, a tuxedo shirt and vest) with transparent shawls. The gods were all in traditional "concert" attire, although Loge (Adam Klein, who sang wonderfully and acted delightfully) was dressed in a black suit with a bright orange shirt. And there were props too, which gave it more of a "fully-staged" feeling than anything; Wotan's Spear, the Rheingold, the Tarnhelm, and even the Ring itself.

And of course, that feeling of Wagner's music physically overwhelming you is unparalleled. You can't help but be taken in when you hear the giant's Leitmotiv the gods entrance into Valhalla at the end of the opera. One helluva show!

Beginning of summer

One week of summer has gone by, and so far I'm enjoying myself. So far, I have

-helped children learn to use a drop-spindle at a fiber arts festival
-seen my brother graduate from college. =)
-been to a spinning guild meeting
-finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo
-planned to go see Das Rheingold in Indy on Sunday with Lisa, her sister Laura, and Dan!


Monte Cristo took me all semester to read, and now I'm searching for something else to read. Dostoevsky?

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!

Easter 2009

Yesterday marked my second Easter away from home. Normally, I would go home, since it's so close, but I'm currently in the chorus for The Most Happy Fella here, and this past weekend was our opening. So, I was in Bloomington and away from my family, something that has never been easy. But I think the show went very well, and the chorus had lots of fun in the green room with Catchphrase and card games. And I really like my vineyard worker dress.

But, like the Easter I spent at Interlochen, the holiday turned out to be very nice. I go to church here with some wonderful people who really care about the students here, and two of them were kind enough to invite me to their Easter dinner. Alison is a fantastic cook, and makes some of the most wonderful dishes I've ever had. The dinner party was make up of Alison and her husband Helmut, our choir director Jon, his friend Laura, Brandon (a tenor friend of mine and fellow church chorister), and myself. And as usual, Alison's cuisine was just to die for. We had an appetizer of puff pastry filled with a mixture of sauteed mushrooms, feta, basil, onion, and artichoke. The main course consisted of roasted broccoli, a grain called quinoa (the only grain that is by itself a complete protein!), a cucumber dish, and roasted lamb. For dessert, she made a tiramisu-like dish that was just wonderful; I think what made it different was that it was made with brandy, but I'm not sure. But it was so good! And of course, conversation at the Kaisers is always interesting. We talked about everything from Helmut's job at the cyclotron, where he splits atoms and does experiments with neutrons to the piracy in Somalia to our traffic mishaps. As I've said before, I'm so happy that I've found such wonderful, interesting, and caring people here in Bloomington, especially outside of the university.

The second half of my Easter consisted of going to recitals. Jerome, a baritone in my studio, had his senior recital in the evening. He's made so much progress in the past year, and I'm very proud of him. His Schubert set in particular was very good. He's a very good actor as well, and you can tell how much he enjoys performing. The most beautiful point was the pianissimo high note in "Silent Noon", which just blew me away! Unfortunately, I had to leave his recital a bit early to catch another one. Thomas, a bass-baritone that I go to church with, and who sang both Figaro and Nicolai's Falstaff here, gave his master's recital. I can honestly say it was one of the best recitals I've been to here. My favorite pieces were two songs from the cycle A Broken Arch, which tells the story of a man who has been betrayed by his wife, and kills her lover, his best friend, in a duel. The words of these songs were painfully beautiful, and he sang them beautifully. The highlight of the recital, however, was Claggart's aria from Billy Budd. This aria is fairly creepy, but, like most of Britten's music, psychological and insightful. Congrats to Jerome and Thomas!

But my Easter ended with another happy note. I'm participating in a program this summer called The Italian Operatic Experience, in Urbania, Italy. Yesterday, I received word on what I'll be singing during my 5 weeks there. I'll be in the chorus of L'Elisir d'Amore (no mezzo roles), and I will also be participating in the opera scenes program, singing Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, and Mistress Quickly in Falstaff! Quickly is actually a contralto role, and between that, Cornelia, and the bits of Carmen I've done, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm a pants mezzo, or more of a young dramatic mezzo. Hmm...we'll have to see what happens. =)

Three weeks remain in the semester, and finals week can't come soon enough. This semester has really wiped me out in many ways. I'm very much looking forward to being at home again and having some quiet time to myself. Not much longer!

Updates updates updates

Spring break has finally come! And now for some updates on what's been going on.

1. Closing night of Giulio Cesare came off with great success! All of the feedback I heard about the production as a whole, and my own performance, was very positive and gracious. As mentioned before, this was a bit overwhelming, but in a very good sense. I'm proud of my work in this show, and can't believe I as a part of this experience!
Some photos:

What I looked like as Nireno before they got rid of my wig. They said because I had the hat the entire show that there was no need for the wig.


With director Tom Diamond. He's brilliant, just amazingly brilliant, and I loved loved loved working with him. His methods really opened my mind to new ways of approaching acting, and I hope I have the opportunity to work with him again.

Backstage fun: Jacquie as Cleopatra and Dominic as Tolomeo. Dominic has worked in all sorts of art forms, from ballet, to musical theater, a role on All My Children, and now opera, and he's so so so so so good. And his high G is better than mine. Congratulations should go out to Jacquie not only for her beautiful performances, but also for her wedding yesterday!

With Cody, who sang Achilla in my cast. I've known Cody since my first semester at IU, and he's one of the nicest people I've met at this school. It was really a thrill and honor to be in a show with him. And you can now all see how short I am.

2. I'm going to Italy this summer! I'll be paricipating in The Italian Operatic Experience in Urbania, Italy during the month of July. I requested to live with an Italian family during my stay, and should find out at the end of the month what exactly I'll be singing there. I'm going to Italy!!!!

3. Driving back home was fun!

4. Friday's plans; Cavalleria Rusicana/Pagliacci at the Lyric Opera of Chicago! Mom and I are taking yet another trip up to Chicago for a girl's weekend complete with opera, shopping, good food, and everything else.

Soon to come...

Now that Giulio Cesare has finished, I'll have a little more free time. I'm coming home for spring break today, and will post some of the details of closing weekend and such when I get home. That is, if the Internet at home will be nice and not slow.

I'm actually doing the driving back home this time, which is strange. The girl that was supposed to give me a ride broke her ankle and can't drive, so I'm driving her car back to Fort Wayne. I've never driven for this amount of time put together, so things could be interesting. Coffee will probably be needed.

Some thoughts after opening night

Opening night was all that I could have ever wanted and more. I always forget from show to show how much an audience gives you an extra burst of energy and often inspires a degree of spontaneity in performance. And I could feel that it was there, not only in me, but in my fellow cast members. The arias were sung especially well; I've never heard Andy (Cesare) sing "Va taccito" as well as he did last night, and the same goes for Cody (Achilla) in his aria, and Jacquie (Cleopatra) in her "Da Tempeste". Andy even threw in a low D at the end of "Quel torrente" just for kicks, and it was thrilling to be onstage with him; "Quel torrente" is meant to inspire Sesto and Nireno, and it wasn't hard to feel that way. I'm so proud of everyone not only in my cast, but in the other cast. I'm truly blessed to share the stage with such talented and wonderful people!

Another word about the whole team of Giulio Cesare. They've been so kind during the whole process, from the first meeting we had as a cast back in October to opening night. Their graciousness, generosity, and support have been well beyond what I could have asked for in a group of colleagues, and it means the world to me. I've known a few of them since my first days at IU, and it's been an honor to finally work with them in such detail. It's been a wonderful experience.

And really, this has been a full circle adventure for me. I remember when I was 13 and seeing my first live opera, Don Giovanni, at IU and thinking to myself, "I want to sing here someday." The thrill from that performance is something I remember even today, and it was matched by the happiness I felt last night. And I honestly never thought that I'd get here, but I'm happy that I was wrong.
The photo is of Maestro Wedow and myself after the performance. He's one of the most brilliant and creative people I've ever worked with, and has given me the chance to test my limits and open myself to new ideas.

Covering and Hovering

Opening night of "Giulio Cesare" is tonight! Consequently, we've been in dress rehearsals all week. And of course, half the cast wasn't feeling well. Everything seems to be fine now. But Wednesday was totally different. The Cornelia in that cast (tonight's cast) wasn't planning to sing any of her arias on Wednesday to save her voice. My cast had to be in the Green Room at 6 for notes from our director and were free to go after that. After I got my notes (one of which included lifting Achilla higher in his death scene so that he's in the light...basically putting his whole torso on my legs and chest)I found Maestro and asked he if wanted me to stay for anything. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to ask if I could sing the arias, so I tried to be sneaky about it. At first he said he didn't need me for anything, but I must have given him a look or something, because then the lights in his eyes went on and he said, "Actually, do you want to sing the arias? That would be wonderful!"

And I did.

I think this was the biggest adrenaline rush of my life. I'd never sung totally solo with an orchestra before; I'd done two SATB quartets with orchestra before, but nothing this large or this intense. I hadn't rehearsed with them, and had only worked with Maestro once. So, when it came time for one of Cornelia's arias, I walked to the side of the stage and sang while the actual singer did the acting. I think for the most part it went well; I know for the first 5 or so measures of "Priva son" that I was behind, but I had trouble hearing the orchestra at first, and didn't realize how behind I was until Maestro and Marcello started motioning for me to speed it up. And for those of you who don't know the aria, the introduction is...one beat. Downbeat, sing. This is scary. But after I got in sync with the orchestra, I felt that it went very well. I won't lie, it was a bit awkward to walk onstage in my jeans, tennis shoes, and sweater and sing an aria from the side of the stage while everyone else was in full costume and makeup. But several of the people in attendance that evening complimented me on how I sang. And while the chances of me actually singing Cornelia in this run are extremely slim, I'm so glad I had this experience, especially because much of her music is very exposed and scary if you've never done it before. But now I know I can indeed do it!

For those of you interested in watching the performance but can't make it to Bloomington, here is the link to live streaming.
Streaming begins at 7:45 Eastern Time. I will be singing in the February 28th and March 6th casts.
And here is the link to the official website for the production.

The photo was taken on one of the dress rehearsals. I don't know who took it, but thank you whoever you are! This is my first scene in the opera. On a side note, the label inside my headdress says it's from the Met, from a production of "Aida". This may be the closest to the Met I ever get, but it still makes me feel cool.

Cesare Top 10, Week 2 of Staging

What's new with Cesare:

1. I have Cornelia memorized!
2. My Nireno costume was made for a man, so I'm sort of swimming in it. But it makes me look cool. And they're adjusting it.
3. Supporting a 6'4'' bass-baritone during his death scene isn't easy.
4. If I would end up singing a performance of Cornelia, I would get felt up by 4 different guys.
5. Tolomeo's death scene is going to rock, hardcore.
6. My Italian, according to our coach, is getting better each time!!
7. Being slap happy with previously bass-baritone, diction coach, and another mezzo is quite fun.
8. I'm performing in the inside cast (the "Remus", as in Romulus and Remus, cast), which performs on February 28 and March 6. If you can't see it live, catch it on the live streaming over the Internet. More details to come.
9. Maestro is one of the most amazing people I've ever worked with. Actually, this whole cast and production team is just brilliant!
10. I can't wait for this show!

What's keeping Lydia busy?

As of Sunday, I am officially the cover for the role of Cornelia in Giulio Cesare in addition to singing the role of Nireno.
This will be the least amount of time I've ever had to learn something of this magnitude, but I am thrilled that I was asked to do this, and want to prove that it wasn't a mistake to pick a sophomore to learn this role in less than a month.
In other words, I'm thrilled beyond belief, but I have more work to do than I ever have before.

What I did on my snow day.

We were smart enough to create photographic proff of our snow day. So here you go.

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!

Happy Birthday Mozart!

If Mozart were still alive, he'd be 253 today.

One of my first encounters with opera was with this duet, and I've been in love with it ever since.


This was one of the first arias I ever learned. It still is one of my favorites.


In my opinion, this is the most seductive piece of music ever composed.


Enjoy! =)

Signor del mondo...

I had my first coaching with Maestro Wedow today, and was very happy with how it all went. Again, my role isn't very big, but it is important. Nireno is, as Mo. Wedow put it, "Like James Levine, Vince Liotta, and David Effron all rolled into one." Cleopatra trusts him, and really lets him boss her around a bit. I keep forgetting that Cesare is, well, Julius Caesar (ahhh!!!), a larger-than-life character. King of the world. He's more than a general, and Cleopatra knows it. If she wins his love, she wins power. What she doesn't plan on, however, is falling in love with him.
And this is where Nireno helps.
He's proud of Cleopatra. She's "his honor student" as Mo. Wedow said. But he's still a servant. A servant, as he put it, in the way that Hilary Clinton is working with President Obama. And he's on the right team; after all, it is Nireno that begins the coronation scene, declaring Curio to be the victor, and Cesare to be kind of the world. In the back of his mind, though, he's saying, "See, I told you my girl Cleopatra would win. And now all those suckers who supported Tolomeo are being beheaded. Guess I was right!"
But there was still time left after we were finished working through the role, so we worked a little on my aria from Ariadne auf Naxos. I haven't been working on it that long, so it's still pretty rough in a lot of places. But Maestro gave me some very good suggestions, especially on how I learn the aria. He said I should take it in chunks, and that while Struass sounds like it's floating, you have to watch the conductor at all times. In retrospect, I should have sung Mozart for him, but he mentioned that he'd like to hear me sing my aria from Le Clemenza di Tito eventually. But I don't think I made a fool of myself in the least, and learned a great deal.
I'm just so thrilled to be singing in this opera, and to be working with my amazing cast members and artistic team! =)

New Semester

It's only 3 days into the semester, but I'm already very busy. My semester started at 9:00 am on Monday morning with a coaching for Giulio Cesare. It went well, but I still need to do a lot of work as far as bringing Nireno to life, something Daniela is helping me accomplish. I worked with Marcello on Tuesday, and he was very pleased with my diction, telling me how much I had improved over the break. This made me very happy, seeing my work amount to something!

Of course, whenever I come back to school from a long break, some homesickness lingers for the first week or so. It makes me frustrated, seeing as I really haven't found a way to rid myself of it. One of the things I miss most when I'm at school is having my cats around. Yes, I'm one of those cat people. ;) There's a Petsmart not far from campus that has cats up for adoption, and on Monday, I discovered that you can hold them for as long as you want. Which I did. And I'm going back today. It's really too bad I can't adopt one, although the cats at home would freak out if I did.

The other big news is that I'll be moving again next fall. While I like the location of the house I'm at now, there's just too many people and too much noise. Part of this comes from being on a very busy street corner and me not being used to traffic noise, having grown up in the middle of nowhere. But some of it also stems from there just being 11 of us, and the majority of the housemates being very extroverted, which sometimes clashes with my introverted personality. So, I'll be living with 3 or 4 friends in a townhouse a little farther from campus. But it's about half the price I'm paying now, in a much quieter environment, and closer to things like the grocery store. But it's still close enough to campus that I won't need a car. I'm excited for this change and think it will be the best for me.

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