This week has been insane. No, like, for real! Opera is just around the corner. The guest artists came in on Sunday. On Monday we ran the opera with the understudies singing the lead parts so the guest artists can get a feel for the opera and an idea about the blocking we’ve been working on with the choirs and such. And then yesterday we got to hear them for the first time. Boy do they have voices!! Multiple Soprani swooned over the Baritone’s voice. Azucena, the Mezzo, is my personal favourite. I just love her low register! The Soprano is good, but she doesn’t have as much pierce as I would like – the girl who understudied the part was just phenomenal! And the Tenor…well, we’ll see how he holds up. I’ve been told he switched from Baritone to Tenor, so he has a warmer tone than a lot of Tenors, but his high notes aren’t as secure.
Wow. I’m such a musician. Lameness.But awesomeness too, I suppose.
I’ve been able to tat a bit today. It makes me happy. I looked at my progress (I’m only about a fourth done), but the edging looks seriously good with the scarf! I think it will end up turning out really nice.
Tomorrow I’m going to a voice competition. NATS stands for the National Association of the Teachers of Singing. The last 2 years I’ve gone on to regionals. But then again, the last 2 years I’ve actually been ready to perform my pieces. What with all the craziness going on here I’ve had little time (and less motivation) to practice. Something about the middle of second semester just doesn’t bode well for the aspiring muisician…. Anyway, my pieces are varied and ambitious: Nacht und Traume (Schubert), Nuptiae factae sunt (Hindemith), Depuis le jour (Charpentier), Malvina (Donizetti), The Serpent (Hoiby). The Serpent is my favourite!!! It’s so funny and I get to ham it up. 🙂 Here’s the text:
The Serpent
There was a Serpent who had to sing.
There was. There was.
He simply gave up Serpenting.
Because. Because.
He didn’t like his Kind of Life;
He couldn’t find a proper Wife;
He was a Serpent with a soul;
He got no Pleasure down his Hole.
And so, of course, he had to Sing,
And Sing he did, like Anything!
The Birds, they were, they were Astounded;
And various Measures Propounded
To stop the Serpent’s Awful Racket:
They bought a Drum. He wouldn’t Whack it.
They sent, —you always send, —to Cuba
And got a Most Commodious Tuba;
They got a Horn, they got a Flute,
But Nothing would suit.
He said, “Look, Birds, all this is futile:
I do not like to Bang or Tootle.”
And then he cut loose with a Horrible Note
That practically split the Top of his Throat.
“You see,” he said, with a Serpent’s Leer,
“I’m Serious about my Singing Career!”
And the Woods Resounded with many a Shriek
As the Birds flew off to the end of Next Week.
Dramatic Lyric 