A dose

In the last 24 hours or so I’ve gotten a couple of reminders that nothing in this career is guaranteed, that I can take nothing for granted. Just some disappointing news – a offered gig I can’t accept and not making the first round a competition I really want to do this year – nothing earth-shattering or devastating or career-ending by any means. A dose of reality.

These little “reminders” seem to come along every so often, and as disappointing as they are, they do help put things into perspective. This is my Job; I have to Work for the things I want! They don’t just come knocking on the door uninvited.

So, back to work! Yesterday I did some updating of my website, adding some performance info and finally getting a working link for Regnava on the Downloads page. (Also there: links to buy Ainadamar and Long Road Home via Amazon.) The recording of Regnava is about a year old now; I’m hoping to get a few new things recorded this fall. Something else to add to the “to do” list!

I’ll get some new pictures up on the site today, I hope. There are some great shots from Volpone, and, of course, the new headshots. Today I’ll be playing with Photoshop and Dreamweaver in between playing with Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Chambers, and Mozart…

Unexpected

In the past week or so there have been a few unexpected and lovely surprises come my way.

Late last week: An email from a friend complimenting me on a picture in Opera News. I went to check it out at the Met store (since my copy had yet to arrive), expecting to see a Volpone review, although I couldn’t figure why they’d use a picture of me for that. Turns out it wasn’t a review, but rather a nice blurb in the front of the magazine about Long Road Home, the Parkinson’s’ Benefit CD we recorded last summer in Santa Fe. It’s available now from the US Amazon.com, so no need to pay international shipping. Remember, a good chunk of these profits go to Parkinson’s’ research, so pick up a few copies and spread the love.

Sunday: I attended a performance of William Bolcom and Joan Morris performing the entire canon of Bolcom’s cabaret songs, the guest of a certain librettist and playwright. We attended a party afterwards at the Chelsea Hotel, and I got to sit on the floor and listen to composers talk and singers sing and people laugh. The most special moment came, though, when I got to thank Mr. Bolcom for “Waitin’.” It’s a perfect page of music, to my mind, and a song that holds a very special place in my heart. What a gift to be able to let him know that, to thank him for enriching my life with his music.

Monday: A delightful lunch with a patron, who had asked to meet with me in order to give me a gift/grant from his foundation. The Julian Autrey Song Foundation has presented several young singers in recital over the past few years, among them my friends Jesse Blumberg and Matthew Worth, and Joseph Kaiser, who makes his Met debut this season. Recently, the Foundation has started extending grants, as well, and I am now a grateful recipient. The money comes with no spending stipulations; it is simply a “support” grant, a gift of patronage. Thank you, JASF!

Wednesday: Tagging along on a shopping trip with KG, visiting from Seattle, I was only looking for a new fall dress, an autumnal version of what I’ve been living in for the past few months. I found one, within my budget, even: a luscious LaROK jersey knit in a dark khaki, drapy and flowy. The unexpected thing came in the form of a stunning Badgley Mishka gown that KG “made” me try on! She reminded me of my May concerts in Atlanta, and this dress will be perfect: a deep, rich teal with darker undertones; “mermaid” style skirt with a small train; halter neck with incredible details on the bodice: pleats, beads… It’s amazing. I don’t have anything like it in my current “gown wardrobe,” not in color or style or quality.

And, of course, it was on sale for about 30% of full price! Remember that unexpected grant? Uh-huh. A perfect use for it! I came home and promptly emailed my patron to tell him of my find, and he was glad to hear it. I wouldn’t have bought the gown without the grant, and a gown like this definitely makes me feel “legit,” like a “diva” in every good sense of the word. Pictures to come!

I’d better write up a blurb about Figaro rehearsals before I go to bed or I’m going to get skinned! Stay tuned…

For the Record

It is already way past my bedtime (or what should have been my bedtime tonight), but I’m about to head to Georgia for a few days to visit family and friends, and there is news!

Kim has finally announced on the Wolf Trap blog that we are going to be releasing a recording of Volpone! She’ll be giving a more detailed explanation of the process, and later I’ll share a bit of my experience (we recorded all four of the performances and did a two-hour touch-up session) from the stage side of things. It was an interesting element to add to the mix of performing this challenging and wonderful piece. We had a great final show today; really, a lot of fun. I’ll miss it!

This recording will bring my current “discography” up to four: Griffelkin with Boston Modern Orchestra Project while I was still in school, Ainadamar (which, um, in case you missed it, won a Grammy! I got my certificate just before I came to Wolf Trap. Eeek!), this recording of Volpone, and Long Road Home, the Parkinson’s benefit cd with Bill Barnewitz (we recorded it in Santa Fe last summer; read about it here.) That cd was just released last week, I think, and while it is currently only available through European distributors (including Amazon.co.uk), please consider buying one. All the proceeds from this amazing collaboration go towards Parkinson’s research.

Featured on Long Road Home are singers Joyce DiDonato (who is now blogging!), Jennifer Holloway, and Eglise Gutierrez (all Cendrillon cast mates); pianists Carol Anderson and Ursula Oppens; and Margaret Butler, oboe; Todd Levy, clarinet; and Ted Soluri, bassoon. Those last four join Bill (who plays horn on all tracks) for an absolutely beautiful performance of Mozart’s Quintet for Piano and Winds, K. 452. It is a gorgeous cd all around, and would be worth picking up even if it weren’t for such a good cause. As soon as I hear of a US distributor, I’ll let you know, but for now, all of you in Europe: buy one!

With two other recordings in the works for next year (including a recording of Hillula and other selections from the Bhakti Project – it’s not too late to make a donation!), I might need to add a Discography page to my website. How cool is that?

Re: those new words

Ainadamar is no longer a Grammy Award-nominated CD: It's a Grammy Winner!!

That's a bit of a boost for the winter doldrums, eh? I've been told that I should get a certificate, which, should I ever have a wall big enough to hang things on, I will proudly frame and display.

Wish I could raise a glass to celebrate with my colleagues on the recording. I imagine we are all spread far and wide at the moment, but today you've all been close to my heart. "Ay, que dia!!"

(Read about the recording sessions (from my limited perspective) here, here, and here.)

New words for the bio

Two new words: Grammy-nominated. (Or does the hyphen technically make it one word?)

Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar was nominated in two categories – Best Opera Recording and Best Classical Contemporary Composition. The producer of the album, Sid McLauchlan, is also nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical.

I’m not considered a “principal soloist,” so I wouldn’t receive a Grammy if it wins. But my bio will now read “…can be heard on the Grammy-nominated recording of Ainadamar, released in May 2006.” Or, maybe, come February 11, “… Grammy-award-winning…”

I’d better call Mr. Mouret or Ms. Herrera and start talking about my gown…

ASO Part Three

[I reread this the other night, after posting, and realized that there are a lot of style/grammar/format changes that I would like to make. It was obvious to me that I had pieced the post together over several busy days and put it all together backstage with less than my full attention. Rather than change it, though, I'm going to leave it as is, as a reminder of how hard it can be to focus in these situations! Enjoy the bad writing...]

It’s been a wonderful few days of music and family, food and laughs. Busy though, and therefore, little time to post! I made it back to Atlanta with plenty of time to spare before Friday night’s concert. Afterwards, a few of us went to Fuego, an outstanding Spanish tapas restaurant just a few blocks from the hotel. We’ve been going there regularly since our first night here, and by now the waitresses recognize us! The food is good enough to warrant going back nearly every night, and even with another tapas restaurant two blocks down the road, we still keep going to Fuego.

On Friday and Saturday, there was a live band playing: a trio comprised of a Russian flamenco/Brazilian-style guitarist named Sasha, and two percussionists, a Puerto Rican called “Bam-Bam” and a 21-year-old Brazilian hotshot (the adorable Rafael). Bam-Bam is an old friend of Gonzalo, the head percussionist for Ainadamar and all around fabulous musician. It was so fun to watch him get up and jam with the band (only when officially invited, though); even though he’d never worked with them before, the music told them every thing they needed to know in order to work together seamlessly. So cool. Most of the music was more Brazilian than South American (Gonzo is from Venezuela), he was right there. I was even able to persuade him to dance with me a bit. (We had done a bit of salsa dancing in Santa Fe, and I wasn’t about to let him get away from this visit without cutting another rug!)

The performances were also interesting on Friday and Saturday. This is the first opera that I have performed many times and in many different productions. I have performed it now it four productions: the premiere at Tanglewood in 2003, with a student orchestra and Bob Spano; one concert performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2004 (on my birthday!) with Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducting; the revised version at Santa Fe Opera, again with Miguel; and now, here with the Atlanta Symphony and Bob again at the helm. I am getting to see how a piece changes subtly (revisions notwithstanding) with each new orchestra, conductor, or cast. It’s still the same opera, but each production has a slightly different flavor. Hard to describe, but interesting to observe. I’ll be curious to watch the same affect with other operas that I perform frequently.

My vantage point in this production (far upstage, behind the percussion station, on a raised platform) allowed me to really study the orchestra and all the cool things going on. For example, there were snippets of melody (they’d be called “licks” in pop music; not sure if the same term applies for classical…) that I had heard several times before; they were the ones I usually left rehearsals humming. Being able to watch the orchestra, I could see that each of those melodies was passed around the sections, and it wasn’t simply repeated – it was inverted, fragmented, twisted and turned around, creating snakes of sound and rhythm. And such amazing things in the percussion section: a small gong bowed to create bone-chilling shrieks, the same gong half-submerged in a large bowl of water and gently struck with a marimba mallet, intricate “palmas,” or hand-clapping, passages, and the most beautiful marimba duet.

Many people have said that they feel this piece works better as a concert work, a dramatic oratorio, if you will, than it does as a staged opera. I think I agree, if only because the orchestra is so fascinating to watch. This form also allows for a larger chorus, fleshing out the sound of the wailing women in a way that is very powerful. I guess that’s possible in a staged version, too, but in concert, up on risers, the chorus is a bit removed from the action, allowing for a better focus on the heart of the story: Margarita and Lorca.

As I write this, I’m backstage at the evening recording session. And it’s almost time for me to get onstage, so I’ll write about the recording process later. Maybe tomorrow, but maybe not…