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!