Getting high on Puccini

This morning I spent some time getting goosebumps from Act IV of La bohème: "O Mimì, tu piu non torni." I could die from Pavarotti and Panerai singing that. What a spiritual event it is to just let it wash over you and kind of let the tears rise in your eyes a little bit.

My Mimi for my upcoming La bohème and I were talking on the phone the other day, and I was very pleased to find that we both cry when listening to that recording... I think it's going to be a GOOD show...although part of it for me, I think, is that I never got to hear the Pav live, and with Mirella.

I'm getting the biggest kick out of Musetta the more I learn about her. I like a girl who can really get the party started-- and one who, truthfully, creates chaos wherever she goes. I love when everyone hears her laugh and say "O! Essa! Musetta!" And then in the end, really comes through for people who need her. If only it hadn't been too late. The role is SO high, and there is such discrepancy in voices and ways of interpreting it. So I'm just learning to fit it into my voice my own way, and decide what kind of character she is for ME.