Musical Interludes

am sat in this room in an aparment in milton keynes. the drive down from norwich was uneventful except for the couple of moments when the wind and rain escalated to near gale force intensity and shook the car. the town itself looks like a giant shopping mall with shops stretching every which way you see. guess we're here to bring some 'culture' to the place.

the last two weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. time just zips by when you're travelling to and from each venue. stoke on trent was a huge industrial city on it's last legs. the incessent rain didn't help our moods when we were there. it seemed to be comprised of long highways which encircled the town and never really going into it, as if it was avoiding the glumness that seemed to hang like a shroud over the city. i have to admit that i felt quite depressed when i was there. one of the redeeming graces was that the room i rented was both cheap and really nice. the people of stoke are very friendly and will generally be nice to everyone they meet.

i really enjoyed the theatre in stoke though. it was a grand old theatre with an art deco style lobby that hinted at a glory of bygone days. the first night we performed there we were feted by the manchester friends of glyndebourne society. the reception itself was very fine though most of us decided to stay close to the food and drink and not so much the speeches that were made. the dressing room was quite small and we had to share.

norwich was quite a welcome relief after the week in stoke. i drove down in the first sunshine i'd seen in a week with john one of the dressers on the show. we decided to drop off my stuff at my digs before heading out to his and then dinner. after i settled in we headed off to his. this was the time the gps ran out of juice. fortunately, there were written instructions on how to get to his digs. unfortunately the instructions looked like they were translated by a machine from ancient sumerian. we wandered around the town for almost 2 hours getting increasingly frustrated at our inability to penetrate the meanings of text as well as the general lack of clear sign posting about the city. this was when i suspected that if the instructions were to be read out loud, it would open a portal to some unspeakable dimension and bring about the apocalypse.

it was just around the time that we were really about to lose our cool when the suggestion came to stop by the nearest pub, get a drink, relax and charge up the gps. it was the obvious thing to do really, but for some reason no one had seen it. once we had located said pub and had a beer in front of us, things got better. eventually the gps was charged up and we realised we were miles off where we needed to be.

i took the monday to explore the city and was taken by how beautiful it was. small lanes with very cool shops, a huge open air market, and a castle and cathedral was begging to be explored. it is a good thing that my suitcase is physically incapable of being stuffed with any more clothes which provided me with a potent reminder to not spend money.

the theatre in norwich was quite a challenge. the others had told me it was small but i had no idea how small until i walked in. it was quite a feat of engineering that we got some of the sets in there. the acoustics were fine but everything felt so cramped it was physically uncomfortable to walk down some of the corridors what with fairy wings and gnome bellies either gouging out an eye or smacking you against the wall. then there was also the matter of trying not to trip over lighting equipment. ah joys.

will go and check out the theatre here tomorrow morning. stomach's rumbling... time to eat!

it's been a long week travelling to and from woking every day for performances.

woking's an interesting town, made famous be H G Wells and war of the worlds. there's a metal sculpture of a tripod striding in one of the small town squares. we haven't had much time to explore the whole place but it feels small. the theatre itself was interesting. it was attached to a shopping centre and multiplex. this meant that we could park in the multistory car park and before our half hour call, wander around the shops and get a bite to eat in the food court. it's a pretty nifty idea and i wonder why not more places do it.

the theatre itself is tiny. how i've grown used to glyndebourne! at least there we had an expanse of backstage where we could move freely. the first night we did falstaff in woking there was a delay of about 12 mins in total as there was so little space to set the stage. the raised pit also felt strange. the conductor was standing most visibly and probably blocked the view of at least a couple of rows of people behind him. the orchestra was also raised up (at least the strings were) and the sound was wonderfully immediate, although the brass and percussion were so far down and behind the stage that when they lit up the sound was slightly muffled. could hardly hear the trumpets at one point! acoustically for us though the space was lovely. very dry with all that carpetting but you could feel everything. there was no fear or chance of pushing to get the sound out.

ah well, at least the good thing was that i didn't spend my entire week eating junk food. having lived in lewes since april i haven't seen a kfc in seven months. the other day i went it to one in woking for a quick bite and it was so good. hopefully once i settle into the different digs on the road i'll be able to do some cooking. can't live on junk food!

got raked over the coals yesterday but that's a story for another day. in other news: nick griffen of the british national party caused a furore by appearing on the show 'question time' at the bbc today. there were about 500 protesters who showed up and demonstrated their anger at the beeb for allowing a facist and avowed racist to appear as if the BNP was a mainstream political party. missed the show but by all accounts he was grilled to death by the panelist and members of the public who were the studio audience.

personally i think the beeb did the right thing to allow him to air his views, no matter how unpopular they were. if only my fellow countrymen would be as politically aware and adult enough to ask the right questions.... the longer i've been away the more i see the utter nonsense that passes for policies is due in no small part to our own apathy, fear of change and the laziness that comfort breeds.

its been so long since i last posted. anyhow... got a call from company office over lunchtime to be on standby in case the person i'm covering isn't well enough to sing tomorrow. am feeling simultaneously elated and frightened.

best to burn some midnight oil now.

took some time tonight to stand outside and look in the sky. the clouds have lifted and we've got an amazingly clear night. the stars were amazing. it was almost just dark enough that if you looked past the little glittering gems into the great blackness to realise that behind them were even more stars. the last time i saw the milky way was 3 years ago, when i visited elisa's in perth. out there in the bush, the milky way stood out in stark relief to the dark shapes of looming gum trees.

last week of glyndebourne, and a few close friends have decided to confide their problems to me. i appreciate that they trust me enough to tell me their secrets but i have to admit, it was pretty difficult for me to listen to some of them. i suppose as a neutral party, i would be their human equivalent of the wailing wall, hiding their secrets for them. it's not been easy to bear the knowledge and i'll never look at some of them again in the same way.

looking at the stars made me think about the paradox of our existence. to see such grandeur was to see how small all of us were in the grand schema, but it also reminded me that each and everyone of us carries a universe entire behind our eyes. no problem is so small that it will not affect someone else around us. all we have to do is beyond the darkness to see that there are many other wondrous moments that make up our reality.

sleep beckons.

what a week!

first, there was that accident with ana maria on thursday, then i had 2 small concerts to sing in (not much to do really, just 2 arias each) and those were of really high quality and now we move into the final week of the season.

felt like yesterday that i first stepped into glyndebourne, and now i'm on the cusp of finishing my rookie year. it's been a hell of an experience and i've grown so much both as an artist and as a person.

saturday was my 2nd day off this month, not having had to sing in tristan, i got a chance to hear it over the tannoy. the guys sounded amazing even when they were out in the cloakroom. quick rehearsal for this gig at the old folk's home over, we did one of the most relaxed concerts i've had the pleasure to do, loads of banter, jokes about and with colleagues who were there, and lots of improvising the material which we hadn't rehearsed so well. the old folks loved every minute of it and were such an appreciative audience.

yesterday i was asked by misha to do 2 bits for a small church concert. it was in the middle of nowhere (as far as i was concerened) in the countryside. the vast fields surrounding this place were full of people camping, playing games, sunbathing, getting drunk and the church itself was quaint. the inside of it looked like a hippy commune had taken over. large cross stitch tapestries, spinning wheels and looms and wool and fabric were everywhere! for all intents and purposes i felt like i stumbled into a secret knitting circle. turns out the church was decomissioned but a small group of preservationists were raising funds to help keep it alive as a centre for traditional crafts. makes me wish we had stuff like that back home, where so many skillsets have been slowly eroded by time and convenience and the apathy of the pampered young.

there was also the principal flute of the LPO and a violist and a pianist i worked with a lot there as well as diana the mezzo in rusalka. so all in all, i was the most junior member of the group, musically speaking. bernard the pianist welcomed me as a colleague and that felt really strange, but also quite heartwarming. to think that they counted me as one of their own made me feel quite proud to be part of it.

the music making went amazingly well. it's been such a privilege to work with musicians of this calibre. i think i understand how jazz musicians who jam feel like when they get a really good session going. things just happen and i felt like i upped my game immensely. there was a moment where i felt like i had an out of body experience, looking and listening to myself and thinking, wow, this is pretty cool!

here's hoping the coming years will see me actually having a singing career. am hungry this morning.. time to scrounge around the fridge..

http://www.newssniffer.co.uk/articles/244933/diff/0/1


and just like that, i was reminded that it could have been any one of us.

it really shook us all up.


addendum: just found out she's ok. will be glad to see her on stage again on monday.

been a while since i last wrote and a lot has happened in the last two weeks.

and so my first season in glyndebourne is coming to an end. feels like yesterday that i first arrived here and felt like a fish out of water. in the intervening time good friends have been made, conflicts avoided, one argument resolved, much alcohol consumed, many miles walked,  cooking skills improved and now it's almost time to say goodbye. well, i'll be on the road with some of them at least, so that's not the end yet. it kinda reminds me of time spent in the forces, the close proximity with your buddies day in day out forged a bond that no one outside can really understand. i'll miss some of the guys who aren't going on tour very much.

the daily performances are starting to wear me down. my voice feels like it needs a short break to recharge. on the plus side, i got offered a cover on the tour so that's going to be my work cut out for me. i have to learn this role in 4 weeks and while technically not terribly challenging, it's a lot of words to get through and the ensembles look horrific. i kinda suspect that the conductor might take it much faster than is on the page and that fills me with much grim.

yesterday saw the end of season interview with stephen, the head honcho. we discussed what went well and didn't go so well in the audition and there were hints that i will be asked back next year, possibly with more to do than just chorus. we'll have to see how it goes in the working sesssion i'll have in october. it'll be a shame to have to give up my singing career now just when it's starting. vocally it's starting to go quite well and i'd love to stay on and work with my teachers here. on the plus side, i mentioned i bought a one way ticket back home and glyndebourne offered to pay for it, as well as fly me back from singapore next year! that's quite a lot of savings!

time to bugger off and start work on falstaff.

man, i just realised we're working every weekend from here on out!

been a while since the last update. rusalka is up and running like clockwork. we had the 6 sessions to knock l'elisir into shape and those were the longest 6 sessions in my life. the tristan is turning my throat lining into scarred unpleasant place. oh, and only 5 more weeks till the end of the season!

it's amazing how quickly time has flown by. looking back at arriving to work on the first day and with all the attendant first day trepiditions to going through the usual glyndebourne traditions of after show parties to the catering dress rehearsal and doing the dvds for the shows, i think it's been a pretty good rookie year.

we did the infamous tristan dance yesterday. first we had to yell our stuff from under the audience in the A/C room. then we moved to the cloak room and then finally to the pit doors. my hearing went for a bit it was so loud. not just my fellow singers were blasting away, but stood next to a timpani going full pelt is never a good option! and it's still not confirmed where we're going to be. i'm getting very tired of this. unfortunately we can't actually mark the rehearsals as it's all about finding the balance. and when there are people not pulling their own weight (yes i know, we're chorus, but dammit, we're all soloists too!) just makes the work harder for the rest of us.

boy i'm glad i have a day off today. voice needs to rest so i'll shut up for the rest of the day. looks like i'll be doing some mental practice then!

right.

tomorrow morning, i've made an appointment to see the head honcho. going to ask about covers for next year's production of macbeth, especially macduff. had a GREAT lesson yesterday with my teacher down here and worked through the aria. keeping all fingers and toes crossed!!!!!!

its bloody boiling down here! about 30 degrees! and SOOO humid, it's almost like home. i really am built for the cold i think. before anyone starts saying how NOT hot 30 degrees is, remember that the temperature differential here is much greater than the tropics. when it falls to 18 degrees at night, it's bearable. 

it's a quiet friday night.

out in the pubs tonight will be one of the busiest nights. they tend to close slightly later to allow people to get extra rounds in. it feels nice to sit in the quiet of my room enjoying the silence.

just realised how quickly the time is going. my thoughts feel like they stay in real time while the days are flying by like the scenery on a fast train. before i have time to think the next performance day has arrived. and just when i'm settling down into this place too! it's just beginning to feel like a real job and not just a paid holiday, and suddenly the end is looming.

went in early this morning though i wasn't called till half twelve to watch the final act of rusalka. we've been rehearsing this quite hard and there's been the last minute reblocking of certain entries and scenes. it doesn't help that we don't really know the music like the back of our hand or understand the czech, but we only have 6 pages to sing, and none of which is to do with the actions in the first act. having said that, it's been a real blast. watched act 1 on monday and was blown away by how beautiful the staging was, almost a perfect companion to the music.

the final act today made me tear up. now, normally i don't cry at all, being stony of heart. i can sit through the deaths of many a soprano and feel meh. but the last time i was moved to tears in an opera was the dialogue of the carmelites last june. in spite of me trying to remind myself that there's an orchestra in the pit, the set is stylized, the lead roles were SINGING their parts for crying out loud, the emotions were so strong that they not only resonated within me but they shook me to the core.  if there's one opera this season in glyndebourne that i would recommend without hestiation to everyone, it would be rusalka. the singing, the playing, the staging, the acting, the lighting are almost pitch perfect.

time to turn in. it's another long day tomorrow...

was very pleased to get my new phone. the camera is slightly better on this one so i decided to walk to work and take photos of my journey on thursday morning.




this is the bottom of cliffe high street, with the road leading up to the golf course. it's pretty steep and the first time i walked up i felt like i was about to die.




more of the same. its about a 30 degree incline.



the view from near the top of the road to the golf course shows the town of lewes in the background. it's quite a trek to get here and there's still quite a distance to go yet!

  

the path to the left leads over the hills. and no they are NOT alive with the sound of music, but silence.

 the road goes ever on and on...

     

this is about ten minutes of walking later, coming to the sheep fence. the sheep were out in force, hanging out with a herd of cows and chewing grass.



the view behind me.



the afore mentioned cows. was chased by a herd of them once a while ago. cheeky sods.

 the path that leads to work. the soil around here is very chalky hence the colour of the road.

 

past the cows and on to the final stretch! the town of ringmer is in the background.

 

views of the house looming as i cross the last field. great picnicking grounds!

 the view from the entrance into the house. love the view!

 the christie family home, next to the theatre

 finally arrived! sat in the courtyard cafe and waiting to start work in studio A.

out there on the hills, where all is quiet there is a deep serenity that i haven't experienced in cities. fresh air, lovely weather and blissful silence, who can ask for more? 

can't believe how quickly time flies here. it's now into my 3rd month in glyndebourne. tonight's the fifth performance of falstaff, rusalka is almost done with the chorus staging, l'elisir starts in 2 weeks and there's so much left to do.

went for my costume fitting today for rusalka. saw the price tag on the suits that i'm wearing and nearly puked! they were hugo boss suits and shirts from pink. think the outfits for the hunters alone must have cost close to 10k!!!

lunch almost ready. will update further later. am rushing for time today.... :(

just come back from watching the dress rehearsal of cesare tonight. cat, alexa and felipe turned up from london, cat packing a picnic and i supplied the bubbly! it was a shame felipe couldn't stay till the end of the show as he had to fly back to glasgow. for one day, it was wonderful to feel like one of the punters in glyndebourne instead of being the staff! the sun decided to shine again after disappearing for most of the afternoon while we watched acts 1 and 2.

and what a show it was! baroque meets bollywood via days of british empire! sarah connolley was stunning both in the singing and acting departments. danielle de niese provided a masterclass in how to sing coloratura while leaping about like beyonce, and pat bardon was simply heartbreaking as the grieving wife.

i can see why people will pay hundreds of pounds for a show like this. everything about it was world class, and it brought some perspective to the work i do as part of this company. nice to know that i'm contributing to the quality of the other shows! speaking of which, we did a pretty good run of falstaff last night. can't wait for the opening night on thursday, i'm sure we'll be fabulous. even the kids on stage last night were playing very well, and none of them missed their dramatic marks.

ooh, and i ran into kiri te kanawa today. how cool is that!!!!

still recovering from the binge that was the catering dress! i haven't seen so many people in formal wear get trashed like that in a while...

woke up yesterday morning with a sore stomach and still had my singing lesson, which was pretty good. i was impressed that i could any kind of sound out considering the night before.

the hangover kicked in around after lunch. spent some time on brighton beach, just sitting on the rock beach and listening to the sound of the ocean. the weather's not been great recently but at least the rocks were warm.

got offered an audition for the glyndebourne education department project next wednesday! it's time to bear down and start work this weekend.

spent the morning nursing a slight hangover and catching up on the whole AWARE saga via wayangparty. who'd have thought that singaporeans can actually get so riled up that they take affirmative action into their own hands? and i wonder if the movers and shakers are sitting up and realising that perhaps no position is ultimately impregnable...

but i've crossed the mid thirties mark! and so much further to go :(

is almost over. can't believe i've almost been here a month!

so falstaff is more or less finished with the staging. the children came in today and we had rehearsals with them. of course, most of the staging is pretty rough when it comes to being careful with kids running around you. have to say i was pretty impressed with them when it came to acting. there is that wonderful lack of self consciousness when asked to do something.

found a teacher down here as well, and started lessons again. it's a worthy investment and i think it'll be good for me. got an invitation to audition at scottish opera via email yesterday which i'm seriously considering. hopefully i'll get an NA from glynders to fly up. damn, this could get expensive!

ALSO found a great webcomic site. it made me laugh very hard though be warned it's NSFW. also need to warn those who are easily offended to not read this. http://pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF041-Sun_Love.gif