Day after tomorrow is the first concert of the Vienna Here and Now programme, with the Toronto Concert Orchestra and conductor Kerry Stratton, with whom I did Brahms Requiem at the gorgeous Weston Recital Hall, back in 2007. I had a little rehearsal yesterday with Bruce, who has sung this Vienna programme before, and Allison Cecilia Arends, a soprano whom I met several years ago at an opera gala in Toronto; I am feeling good about the Markham Theatre performance, as well as the second show in Barrie on May 3rd. They might add a third one in Toronto, but it's not confirmed yet.
It's been a while since I've done the Danilo "Chez Maxim" aria from The Merry Widow with an orchestra; indeed I think the last time was the first time, at least ten years ago with Opera York, staged and conducted by Mark Dubois, who amazingly also sang the tenor role of Camille de Rossillon. I like the character of Danilo a lot, but I was pretty green and scared out of my wits for that production, as it was my first lead role, so someday I hope to play the Pontevedran Ambassador to Paris again. Allison sings the Love Unspoken duet with me, and also has some showstopper arias, and we will also do some Don Giovanni pieces, while the orchestra will have lots of good Viennese marches and waltzes to play, so it should be a fun evening.
It would seem that I might be singing this programme in other places... I haven't signed anything but it would seem more or less confirmed that the Brahms Symphonieorkest in Berlin will be rehearsing this programme in December, under Kerry's baton, and will take it to China, so it may well be that I go with them. Certainly the preliminary steps of sending promotional material and passport checks have started. It looks as if I will have a very busy autumn, with two Creations, two Mozart Requiems, four Carmina Buranas and then the Chinese tour. So much for a peaceful and quiet Christmas with the family... unfortunately for singers the times when normal people are resting are the times when we get busy.
I have another Toronto audition in the next couple of weeks; it is good to be invited to sing for a director. One never really knows what directors are thinking, or what they are looking for, so I don't even bother speculating. There is a great clip of Bryan Cranston (of Breaking Bad fame) at the Academy New Member reception in 2012; he was asked his advice for aspiring actors and replied:
“Well, the best advice for fellow actors is this: Know what your job is. About 18 years ago I realized I was going into auditions to try to get a job. And that simply wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing.
His advice applies to any artist. There is a more involved interview that Cranston gave last year for the local Albuquerque television show New Mexico in Focus, that expands on this idea; he talks about saying goodbye to his role as Walter White on Breaking Bad and gives some interesting insight into his career and acting process. (Okay, so that's Walla Walla, Washington, and Albuquerque crossed off the Bugs Bunny name-check list. Next up: Cucamonga!)An actor is supposed to create a compelling, interesting character that serves the text and presents it in the environment where your audition happens. And then you walk away and that’s it. Everything else is out of your control.So don’t even think of it, don’t focus on that. You’re not going there to get a job. You’re going there to present what you do. You act, and there it is. And walk away. And there’s power in that and there’s confidence in that. And it’s also saying, ‘I can only do so much.’
The decision of who might get a job is so out of your control that really—when you analyze it—it makes no sense to hold on to that. That, to me was a breakthrough, and once I adapted that philosophy, I never looked back. And I’ve never been busier in my life.”
What else has been going on? Dina and I have already looked at all of our pieces for the concert. Now I have a ton of work to do in getting them into my memory, listening to our rehearsal recordings, thinking about Dina's piano music, making decisions about how I want to handle my particular vocal and dramatic challenges. I am of course excited about the debut of the Mahler, and the Schumann pieces, but the Canadian music is really dynamite, and proves that we grow good composers in our country! Dina and I had a rehearsal in the Toronto performance space last week but likely won't be in it again until the day before the concert on April 25th. By that time we will have had one performance already in Kingston on April 23rd, and we know that church's acoustic and that piano pretty well, so there should be no surprises there.
Friday night Bruce and I went to see Darren De Genova's paintings at a gallery out on Queen West, as part of a larger show called "Super Big Top" on the theme of the circus. It was nice to see some of his new paintings; I think the last time Maggie and I visited one of his shows was when we were living in Toronto. It might even have been before Duncan was born, I can't quite remember. Bruce and I were discussing the positive reaction to his Japanese linotype hand-tint that we used for our poster art, and Darren has agreed to issue a short-run numbered series of them to be shown at the CMC Toronto, and available for sale. I'm really happy that I was able to give him this commission, and I like his work a lot, so I hope that he gets some good exposure from our concert. This isn't the first time that I've used paintings in a recital; Peter and I showed projections of Biedermeier paintings for our Belgian performances of Die Schöne Müllerin, but of course they were photographs, and these are original pieces. Not everyone gets excited by art the same way; some need music, some words, and some images, so it's good to mix things up.
Maggie and the boys are doing well. Their Easter Holiday is coming up soon, and there is some talk of them meeting my cousin Annie in Helsinki for a couple of days, while her parents Lorraine and David are visiting. I don't know if the schedule will work, but I hope so.
As well I've been going through the mountains of paper that the accountant has requested. I am taking advantage of the scanner here at Bruce's to get through it all, but it is daunting and very boring. I also am trying to tackle the front bedroom; it needs some serious organizing to get it set up, and I feel like I have too many things on the go at once. But that's better than being bored, I suppose!
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