Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Gratitude - Day 151

I'm grateful for simplicity.

Gratitude - Day 151
"Simplicity", however, is not the first word to come to mind in an attempt to describe my schedule these days, so if I happen to see a sign of it lurking around me, I welcome the reminder with open arms as an invitation to take a deep breath, relax, and settle a bit. My hours here in London are jam-packed leading up to the big opening(s) next (NEXT!) weekend, and so each opportunity to catch my breath is not to be missed; I need it to stay rested, clear my head, keep my concentration, and most of all to remind myself that the process is the jewel which carries the great reward!

So far, all is going well - the opera is nearly staged, meaning for the most part we all know "where to go and when"; now we need let it begin to grow into something organic, which means repeating, refining and, yes, remembering what comes next. I had a fabulous dinner tonight with the EMI/Virgin team to finalize plans for THE RELEASE of "Furore", and seeing their enthusiasm for this disc only served to make me more nervous and excited for THE LAUNCH!!! Interviews are happening (including the lively, quick 30 minute one conducted with the delightful Dominic McHugh for MusicalCriticism.com over my lunch hour), costumes are being fitted, wigs styled, and my excitement builds with each day.

However, this simple statue of the "Bronze Ballerina" sitting to adjust the ribbon of her pointe shoe, stopped me in my tracks today, and I welcomed the 10 minutes I spent photographing her. It is a beautiful and perfect example of simplicity and gave me a beautiful, simple and welcome boost!

6 comments:

Chicago Usher said...

Welcome back! We missed you! What a lovely looong interview and healthy list of to-do's. It's going to be a tough season making do with CD's instead of your lovely person - sigh! - but Chicagoans will just have to survive... or travel. Hehe!

Ciao y muchas merde, chica!

Gi said...

Dear Joyce, thanks for the link to the interview, which I enjoyed reading very much.

One little thing you'll allow me to disagree on: you say I could sing Rosina for another ten years, but the audience will have heard it all. If I go back to the Met four times, they've heard my Rosina and it's not so interesting for them, or even for me.

I understand what you mean, but remember it's not always the same people listening to you. I've never heard your Rosina live, and I still hope to. As I wrote in another comment in this blog, one can't go everywhere watch every show, so plenty of things you've already done will be as new for many people the next time you do them.

So thank you for the repeat roles as much as for the new ones. And I can't wait for the discs! :-)

Susan said...

Hi Joyce,

It is a talent to be able to recognize those moments AND allow yourself to take advantage of them.

Great shot, as usual. Love the background of fuzzy red phone boxes and how her leg fits in the gap between them.

And as usual I love hearing about the day-to-day progress of putting an opera or cd together.

I look forward to hearing more, more more. :)

~Susan

Mei said...

You look fantastic on the Furore cover...

When will be the launch...?

Operafan said...

Thanks for the wonderful and insightful interview, I knwow I'm repeating myself, but it's so captivating to know more about your "inner voice"!! As far as I'm concerned, you can sing your roles as long as you can, I swear, I won't get boared, each of your performance has a specific sparkle:-))
Cheers!

Drammy said...

Woo - looks like you're having tons of fun! Kudos [no idea if i'm using that right] and well wishes.