Music

June numbers on Classical Life (Contemporary Classical)

Unique twist for new Toronto opera company — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:01:00+0100

�

Axel Koester�(?Drumming? at Ojai)

Our June numbers on the Arts Blog, of which Classical Life is a component, were terrific, the best I've seen since I've started tracking the page views carefully, and up 50 percent just from April. My most popular posts (in terms of page views; many folks took exception to�the opinions therein) were:

What the average (classical) listener wants (which actually appeared in May).

?Carmina Burana' again, sigh.

Ojai Festival wrap-up.

Click again. Relive the thrill. Stay thirsty, my friends.

links for 2008-07-04 (Contemporary Classical)

Bernstein on the Declaration of Independence — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:30:00+0100

Soundcheck Blog � Hot Topic: Coldplay I greatly respect Jon Schaefer and I used to like Coldplay but I've never thought of Radiohead's music as "tiresome." Fortunately, he goes on to thrash Coldplay. Hal Russell....Hal's Bells - mellyjazz - by megantic "He [Russell] looks like Charles Ives, sounds like Albert Ayler...There's even a track (a good one no less) entitled "Kenny G," meant for the banal saxophonist of the same name." Lala | Hal's Bells by Hal Russell

Where We Are (Contemporary Classical)

Hanns Eisler - 'tis the gift to be free — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:05:00+0100

It has been some time since we ran a check on the whereabouts of Rifftides readers. Here is a partial location list of recent visitors, starting at the point farthest from home base.

Wellington, New Zealand

Wollongong, Australia

Sydney, Australia

Tokyo, Japan

Beijing, China

Tarnow, Poland

Kronobergs Lan, Sweden

Dalmine, Lombardia, Italy

Heidelberg, Germany

Terneuzen, Zeeland, Netherlands

Kettering, Nottinghamshire, England

Glasgow, Scotland

Casablanca, Morocco

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Santo Domingo, Domican Republic

Mangua, Nicaragua

Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

In the United States, you are in too many places to count, from Aliso Viejo, California (the home of Ketel One Vodka, Fluor Corporation and the Marie Callender's restaurant chain) to Evans City, Pennsylvania. Any state that names a town after Bill Evans can't be all bad.

Welcome, one and all. Please visit often, and let us hear from you. Use the Contact me button in the center column or the comments link at the end of any item.

When Playing the Notes Is Enough (Contemporary Classical)

Midgette On Slatkin — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:07:00+0100

One (or two) of my favorite Cage pieces is (are) the little-known Experiences Nos. 1 and 2. The first one, supposedly written in 1946, is for two pianos, the second from 1948 for solo voice. I say "supposedly" because the solo voice version, written on an E.E. Cummings poem, uses the same melody as the piano duo version from two years earlier, and it seems odd that Cummings' phrases would have fit so snugly the melody that Cage had earlier written for pianos. I discovered both pieces on the old Voices and Instruments vinyl disc of 1976 on Brian Eno's Obscure label, and subsequently, as a student at Oberlin, played the duo version along with Doug Skinner, who's since gone on to a musical career of his own. On the Obscure recording, the piano duo is played by Richard Bernas, apparently by overdubbing, and the solo is sung by Robert Wyatt of Soft Machine British psychadelic rock fame. To this day, those are the best, most touching recordings of those pieces out there. I've uploaded them for you here:
Experiences No. 1
Experiences No. 2

>I've been looking for newer recordings, on CD. But every other recording I find is too fast, too textural, too "expressive," too classical - too Uptown. They're ultrasimple pieces, all white keys, nothing but pentatonic scale in No. 2. As with much of my own music, I sense that classical musicians find the bare notes too uninteresting, and think they have to "interpret" them to breathe life into them. There seems to be no sense anymore that a pure, stately, slow melody (such as one finds in Renaissance polyphony or Japanese Gagaku) can be beautiful. Post-Ligeti, post-Carter, post-Debussy, everything has to be turned into texture, into an illusionistic surface that transcends the notes. No! No!, a thousand times no! Sometimes the notes, played slowly and with dignity and clarity, are all one needs, as in Socrate, as in Musica Callada, as in In a Landscape, as in Snowdrop, as in Symphony on a Hymn Tune, as in The Art of Fugue.�

>It strikes me, though this would be difficult to document, that the '70s were a high point for performers understanding that principle, and we're now in a deep trough, because lately I've had a difficult time getting performers to play my simple music slowly enough; they encounter so little technical challenge that they start to rush, trying to buoy what they fear is dull music through some hint of the virtuosity they're so proud of. But such music turns trivial when played as quickly as it's easy to play it, as does much of Cage's music of the 1940s. Bernas and Wyatt and Eno, coming from the pop world, exhibit far and away a more instinctive understanding of the Zen simplicity Cage was aiming at than any of the more recent renditions. I fear I'll never find another really beautiful recording of Experiences 1 & 2 again.

>An odd thing about Experiences No. 2 is that Cage omitted the final two lines of Cummings's Sonnet, which I think are the best lines:

turning from the tremendous lie of sleep
i watch the roses of the day grow deep.

>But it's still a gorgeous song, and most gorgeous of all when sung the clean, blank way Wyatt sings it.

Waiting For Google (Contemporary Classical)

Off-Message And Mushy — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:00:00+0100

We're at present blocked from preparing our Sounds & Fury Top 50 Classical Music Blogs 2nd quarter 2008 ranking as Google has not updated their...

Unique twist for new Toronto opera company (Contemporary Classical)

Long Beach Opera announces 30th season — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:29:00+0100

One of Toronto's newest opera companies has a unique twist.
Not only does it take requests, but the people making the requests star in the production as well. Opera by Request, as it's called, will next produce Gluck's Orfeo ed Eurydice at the Heliconian Hall on Saturday, July 5, 8 p.m.
— Read more at insidetoronto.ca

The Fly lands on Paris stage as a Cronenberg opera (Contemporary Classical)

That dress was little? — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:48:00+0100

The illustrious Th��tre du Ch�telet has witnessed an array of artistic endeavours in its time - it is where Stravinsky unveiled P�trouchka to the world, and Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau's Parade received its world premiere. Classical drama, light operetta, Russian ballet and even contemporary music have all played their part on its stage.
Body horror, however, has not. Until now. Last night an eclectic crowd of thousands gathered for a bizarre spectacle: the world premiere of David Cronenberg's operatic remake of The Fly. With a score written by Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore, an orchestra conducted by tenor Pl�cido Domingo, and Cronenberg himself directing, La Mouche is the brainchild of three creative greats.
— Read more at guardian.co.uk

That dress was little? (Contemporary Classical)

Composer's bond with U.S. audience endures — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:49:00+0100

After all the fuss about the Little Black Dress in Ariadne auf Naxos, I have to report that said dress is a long-sleeved, ankle-length, opaque and voluminous gown. Flatteringly cut for best cleavage effect, but still not precisely 'little'.
— Read more at Jessica Duchen's classical music blog

Round Top Report- Friday afternoon (Contemporary Classical)

Doctor Atomic (2006). John Adams /DVD?/ — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:47:00+0100

Well, my week at Round Top has been going by much too fast. This Texas Festival Orchestra is a marvelous group, one of the best they?ve ever had here, if not the best, and I?ve enjoyed rehearsals immensely.

I remember many years ago hearing Ivan Fischer, who I admire a lot, talking about the early years of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. As the orchestra was evolving into a full-time group, and one of the best orchestras in the world, people began to ask if they should chose a more permanent name. Ivan and his colleagues decided that the original name would serve as a reminder to avoid routine, and that all concerts are, in their own ways, festive.

With such a good group and such good working conditions we?ve been able to do a lot the kind of work the regular professional bands don?t have time for, and that conservatory orchestras often don?t have the patience for. I hope I haven?t tuned too many chords this week for everyone?s patience, but when you get out in the world and have to fight to make concerts happen amidst all kinds of budget restrictions, you learn to take advantage of opportunities to do the best work you can. Here we have time, talent, facilities and atmosphere- it?s not to be wasted.

It?s been lovely to revisit Appalachian Spring, which I first conducted here about 15 years ago. Over so many performances since then I?ve learned to predict with pretty high degrees of certainty where the problems will be- there?s the spot the violas might miscount or the place that rushes for everyone or the spot where the violins are way too loud.

However, if the problems become known, there are always undiscovered beauties and miracles in such a piece. I found something today- just a little color thing- in a swell in the coda that for all that it looks like nothing on the page really made a chill. It?ll be fun to teach the piece later this month with it so fresh in my mind.

One piece I don?t think we?ll be doing anytime soon at the workshop is the Barber Adagio for strings, which opens the concert. I can?t really think of a work that is more of a challenge to conduct, because in the end, conducting doesn?t serve the music very well, and yet, the piece doesn?t quite reach the same heights without a conductor as it can with. Next time I become MD of a new orchestra, it?ll be an important project to do together, alongside a lot of Haydn and Beethoven. In addition to being a wonderful piece, it is a great etude for the orchestra in playing like a chamber ensemble, breathing and listening to sound- when that happens, the most incredible things are possible.

Also on the program is Jennifer Higdon?s Soprano Saxophone Concerto, which has also been fun to put together. I have a feeling the audience will love it- there?s a lovely pastoral�vibe going through the piece as well as some humor. Certainly not easy to play, though! There's one first violin lick that would make a fiendish sight-reading excercise for a sadistic audition committee somewhere?..

Off-Message And Mushy (Contemporary Classical)

For the Fourth, William Grant Still — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:19:00+0100

We don't care if it's off-message and mushy. We love it. So will you. (Our thanks to 3 Quarks Daily for the link.)

Midgette On Slatkin (Contemporary Classical)

Round Top Report- Friday afternoon — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:40:00+0100

In a remarkably blunt but fair-minded piece for The Washington Post, the Post's newly appointed classical music critic, Anne Midgette, interviews and looks back over...

Long Beach Opera announces 30th season (Contemporary Classical)

Cincy Opera presents "Florencia en el Amazonas" — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:39:00+0100

After a season of song cycles, minimal opera productions and a solo recital, Long Beach Opera will celebrate its 30th season next year with four full-fledged operas.
"I don't want to take the 30th anniversary too much into consideration because our aim remains the same -- to do things that are rarely done or not done at all," company General Director Andreas Mitisek said Tuesday.
— Read more at Los Angeles Times

Links for 2008-07-04 [del.icio.us] (Contemporary Classical)

Ionarts-at-Large: Kreizberg & Julia Fischer — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:00:00+0100

"He used race very effectively." | Slog | The Stranger "The Daily Oklahoman website is here, and I just went and a dancing chicken trotted out to invite me to a celebration of Helms? death" Prima la musica, poi le parole: Tales of the City II - Ariodante "she looks like Eddie Izzard" omg, too true

Links for 2008-07-03 [del.icio.us] (Contemporary Classical)

In Congress, July 4, 1776 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:00:00+0100

Poets.org - The Idea of Order at Key West, Wallace Stevens "Then we,/ As we beheld her striding there alone,/ Knew that there never was a world for her Except the one she sang and, singing, made." (Audio clip from "Wallace Stevens Reads")

Ionarts-at-Large: Kreizberg & Julia Fischer (Contemporary Classical)

He is…the most interesting man in the world (the sequel) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:50:00+0100

Julia Fischer, one of the great violinists of her generation, has long reached the level of fame and attraction where it doesn?t matter in the least what she plays, so long as she does play. And she will fill halls, even with a work that has neither a lobby nor a strong reputation. Like the Dvo?�k Violin Concerto which she performed with the Munich Philharmonic on June 22nd and 23rd. Dvo?�k,

Ionarts-at-Large: Ariadne in London (Contemporary Classical)

When Playing the Notes Is Enough — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:41:00+0100

Our thanks to guest critic Robert R. Reilly for contributing another review from London. The July 1st closing performance of the Royal Opera House?s Ariadne auf Naxos, by Richard Strauss, was completely full. Word must have spread. The singing was uniformly fine ? no, better than fine, in fact, superb ? as was most of the acting. This opera thrives on the juxtaposition of the sublime and

Independence (Contemporary Classical)

Ionarts-at-Large: Ariadne in London — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:57:00+0100

On this day and on any other, best regards are due to everyone asserting their own independence from whichever institutional or habitual constraints and restraints one may happen to be in.

In that spirit, I'll be spending time with Ives' Fourth Symphony, Cage's Apartment House 1776 and some of these pieces; I might even get around to some composing of my own, some small personal declarations of independence.

In Congress, July 4, 1776 (Contemporary Classical)

links for 2008-07-04 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:09:00+0100

Read the full text here Happy Independence Day to our American readers!

High price to pay to see famed Bayreuth Festival online (Contemporary Classical)

The Fly lands on Paris stage as a Cronenberg opera — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:45:00+0100

How much would opera fans be willing to pay for an exclusive online viewing of Wagner's Die Meistersinger of Nuernberg from the Bayreuth Festival?
Germany's annual opera festival devoted to the works of Richard Wagner has set a price and it's a high one - $77.
— Read more at cbc.ca

Hiatus...And A Taste Of Miguel Zenon (Contemporary Classical)

Where We Are — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:04:00+0100

The Rifftides staff is going to take a couple of days off and trek across the mountains to watch the Mariners play the Tigers. The links are for the benefit of those in, say, Casablanca or Tarnow who may not be familiar with the quaint US sporting culture.

In the meantime, enjoy this video of Miguel Zenon and two of his homeboys at work in their native San Juan, Puerto Rico, last December. The bassist is Ricky Rodriguez, the drummer Henry Cole.

More on Zenon soon. Have a pleasant weekend

He is…the most interesting man in the world (the sequel) (Contemporary Classical)

Hiatus...And A Taste Of Miguel Zenon — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:01:00+0100

�

?His organ donation card also lists his beard.?

Watch for the rocket sled.

Happy Birthday (Contemporary Classical)

Waiting For Google — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:29:00+0100

Here's a video montage with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Philadelphia Orchestra performing The Star-Spangled Banner in all it's full-throated glory. I could have done with somewhat less martial imagery (the stealth bomber, especially), but the playing and singing is extraordinarily rousing. Also notable is that the lyrics are printed next to the video, reminding us that the anthem as it is usually sung ends not with an affirmative statement, but with a question.

Hanns Eisler - 'tis the gift to be free (Contemporary Classical)

Big weekend — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 06:44:00+0100

alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_FPpiWNARTt4/SG4ZwGoVlzI/AAAAAAAAEfs/SKuntZwpKMQ/s400/hannseisler.jpg" border="0" />Composer Hanns Eisler (above) was born on 6 July, 1898. It was Aaron Copland's sponsorship of a benefit concert for Eisler, who was forced to leave the U.S. in 1948 as an 'undesirable alien', that brought Copland in front of the notorious Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. Read the story and hearing transcript here.

Image credit filmreference.com. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

George and Satch (Contemporary Classical)

Happy Birthday — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:05:00+0100

A few years ago, research disclosed that Louis Armstrong was not born on the Fourth of July, height="81" alt="Armstrong.jpg" src="http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/Armstrong.jpg" width="122" /> 1900, but a little more than a year later. No matter; Armstrong believed that Independence Day was his birthday and identified himself with the United States of America. As his career and popularity developed and the magnitude of his genius became apparent, the country he loved--and much of the rest of the world--adopted him as a symbol of the spirit of America.

Much of Armstrong's reputation stemmed from the audacity, the inventiveness, the sheer visceral and intellectual excitement of his work in the late 1920s with his Hot Five and Hot Seven. And yet, barely more than a decade after they were made, the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings had all but disappeared. That situation disturbed a fan who found a way to do height="95" alt="Avakian.jpg" src="http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/Avakian.jpg" width="127" />something about it and went on to become one of the greatest jazz record producers. The young man was George Avakian (pictured here), now in his ninetieth year. New York Sun columnist Andrew Wolf chose the eve of the Fourth of July to retell the story of Avakian's determination to see that Armstrong's revolutionary music became available to new generations of listeners.

There is a key figure in Armstrong's career who still is alive and has a great story to tell of Satchmo, and his own story of American ingenuity and his contribution to the music industry.

George Avakian, a spry and energetic 89-year-old, is my neighbor here in Riverdale. As a student at the Bronx's Horace Mann School in the late 1930s, he came up with what was then a revolutionary idea -- the reissue of collections of music of the past.

To read all of Wolf's column, and see a terrific photograph of Armstrong, go here.

Thanks to Avakian's early labors, Armstrong reissues moved through 78 rpm albums, LPs, cassette tapes and CDs into the era of digital downloading. This box set has all of the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens.

Here is the Armstrong Hot Seven in 1927 playing "Potato Head Blues." Armstrong's final chorus is one of the wonders not just of jazz improvisation, but of all twentieth century music.

Happy Independence Day.

Gelb Earns $1 Million in First Year Running Met Opera (Contemporary Classical)

Compatible Independence Day Quotes — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:58:00+0100

Peter Gelb earned $1 million in his first year as general manager of New York's Metropolitan Opera, where he's recruited theater directors and begun simulcast performances in movie houses to expand the audience for the five- century-old art form.
— Read more at Bloomberg.com

For the Fourth, William Grant Still (Contemporary Classical)

Independence — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:56:00+0100

For this July Fourth, I haven’t had time to put together a playlist, but I am focusing on the work of William Grant Still (1895-1978). Still has long been known as the dean of African-American classical composers, and his...

Doctor Atomic (2006). John Adams /DVD?/ (Contemporary Classical)

Critics, Journalism, and the Internet — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:16:00+0100

The Reverberate Hills notes of a recording to come of the John Adams opera, Doctor Atomic:

I see that Opus Arte lists among its August releases a two-disc set of the Netherlands Opera production of Dr Atomic.

Opus Arte has a short clip of the DVD that looks more dramatic than I remembered.

Deliver us from evil (Contemporary Classical)

Links for 2008-07-04 [del.icio.us] — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:11:00+0100

On July 3 I saw the dress rehearsal for the Lincoln Center Festival presentation of Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Die Soldaten. As early signs indicated, it's an astonishing experience; details will follow in a New Yorker review. Unfortunately, the only tickets still available for the run ? 7/5 to 7/12 ? are in the $150-250 range; cheaper seats are all gone. There's a video preview at the New York Times website.

Declare independence (Contemporary Classical)

Deliver us from evil — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:12:00+0100

Critics, Journalism, and the Internet (Contemporary Classical)

Declare independence — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:26:00+0100

It's been a bad year for music journalists, with critics losing their jobs left and right, through buyouts, layoffs, and resignations. Some have been replaced; Tim Page by Anne Midgette, Peter Davis by Justin Davidson. Most have not: Bernard Holland, Melinda Bargreen, Alan Rich, and others. Davidson's spot at Newsday was not filled.

Martin Bernheimer has an article in the Financial Times, dated tomorrow, that discusses the role of critics as arbiters of excellence and maintainers of standards, and the trend away from respect for expertise toward the view that everyone is a reasonable critic. Along the way, he mentions the Internet as one reason for the decline of journalism and professional critics.

I think a number of the points he makes are on target, but others are truly arguable. The consolidation of the news media has been going on for decades, since the relaxation of rules on how many types of media a particular company could own in a particular market. Some newspapers are losing money - for reasons including their own failure to move their advertising onto the Web, pronto - but many others are profitable. They're just not making high enough profits for their corporate masters and Wall Street; therefore, their staffs get cut.

I have to especially argue with this:A primary cause of our imminent extinction must be the internet. An impatient generation is succumbing to the free and easy lure of computer-enlightenment. Not all those who cover the arts in old-fashioned print are paragons, badness knows. Still, most have sufficient education and/or experience to justify their views. On the web anyone can impersonate an expert. Anyone can blog. Credentials don?t count. All views are equal. Some sort of criticism may indeed survive the American media revolution, but professional criticism may not.
Just how familiar is Mr. Bernheimer with the classical music blogosphere? The bloggers I read can be loosely classified as follows (and apologies to those of you I've omitted from this incomplete list):Professional critics such as Alex Ross, Joshua Kosman, Jessica Duchen, Steve Smith, and Tim Mangan
Composers and composer/critics such as Elaine Fine, Kyle Gann, Steve Hicken, Matthew Guerrierri, and the whole gang at Sequenza 21
Performers such as singer/arts administrator Sidney Chen, pianist Jeremy Denk, conductor Kenneth Woods, and singer Anne-Carolyn Bird
Consultants such as Drew McManus and Greg Sandow. Oh, did I mention that Drew has a past as a performing musician and Greg is a composer and critic?
Well-informed and educated listeners such as A.C. Douglas, Patrick Vaz, and sfMike.
These voices are provide invaluable viewpoints, even the ones I spend too much time arguing with. I cannot say that any of them are in any way "impersonating" experts; the non-pros are perfectly clear about the fact that they're not professionals. I'd really like it if Mr. Bernheimer could point out some people who are impersonating classical music experts or taking jobs away from professional critics. And I hope he'll keep in mind the fact that the blogosphere is more like a salon than like a newspaper: a bunch of people sitting around exchanging opinions with themselves and their readers.

Composer's bond with U.S. audience endures (Contemporary Classical)

Gelb Earns $1 Million in First Year Running Met Opera — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:55:00+0100

When Carlisle Floyd finished his first opera, Susannah, in 1954, the composer had no idea he'd created a work that would receive more than 1,000 performances in the years following.
"I was young and inexperienced," said Floyd, now 82. "I really didn't think of things like that. I just wanted to do what Douglas Moore was doing - bridge the gap between the American people and opera."
— Read more at The Rocky Mountain News

Compatible Independence Day Quotes (Contemporary Classical)

George and Satch — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:04:00+0100

(An annual Rifftides reminder)

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.--Benjamin Franklin

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.--Abraham Lincoln

Cincy Opera presents "Florencia en el Amazonas" (Contemporary Classical)

High price to pay to see famed Bayreuth Festival online — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:40:00+0100

In a sneak peek to an all-Spanish 2009 season, the Cincinnati Opera presents its first-ever main-stage production in Spanish, "Florencia en el Amazonas."
"This opera is wondrous," said artistic director Evans Mirageas. "If Puccini had lived and worked in South America, this is the opera he'd have written."
— Read more at daytondailynews.com

Big weekend (Contemporary Classical)

Contemporary Classical — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:52:00+0100

As is often the case with concert performances, all of the elements are coming together at the last minute. With our concert tomorrow night, we will spend this afternoon doing a room run, fitting Mr. Alexander into the minimal staging we?ve worked out (and trying to remember it ourselves! We?ve only had one rehearsal for each act...). This evening we?ll caravan into DC for the Sitzprobe with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center; I think our rehearsal might be on the stage, which will be all kinds of awesome. Tomorrow morning we?ll do a sound check; since the Filene Center is a large (huge) amphitheater, we?ll all be miked, which takes a little pressure off getting those low- and middle-voice passages out. I?m never worried about my high notes being heard! God bless formants... Then in the afternoon, we?ll have a ?dress rehearsal,? which will mostly involved checking entrances and exits and who does what with which chairs. Then... showtime!

Needless to say, I won?t be singing every line at every rehearsal. Having a fresh voice for the show is most important, but there will be a few other times I?ll want to sing out. I?ll probably sing Glitter at both the room run and the Sitz; I?m very confident now that I ?have it,? but it won?t hurt my confidence to get two more runs under my belt. The room run will also be my only chance to try my blocking in my (very tight and slinky) dress! Gotta make sure I can roll around on that row of chairs as melodramatically as I?d like...

Getting Glitter up to snuff - or, rather, up to my own very high standard - has been a process. For those of you who don?t know the aria, it is one of the more manic coloratura arias, building in frenzy and ending with a series of sustained high notes, climaxing at an e-flat. Now, I think you know how I feel about high notes that have ?e? in the name... They have been my Great White Whale. I still don?t feel great about the e-natural, but I think I have tamed the e-flat! As long as I keep myself completely in the moment, singing and acting, I?m fine, but as soon as I step outside myself and start listening to the note, the tone quality changes. Less vibrant, less supported. Having B?s ears here has really helped, as I trust him to tell me the truth and to help me navigate through any issues. Each time I?ve sung the aria, I have felt more and more confident. I think it?s ready to go!

I was lucky enough to coach this with Erie Mills, who sang the role under Bernstein?s baton many times, and she had lots of helpful and encouraging things to share. The one I will be holding onto most strongly this weekend is this: let the orchestra convey the mania of the piece. They are going to be blasting at full steam, full of energy and excitement. All I have to do is ride the wave. If I can stay relatively calm, Cunegonde?s mania will definitely still come through in the brilliant mix of orchestration and singing. I don?t have to add any real hysteria to the mix!

Wish me luck, and pray that it doesn?t rain tomorrow!!