Well, I’m preparing for the role of Nemorino in “L’elisir D’amore”, rehearsals start very soon.
On the 9th I am going to be auditioning for the Met council, though I don’t know if I’ll go through with it because I’ve been sick and right now my voice is scratchy from coughing. I’m entering vocal rest until Saturday, then I’ll know what kind of shape my voice will be in for next friday!
Among the things I am singing in my audition:
1) Instant Charmant/En Fermant Les Yeux, from the opera “Manon” by Jules Massenet
2) Il Mio Tesoro intanto, from the opera “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
3) Dies Bildnis Ist Bezaubernd Schon, from the opera “Die Zauberflote” by Mozart,
4) Per Rendermi Beato, from the opera “Serse” by Georg Friedrich Haendel,
5) Lonely House, from the opera “Street Scene” by Kurt Weill.
My repertoire was initially more ambitious– including ‘Languir per una bella’ from Rossini’s Italiana in Algieri… but because of this sickness I’ve revered to pieces I could literally sing in my sleep, because I’ll be singing in a debilitated state already (and this is IF my voice has recovered enough for me to put up a good front).
I’ve never understood why the hell opera companies and other similar organisms love doing things in the winter, the season where singers fall ill the most often instead of having the heavier activity take place in the summer. I’ve never understood this, really.
