Behold, the sea; Köln; school improvements; (seemingly) endless rain; on our own again

Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote a blog entry. It's probably been since before my folks arrived on the 26th of November.

Last week I had a nice audition in Cologne (more on that in a minute), and as my parents were here in Brussels on an extended visit, they watched the kids for us, and gave us the present of a nice two days by the seaside. Oostende and De Haan are on the sea, just across the channel from the UK, and are hopping places in the summertime. Maggie met me in the train station, and we skipped town together...

Since we were visiting in early December, De Haan was almost completely deserted, particularly in the hotel and beach house portions of the town. It was nice to walk around the village, which was rebuilt just after the Second World War, and we collected a few shells and tested the water (it was a bit cold).

We bought 10 Euro three-day tram passes for the Flanders transit system, and visited Oostende and then Brugge, where we perused the Christmas Market, climbed the famous belfry tower, and then had dinner before going back to De Haan. On our way back to Brussels we stopped for the afternoon in Ghent, picnicked there, window-shopped a bit, and made note of some things to see next time, when we come for a longer visit, and bring the kids.

COLOGNE / KÖLN

It was a stressful day to get up early, get dressed, and get on the transit at 7:00 am just to get to Köln in time for a 12:30 audition, not to mention the lack of a place to warm up. This stress was reduced quite a bit by the generosity of Keith Boldt, a tenor colleague and friend from Canada who is living in Köln himself and continuing to develop his European career. Keith met me at the train station, took me to lunch at a great little Italian restaurant close to the agency, walked me over to the agency building, and then offered to meet me after the audition was over.

Like all auditions, you never really know what is going on in the minds of the auditioners, what they are hearing, or what they are looking for, but I sang reasonably well, and was satisfied with how it went. This despite my almost complete lack of German... I had memorized a few phrases suggested by friends, and was able to explain that I didn't speak very much German, describe which pieces I was going to sing, and ask politely if we might speak in English. The auditioners were very accomodating but were adamant that I has to start speaking German if I wanted to be successful working in Germany.

I met a German mezzo-soprano named Vera at the audition who had some time to spend waiting for her late afternoon flight back to Münich. She asked if I was heading back to Brussels immediately, and as my train didn't leave until 3:40 that afternoon, we ended up going together to meet Keith at the cathedral, and the three of us hung out together for a couple of hours.

The Cathedral was gorgeous! It was staggeringly big, a mountain of stone and glass, and very beautiful. There is currently a furore over the new rose window on one side, which is a pointilistic abstract design of very vivid, modern colours. I don't personally think it does much to amplify and extend upon the shape of the window itself, the way the older rose windows do, and I find the colours a bit artificial, and not entirely to my taste.

This past Monday I had another audition, this one in Brussels for an agent here. As well, I've had some discussions with a Brussels conductor about a potential performance with his choir and orchestra in December of 2008, and he suggested an agent in Antwerp. I'll find an agent when it happens; in the meantime I have my own calls to make, and more auditions to sing, for La Monnaie and elsewhere.

SCHOOL IS GETTING BETTER...
If you've read the earlier blog entries you'll know that we were really worried about Malcolm and his problems in school, specifically "tuning out" during lessons, and his feelings of isolation and loneliness. I've tried to really sit on top of him as far as homework is concerned, especially since I got back from Toronto, and it is really paying off. He got a 15/15 on his Flemish test last week, and has had several "Bravo!"s, smiley faces, and even a star for a math test! His demeanor has changed completely, and I make sure that I check in with his teacher as often as I can, and make sure that I get a face-to-face report from her about his comportment, work habits, etc., and reward him accordingly. He has made a couple of friends too, so that's making it easier for him socially, which goes a long way towards making him feel less isolated.

Duncan has started switching back and forth between French and English, by throwing French words into his sentences... he was eating a Saint Nicholas cookie and after he ate the hat off the figure, he said to my father, "Look grandpa, I ate his whole chapeau." Yesterday he came home and said, "I want to manger, I'm hungry!". He isn't aware that he's doing it, but it is happening. Malcolm on the other hand is nattering away like crazy, watching movies in French, reading BD (comic books) in French, and talking up a storm with his friends. It's really working for them both. Duncan hasn't eaten any more cat food, that's a good sign!

(SEEMINGLY) ENDLESS RAIN
Here in Brussels it's rained every day since I got back from Toronto, or so it seems. The good thing is that there are frequent periods of gorgeous blue sky, with fluffy gold and pink Rubenesque clouds, but these don't last very long.

On the eve of December 6th, the boys were excited to take part in a Belgian and northern French tradition of the Feast of St. Nicholas. They put out their shoes, and leave a glass of beer for Saint Nicholas, and a saucer of milk or a carrot for his donkey. Black Peter is Saint Nicholas' accomplice, and helps fill the shoes, with chocolate, toys, oranges etc. The boys were thrilled to awaken to a trail of chocolate money that led down the two flights of stairs to the dining room, and to the promised treasure. Strangely for us, they went off to school at the normal time, it being a Thursday.

Having had Saint Nicholas visit our house this past week means that, in a way, the kids will get TWO Christmas mornings (although traditionally here the gifts on the 24th/25th are from family members to each other, not from Santa Claus).

Good thing, too. It was important for my parents to be here for St. Nicholas, as they will be in Canada for Christmas, celebrating with the rest of the family, the first time that Maggie (and of course the children) haven't got together with my parents over the holidays since 1995. My folks had a great time spending time with the kids and with us; for example, we all went to the Brussels Christmas market together, rode the big ferris wheel, and watched the kids on the carousel. We also had a chance to eat frites from a street vendor, drink mulled wine, and walk around doing our window shopping.

ON OUR OWN AGAIN
My parents took the train to Paris yesterday morning, and will spend a few days there before returning to Canada. The boys had been so excited to have them arrive for their visit, and were really very sad to see them go back to Canada, after the world-class spoiling they got! We consoled them with promises that we'd be back to Canada for a visit in the summertime. We plan to put Malcolm in camp again this year, and maybe we'll do another Algonquin trip, this time with the kids?

Bruce is coming on the 13th for a good long stay; he'll be here over Christmas and New Year's Eve, and we all plan on heading back down to Glons, at the very least for the Christmas party at Mami Cloes' house on the 24th. Malcolm and Duncan were excited to hear that he would soon be here, and of course I'm looking forward to the visit from both a personal and professional perspective, since I hope to do some singing with him during his visit, along with the eating, drinking, and antiquing. Maggie I know misses the regular Toronto routine of dinners, drinks and conversation with Bruce, and has already said she's looking forward to cooking with him while he's here. Most likely I'll be too busy to blog while he's here, too!

Speaking of blogs, check out Maggie's latest post, on our first cocktail party.

P.S. I just got off the phone with the Consulate of Belgium in Montreal, and our passports with visas enclosed have been sent via UPS and should arrive any day now. Good news for us, and I'm sure I'll have lots more to write about our adventures in obtaining a carte d'identité from the Maison Communale.

Back in the saddle again...

It's Saturday, and it's been a good week.

For one thing, I've been singing every day, and the voice is feeling pretty good. Things feel well placed, I have a sense that my sound is focussed more precisely, and it gets easier and easier to sing those arias the more days I am disciplined about doing them. I'm able to investigate, judge and integrate new emotional ideas each time... that exploration is exciting. Even so, I do miss the opportunity to work with Bruce. There are always things to improve, and as he said during our telephone conversation this morning, there'll be time for some lessons during his trip to visit us during the second half of December.

I'm also over my jet lag, and back into more of a routine. We've been spending lots of time with Malcolm, keeping him focussed on his homework, and trying to get him to buy into the whole school experience a little more fully. It is showing some promise.

Another good thing happened in the "relationship" category this week. Maggie has been home recently while I have been doing my rehearsing, and has been in fact sitting in the same room as me, doing her sewing project at the dining room table while I work at the piano. Yesterday I was singing through the Count's aria from La Nozze di Figaro and as I finished I was feeling particularly good about it, as it was starting get in the right "place" after several days of practice. She looked at me with a smile and said, "You are really alive when you sing."

It's hard to explain how important it is to me that she recognize this fact, and support me in this shared goal. I don't think that most people outside of the arts really understand what it is like to be on this kind of path. It has been good for here to be around to see me working, to recognize the hours spent on the telephone and email drumming up auditions, the hours spent refining a single aria, one I've sung probably a hundred times, the work done in finding a character and gradually fleshing him out, and the incremental technical improvements and advances that happen slowly over months or years. I know that she realizes now that I don't simply walk out there and open my mouth and it just comes out; there are hours spent in private and mutual labour, alone or with teachers and coaches to try to create each moment of that illusion of effortlessness. Her recognition of the fact that there really is a whole part of me that doesn't awaken until I'm in front of an audience surprisingly affecting. Thank you, Maggie.

* * *

Malcolm had a good day today; he spent almost five hours at his friend Simon's house, playing with toy guns (off-limits in this house), swords (tolerated), bows and arrows (tolerated) and other assorted boy-oriented toys. Malcolm was the first school friend to visit Simon (who arrived here from Lithuania a little more than two years ago) at his home, and this was Malcolm's first real play-date since arriving in Brussels. I think they have something in common, having both arrived without great facility in French, and Simon will hopefully be a good example to Malcolm. There were good signs immediately upon his arrival at their beautiful house; Malcolm started speaking French right away.

Duncan went shopping with mom, and they had a great time getting groceries, and Mom did some surreptitious Christmas shopping. I stayed home, and sang my way through my three main opera audition arias twice each, and one of my Bach audition arias once, and in between chopped up carrots, onions and potatoes for the Provençal beef stew we eventually had for dinner tonight. Flavoured with beef stock and red wine, and garnished with green olives, capers and parsley, it is a savoury delight, and we enjoyed it with some inexpensive Côte de Rhône Villages wine. The boys ate it too... we've found they're a lot less picky about food choices here, I'm not sure why.

Tomorrow is our last day before my parents arrive on Monday for an extended visit, so it will likely be a tidy-up day, with little to report.

So far the audition schedule looks like this:

• 28th Nov. rehearse with accompanist for agency audition Dec. 10th
• 29th Nov. audition with Guy Janssens/Laudantes in Brussels (concert rep, early music)
  
• 3 Dec. audition ZBF in Köln, Germany (opera agents)
• 10 Dec. audition Pelleas artists, Brussels (opera/concert agents)
• not yet scheduled, chorus audition with chorus master of La Monnaie in Brussels (opera)
  
• January to be scheduled: audition for European Union Choir, Brussels (concert)
  
• January to be scheduled: audition with Peter de Caluwe, La Monnaie in Brussels (opera)

And that's about it for now. Good night!

Antwerp debut

It's very late, or conversely, very early... I just got back from the concert a few minutes ago... it's 1:30 in the AM, and I'm bloody freezing... I got out of the Salon maybe at 11:00, walked to the train in Antwerp (freezing cold, 20 minutes) got on the train (a 'milk run' which stopped at every hamlet) then got out of the station around 00:30, then had to wait 10 minutes outside (freezing) for the night bus, walked home (did I mention it was freezing?) etc., etc., so much for the glamourous life of the opera singer!

It went well, the organization is really very friendly and they sang very well. The conductor is a fairly young fellow, intense, charismatic and musically very intelligent, and his singers and orchestra follow him very closely. The concert was in a church in Antwerp very close to the cathedral. This particular church was built a little more than a hundred years ago in the neo-byzantine style (so it's quite new by European standards) and in the last five years or so was deconsecrated and converted to a concert hall, and a modern extension was added, with change rooms, electrical rooms and so on. The interior of the church is more or less unaltered, with the ornately carved wooden pulpit halfway back into the sanctuary, all decorations intact, and the organ still functional. The intendant of the Vlaamse Opera (one of the three main opera companies in Belgium) was there and he mentioned to the conductor that he was pleased about the concert in general... I'm not too excited, while I did my best to sing as mightily as I could, I timed the solo from my own copy of the recording, and it lasted exactly 31 seconds, so I doubt I made much of an impression on anyone in such a short time.

Nonetheless, my European debut with its attendant angst is out of the way. I sang in a lovely old church in Antwerp, with a very good conductor and period orchestra, and now there's a European gig on the resume; I can mention the concert to the Vlaamse opera intendant when I call for an audition, and the conductor seemed interesting in having me back, at least he said so, so it's good. I'm very pleased, and very tired.

Home again again

After a few days I am finally starting to feel like I'm living in this time zone again. I got back to Brussels on Wednesday mid-day, and it was a happy homecoming all around. Maggie and the boys had really been missing me, and I them. Ironically if things go the direction we're hoping there'll be lots more travelling, so we'll all have to get used to it.

The concerts went well; both conductors seemed pleased, and I greatly enjoyed performing both pieces. The Brahms has more of a baritone showcase than the Mozart, and is very dramatic, with sometimes dense orchestration, and some of the most incredible choral writing going. It's a real challenge keeping your composure in some of the choral sections, the music is so stirring and moving.

The Mozart is beautiful in another completely different way... his writing for ensemble singing is so transparent, it really is incredible to hear and to sing. Again, the choir gets the best bits. What a great privilege to help make this music come to life!

Family and friends were well represented in both concerts, so I felt very supported and encouraged, and was able to check in with a good many people I haven't seen since leaving for Europe. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to visit with all the people I hoped to during my stay in Toronto... I had hoped to see a number of people on Monday, when my concerts were over, and I had a little time, but events conspired to eat up any time I could have had to visit. Our car decided to blow a timing belt enroute to Kingston, and the delays in getting it repaired meant that I didn't get back to Toronto until late on Tuesday morning, just in time to frantically get packed and get to the airport, with the help of my Mom and her car. You can't plan for everything!

Tonight is my European debut, in Antwerp with the Octopus Kammerchor, in Handel's Dixit Dominus. I rehearsed with the conductor last night, and we have another rehearsal in the early evening before the concert. I'm excited about singing for the first time in a European setting.

I'll let you know later how it goes.

Back in "Tranna"; wine tasting; birthday party; a new gig

I've been back here for several days and have gotten over my jet lag, although I'm still not quite myself... flying really does take it out of you!

My first action upon arriving was to take the TTC down to Musik, a club/event hall at Exhibition Place, check my bags, and attend the Halpern Wines Grand Cru wine festival. It was an absolute blast, and I got to sample a good number of wines, meet the wine makers, and enjoy the food supplied by Pusateri's catering. In fact, Alessio, the head of Planeta winery in Sicily was on the same plane from Milan, and we recognized each other immediately and talked about his winery... we've had the Planeta Nero D'Avola many times, and quite enjoy it.


The great thing about this wine festival was that I was able to make some connections with mostly French and Alsace wine producers, and make plans to visit their wineries later when I return to Europe. Phil Kaegi, our neighbor and friend is a wine buyer / broker for Halpern, and Maggie and I and our extended families have been enjoying his suggested wines for several years now. The great thing about the wines we get from Phil is that they are often from smaller wineries, or are unusual; there is a chance for tasting a wider range of wines than are commonly available at the LCBO. It's been a real educational experience having expert advice, and I find that my tastes are changing.

After a few hours there, I had only sampled maybe 10% of the wines available, and made sure not to overindulge, although I suffered pangs of guilt pouring out the remainder of the samples. It is a TASTING and not a DRINKING, I reminded myself, and decided to call it a night. I took a taxi to Bruce's place, where he had just arrived home from singing in Victoria. We had a modest dinner (Wendy's bacon-cheeseburgers, if you want to know the truth, something hard to find in Europe) talked and caught up on each others' news a bit, and then crashed.

Friday was a singing day, and we went through the Mozart together. My voice was none the worse for wear for my recent flu, and the travel, which was a relief. I paid a visit to my sister and her new baby, who had been considerably smaller just after he was born in August... she and her husband are doing well and their little boy is growing fast and is very cute.

Saturday evening was a birthday party for me, hosted by my sister and brother-in-law, and my parents and other sister also attended. After a delicious dinner prepared by my sister, I was content, and starting to get tired and ready to go home, but my aunts and uncles and cousins started pouring in the front door, and we all settled into another party, with even more food, wine, cigars, music, etc... it was a great time, and they brought much good cheer, and birthday cards, and good wishes. As much as I wanted to stay late and party into the wee hours, I left when the party started to wind down, and was in bed by 11:30.

It's tricky when you come home for something like this; you naturally want to visit everyone, and eat and drink and laugh and spend time talking, but eating late, staying up late, drinking fine wine and talking all night isn't good for the voice. It's hard to be self-disciplined about it, but after all, it's a working trip, not a vacation. They don't tell you these things when you are starting out, but you have to think about performances like an athletic event. I wouldn't stay up late partying the night before a triathalon; I certainly won't the day before I sing! (Yes I know it's extremely unlikely that I will ever run a triathalon, but you get my point).

I had a nice birthday present as well on Saturday morning; the conductor I had auditioned for in Antwerp called and emailed with the offer of a modest solo part in Handel's Dixit Dominus, to take place on November 17th... of course I said yes, and luckily have done the work before with David Cameron and Melos. Bruce had a score to lend me, so I'm all set to review it this week and be ready for the rehearsal on the 16th, and then the performance the next day. This ensemble is a period instrument orchestra and chamber choir, and the conductor is a really quite interesting and very musically intelligent guy; I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to do something with him.

Now it's time for lunch, then some warming up to get ready for the first rehearsal of the Brahms this evening.

Mozart Requiem; auditions; packing my bag

Last night I went to the concert hall at the BOZAR, to see the chorus and orchestra of the Théâtre royal de la monnaie perform the Mozart Requiem. I had a chance to meet the chorus master, and discuss scheduling an audition, which won't happen until I get back from Canada, in the second half of November. He indicated that there will be general auditions later on in the year, but that he'd be happy to hear me sooner, and that there might be some positions opening up. Based on the strong male presence in the chorus that I heard last night, it sounds like it would be a good gig to start in. It's close to home, and a prestigious house that attracts world-class conductors, directors, and soloists; Jennifer Larmore was the contralto soloist last night, for example (she was really quite impressive).

I was really astonished at the duration of the audience reaction... I had no clue that they were going to be so appreciative before they started applauding, but they must have really enjoyed the concert, as the applause went on for a very long time. Five or six curtain calls, I believe. I don't remember hearing such sustained applause in a Canadian concert, ever. I get the sense that audiences really do like to show their appreciation here, much more so than in North America, where often it is either short, perfunctory applause, or everybody seems to give a stading ovation for every performance (which is almost worse, I think). This came across as a genuine and appropriate acknowledgement of the efforts of the performers.

While hanging about near the stage door waiting to meet the chorus master, I also recognized someone from his photograph in Opera magazine: it was Peter de Caluwe, the new intendant (General Director) of La Monnaie. I went up and introduced myself as a Canadian baritone newly arrived to live for the next several years in Brussels. He was very nice, and extremely gracious, and smiled when I told him that I was singing a Mozart Requiem myself in Canada in a week, and said "Well this was your dress rehearsal then!" I mentioned that I had spoken with the administrator at the theatre and hoped to sing for him sometime soon, he indicated that the best thing was to go through that channel to arrange something.

I haven't locked down any more auditions yet, but have some nibbles. So far here is the status:

• Antwerp - Bart Van Rijn / Octopus Kammerchor Antwerp (completed in September)
• Cologne - ZBF (upcoming Dec. 3rd)
• Paris - agency audition (to be scheduled but the agency confirms they are interested in hearing me)
• Brussels - European Union Choir (upcoming in January)
• Brussels - La Monnaie chorus audition (upcoming late November)
• Brussels - Idee Fixe opera (will miss general audition but director has asked me to call when I get back from Canada, will likely hear me late November)

So it's slow but steady.

Today I'm doing my packing up to get ready to leave... my plane flies out of Brussels at 7:10 tomorrow morning, so it'll be a very early wake-up for me! I expect to arrive in Canada at 14:30, so should be out of the airport by 15:30. If I feel up to it, I think I'll head down to Phil Kaegi's wine festival at the Ex, and taste a few French wines, and make some contacts to follow up on later. If I am too tired, then I'll just head straight to Bruces' house to crash and be done with it.

Next episode: back in Canada

Hallowe'en parties; in bed for five days; in-laws' visit

So as you can see, Hallowe'en came a little early for our two little ones. Because of the week-long vacation that begins Monday October 29th, the school celebrated Hallowe'en last week, on the 19th.

Needless to say we were caught a little flat-footed by this rearrangement of our autumn schedule. Costumes were hastily brought to order; by some fluke, Malcolm's recent bow-and-arrow fascination (triggered by his winning one at the Fete de Glons a couple of weekends ago) was encouraged by the unearthing of a native N. American Indian costume from the depths of the cave. He was just fine in this getup!

Duncan on the other hand wanted to be Batman, and since his habitual (two years running) batman costume was half a world away in a box in Toronto, Dad had to do some creative thinking. Some cardboard from a box, elastic from an old pair of fruit-of-the-looms and a sharpie served to make a serviceable cowl/mask, although after he wore it enthusiastically for 30 minutes, Duncan began to hate it, declaring that it hurt his eyes. So much for dad's triumph of engineering!

We went to the party at the school that evening, and the meal was quite good; potage au legumes that the kids had made, plus barbequed chicken, many salads, and wonderful desserts, not to mention the choice of beers served out of the gymnasium cafeteria, each with their appropriate glass. Still, I think the boys were expecting some traditionally Hallowe'en-y type activies, and we went home empty-handed. I know Malcolm was disgusted: as we trudged back down the hill, he muttered, "Dad, these people don't know anything about Hallowe'en."

It was a reminder that for our kids, anything short of a costumed neighborhood-wide romp in search of maximum candy is not the real deal. Hallowe'en is a fairly new celebration here in Belgium, so perhaps we need to give it a little time.

* * *

I'm celebrating being up an about again, after spending all week (since last Sunday) in bed with a terrible influenza... fever, shakes, hot sweats, weakness, dizziness, muscle aches, digestive problems, you name it, I had it, and it laid me low pretty much until yesterday afternoon. Today I actually went out to an open-air market with Maggie, her parents, and the boys, but it was my first time out of the house since last Sunday, and I really haven't had the energy even to write anything as a blog entry. Thank goodness it seems to be clearing up now; I need to get back in good form for Thursday, when I leave for Toronto. I'm singing two concerts there over the next couple of weeks and need to be in shape for those.

Maggie's parents have been here for a week and a half; they have made various side trips to Antwerp, Brugge, and Paris. It's great to see them and for the kids to spend time with their grandparents. This being school vacation I expect I'll have more to write about our experiences with Hugh and Sheila and the kids in a day or two.

More later!

Emily's visit (continued)

The last couple of days with Emily were filled with activity. She went with Malcolm on Wednesday to the Da Vinci Expo that we had seen earlier, and he returned full of plans for his own flying machines, involving intricate intermeshing wooden cogs. On Thursday I stayed home and sang and called opera houses for the morning and practiced, while she shopped with Maggie (they bought new Swatches), and then we met for lunch at the Golden Wheel just off the Grand'place. No visit to Brussels is complete without moule frites! I came back to do some more work in the afternoon, and they shopped some more before coming home for dinner.

Finally on Friday, we went to the BOZAR (the museum of Modern art) for an expo called The Grand Atelier, and believe me, it was absorbing. Ancient illuminated manuscripts from the 7th century, recently unearthed sculpture from Bulgaria, ivory book covers from the 11th century, paintings from all eras, this was an expo designed to explore the history of European cross-pollination of culture throughout the last two millenia. The beauty of some of these items was really quite tremendous, and the expo has excellent descriptive signs for each exhibit in French, Flemish and English, so we had no need to use the audioguide. The exhibit was also very large, so we took a break halfway through and had a Stella in the museum cafe to rejuvenate ourselves before carrying on to do the second half.

We had a nice dinner that evening, and Emily was heading home early the next morning via an overnight in London. She got up at 4:00 AM to take a taxi, and then a bus to the Brussels Charleroi airport, a regional airport 60 Kms or so south of Brussels, used by airlines such as Ryanair to avoid the higher airport taxes that come with landing at a closer airport such as the main Brussels one. Likewise she landed at an airport some distance from London, but the price couldn't be beat: 30 Euros.

It was great having her here as our first family guest, but she won't be the last: Maggie's parents arrive on Monday evening the 15th for a two-week stay.

next post: Cramignon!

L'Art Nouveau à Bruxelles

We've had a busy week, so I have had little time to blog. In the last blog entry I did mention Emily's visit, but forgot to explain what we did the first day she was here. She was going to go with me, but preferred to rest and recuperate from her trip, so she watched the kids and Maggie came instead, and we decided to go on a walking tour of Brussels Art-Nouveau houses, in the communes Ixelles and Saint-Gilles.

This tour started at the Horta Museum, the former home and studio of Victor Horta, a striking example of Art-Nouveau architecture and interior design, and ended at another building (the hotel pictured at left). It was very enlightening, and very good exercise. I can see why people here can eat and drink the food that they do, yet still remain slim; every Saturday and Sunday you see people outside, visiting museum, going for promenades, cycling, rollerblading and running, and of course taking the walking tours. It seems a very active culture, without being hurried about it. Our ankles and knees are already toughening up, and the uneven cobblestones don't seem to bother me as much as they did when I first visited.

The art-nouveau architects such as Victor Horta, or Paul Hankar were extremely influential around the turn of the 19th-20th century, and they used a number of distinctive decorative techniques, among them mosaics, ironwork, glass (in distinctive window shapes) and something else that I hadn't heard of before, called sgrafittes (or in italian, sgraffitto). This is a technique of applying a base of black plaster to the wall, and after letting it dry applying further successive coats in differing colours, with the lightest coat on the top. Then you carve into the plaster, revealing various colours depending on how deep you cut. It's a quite distinctive and apparently durable way of decorating the outside of a building; you can see some quite beautiful sgrafittes in the picture at the top of this page, a photo of the Hôtel Ciamberlani, built in 1897.

Maggie and I both have soft spots for this art form, one that was extremely influential, and we first discovered through the building, furniture and pottery of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (in Scotland), and the poster art of Alphonse Much (a Czech artist). However the echoes of Art Nouveau exist even now: in the recent film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings; Bilbo's house, and Elrond's house in particular are very art nouveau in design, and there is something magical and organic about them.

A fantastic week-end; Cloes family reunions; Le Cramignon de Glons; JR's NSU race-car; Maggie's birthday

Here is a picture that I think captures a little bit of the spirit of the cramignon that Maggie and I enjoyed this past weekend in Glons. In Maggie's words, the weekend was "mind-blowing", full of unforgettable moments. We've made a few very nice friends here in Brussels, but we had two weeks of the summer before school began to get to know the Cloes, and this weekend showed us even more how special they are, and how lucky we are to have been adopted by this wonderful family (THANKS BRUCE!).

We arrived in Glons by train, mid-Saturday morning, and were met at the train station there by JR. After a quick stop at Mami Cloes' to say hello, we made our way to the loft, where we dropped our bags and headed up the street to Nathalie and Tchi-tchi's. They were out for the moment, so we explored JR's workshop just down the street. This is in an old building that used to house a helmet factory, and that JR has converted into an apartment/clubhouse and a garage. Maggie had fun modeling one of the 1960s-era helmets that had been left there when the factory closed, and the boys were thrilled with all the cool stuff JR has stashed in there, including a couple of juke boxes, his BMW motorcycle, and of course his NSU racing car!

The boys were really excited to see a REAL racing car and when JR asked if they wanted to go for a ride, their eyes got very big and of course they said yes, please.

Well, let me tell you, Malcolm, Duncan, Maggie and I each had a little run around the village in that car with JR at the wheel, and it sticks to the road like glue. It was a really quite an amazing little car, with a 1000-cc rear mounted engine, but man, could it fly, and corner like a dream. I was astonished at the responsiveness of the thing, and the degree to which you are connected with the road... JR has it tuned up exactly to his specs; with both of us in it (each of us weighing in at between 80 and 90 kilos) you could feel each little bump on the undercarriage; JR said he could adjust the suspension for two, but it means taking the wheels off, and he usually drives it solo.

While we were enjoying our respective rides in the NSU, Anaïs and her friend arrived, signalling that Michel and his contingent had made the trek from Paris successfully. Nathalie and the kids arrived soon after, and we all regrouped at Nathalie and Tchi-tchi's place for a great lunch of a number of different cheeses, a tuna salad and some delicious home-cooked frites. The weather was so beautiful we soon moved outside, and Michel, Diana, Christophe, JR, Maggie and I, along with Jean and Chantal, enjoyed the warmth of the afternoon after a long week of cool misty weather in Brussels.

The kids dispersed to the four directions as the afternoon progressed, and as evening approached Isabel and Jean came by to take us to the cramignon. Diana and Michel were extremely gracious hosts, and offered to look after the boys while we went on to get registered and pay our 20 Euros.

I was dressed, as were all the other men, as Tchantchès, the Walloon marionette, and Maggie as Nanèsse his long-suffering wife. We had a little glass of beer while waiting for the cramignon to begin. Picture a crowded little legion hall, with benches on the walls, and trestle tables, framed mirrors and photographs, and a noisy crowd dressed up to party, with a brass band tuning up in the corner and you get the idea.

We had the whole thing explained to us by Isabel and Jean, and also had some help along the way from Chantal and Jean, and also Manu and Maryanne, mambers of the Cloes family we hadn't met before. The cramignon is led by two different couples on either end of a long line, each Tchantchès on either end of the line holding a bouquet of flowers. The Nanèsses of the crowd are each given two iron hooks, handles really, that resemble a drawing of an hourglass. Each holds one in either outstretched hand, and her husband grabs hold of one, and the man from the next couple grabs the other. The band strikes up the tune, and it begins!

The cramignon passes in front of the slowly marching brass band like a long flowing ribbon of people, forming swirling concentric loops that pass each other as the whole group organism moves, caterpillar-like down the various streets of the village. The band plays many familiar songs: French, Walloon, and even Irish, Scottish, English and Spanish ones, and all the people sing along at the top of their lungs as they dance...

At each stop (and there are perhaps ten) the band finishes its playing with a special tune, one that signals all involved to crouch down as the flag bearer runs up and down the ranks of people, the edge of the flag passing gently over their shoulders, before suddenly jumping up again with a shout. Then it's time for a little glass of péké or Genièvre, the Belgian gin that they drink chilled, or mixed with coke, or else Jupiler, the most popular beer in Belgium. Ask for a glass of water at the cramignon and they look at you funny. Depending on the stop you could order some frites, or have a piece of potato with bacon and cheese.

After twenty minutes, the band strikes up a tune again, and it's off to join the line again, this time most likely with a new couple on either end. This continued from around 19h when we started until after midnight, and many vivid memories stand out.

... Maggie laughing and mugging for the camera with Jupiler labels stuck to her glasses (I think she's finally fitting in); the faces of the brass players, incredibly serious and intense with concentration; the flag waver who led the singing and the band; the many french songs; the sensation of dancing and singing together, a whole village, underneath the stars as we pass through the streets, drinking and laughing continually but still somehow not getting drunk, but simply exhilarated; the teenagers out for the evening with us, not taking part but merely but watching, some dressed up a bit, with open, interested faces, the police presence of two (2) walking officers who slowly ambled along 50 metres or so in advance of the crowd... and then the freshly made gaufres lacquement and the hot baked potatoes warming us up at the stops.

It was really grand, and a high point of our stay in Europe so far, for both of us. This is the kind of thing that we came to Europe to experience, and it was very special.

p.s. click here for details of the next day, Maggie's birthday.

A visit by my sister; a Rubens exhibit; barbeque success; more cold calls

It's been quite a while since my last post, so I'll sum up how things have been going in a number of subsections.

1) Malcolm
We met him at the school last Friday afternoon, and he seemed intact, and quite pleased to see us. The report from his teacher was that he had done very well, and that there were no problems. He asked immediately if we had received the letters, and his mother replied that she had and that they had made her cry... his face grew quite pink for the next few moments as they had some quiet words a little ways away, and when he returned he was subdued.

It turns out that it was all a joke, but of course in the absence of a wink, facial expressions, tone of voice, etc., we couldn't tell for sure. I hope that he's learned the lesson of the novice emailer: make it very clear that you are joking, or better yet, don't joke about something emotional in a letter at all!

2) Emily
My sister arrived on Saturday for a week's visit... so far she has settled in very nicely, and is feeling right at home. Yesterday Maggie and Emily and I went to the Royal Museum of Fine Art and saw a Rubens exhibition that was breathtaking. I had seen some of the big altarpieces in 2004, but they were if anything even more staggering, and there were many other smaller works that I hadn't seen before (The picture that I've added at the top of this message is one that struck me particularly strongly). The altar paintings are twenty feet high, and incredible in their clarity, colour, gritty detail and emotional impact.

I know we've all been very glad to see Emily; Duncan has been talking to her a lot, and she and Malcolm have gone off this afternoon to the Da Vinci exhibition at the Basilica of St. Catherine. I'm sure they'll come back raving about it just as we did.

3) Thanksgiving
It was a bit odd celebrating Thanksgiving this past monday... it was great to have Emily here, of course, and we cooked a nice capon for dinner (no luck finding dinde) but I felt a little bit blue, a feeling that's been coming on for a while. Perhaps it was because of the grey weather, perhaps because of being away from Canada on a holiday; perhaps because Thanksgiving, like other holidays, serves as sort of a marker, a significant tick on the watch-face of the year. Thanksgiving since I was a child and a student has always meant for me a change in the quality of feeling, both in the world outside (as the cool clear days of early autumn, my favorite time of year, pass into the wet and colder days of late October and November) and in school, where the novelty of a new year, with its new pens, binders, and a brick-like stack of fresh three-hole-punched blue-lined notepaper begins to fade, and the real work begins. With each of these seasonal markers that pass, I realize how long we have been here in Brussels, and I feel a stronger sense of urgency to progress in my auditioning.

It's always this way for me, up and down emotionally when work is plentiful and when it is scarce. The difference now is that I really don't have another routine that centres around my day job, and as much as I enjoy the freedom to practice on my own terms, the challenge of living without a significant external structure of work can be daunting. I know it seems ridiculous to feel dissatisfied with freedom, but it is the truth... creating your own structure can be made easier by introducing daily routines, but even so it is exhausting, kind of like pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, and requires a lot of discipline. It doesn't hurt to set yourself a little competition. I certainly need the encouragement of my colleagues, friends and family more than ever now.

4) Auditions
So far the total number of auditions scheduled is three, with one completed. The two other ones are with a choral concert conductor, and the ZBF, the central artist agency in Cologne, Germany. I've been making myself very busy calling around, and the magnitude of the task was starting to make it difficult to maintain my concentration... keeping track of who had been called, when, and who needed material emailed, who wanted it posted, who needed a follow-up reminder, etc. was becoming difficult to manage.

I decided to start a new journal file with contact names of new Belgian, French and German houses/agents, and at the same do an inventory of my older files to help focus my efforts on the people I had spoken with in February. I've been adding notations to each contact, and have a better sense of how I'm doing now.

This morning, for example, I called 15 different places in Belgium and France, and for nearly all of them I followed up with emails. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it's very tiring, especially if your telephone french isn't great (although mine is improving, like most things, through suffering). So far out of the 15, two said that they could not offer me auditions at this time; two said they are interested in hearing me but will call me when auditions are scheduled, one suggested I call in mid-February, as the conductor will be here in Brussels around that time. Two more want me to mail them CDs, and the remainder have only just received my emailed bio and c.v. and have not yet responded.

I'm highly motivated to contact these people; it's hard to get going but when you do secure an audition it feels great, and sets up the rest of your day. I am in a little competition with my tenor friend Keith Boldt, who is very organized, and is busy getting himself established in Germany. As of last weekend, he had 10 auditions lined up already; if I'm going to catch up with him I need to keep at it!

5) barbeque

We have a great barbeque back in Canada, that we use several times a week, pretty much year-round. I was really missing the taste of grilled food, and the broiler on the oven here isn't terribly robust, so yesterday we decided to go for broke, and have some steaks and lardons on the barbie... man, they were great!

I must say that the barbeque here at our Brussels house is very, very modest, perhaps the size of a dinner plate (see photo at left). I am frankly quite envious of JR's barbeque back in Glons (see photo at right). It is made by Barbecook, and has a column of air underneath it, with ventilation holes, so you can stuff a couple sheets of newpaper into the column, light it, and the heat is intense enough to start the coals going without fluid or firelighters. Maybe I'll take a look at Brico, the local hardware store, and figure out if we really can afford one. They do sell gas barbeques as well, but charcoal is for sale everywhere, why bother?

I think I'll head out now and drop by the post office; there are some discs from Amazon that I have to pick up, and I also have to mail out some CDs, etc. myself. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking, and had the two CDs mailed here in Belgium; as they were manufactured out of the continent I have to pay 10 Euros Value Added Tax. I should have had them shipped to family or friends who could bring them along when they are visiting; I didn't need them that badly!

Also I think I'll make the committment to getting a pass for the swimming pool, and resuming my exercise routine of swimming in the morning. I think that will make me feel a bit better, and it's good for reducing stress.

Nettine day IV: A new hope?

The third letter arrived this morning, addressed this time to Duncan... let's just say we were a bit trepidatious about opening it.

The theme remains constant, but there is a glimmer of hope, in that he provided a positive review of the food (see photo). That's something, I guess. Tomorrow is his return, so then we'll be able to verify exactly how bad Nettine actually was.

We had a great dinner of steak frites and salad with J. and K. across the street last night, with a lovely Alsace white before with smoked salmon and hummus appetizers, and then a bottle of Pauillac (which I loved) and a modest Châteauneuf-du-Pape (which for my taste was actually better with the cheese than with the steak). Delicious, and they are really very good company, which is nice. We've had a chance to refine our pizza technique since they came here for dinner the first time, so I think it's time for a repeat... maybe this weekend?

Yesterday afternoon, I had a grand adventure going by transit to three different stores pour faire des courses (doing my shopping): Brico (a Home Depot type store where I bought a few small tools for guitar repair) Carrefour (a Wallmart type store where I took back bottles and bought some blank CDs and a cheap telephone) and lastly Delhaize, the grocery, where I did most of my shopping. Maggie had put in a special request for some Hoegaarden Rosé, a new type of Hoegaarden bier blanche with raspberries ; I had two coupons for 1 € off the four-packs, plus if you bought two you got a free glass!

Today we are going to do some tidying and cleaning; Maggie has already vacuumed the main floor, and we have a list of things to accomplish. I had a request from a couple of companies that I called to submit a CD or DVD, so I think I'll try to glean a couple of video clips and put them on a disc. Then again I might just email them back and refer them to my myspace profile for listening. Editing together video and audio could easily turn into an all-day job, and Maggie needs the computer today: she has applications to submit for the next teaching year that she wants to get sent sooner rather than later. Tonight I'm heading out to check out a choral group, and meet the conductor, so I'll be doing some singing this afternoon as well.

"I want to go home!"

I would seem that there is no joy in Mudville, or rather, in the Ardennes... actually based on this week's weather, either name could probably be used...

It's Wednesday, day three of Nettine, our oldest boy's week-long stay at the Chateau owned by the commune's schools, and we were overjoyed to actually receive two letters in the mailbox from him this morning.

Imagine our surprise when we opened them to find these two letters.


Obviously we were struck forcibly by the message, especially considering our excitement at opening the first two letters our son has ever sent us by post! However, on further consideration, I wonder when he wrote them? Perhaps on the very first day? At the latest they were completed yesterday morning, from the postmark. Perhaps tomorrow will bring news of a different sort? He has two more self-addressed stamped envelopes in his pack, and I hope that he uses them as well, and that the wind has changed...

As well, it should be remembered that Malcolm is a huge Gordon Korman fan, and may be playing a little joke on us by quoting Korman's 1982 novel I Want to Go Home! He certainly loves to pull pranks, and to make reference to books, movies, jokes, etc. I hope that is the case, and from certain details ("Dear Mom", "Love Malcolm!", and the direct quote "I want'a go home!!!") I suspect that he's tapping into that particular role. At least I hope so.

More to come later on this, I'm sure, and I hope the news is better.

Today is cold and wet, and Maggie has the sniffles and a cough, so we're making a big pot of chicken (or possibly turkey; it was sold as "osso bucco volaille", which is simply "poultry") soup with leeks and carrots and shallots, garlic, a few peppercorns and chilis for bite, and some noodles, topped off with a dap of italian pesto and a few fresh basil leaves.

* * *

I had a whale of a sing yesterday morning, working through quite a few pieces, both old and new. These included:

• a first look at the "tuba mirum" from Mozart's Requiem
• "Hai gia vinta la causa", the Count's aria from Figaro
• "Come Paride vezzoso", Belcore's aria from L'Elisir d'Amore
• my own first workthrough of Papageno's "Suicide Aria" from Die Zauberflötte
• "Lieben, Hassen, Hoffen, Zagen", Harlequino's aria from Ariadne auf Naxos
• "O, Nadir", Zurga's aria from Les pêcheurs de perles

... and a little bit of Handel's "Why do the nations" from Messiah to finish off. Needless to say, I seldom sing through so many different pieces at once, unless I am actually in an opera or preparing a concert, but yesterday I felt wonderful, after taking a couple of days off from singing.

The old opera singer's adage has two parts: the first is that there are only five days per year when you are in excellent voice; unfortunately the second part is that you don't have gigs on any of those days! Still, I'm really enjoying the opportunity to sing every day, and to not have the stress of my day job to tense me up and tire me out. My voice is definitely feeling good from daily practice, in the mornings when my energy level is at its best. It really is necessary to sing your audition pieces through every day, so you can do them well whether you feel good or bad, if you are calm or stressed, if you are sick or healthy, or at a moments' notice.

I have a choral rehearsal here in Brussels to attend tomorrow evening to meet a conductor, and arrange for an audition as a soloist. I will warm up, go there early, and take along my audition pieces just in case he asks me to sing right away, but I suspect he will be occupied with his rehearsal.

I've also contacted some more concert organizations here in Brussels; the three main opera companies have indicated that they will contact me when auditions can be held, so I can't do much on that front. Instead I will concentrate on the concert groups until I hear back from the opera companies.

Our friend Keith Boldt just moved to Köln, just a short distance away, and one of the closest German cities to us. He is pursuing his career as a tenor, and I'm very interested to hear how he's doing. The German system for hiring singers is a bit different here; they tend to hire people for the entire season, and I may have to have an agent to get work there, but my calls should be done soon. The audition season there is at the end of October but if I don't want to miss it I have to call them now.

Tonight we are visiting our good neighbors across the street, who have two daughters around the same age as our two boys. In fact the eldest is at Nettine right now with Malcolm, so it will be just the two youngest. Hopefully they will be missing their siblings enough to play peacefully together.

Maggie's blog...

...is way more interesting than mine.

I noticed that she made a couple of posts today that go into more detail about our adventures this past weekend at the B.D. Museum, and the departure yesterday of our oldest son for one week at a Chateau in the Ardennes.

Enjoy them both, along with the rest of her postings,

Matthew

Grand'place with les boys

So yesterday was Sunday, and it was suddenly clear and bright and warm. After a week that was mostly rainy, we were thrilled. Maggie needed some sunbeam time, so I took both boys on an adventure to go to the antique market at Notre Dame du Sablons, which is held just next to a beautiful Gothic church of the same name, built in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The market was of a modest size, but the items were very high quality; no junk market surprise deals here! We looked at a couple of different carpets, antique paintings and engravings, and some Valle Saint-Lambert crystal, which is Belgian, highly collectible, and very beautiful. After a half an hour or so, we had had enough, and stopped in at Le Pain Quotidien for a small baguette and a couple of pain raisin and went to check out Petit Sablon, a former square that was converted into a park in 1890, and sits just opposite the church.

The boys and I snacked a bit there, and looked at the many statues of famous scientists and engineers that lined the perimeter of the park, each in their carefully manicured ivy alcove. The central fountain is surmounted by a statue of the Counts of Egmont and Hoorn, two noblemen who led a revolt against Phillip II of Spain in the sixteenth century, and were executed by the Duke of Alva. As well, around the outer perimeter, facing out, are smaller statues of many of the medieval arts and trades that made Brussels prosperous in the middle ages.

With our immediate hunger now assuaged, it was time to take a little walk down to the Grand'place. Along the way we ran into a number of interesting things, including a man painted entirely in gold, who would ring the bell on his golden bicycle if you dropped a coin into the basket (both boys gave it a try). Then we walked into the Grand'place itself, and the boys were truly amazed.

Malcolm in particular was almost speechless at the sight... he kept repeating "I can't believe this is real... the artwork is incredible... this is the most amazing thing I've ever seen..." etc. etc. For someone who has a liking for old buildings, fine details and decoration, he was in heaven. Duncan was less vocal with his appreciation but was fascinated by the amount of gold all over the buildings, and the many statues of angels and historical figures.

We noticed also the large number of Scouts/Guides at work in the Grand'place; apparently Sunday is a big day for Scouting. Malcolm and Duncan noticed one group of Guides who were testing out the old "string and two cups" telephone, and asked to try it out. They were astonished to find out that it actually worked! The boys also had a chance to assist in the Guide's scavenger hunt activities: apparently the Guides each had to give a boy a bizou (a kiss on the cheek) as one of their tasks. It's funny but I don't remember that kind of thing back home in Canada... oh well. Both boys complied, with somewhat pink faces; they are old hands at kissing now, after more than a month in Belgium.

We had a tour around the square and then sat down at La Rose Blanche for an order of moule frites and something to drink. The moules were not exactly to Duncan's taste, although I enjoyed them, and so did Malcolm, indicating that they were almost as good as the ones he's used to having at Allen's pub, on the Danforth.

We finished off our explorations by visiting the Manekin Pis, that famous statue of the little boy who pees. Don't ask me why this is so famous; both boys loved it. He was dressed up in a special little coat and hat, an ensemble that changes frequently depending on the calendar. Then we walked back up the hill to get on the streetcar home.

After we got home we were naturally quite hungry again, so we made we made a lot of pizza together. In fact, Maggie and the boys were so excited about the pizza that they formed a conga line to celebrate...

Home again

Maggie and I had a nice time together, visiting Antwerp this morning. Again I was amazed at how handy the Belgian railway online route planner is; you can put in any two transit stops and it will calculate your itinerary, accounting for walking time between stations. Another amazing thing; that 10 rides card that we use in Brussels also works in Antwerp! Pretty cool. I remember I got dinged an extra buck fifty trying to ride the subway home from York Region back in Toronto, and it took almost three hours to get home... how parochial!

The music director I auditioned for today was a really interesting guy. I'm not sure how long he's been conducting his chamber choir and orchestra, but they sound great; there were a number of recordings that he shared with me while I was there. They play on period instruments, too, tuned down to a slightly lower pitch than modern instruments, which is something new for me, although I did have some experience with period instruments with Kevin Mallon and the Aradia ensemble, on the Naxos recording of Rameau's Castor and Pollux, with Toronto's Opera in Concert. Or course this conductor had heard of Jean Lamond and Tafelmusik, Toronto's celebrated period instrumental ensemble, and we talked alot about baroque performance conventions, style and so on. We worked the most on the Bach, right down to the little details; I was a little unnerved initially, thinking this felt more like a coaching than an audition, but he explained that he was also trying to get a sense for what it was like working with me as a singer. Ultimately it's about finding a compromise between the two visions of conductor and performer... when you have a fierce vision about how a piece should be, you push the bar a little more towards the conductor, taking more interpretive space for yourself, and of course the reverse is true. In either case, it always makes sense to examine other ways of seeing a work, even if you don't choose to make them yours.

One good sign was that he indicated that he had thought of auditioning me "by concert", in Handel's Dixit Dominus, in other words, hiring me on the spot to perform this piece. Unfortunately it is right at the time when I will be away, singing in Canada! I was sure that I couldn't possibly have a conflict, but it figures that my first European performance opportunity is blocked by an existing Canadian performance. Oh well, it's worth it to sing the Brahms and Mozart Requiem masses, and if this fellow wanted me to sing once, one hopes he will want me to sing again. He was very complimentary of my top notes in the Brahms and impressed with my Messiah... I hope very much that I get a chance to do both of them here in Europe sometime soon.

We got back and I took some DVDs back to the mediatheque, and then went shopping while Maggie picked up the kids. I did a little tour of the shops near ULB (Universite Libre de Bruxelles) and found a great butcher, recommended by our friend Jonathan. I would prefer to let the picture I include here speak for itself; only in Belgium do you find a butcher with a 'fidelity' card for frequent purchase points! We had a couple of different kinds of sausage, and bought a lovely bit of steak; considering the high price of beef here, we'll prepare it very carefully over the weekend. Maybe under the broiler, or on the barbeque, with a little gorgonzola butter? Yummmmmm...

Until next time!

Controversy over separation? Government deadlocked? Transfer payment controversy?

So did I actually leave Canada, or did I have one too many Stellas while watching the Departed on DVD and fall into a drunken dream that I'd moved to Belgium?

The recent Globe and Mail article my dad sent me, explaining the sharp political and linguistic divide in Belgium was interesting, given our history of national unity crises in Canada... my comments on the Globe article can be found here along with the original article. Maggie has already written a blog entry that provides a little history of the conflict, and her perspective on the situation. I knew there were more things in common between Canada and Belgium than a fondness for beer and frites, but this is taking things to the next level...

I'm not making this a long entry; I've got to get to bed early, get a good night's sleep, and get up early before my first audition tomorrow in Antwerp (coincidentally, a hotbed of anti-Walloon political organizations, if The Bulletin is to be believed). I'll have lots to tell after our trip. Maggie's going with me after we've dropped off the kids; hopefully I can steer her away from the diamond merchants!

Bon soir!

Our first Canadian visitor is...

Jeff Mitobe!

Jeff and his wife Julia and I met in Kindergarten in my home town, more than thirty years ago, and along with a number of our other classmates, went through highschool together. Many of us also attended the same university. Our first children was born within two months of each other, and we live perhaps 150 kilometers from each other, but we hadn't seen each other in person for several years. Jeff's business often takes him to many places around the world, but we didn't know he'd be in Brussels until this past weekend: it was a message from Julia on facebook that tipped us off.

Last night was his last evening here, and as his two-and-a-half-day visit was packed with business meetings, we were very happy to see him and share a meal of home-made salade liegois that I whipped up from our Everybody eats well in Belgium cookbook - although my version doesn't hold a candle to Nathalie's - some crusty bread, a mixed salad of roquette and red leaf lettuce and a few glasses of beer. Maggie was off at her Weight Watchers meeting, and so came in after I had put the kids to bed, and we stayed up until 11:00 talking about our families, about Brussels and our newest adventures here. A good beginning to our role as hosts. Jeff won't be the last friend from Canada to drop in for dinner, I'm sure of that.

This afternoon the kids were home from school, and got a little squirrely, since it rained very heavily today for the first time in a couple of weeks. Maggie and I got some new orienteering suggestions from Jonathan, our neighbor, and he told us about a DelHaize grocery much closer to us than the one we had been visiting. As well, we went to the mediatheque, which is a library specializing in digital media such as CDs, DVDs, CD-ROMS and VHS tapes. For 15 € you can buy a membership (less for students and seniors) and then "rent" your choices, for very reasonable rates. CDs are approximately 1 € per week, and DVDs maybe 2 € 50 per day. We got a couple of DVDs that will play on the VCR here, athough to be honest I haven't tried one of our Canadian ones; I think the region coding will prevent it from working. Maybe this DVD player will play an NTSC-encoded disc; I'll let you know. I did pick up a couple new versions of the Brahms and Mozart Requiem masses, for comparative purposes. It's always a good idea to have a sense of what other people are doing with these very famous and beautiful works, while trying to construct your own personal slant on them. Hopefully your interpretation is beautiful too!

My audition that was to take place was rescheduled at my request for this coming Friday; Duncan was quite sick over the weekend and slept much of it, and we kept him home from school on Monday. I thought I had the same bug, as I was totally wiped out on Monday morning and went back to bed myself for three hours or so. If I did have it, it's gone now. I felt unaccountably tired yesterday just before lunch, but that passed, and today I'm fine. No other auditions yet, but I have made a few new contacts, mostly in the concert/oratorio realm. It's probably going to be better for everyone for the first while to try to stick close to home, and that's much easier with oratorio.

coaching my oratorio arias, and afterwards.... moule frites at last?

I decided to head out to Liège today, to coach with Hilary, a very talented repitateur who lives and works there, whom I met through Bruce. The SNCB (Belgian railways) website has a route planner that allows you to select any two transit stops in Belgium and it will work out your itinerary including the transfers you need to make, how long you should allow for walking from one station (metro) to another (IC/intercity trains) through a councourse, etc. You can save or print your itinerary directly from the website. How incredible!

I had a few hiccoughs though, getting there; the whole trip, from my bus stop to hers, took around three hours, and perhaps 27 Euros. The IC train ticket was 25 Euros, and two bus rides in Liege were another 2.60 or so, plus the two rides on the Brussels system, which works out to maybe another 2.80. One can quickly see that while the transit system is excellent, it does add some time to your journey, as we were able to drive from Brussels to Glons (near Liège) in just under an hour and a half. Still, it was interesting to have a look at the new Liège Guillemins train station. It's been under construction for several years, but is very close to completion, and when it's finished it will really be one of the largest and most beautiful in Europe.

But back to Hilary: she was fantastic to work with; very thorough yet extremely efficient, as we worked through the Brahms Requiem, the Bach recit and aria Mein wandel auf der Welt / Endlich wird mein Joch (Cantata 56) and the Thus saith the Lord / But who may abide / For he is like a refiner's fire from Messiah, all in maybe 1 and a half hours. Admittedly I have worked and indeed performed these pieces before, but even so I had no sense that she was skipping or hurrying over anything. I'll be going back again for sure, to explore my opera audition pieces, and hopefully to sing an audition with the Opèra Royal de Wallonie in Liège.

It was great to actually sing with the right music, played by a talented and knowledgeable repitateur for the first time in at several months; to work with someone like Hilary really recharges my artistic batteries because of the challenge she provides. Practicing by yourself is fine, but you don't really hear your own mistakes, your own little idiosyncracies and shortcuts without an external set of ears, and you need to develop an awareness of these errors, and correct them if you want to really prepare a piece for performance.

Many people are uncomfortable with criticism, but quite honestly that's what you pay for when you go to a coach, not to be coddled and cuddled and told that you're great. There's no point in having an artistic life if you're not prepared to be questioned and challenged, and the great thing about art is that you are never actually done working on anything... it can always be tweaked a little tiny bit to make it better, and it's great when you find people whose artistic opinions you respect who can challenge you to keep developing your interpretation.

My friend JR came by as we were finishing up, and we went out for lunch at a great restaurant called La Vaudrée, which is open 24 hours a day, and has a tremendous beer menu: 620 different beers, 32 on tap. The fruit beers alone cover maybe seven pages! We enjoyed some beer from La Trappe, which was the only Trappist beer I had yet to try (the others being Westvleteren, Westmalle, Orval, Rochefort and Duvel) and the only one brewed outside Belgium (in the Netherlands). It was great, but very strong, as we had the quadruple, which is brewed four times! Yowza!

As well, I was at last able to enjoy my moule frites! They were fantastic, cooked in (what else) a nice blonde beer; JR had the garlic ones and they smelled fantastic. Here's a photo of me digging in.


I've recorded a number of audio clips that are good representations of our experiences here; one is a clip of JR and I discussing the different Trappist beers, and there are others that reflect our daily experiences here in Belgium. I'm still trying to figure out how to upload podcasts or audio files, but I'll get it eventually.

Cheers!