Closing out the year in Amsterdam

Ballet - Sleeping Beauty

Rembrandt House

 At the Ballet

 

 Indonesian food

 At the opera

 Shopping, first day in Amsterdam

Christmas morning, in the Rembrandtpark across from our apartment

Christmas dinner with the McGinleys

 Chillaxin'

Duncan as Santa Claus

Goodbye to Het Musiektheatre Amsterdam

Cramped quarters: Duncan in the closet

 

Malcolm's vintage clothing store Levi jeans and waistcoat

 *  *  *

I am again bending my rule, that blog posts should be brief and frequent, and piling everything from the last couple of weeks together in one post.  The main issue is that when I have loved ones with me, and we are doing things together, the lowest priority item on the agenda is spending time alone on a computer; I would rather focus my attention directly on the people I am with, in the moment.  So you see that means that blogging has had to wait…

- things in Amsterdam -

After my last blog post I took the train back to Amsterdam in time for the next performance of The Gambler, but also managed to get in another rehearsal with the pianist before I sang my audition on the 17th.  I had learned a new German aria for this audition, which was satisfying to try out, and I opened with the Count's aria from le Nozze di Figaro which is a role I have done a lot, and which is my usual opener.  But what was really nice was to sing the french "Valentin" aria (from Faust) in an audition in such a way that I felt very contented about it.  I've been working on this aria for maybe fifteen years, and cannot tell you how great it feels to get it in a good place, finally!

After the 17th performance I came home via Antwerp, where we had the general rehearsal for the Bach Christmas Oratorio on the 18th, and then enjoyed a day off before the next show of the Gambler on the 20th.  Then the Bach performance took place on the 22nd, and it was really a lot of fun; I love the satisfaction that comes from being well-prepared and singing a piece you can connect with, with an excellent orchestra, in a suitable space… Everyone enjoyed themselves and it put us all in an excellent Christmas mood.  Vera the flautist from the orchestra let Malcolm have a go at her ebony and silver flute; the mouthpiece alone was 20,000 Euros.  He also had a chance to try a few notes on a gold flute.  Very high quality instruments; I wonder if he notices a big difference from his sterling silver flute?

The next morning we loaded up our car and headed north for a week in Amsterdam.  If you ever drive there I strongly suggest that you leave your car at one of the eight Park and Ride locations scattered around the outer ring road.  The Amsterdam city government actively discourages cars in the city proper, and it cost us about 25 euros to park in front of our apartment - itself quite close to the western edge of the city - for 24 hours, versus only 8 euros for the same period at a P + R only two kilometers distant.  The other nice thing is that the Park and Ride locations give each person a free hour transit pass to get into the city centre, so that provides an additional savings; each pass costs 2,80 if you buy it on the tram.

We settled into the house rather quickly; Malcolm and Maggie went shopping and returned with supplies and a little Christmas tree.  Duncan had made a few ornaments and we knew there would be ribbons from packages on Christmas morning so we weren't too sad to leave our many regular Christmas decorations at home, and made it festive on a modest scale.

We made the most of our time together in this very pedestrian-friendly city, seeing three museums together; the Rembrandt House, the Rijksmuseum, and the Anne Frank House.  The first we visited on the morning of Christmas Eve, and it was fantastic.  There were very few people, and so we we given an excellent demonstration of the different techniques that Rembrandt used to produce engravings, and even had the chance to use a wooden printing press to make a print.

The house was Rembrandt's own residence and gallery for many years, and he used it as a studio, engraving factory (his engravings brought him far more fame in his own time than his paintings ever did) and a workshop for his apprentices.  He also lived there with his wife and then later on, his mistress(es).  Quite a rum fellow, it would seem; certainly many of his engravings show a keen and sometimes rather earthy sense of humour.  Despite his earnings from vending art and engravings he had to declare bankruptcy 1656 and the contents of the house were sold and dispersed.

In the apprentices' studio upstairs we also had a chance to try out Rembrandt's drypoint technique, using sheets of transparent plastic instead of copper plates.  We each had a go, and printed several versions from our plate; I forgot that everything would be reversed and so had to scratch out and rewrite my initials backwards before trying the print again.  Duncan and Malcolm were very lucky; they were even given one of the demonstration prints from the big wooden press to take home.  There is an element of artistry to the application of ink, and the cleaning of the plate, which produces a slightly different image each time.  Interestingly enough printer's ink is made the same way today as it was four hundred years ago, by boiling linseed oil to a paste and adding bone charcoal… I am trying to convince Malcolm to buy it ready-made but we will see if he will be convinced...

While Maggie and the boys were looking at the exhibition of finished engravings I walked over to the opera house, showed my employee card, and lo! we were able to get four tickets, two at a very cheap discount, and sat all together with beautiful sight lines for the Christmas Eve matinee of Tschaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty.  It was absolutely magical!  The National Ballet did a revival of the 1981 version by Englishman Peter Wright, after the original choreography of Petipas… every aspect of the production, the set, the lighting, the costumes, the music, the athleticism of the dancers, the choreography; all was for the purposes of magnifying beauty, and it completely refreshed us.  I saw this same ballet with the Nureyev production, also after Petipas, in the Four Seasons Centre the last time I was in Toronto, and I must say that it is a fabulous spectacle, full of psychological depths and complexities that go well beyond its fairy-tale surface, and well worth seeing on many levels.  For people who have never seen ballet live I must encourage you to go; it is visually and musically exciting minute by minute and there are usually plenty of breaks for refreshment, so that the whole time flies by very quickly… there is none of this four-hours straight Wagner type stuff in Sleeping Beauty, I can tell you.  Here is a trailer for the production if you are interested.

We finished off our Christmas Eve at a nice Indonesian restaurant in the Flower Markt, and went home well satisfied to a good rest.

The next morning we drove the twenty minutes to Haarlem, where we were to spend the next four nights, at the home of the McGinley's, friends we met this past summer in Croatia.  They have a nice big house there, and we enjoyed many good conversations with them, and good drinks, and fabulous food; the turkey was prepared in the Julia Child technique - where it is cut up and partially deboned, brined, stuffed with herbs and so on and then sewn back together for the roasting - and the cranberry stuffing was delicious.  They left for Paris on the 27th and so we spent those days in town exploring Amsterdam further, with our evenings spent in Haarlem, relaxing by the wood fire...

One rainy morning we passed the Anne Frank house, but as the weather was miserable and the queue incredibly long we decided instead to head for the Rijksmuseum.  It was little better, so packed full of families; the museumcard is very affordable for adults, and admission is free for the under-18s, so everyone and their dog who hadn't already decided to line up for Anne Frank appeared to have opted for the Rijksmuseum instead.  But the wait was only 40 minutes or so, and when inside we had the chance to see lots of different things.  Most of our time was spend in the 17-century gallery, but the really famous paintings (The Night Watch, the Vermeer pieces) were mobbed by the crowds and so we concentrated on less popular things.

We resolved to get up earlier the next morning and try again for Anne Frank, and so braved a cold but dry hour and a quarter to get in.  The museum is very simple, and the existing house has had a large extension added to allow for coatrooms, washrooms, a cafe, bookstore and so on.  Very little of the original decor persists; it was the wish of Otto Frank, Anne's father, and the only survivor of the eight people hiding in "the Annex", that the house be left in a symbolically empty condition, but reconstructions were made and photographs taken when the museum was first established, so one has a sense of how it had been arranged.

If you haven't read the diary, some new editions have recently been published that include even more of Anne's writings, and if you have never visited the museum, it really is a must-see.  The horrors of the second world war were on a scale frankly unimaginable to us today, and there is an incredible personal resonance found in the story of these eight people who tragically very nearly managed to escape.  Their almost-escape is echoed again and again in the histories of so many families… As a father of two myself I can try to imagine how hard Otto Frank and his wife must have struggled to keep their family safe, and I cannot imagine how he felt, as the only survivor of the Annex.  I am sure that I am not the only father to have found something in his eye by the end of the tour.

We left Haarlem before the McGinleys returned from Paris, spending one more night in the Rembrantpark apartment before heading home on the morning of the 30th.  It was really a great holiday together, and after our separation of ten weeks I was very thankful that we had the time to do it.

- things coming up -

- two Bach Cantatas at Minimes Brussels on January 26th
- Brahms Requiem with Geert Hendrix and Orkest La Passione in Antwerp on February 15th

In Canada:
- George Frideric Handel: DETTINGEN TE DEUM, Joseph Haydn: MASS IN THE TIME OF WAR, with Jurgen Petrenko and the Toronto Classical Singers, March 2nd, 16:00, Christ Church Deer Park, Toronto
- A Night in Vienna with Kerry Stratton and the Toronto Concert Orchestra, April 2nd, 20:00 at the Markham Theatre
- "Mid-Atlantic: a voyage of Canadian and European song” with Dina Namer, piano, April 25th, 19:00 at the Canadian Music Centre, Toronto
- A Night in Vienna with Kerry Stratton and the Toronto Concert Orchestra, May 3rd, 20:00 in Barrie
- "Mid-Atlantic: a voyage of Canadian and European song” with Dina Namer, piano, May 8th, 19:00 at Temple Israel, Ottawa

As you can see I have a plethora of performances in the spring in Canada, that will necessitate my being away from the family from mid-February until mid-May.  I will be flying very soon after my Brahms concert, but not only to prepare for these performances… I also have some auditions in the Western part of Canada.  More personally, I also have to organize the now almost certain clearing-out of our Endean Avenue house.

We have rented it out for the past six years and a bit, and while that has been a success, the increasing demands on my time and attention that have come with a growing singing career and the time constraints of Maggie's teaching career have made it a challenge to organize things.  When we add to that the mental effort and stress required to manage it, on top of our home here in Brussels, it really has gotten to be too much.  We plan to put it on the market in the next week or so, and have asked family friends Kimball and Marilyn Sarin to handle the details.  Here's a virtual look around the place; it looks so nice we almost want to reconsider selling!

- Looking forward to the coming year -

It's nice to be home and to have some relaxation time.  The last couple of evenings were great; we had shrimps and noodles for new year's eve, and then this evening had a leg of lamb with oven roasted potatoes and green beans with toasted almonds.  But it wasn't all cooking; I also used some free time today to listen to several recording of the Bach Cantatas that are coming shortly, and to start emailing a number of different companies to try lining up auditions over the next six weeks.  I am hoping that the recent debuts in other opera houses will encourage the other companies to give me a listen, and it is always good to make use of the little burst of energy that always accompanies the completion of a successful project to propel me forward into the next one...

Wishing all of you a Happy New Year with many successes in 2014!

Journeyman

Lots of travelling these days... I made it back home on Saturday, but on the way from Central Station to our house, managed to squeeze in a coaching with Peter Tomek on the Bach Christmas Oratorio at his studio near La Monnaie.  Then it was over to Adagio music, which is having a liquidation sale, so I took the opportunity to stock up on some scores for projects already on the horizon, and also get some flute music for Malcolm for next year.

Then we had a nice dinner together that evening before Maggie and Duncan had their rehearsal for the Christmas pageant.  That took place the next morning, and Duncan acquitted himself well as the evil King Herod.  Malcolm was excused because of exams, but he did come to the evening carol service to sing with the senior choir, and do a reading, Isaiah Chapter 9, beginning at verse 2:

² The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.

³ You have multiplied the nation
And increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
⁴ For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of Midian.
⁵ For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.

⁶ For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Pretty vivid imagery!  I always love it when the reading is something that I have sung, or heard sung.  Malcolm of course knew verse 2, from hearing me sing it in the Messiah many times, but he also had a listen to verse 6, as set for the choir, from the famous Elmer Iseler singers  / Andrew Davis recording.

He read well, I think; I had to go on the impressions of other worshippers, as unfortunately I didn't hear it; I roared up to Antwerp for the first rehearsal of the Christmas Oratorio.  It's going to be great to finally sing the last two parts, and I have a very nice soprano partner, Astrid Stockman, for our challenging duet, "Herr, dein Mitleid".  I have listened to quite a few versions of this duet.  Here's an unusual one, from 1981, with Christian Schnellert, boy soprano, Robert Holl, bass, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting the Concentus Musicus Wien.

It is getting me very much in the Christmas feeling.  Today I go to Den Haag to rehearse with an opera repetiteur, and then will continue to Amsterdam, with our next show tomorrow evening.  I have to make two more trips down to Antwerp/Brussels over the next week for the generale rehearsal and the concert for the Bach, and then Maggie and the boys will be finished school and can come with me.  A nice Christmas present for me, and for us!

Third performance coming up

It's been a little while since my last post... but as you can see above, the flowers from opening night are still keeping fresh.  We've had the generale and two performances since my last post, and Bruce was here for a vacation, so I was otherwise occupied showing him around the town.  But now he's back in Toronto, and as Kris is in Brussels for an audition, I am on my own, and thought that I would write a bit before gearing up for performance number three tonight. 

 

The generale went fine; there were little acting stories to be polished and logistical manouevres to be rearranged, but everything was in good shape, and we had a great opening night last Saturday.  There was a party afterwards and I received a great many interested looks from the mostly Dutch partygoers as I attended in Scottish dress.  The female technicians were the most curious, and demanded to know if the rumours of "regimental" kilt-wearing were true; I replied that while I appreciated their interest, I needed to keep a few secrets to myself...

We celebrated a bit the next day, starting out with a voice lesson... during Bruce's time in Amsterdam we took advantage of my employee privileges to reserve a studio frequently, and so we had a total of five voice lessons, covering the Bach Christmas Oratorio, the St. John Passion arias, two arias of Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet, Belcore's aria from L'elisir d'amore, Valentin's aria from Faust and the Count's aria from Nozze several times, and Fritz's aria from Korngold's Die Tote Stadt.  Whew!  Considering that I haven't had a lesson since last spring it was great, and he is happy with how my voice is sounding.  I am very grateful for the help and support that he has given me, and also honestly glad to sing a lot of music that is more extensive and interesting than the very small part I sing in this Prokofiev opera!  The good news is that the conductor and casting director here agree, and I will be auditioning for them sometime over the next week or so.

As you can see by the smoky photo, we finished off that day with a visit to the Hajenius cigar store, and a nice Partagas and a glass of port in their cigar bar.

We also managed to visit four museums during his stay, thanks to the Amsterdam Museumcard.  It's around fifty euros but is good for one year, and gives access to maybe 35 museums.  It's great because one never has to get fatigued by spending more than a couple of hours in each museum, as you might feel obligated to should you pay for each visit; it's easy to come back another day.  I hadn't visited any museums before on this trip, as our rehearsal schedule was very restrictive, and no one else in the cast seemed interested in seeing the collections... But we made up for it, and saw the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum; the latter had massive security including scanners and even facial recognition software, which I think is new since Maggie, the boys and I visited four years ago.  We also saw the Museum Willet-Holthuysen, which is under a continual process of restoration to make it appear as it did during the late victorian period, when an art collector couple lived there, and the Rembrandthuis, which was Rembrandt's house and studio / gallery for many years.  It is mostly filled with paintings of his contemporaries, but there is a huge exhibit of his engravings, and a studio upstairs where one can participate in an engraving/printmaking workshop in the apprentice's studio... you can bet I will be taking the boys there!

As well we saw two concerts in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw; the first was a recital in the small hall, which is one of the most beautiful acoustics in the world.  This was given by my friend Peter Gijsbertsen, the tenor who sang Don Ottavio in our Don Giovanni recently, and it followed a similar concert he gave in London's Wigmore Hall recently.  I was particularly excited as it included Schumann's opus 39 song cycle, which I mean to do with Dina Namer in Canada, and Peter Tomek in Brussels or Vienna sometime soon.  The recital was lovely; I congratulated Peter on his great performance, and hope we can do something else in the future, as I really enjoying singing with this new tenor friend and colleague.

The second concert was a performance of the Messiah of Handel, given by the Amsterdam Baroque Ensemble, in the large hall.  Really gorgeous acoustic; we were seated in consul seats on the stage, behind the orchestra and choir and so could see the face of the conductor throughout, and had a good sense of how it felt to sing in the hall.  I think the last Messiah I attended as an audience member was maybe in 1997; it was certainly before I had ever sung it, and it was great to experience this beautiful piece purely as a listener.

We also did some brocante shopping, and I found a few little presents for Christmas, but also something for myself.  The Baron is a Bavarian, so I was happy to have a little memento of the character in this inexpensive Tyroler jacket, which to me looks as if it was never worn.  Lucky!

Speaking of questions about the Baron, Malcolm was curious about how they made me look older, and so I explained that they apply a bald wig first; this makes me look a bit like Doctor Evil from the Austin Powers movies.  Then they apply a grey hair wig that they have constructed based on a cast of my own head, and then hand-tied hairs of differing tones to really simulate an older me.  I am quite happy with the result, and with the new Hugo Boss "smoking" that they gave me to wear in act IV, as you can see in the photo below, with my elegant fellow Canadian, bass-baritone Alain Coulombe, in burgundy velvet, and the very nice (and very tall) French bass-baritone Guillaume Antoine.  We are ready for the casino again tonight...  Les jeux sont faits!