Premiere in Bruges

The premiere of the new BL!NDMAN show, called Kwadratur: Transfo took place last Friday in Bruges, and there was lots of work leading up to it. I had some rehearsals with the other singers on the preceeding Sunday (in Brussels), and then with the full ensemble Monday (in Antwerp) as well as a very heavy day on Thursday, and then lots of additional rehearsal the afternoon of the concert (in Bruges). It went very well, and all the pieces were put together neatly. The composer of the piece we were premiering was there, and he seemed very pleased to hear our performance of his work, and he and the audience seemed to like it and the other works that completed this programme on the theme of transformation.

Now we have some off time until Wednesday afternoon, when we do a sound check in Antwerp, and then perform the concert again. There are a total of three performances in Belgium in January, and then another one in April, and a final one February 2011 in Amsterdam. I can't relax too much though since I have other things on my plate: there's this Vaughan Williams performance on January 24th, and I have to get the music to the organist in Antwerp and arrange some rehearsal time. I also have to keep myself organized for Canada in February, as I fly out on the 5th of February, and have this art song concert happening in Toronto at St. James Cathedral on the 12th, a special suprise concert of operetta (somewhere in Ontario, but I won't say where) on the 13th, the possibility of a little opera gala in Toronto on the 16th if rehearsal schedules allow, and a broadway show with Mississauga Choral Society and Orchestra on the 20th. Then there are the auditions, and other projects, like this spring's Schubert concert in Brussels, or the April 2011 one in Ottawa...

Speaking of auditions, it would seem that the audition I sang for Flanders Opera on December 17th was a good one, and they called me on December 27th to offer me a role as one of the Flemish Deputies in Verdi's Don Carlos, which opens February 12th and runs to nine performances.

Nine shows in that beautifully restored theatre singing Verdi? Exciting! But wait... I didn't get any notification from my voice message centre that a message had arrived until after the concert on January 8th, however, and when I called Flanders Opera back, they were very apologetic but explained that they had left the message twelve days earlier before, and when they hadn't heard back from me, they had cast it with someone else.

ARGGH! Can you believe it? I am really quite upset with Belgacom these days, as my mobile phone gave no sign it was holding their message until the 8th. Perhaps because it was switched off while I was away, and didn't turn it on until January 1st, I was out of luck.

As frustrating as this kind of thing is, it has a number of bright spots: 1) they liked me - or at least my take on Papageno and Malatesta - enough to want to hire me for something, and according to the conversation I had on Saturday with the casting division, that is still the case; 2) I now don't have to worry about cancelling my concerts and auditions in Toronto and losing the price of my plane ticket. Let's just say that next time I fly out of Brussels, I'll be sure to leave an up to date message on my mobile, suggesting that they send me an email, call Maggie at our home number, or ring me in Canada during my absence from Belgium.

It's kind of like the offer I had to turn down just before Christmas, where I was invited to replace a very celebrated bass-baritone in Haydn's Creation. The simple fact that they decided to offer it to me speaks volumes about the impact I'm starting to have over here. If they'll offer it to me once, they'll offer it again.