Getting ready for Messiah and rehearsing Brahms

Here are a couple of photos of the Nozze di Figaro; it would seem that it was a good success.  Here we are taking our curtain calls...

A reviewer from Opera Gazet seemed pleased with our production, and was very positive in general.  In terms of my performance, he said: "…Matthew Zadow in de rol van Il Conte Almaviva. Ook hij bezit een prachtige stem en door  zijn uitstraling was hij een uitstekende graaf," which translates roughly to "...Matthew Zadow in the role of Conte Almaviva. He has a beautiful voice and in his appearance he was an excellent Count."  How nice! 

We already have another performance or two lined up in Lommel in November, and more in Hasselt in 2013, as well as other interested parties.  It's such a good cast, and such a nice reduction to chamber setting, that we are all really happy to look forward to performing it again.

Big thanks go to our main sponsor, Gert Jeandarme, and his family, who put on a wonderful party for us both after the generale and also after the opening, at a restaurant nearby.  Here we are during the post-generale party, with Rita, Anne and Marta checking out the rabbits and chickens at Gert's home...

And here we are at the restaurant after the opening, enjoying a nice bit of dinner together...

 

This past weekend we had a long-awaited saturday dinner with Bryan and Kiana.  Duncan got involved in some hedgehog medical care...

 

... and then we went for a drive in the beautiful countryside, taking advantage of a beautifully warm evening...

 

  
This week it has been quite rainy and cold, with lots of changeable weather...

With all that rain and cooler weather it's nice to have some flowers in the house...

This week has been spent in planning, and in preparing for the Messiah, and Brahms and Fauré Requiems that are coming up in the next few weeks...

Opening night of Le Nozze di Figaro

Our opening night of Le Nozze di Figaro was last evening, and it was a roaring success, with a great audience response and no major problems in execution.  We had very little time in the Academiezaal, just one rehearsal on Saturday afternoon to iron out little issues with entrances, but our extensive rehearsals in Brussels paid off, and we had enough time to adjust everything in time for the performance.

The salle is a special one, built by Louis Roelandt, the designer of the opera house in Ghent, between 1843 and 1845, on the site of a Benedictine Abbey that was founded in the 7th century.  The octagonal Academiezaal has a great acoustic, and I felt a bit like the Stratford young company must feel, doing their shows at the Tom Patterson Theatre on a thrust stage. 

 

I was very happy to have had a chance to sing my aria Hai gia vinta la causa as if I was pleading a legal case, and this meant that I could direct the questions the aria is filled with directly to the audience themselves.  Lots of fun!

Vedrò mentr'io sospiro                Shall I, while I'm sighing,
Felice un servo mio?                   See one of my servants happy?
E un ben che invan desio,             And the good thing I want in vain,
Ei posseder dovrà?                    Shall he have it?
Vedrò per man d'amore                 Shall I see the woman who woke in me
Unita a un vile oggetto                A feeling she doesn't have for me
Chi in me destò un affetto,           United to a vile object
Che per me poi non ha?                 By the hand of love?

The audience was really moved and enthusiastic, and after the show we all met at a nearby restaurant, and were surprised with much applause and shouts of "Proficiert" (I hope I'm spelling that right, it's Flemish for "congratulations").

Today I am lying low and being quiet until it is time to leave for the second performance.  It looks like Maggie and the boys will be able to attend, so we will head out together... they recorded a video yesterday and will take photos tonight, so I will post some pictures when they are ready.

After tonight I will have a little time to think about other things, smoke a celebratory cigar to commemorate my first opera performed on Belgian soil; La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein in Brussels was technically an operetta, and Un Ballo in Maschera was in Ireland, not on the mainland.  Then I must start reviewing the Messiah, the Brahms Requiem, and the Fauré Requiem, all coming up in the next month... and call more opera houses, agents and orchestras to arrange more auditions...

Mes cousins Canadiens...

Patrick and Anne arrived on Saturday the first of September, and they were treated to blue skies and nice weather.  We let them sleep a little bit but after lunch we all headed off on a tour of the different sights (and tastes) that a Brussels afternoon has to offer.  First stop was the Brussels palace, which was open to the public, and we walked through the various salles and the ballroom, the room whose ceiling was rather famously covered with beetle carapaces by the Antwerp artist Jan Fabre, and the Technopolis demonstration area, with its interesting physics games and even a "jedi" style Mindball game... I was happy that I can still beat Duncan at using the Force... of my own theta waves, anyway.

 

Then we carried on through Place Royale, down the steps past the Bibliotheque Nationale and continued to Grand'Place, where the beer fest was in full swing.  We saw little chance of making it inside the perimeter, and decided instead to sit down at a nearby resto for some refreshment.

Sunday we decided to profit from the nice weather and cheap weekend train tickets and headed to Bruges, walking through the Béguinage, and carrying on the the Church of our Lady, which houses a famous statue of the Madonna with Child, the only sculpture by Michelangelo to leave Italy during the sculptor's lifetime.  Then we went to the Groeningen Museum, with its many Flemish primitive paintings, as well as some neoclassical and impressionist ones as well.  Then we enjoyed a beer and some frites in the central market area, but forebore climbing the iconic Bruges belfry, and headed home on the train. 

 

Patrick and Anne welcomed a chance to chill out on the back terrace after their many travels...

Next we decided on a road trip to Northern France and West Flanders, starting with Vimy Ridge, near Arras.

 

The monument underwent extensive restoration in the first decade of this century, and was rededicated in 2007 by Queen Elisabeth II.  It really is quite something to see; Walter Seymour Alward's design, chosen in 1921, is still powerful, moving, and beautiful.

Then we went to the visitors' centre for a tour of some preserved trenches and a trip down into the "subways", supply and command tunnels dug many metres down into the chalk stone.  After a drink at the Café d'Erable nearby, we headed back into Belgium at Ypres, and went to the In Flanders Fields Museum, in the former cloth hall building in the city centre.  This is a fabulous museum, newly renovated, that shows many different aspects of the war, with presentations in French, Flemish, German and English, including special interactive displays that are customized to the visitor based on their age and country of origin.  It was really quite well designed and I plan to return again for a second visit.

We had dinner in Ypres before stopping at the Menin Gate for the sunset ceremony with brass band and a piper, which rather incredibly to us, is held at 8pm every single day, and then managed to use the last few moments of daylight to get to the Essex Farm cemetary on the road to Boezinge, where John McCrae wrote the famous poem In Flanders Fields.

The next day Patrick and Anne struck off on their own to visit the Fine Arts Museum and the Belvue Museum, which deals with the history of Belgium, with emphasis on its royal family and the colonial period.

I had the day to myself, as Duncan had already started school at the beginning of the week, and Malcolm had his first day of school, so I was able to catch up a bit on my musical preparations.  Malcolm is happy to have the same latin teacher, but he doesn't have history/geography with his favorite teacher from last year, and he is still rather cool on his math teacher.

 

He is happy that there will be a music class this year, with a wacky prof who came in and played some R&B saxophone music as an introduction to the class.  It would seem that the class will be largely music history, but he can either write a report for the final exam, make a presentation, or play a little concert on his new silver flute, so I have no doubt which on he will choose.  Duncan has a new teacher as well this year, but everything seems to be going well so far...

Then we hit the road again, driving to Monchau Germany for lunch, and exploring the lovely half-timbered buildings there on foot before heading back to Liège...

On the way we stopped in at the Val Dieu abbey, founded in 1216 by a community of Cistercian Monks, but now occupied by a a small lay community, overseen by the regional ecclesiastical authorities, in association with the Cistercian Order.  They make a traditional beer there, but we didn't stay, opting instead to buy a few bottles to try later on.
 

In Liège, we found the city bustling with activity with construction everywhere, and many cars and pedestrians.  It really is a happening place these days.  Much of the construction is around the newly renovated Theatre Royal, which has had a complete facelift and addition of new floors on top of the original building.  It looks great and I am hoping to audition there again soon, as well as go to hear some opera in this very important opera house.

We walked around a bit, visiting the Cathedral of Liège, which I have never explored before.  It amazes me how different each of the many cathedrals are; I was awestruck by Notre Dame de Paris, Köln, Rheims, and English cathedrals, Bath Abbey, Bach's Thomaskirche in Leipzig, and so on, but even after seeing those I found it very impressive, particularly the beautifully decorated ceiling.

Friday the cousins went off to visit the Horta House museum, and catch up on a little bit of shopping before their trip came to a close.

Yesterday morning we got them off to the airport early, and by now they are already on their way to settle into university life.  Safe travels to them, and thanks for visiting!

*   *   *

Now what?  Last night we had a lovely garden party and BBQ to celebrate our friend Régine's birthday, and met a lot of very nice people. 

 

I am staying home and being quiet today, resting my voice before tomorrow's rehearsal of Le Nozze di Figaro.  We have heard that it will be performed in costume, largely because of the number of invités that will be attending, so for us it will really be like a performance.  Maggie and the boys just got home from church and there will be some homework for them too, and preparations for tomorrow's classes.  I hope you have had a good weekend and wish you all a good week to come... bonne rentrée des classes!