I'm a naughty Blogger!

After a number of messages chastising me over my recent lack of blogging I have decided to get cracking again....

It has been one month since my last meeting...errrr... post.

I have now finished our run of Carmens for this year (we have another four performances in June). I really enjoyed performing the role of Morales, which is smallish but has some really nice stuff to sing. By the last few I was really having fun with the character (quite the sleaze) and not worrying so much about my top Fsharp! hehe

We are currently in the end phase of rehearsals for the first Kinderoper of the season Die Feuerrote Friederike (the fire red Friederike) and all is going well. I am sharing my role and don't start performances for another month so I'm hoping that i don't forget everything. We are also rehearsing La Traviata and today is the first rehearsal for Hoffmanns Erzählungen (tales of Hoffman).

When I write it down like that it gives the impression that I am busy but compared to life as a chorister in Australia it is a walk in the park! I have had plenty of spare time and have been learning some new arias for Auditions and am starting to learn the role of Don Giovanni.

Since I wrote last Charmaine has arrived. It is so great to have her here - she is currently in her 5th week of an 18 week intensive language course and is doing really well. Unfortunatly there aren't many people at the school at the moment and the social scene isn't as good as when I was there (the advantage is that we got a 25% discount because its off peak!)

Tomorrow night we are going to our first swing class. It took some tracking down but we have finally found a swing community in Köln. Hopefully class is good and we can meet people that are as cool as our swing friends in Melbourne and Sydney.

That is all for now, I have decided that rather than waiting for inspiration for my next post that I will write a post every Sunday night with a reflection on the week that has been.

Thank you to the readers that have hassled me into resurrecting my blog.....I'll try not to disappoint.

C

Rehearsals begin

Three days ago I had my first rehearsal for Carmen.

I hadn't realised how much I had missed the rehearsal room until I walked in and felt right at home. It had been about 4 months since I last worked in the theater and I think that break has really renewed my energy and drive.

As Moralés, my scene is at the beginning of the Opera and after a read through of the dialogue the Director got straight in and blocked my scene. Its not a huge scene or a huge character but I am enjoying playing it none the less and I do have some lovely phrases to sing.

The following day they added the Chorus gentlemen to the scene and it felt really surreal to be amongst them. It felt like I was dreaming that I was back in the OA chorus again - but for some reason everyone was speaking German! Witnessing their banter and camaraderie made me realise how much I will miss my friends from the chorus.

It is a fairly International cast with Principal artists from Israel, Spain, Netherlands, Australia(me) and of course Germany. The director conducts most of the rehearsal in German but then will translate if anyone didn't understand. I find that I understand most of what is said to me but every now and again a word pops up that I need to ask about.

It is 2 weeks till opening night and I can't wait!