End's Beginning

Parsifal Ends

Artists are like creatures 

who swallow themselves.

We process our lives into what we make. 

-Schaeffer, Frank (2008-09-30). 
Crazy for God

I don't know.
I'll say it again …
I don't know.

I thought I did, but I don't.

-Me, just now
Opera Rocks

At the risk of opening old wounds, I'll continue to admit to being deeply effected by the Castellucci Parsifal, performed at La Monnaie. And it ended February 20, 2011.

Over a year ago.

I can give no clearer evidence as to how affecting that production was than to show what came next.

Hamburg Cavalleria Rusticana, Turiddu
(21Feb-12Mar) Rehearsals for this notoriously punishing role started 48 hours after the end of Parsifal. Performance 2 days after that.

And quite possibly the worst singing I've ever done onstage. Getting my ass firmly groped, waiting for the curtain calls or having been slipped tongue by an elderly colleague were the only highlights.


Stuttgart Parsifal (14Mar-3Apr) Not much harm done here. By golly, I had 3 days off between the Turiddu and Parsifal. My throat actually never left Wagner-land (which was the problem with Turiddu) so going back to it quickly was no prob. In fact, it was a real treat to be back doing this insane production. PLUS the added bonus of meeting blogging mofo, James Jorden.

Vacation in Budapest (8-12Apr) A few days spent there, to celebrate my wife's birthday. More travel. No sleep unmedicated. Came home more exhausted than when I left. But I shouldn't complain. I got precisely 3 days off before my agent called, saying DOB needed a replacement for a sick tenor in Carmen. *Poof* There went my downtime.

Is this MY bed I'm sleeping in?! Can't be!! Hold on a minute! The trade off is the kids get up at 630am to go to school??? Can't they sneak out the door quietly? MUST they whine so much so early next to my bedroom door? Aw hell. I'll deal with it. Or at least I tried to. Usually Val got up first.

Deutsche Oper Carmen, Don Jose (19Apr-13May) I had a few days of rehearsing, a Carmen with bad allergies, and ended up singing each performance with a different colleague. Mediocrity by moi ensued.

I spent each performance trying to remember the dialogue and not bust into "Nur eine Waffe taugt."

Babes of the Ballroom

Lisbon Carmen, Don Jose -Posts-
(14May-27Jun, 9 Performances) The sun was shining. The Carmen rocking. The dancers stunning. And the cerveza plenty. We even had BARBECUE'S!  You can tell you are no longer making opera in Germany when you and your colleagues actually leave your hotel rooms.

I mentioned the stunning dancers, right? Well, my mood picked up from the local sights and sounds and I became (slightly) happier with my singing.

And then it ended. What promised to go wrong in an awful Cavalleria 3 months earlier in Hamburg, finally did.

NEXT UP: Going downhill. Slowly.
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Much thanks for so many who have written in the past 24 hours expressing your well wishes and encouragement to keep writing, particularly Opera Cake and my Monnaie friends. It has meant a great deal.