Don Giovanni et al

It looks as if I have found a good apartment for an affordable price in Amsterdam, fairly close to the Hetmusiektheatre; by bicycle it should be only ten or fifteen minutes away.  Kris Belligh (with whom I collaborated on La Traviata) and I were initially planning to rent a houseboat on one of the canals, but this location is very quiet, newly renovated, and as it belongs to two teachers at the international school there, it's kind of in the family.  We move in there on the 20th of October, to begin six days a week of staging rehearsals until the show opens in early December.

Right now almost all of my thoughts are occupied with preparing the Don Giovanni.  I've had a couple of meetings to go over the staging with the director, and met the singer who will play Zerlina; Liesbeth Devos is her name and she seems very nice, so it will be lots of fun to work with her.  I have had a number of coachings with Peter Tomek and also with David Miller, so hope to be well prepared.  We have a musical rehearsal next week prior to five days of intensive staging, so having some clear sense of the stage movement ahead of time will help us all work more quickly that we would be able to otherwise.  Quite the opposite of the six weeks of rehearsal in Amsterdam!  Because of the long hours of staging in Antwerp next week I'm thinking it might make more sense to stay there through the week, rather than try to get home each night.  It might actually be cheaper also.

I'll post more pictures as they become available but the costumes are going to look quite beautiful; I think this is Donna Elvira's dress taking shape above.  She is played by Britt Truyts, with whom I sang the Brahms Requiem in Holland last fall, and she will be great as Elvira.  As the Commendatore I will be dressed as an old soldier with a ram's-horn helmet and a spear... a bit Wotan-ish, but hey, that's cool.  I'll share those photos later.

I have a nice poster to put on the window downstairs for the Don Giovanni, and another for Duncan's show, Evita, which the Brussels Light Opera Company is presenting this November.  He's part of the children's chorus, and will get to work a bit in English instead of his usual French, so that's a good thing.  We are all thinking of him, and missing him quite a bit, as he is away all week at Nettinne with his class.  He returns tomorrow so that's good news for us!

We had a big moment last Sunday when Malcolm sang his first service in the senior choir.  There were four tenors and five basses/baritones for a change, so when they ripped into the big hymns it made the place really rock, and their anthem was a lovely one.  A number of the men and women came up to afterwards and complimented me on his accurate reading, good intonation and solid rhythm; I have really had very little to do with any of that, but accepted the good wishes on his behalf.  I'm glad that he's found something else that he's good at...

Maggie has hopefully survived her parent-teacher night last evening; I'm sure that she will be tired tonight.  She's happy to be back in the swing of things but I am sure she is dreading my long absences that are quickly approaching and the lack of support around the house that that entails... unfortunately it's just what has to happen.  Fortunately the boys are very independent and can even help out with the cooking so that should make things a little easier for the family but I do wish I could sing every role here in Brussels so I wouldn't have to go away from them!

On that note, to find something for dinner.  Have a good weekend!