Rest, Relaxtion, Restoration ... ah, Alaskaaaaaah

I had the extreme pleasure of singing on board the US AMSTERDAM recently on a 7-day cruise of Alaska for the Metropolitan Opera Guild. The brilliant Jake Heggie was my collaborative pianist, the dashing Michael Snider the organizer, and a number of enthusiastic opera lovers our audience and travel companions! The week could not have been more memorable, more relaxing, more breathtaking, or more restorative. I was ready for a great week, but wasn't quite ready for the astonishment that was Alaska. The sights, the sounds (mostly of silence!), the fish, the friendship, the music making. It did this soul such good!


Perhaps my greatest memory was standing next to Jake as we were whale watching (which turned into whale astonishment over and over!), as he scoured the quiet, still waters waiting for that puff of mist to signal they were coming to the surface. You see, Jake is in the middle of writing his next opera, Moby Dick, which is set to open this spring in Dallas. As we set sail, he has just finished the piano vocal score of the piece and had workshopped it in San Francisco, giving him the opportunity to identify the parts of the opera that needed tweaking, and to know what was already working quite well. Upon our return, he would have to start the actual orchestration. So to stand on board next to him as he took in the SILENCE, the expanse, and the MAJESTY of these creatures as they would come to the surface was an experience I'll never forget. I could see the sounds beginning to formulate in his ear, and I just knew then and there that he would write a masterpiece.

We spoke one day of how nimble and agile these creatures were for their enormous size. "They're just HUGE", I said. And then Jake would take a look around us, 360*, at the entire world encapsulating us, and he said, "Actually, they're not THAT big, all things considered." That was Alaska - giving us the chance to remember where we fit into the scheme of things, and what real life is actually about.

And then of course, we got to play together!!


As with all things "Cruise ship", one never knows exactly what to expect. For example, for our first concert, they didn't have an actual piano available. So they brought down and actual "SLAM GRAND" which was an approximation of an electric keyboard housed in the casing that was made to look, almost, like a grand piano. We couldn't stop laughing about it - thinking it probably was the only time in our careers we had faced something QUITE like that before. Yeah, the piano was completely hollow:


Truly, it was the trip of a lifetime, wish such great sights, smells, tastes, and just that perfect silence that came with the majesty that was Alaska. It made me realize how important silence is in my life. It makes the sound that follows all that more meaningful.


(More pictures are posted on my FLICKR page, if you're curious!)

Good times!

It feels WONDERFUL to be able to report that I believe a good time was had by ALL on Saturday night for the opening of "The Barber of Seville" here in NYC! I think the audience was happy to be given the chance to laugh out loud a bit, as laughter truly does tend to work magic, even on the most unsuspecting!

Yesterday was a huge day, as I had a big brainstorming session with my recording team of EMI/Virgin, and there are definitely exciting prospects lurking ahead! Knowing the Rossini disc has been well anticipated had everyone in a good mood, and ideas were flying about how to beat this apparent downward trend in music sales. I don't believe people are no longer interested in buying music, I think simply the means to purchase it has changed so drastically, and so quickly, that the folks on both sides of the aisle don't quite know how to proceed. One thing I'm beyond happy about is that this team around me believes 100% in the importance of QUALITY programming and producing. No one around that table was hinting at dumbing down, or watering down what it is that I do and love. Everyone believes in keeping the standard extremely high, no question. The caveat comes in how we market that, so they can afford to keep the level at such a premium.

But we also tossed around some very fun ideas - ideas that really excite me, so the future should prove to be interesting, to say the least!!!

I then hopped in a taxi with a REALLY belligerent NY Taxi Driver (how I love them!), and arrived 2 minutes late to a master class I was giving for the young artists at the Met. First thing I always say, "Be on TIME", so I'm not sure how much credibility I carried for the next 90 minutes, BUT I still think it was a good class. I'm always astonished at how much I feel I have learned in doing sessions like this - and I can only hope that it's a mutual gaining of knowledge, as I just love the exchange of ideas and seeing the occasional light bulb click on over the soprano's head! It's a scary proposition to work with such talented singers who are already receiving the best coaching in the world, but what never fails to impress me is how tireless and infinite the learning process is for an artist.

Most of the session consisted of me asking questions, and feeding the singers possible sub-texts for what they are singing. Does Donna Elvira need to convince herself that she will REALLY tear off Giovanni's face when she sees him (hence the need for the wayward, yet driving ascending scales at the end of "Ah, chi me dice mai?", or is she utterly convinced and sure of herself? That absolutely affects the intention with which she sings those tricky phrases. Does regret enter into any of her thirst for revenge? Is perhaps the more legato, less angular phrasing of "Ah si ritrovo l'empio" a chance to show her more delicate side? (Does she have a delicate side?) I'm sure that once the vocal foundation for an aria is established (legato, breath support, phrasing, pure vowels, etc), questions become a singers best friend. And the license to chose different answers, and then experiment with different colors as a result, start to lead to comprehensive, deep portrayals.

How I love that moment when the singer starts to leave the rehearsal studio and starts to inhabit their character. Oh, it's GOOD!

And in keeping with the need for laughter, let's just enter the world of the panda for fun. I mean seriously, why NOT?!?!?

Have a wonderful day!




Panda Sneeze Attack - Watch more Funny Videos

In celebration...

...of Leontyne Price. Just because.



Yes. Oh yes yes yes.

Celebrating Rossini!!!

It is with great pleasure, great astonishment, and great excitement that I introduce to you my next disc:

Rossini Arias: Colbran, the Muse...



I'm enjoying what is being billed as my "Rossini Year", having started with Rosina in London this summer, bringing her back for the opening this Saturday back at the MET with a brilliant cast, this disc launches on Tuesday here in the States (soon elsewhere, as well!), and finishing the season with my first Elena's in Donna del Lago. There are lots of little black notes in my immediate future, and hopefully yours as well, as I would LOVE for you to take a listen to the disc, enjoy the genius that is Rossini - inspired by his admiration and love for Isabella - and help me celebrate this most special of composers!!!

And, in a short health update - for the record, I just finished the final dress rehearsal of Barbiere here at the MET, and I finished standing on both legs. That felt GREAT!!!!

Hoping everyone's opera-going season is off to as great a start as mine!

Oh those strings!

My only day of rehearsal with the LSO and Maestro Gergiev for my debut as Marguerite in Berlioz's masterpiece "Damnation de Faust" just came to an end. I wish the clock had not marched forward (even if my jet lag was begging differently!). Gergiev's complete mastery of this piece, in sublime combination with the orchestra's innate and uncanny way with Berlioz's near demented, yet utterly enthralling music was nearly too much for me. How those strings can find SUCH a clear unison, such a sizzling warmth in the most miniscule of piano's, I'll never know, but I most certainly did not want it to end!!! This is the sign of a brilliant orchestra to me: when the whole is absolutely integrated and seamless, and yet the moment a solo passage steps up, you know you're listening to the best in the world take the lead for that brief moment.

This past year alone I have worked with some of the greatest Maestri in the world, and Gergiev's intense, yet subtle influence confirms for me my strong desire for a great Maestro: someone who INSPIRES.

Thank you Maestro, thank you wonderful LSO, and thank you wonderful colleagues - what a JOY and a privilege to make music together!

PS - most sadly, I don't believe any radio broadcast is planned; this is one for the ticket holders - my apologies to those of you outside of the hall...

Musings

It would appear to be official:


October 6th sees the arrival of MY NEXT DISC, which I'm IMMENSELY excited about, to say the very least.

Welcome to the world of Isabella Colbran and Gioachino Rossini, prima donna and celebrated composer: lovers, spouses, perhaps even revolutionaries. I delved into their world for a wonderful week in Rome and spent time with the wicked, the wonderful, the noble and the sorrowful ladies which he created for his muse: a prima donna of the highest rank who brought her immense range and fierce temperament to the stage.

The task was daunting, to put it mildly, but the joy of singing these roles with the amazing playing of the Academia di Santa Cecilia orchestra was off the charts for me. Oh, how I adore these ladies: Elena (Donna del Lago), Anna (Maometto II), Elisabetta, Semiramide, Desdemona (Otello), and ARMIDA!

I do hope that it will say something about Rossini which is often overlooked - his penchant for melody and capacity to highlight the profound strength and vulnerability of women. (And in case anyone is wondering where Rosina or Cenerentola are, "Una voce poco fa" will be available as an exclusive download for i-tunes! "Non più mesta" may just appear on the next one!!!)

Speaking of Cenerentola, as well, thanks to Chris for the notice about this:


Finally!! The Cenerentola Juan Diego and I recorded live in Barcelona in January of 2007 is coming out on DVD, it would appear, at the end of October! See? There! Your Christmas shopping list is filling up, already!

The excitement builds!

Anything is possible!!!

I seem to remember, vaguely, taking a vacation recently! Ah, yes - I was in Alaska on the high seas watching ASTONISHING feats and sights such as this that thrilled me to my core; and now that the season is back in full swing, and I have roughly a ga-zillion things on my plate, I needed to sit back and remember what I was doing 2 weeks ago, to find that beautiful stress-free place!

Thank you for indulging me!!! I feel much better!

It's great to be back at work, on both feet (!), settling into The Big Apple, learning a new role, plotting for the big CD launch (more soon, I promise - but if you live in the States, October 6 is THE DAY!!!), seeing old friends and colleagues and enjoying the hectic life in which I find myself. So hectic, my blogging has suffered, but I'll get back in the groove soon!

Off to London this weekend, then back here to NY/Seville!

(And yes, I really did see that whale catapult herself out of the water. Still stunned by it, in fact!)

Uniting

It's difficult to be in New York City today. 8 years ago our world changed in the most catastrophic way possible. Time stood still. Shock set in. Horror engulfed us all. I don't know of anyone whose lives were not deeply, eternally affected by the morbid decision of a few men.

And then there was the shift. Once the breath slowly returned to us all, hands started to be held. Heads leaned on shoulders. Tears were wiped away, only to return too quickly. And then, out of the vast and indescribable stillness: voices were raised. Music seemed to be the one balm which could offer a modicum of comfort. That breath, which was stolen from us so violently, found its path again through singing. Unity happened.

It's not only the memory of the terror that saddens (and still shocks) me - but instead, there seems to be a deeper sadness hovering over today: the inconceivable, unforgivable loss of that unity. The sadness seems to mix with shame and anger as I watch the division deepen in this country and around the world. How did we dare to allow that to happen?

As I was in Alaska - beautiful, astonishing, miraculous Alaska - it dawned on me how very, very small we are. And yet, we are also immense as well when we unite. Funny, that.

I must be naive, because in my mind it is crystal clear and so utterly simple. Isn't it?

My thoughts are with the world today, especially those who lost their precious loved ones to the hands of hatred and ignorance. (And that includes all those lives lost in the continued , seemingly endless aftermath of 9/11...)