Monday

I have had less than nothing to blog about lately! I'm the most boring person in the world-- I go to work, I come home, I eat, and I work like a dog on Don Giovanni. And not because I don't know it yet. I know it. It's the vocal calisthenics that I'm not quite ready to face in public.

If there is a soprano out there (or mezzo for that matter) who can just roll out of bed singing Mi tradi and never had to toil over it like I do, I would like to meet her. I LOVE the aria-- love it. I always have. But I feel as though it is becoming the bane of my existence, in that it's the last thing I worry about before I go to sleep and the first thing I worry about when I wake up.

EVERYTHING else is there. The ensembles are coming together, the crazy runs are fine, the screaming octave jumps no longer bother me a bit. I have faced every scary place and overcome them! Only Mi tradi remains. So I took it to my coach on Saturday, for some suggestions on how to get it into my voice so that I don't feel so wretchedly afraid that I won't make it through to the end of the murderous passaggio tessitura plus runs that make me want to die tour-de-force. And beyond just getting through it, I'd like to have enough mental energy beyond just technique and breathing to make it BEAUTIFUL and artful as well. Imagine that...

She helped. She really did-- she gave me some insight into ways that I use my mouth and manipulate vowels, and a couple of techniques to practice with, while assuring me that this IS a role I can sing, and sing well. I suppose I will simply have to trust her, until I have it securely in my voice.

I have a week and a half til I have to sing it in front of my cast. And you know where to find me: at the piano with my freaking metronome.