Hallo world! It’s has been so incredibly crazy and
wonderful! I decided not to post while I was there because 1- there was hardly
any time to do so and 2- because I wanted to write it well. I’m already back in
Brazil, arrived on Monday but let’s go back in time to NYC.
So Friday (the 14th) was kind of a dead day
because me and my mum went to Hartford that day in the afternoon. So we
basically just ate and got our stuff ready, went to Port Authority and got on
the bus to Hartford. I did eat a Salmon Wasabi Bagel that had WAY too much
wasabi and my eyes started watering, it was pretty awful. We got to Hartford at
about 6, grabbed a cab and I could understand about 25% of what the taxi driver
was saying (I didn’t really like him)! At the hotel there were the sweetest
reception ladies that made us feel so at home and comfortable and with whom we
shared a lot of conversation over our Valentine’s day dinner. Me and mum did
manage to lock ourselves out of the hotel room which was pretty pathetic but
also oh so funny. Our room was fantastic and I had a really good night’s sleep.
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| me and mum having our Valentine's Day dinner |
Next day was completely different, totally heretic and
crazy! So we woke up pretty early, had some breakfast and packed our stuff and
asked one of the nice ladies from the reception for a cab. When we got to the
cab it was the very same guy from last night! He left us at The Hartt School
and my heart started pounding real fast. The whole university was covered with
snow but I could see how absolutely gigantic it was plus it was beautiful. We
got in and I checked in with a very nice girl named Mia (yeah, like the
princess!) and we got to talking a lot and guess what? She knows Sydney!
I went to this talk thing that was happening in this big
gorgeous auditorium (they have so many, I was drooling!) about scholarships and
life on campus and the school. It was pretty nice and a good way to keep my
mind occupied so I wouldn’t be so nervous. Around 11:30 I went up to the fourth
floor to do my warm ups, there were some pretty nice people there (all the
students that were working that day were incredibly nice). Well, I got into a
professor’s office which was my assigned place for warm-ups and started doing
my thing and texting my voice teacher. I did about 15 minutes of vocal warm ups
and a guy knocked on my door and said they were ready for me. HOLY SHIT! I
grabbed my stuff and out I went only to find Sydney standing there! I was so
happy to see her that the nervousness kinda diminished a bit.
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| Selfie warming up! |
But on I was and in I went for my audition. The room I took
my audition in was quite big and there was a long table with about 6 teachers
there. There was a small stage with a piano and a pianist. The teachers were
really nice and kept asking me fun sorts of questions. They said I could pick
my first song so I picked the Modinha by Villa Lobos which was what Gerald
Finley had advised me to do. To sing in my own native tongue as quickly as
possible to show them my individuality and all. The pianist was insanely good, the
intro to this song is super difficult and he totally pulled it off. I sang and
I think I did a good job, I didn’t crack and I could hear my voice travelling
quite nicely in that room with incredible acoustics.
Then they asked me what else I had brought and they decided
on Les Filles de Cadix! One of the hardest ones! Apart from being super
incredible the pianist was also so very nice. That Spanish tune went on and
there I was, I sang and I didn’t crack which was fantastic. I did mess up some
tempos because I was so nervous but overall I think it went pretty well. The
high notes sounded really pretty and were kind of effortless and I made it to
the end without passing out. After I finished one of the teachers said “Thank
you very much, we will let you know”. I then turned to the pianist in a very
discreet manner (as if) and asked him if it was good thing or bad that they
didn’t ask me to do the sight reading thing. He told me that they probably just
forgot and so I thanked him and flew out of that audition room feeling the
weight of the world finally getting off my shoulders!
Sydney was waiting out for me and she said that from what
she could hear I went pretty well. She showed me around campus a bit, to the
libraries and stuff but it was really cold and snowing. We went to a small
auditorium where I would be taking my Music Aptitude Test, I was a little
afraid of it but as soon as I took it I was chilled. It wasn’t very difficult but
I couldn’t wait for it to be over!
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| Sydney and I |
I had a chance to talk to some people who were applying to
the school and everyone just seemed so nice! After some time me and mum met
Sydney and we ate at a supermarket place at the university. It was a shame our
taxi got to Hartford University so quickly, we had to say our goodbyes and
leave for the bus station. It was snowing by then and really cold. Our bus left
20 minutes late and the driver drove SO SLOWLY I wanted to murder him.
You see, Saturday I had a very good balcony ticket for the
very last Rusalka from the Met which is probably the last Rusalka Renée Fleming
would do, ever. My bus was to leave Hartford at 4:00 and arrive in NYC at 6:30.
Bottom-line I was oh so very nervous for the whole trip, I watched about 3
episodes of Dracula to see if I could distract myself, it helped a bit. I was
particularly pissed off because the driver took 9th Ave to head to
Port Authority which means that, yes, we went by the Met at about 7:30. I went
to the driver and asked him for the love of God to open the door so I could hop
out because I had tickets for the opera and I wouldn’t be able to make it
otherwise. The fucking bastard said that he just couldn’t do that and so, yes,
I saw the Met go by and so went by my first act of Rusalka.
But I wasn’t going to give up so easily, 7:43 we arrived at
Port Authority and I was flying out of that bus and into the subway. Flying
from the subway to Columbus Circle and ran 3 blocks up to Lincoln Center and
let me tell you, IT WAS SOOO COLD. And the streets were filled with snow and
ice so it was quite slippery. 7:55 I was in front of the Met hardly believing I
had made it. As I ran up the stairs to the Balcony area I could hear the
instruments tuning and that lady with that instrument I do not know the name of
which meant that the performance was gonna start at any minute. I could have
totally passed out when I got there. I went inside and looked back only to spot
Mike right away! I started screaming “Mike, MIKE!” but my voice was very weak
because of the running. Suddenly I hear someone screaming “ISABELA!” it was
Harry. We waved enthusiastically at each other, I got myself some water and
went to my seat just as the lights were dimming still panting from the running
marathon.
To top things off just before the performance started Peter
Gelb appeared on stage and there was a loud sigh from the audience and I was
like “Oh no, oh no, no, no!”. Fortunately he was only there to let us know that
Dolora Zajick was sick but that she still wanted to perform and passed on to us her
apologies. It took me the overture to have my blood run in a more human rate.
The curtains open and you can’t help but be completely and utterly transported,
I totally gasped when I saw that scenery. By the way I have not seen the live
in HD nor have I ever seen this opera ever before so it was all new to me. For
the first act we have the lake where Rusalka lives with her Green Gnome dad,
the effect used for the water is the same as the one they use for Turandot and
it definitely looks awesome when you are in the house but must have caused some
confusion for the HD viewers. The set was boosted by the most amazing lighting
design that could take you to literally any time of day in that place.
Well, in the beginning we have three nymphs playing around
(much like the rhinemaidens) and then comes the Water Gnome who is completely
blue and a total base. That guy’s voice is deep as hell! This scene reminded me
a bit of Das Rheinegold because of the three beauties teasing someone who they
knew wasn’t up to their standards. Rusalka then appears and I’m FREAKING OUT because
it’s Renée Fleming, one of my personal heroes for crying out loud! Right after
some song making with her Gnome dad and telling him she’s totally depressed
because she’s in love with a human prince she sings her signature aria. I’m not
going to lie, I wasn’t a very big fan of the acoustics from where she was
singing, her voice sounded a little muffed (gorgeous as usual but muffed), I
think the tree was too upstage and too high so the sound didn’t travel as well
as some of the other singers’ did.
But the aria itself was like walking into a dream, although
I felt the tempo being a little bit dragged! I couldn’t believe my luck that
was actually getting to experience such a thing as this! Renée was glorious and
she held that high B flat just a little bit longer like she always does and
then there was a rain of applause that must have lasted 30 seconds. Rusalka
goes to the witch Jezhibaba so she can turn her into a human (very much like the
Little Mermaid). Let me tell you Dolora Zajick did not sound sick at all, her voice
is totally huge and it just traveled beautifully through the whole theater.
The character of the witch wasn’t exactly a villain but more like a mean comic
relief. She asks Rusalka for her voice in exchange for the potion that will
make her human plus if her lover is untrue to her she is condemned to become a
dark water spirit neither living nor dead for the rest of her days and if her
lover kissed her after that he would die. Pretty brutal, right?
They leave and on comes the Prince played by dashing tenor
Piotr Beczala. I had already seen him live as Lensky which was such a wonderful
performance but this one was even better. He sounded absolutely on the top of
his game, voice crystal clear, beautiful color and charming all over, just a
dream! And of course he has all that prince swagger dominated so he looked and
sounded just perfect for the role of the Foreign Prince. He walks in and goes
straight to the water to which he looks lovingly and strokes the water.
You see Rusalka is a water spirit, even though she looks
like a woman to the audience she is really a wave from that river. And when the
Prince comes and strokes the water and stares at it so tenderly Rusalka falls
for him, after all he is caressing her! When Rusalka reveals her human self to
him it’s like one of those love at first sight scenes, the Prince is completely
taken by her beauty but she can’t speak.
And so one of the most interesting things happens. On the
page this part looks like an aria, just the Prince singing but when you see and
hear it it’s more like a one person duet. His lines yearn to be completed by
something she would say, same with some vocal lines. It’s quite romantic and
Renée is so absolutely graceful! This role fits her like a glove! They head off
and it’s intermission time.
Normally I’m not a very big fan of long intermissions but,
one, I had fantastic friends to chat to and two even if I didn’t I could just
stare at those beautiful chandeliers all through it quite happily. I finally
met Mike one of my closest and oldest twitter friends and saw Sasha and Harry
again. I might have been over enthusiastic when hugging the friends. We chatted
and the 30 minute intermission felt like 10 minutes. The gongs went off and it
was time for me to get me ass back to me seat.
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| Happy intermission! |
Second act is set just outside the Prince’s castle where you
can see a big stair case and some large glass doors that led inside the castle.
This first part we had the kitchen boy (a mezzo) and a huntsman chatting about
this strange girl that the Prince found by the lake and with whom he’s totally
in love with. The thing is, nobody really likes Rusalka, they think she’s weird
and a little bit nuts. Because as a water spirit she was sweet, gentle and shy
but as a human she has the very same personality but now in a human body, for
you to get a mental picture she’s a bit like Luna Lovegood, with her head up in
the clouds. Plus she’s very frigid to the Prince's caresses because she doesn’t
really understand them. So Rusalka is not at all popular and is feeling quite
literally like a fish out of water.
They come out and the Prince is making an effort to try and
understand why Rusalka is so different and odd. He says she’s beautiful but her
beauty is cold and he yearns for the warmth of her love for him. Enters then
THE bitch, the Foreign Princess who is so pissed off because she was to be
marrying the Prince but isn’t anymore because of Rusalka. She makes every effort
to try and humiliate and bully Rusalka and to make her look unfitting and odd
to the Prince’s eyes. She sways his attention by pointing out that he is giving
a ball and should be a good host. The Prince takes the Princess by the arm and
leaves poor Rusalka outside alone. She is miserable obviously, for the first
time since she traded away her voice Rusalka speaks and her father appears and
they have a long conversation.
The Prince reappears with the Princess and we can see
through the glass doors that he’s making out with her with much ardor. What a
dick! He comes back only to scorn Rusalka and tell her it wasn’t really going
to work out because she’s so odd and chooses to be with the Foreign Princess.
The water Gnome appears and takes Rusalka away and tells the Prince what an
awful mistake he just made. As the Prince approaches the Princess once more
she now scorns him and laughs at his face.
End of act 2 and another great intermission featuring some
of my best opera buddies. But all good things tend to feel as if they last 5
minutes and before I knew it we had to run back to our seats for act 3.
Now in act 3 we have all that ‘you reap what you sow’ thing.
Rusalka is back to her lake, cursed and miserable but she hasn’t touched the
water yet, only when she touches the water she used to call home will she be
cursed. She urges Jezhibaba to help her get back to her sisters and forget all this business. Jezhibaba tells her there is a way for things to be just the way they
were, Rusalka must take a knife Jezhibaba gave her and kill her beloved Prince, that
way she will be able to live as a water nymph again. Rusalka is horrified and
absolutely refuses to kill him saying she would rather suffer for eternity than
to do that to him. Jezhibaba is hardly impressed and gives her a “suit yourself
bitch” look and heads off.
Rusalka goes inside the water and BANG she’s doomed! The
Prince hurries to the lake but it’s too late, Rusalka is inside and totally
cursed for good. They sing the most gorgeous duet and a water platform thing
appears and Rusalka walks on the water toward her lover. When they meet they
share a kiss that kills him and Rusalka goes back to the bottom of the lake to
an eternity of misery. The end. Holy moly, that was SAD! I had to literally
take a moment to just chill after that because as it ended I was crying like a
baby!
Curtain call time and the people were quite enthusiastic.
Here are some amazing pics my friend Felipe Cunha took, mine are awful!
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| Emily Magee as the Foreign Princess |
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| Dolora Zajick as Jezhibaba |
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| Piotr Beczala as the Prince |
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| Renée Fleming as Rusalka |
After that we all head down to the stage door. Stage dooring
is a lot of fun but it is also a very nerve-racking business. Because you never
know in what mood the singer is going to be in or whatever so I’m always
excited but a little bit afraid. The more I like the singer the more afraid I
am and keep rehearsing what I’m going to say to them in my head. So you can
only imagine the state I was because of Renée. Getting to the stage door we had
our usual crazy people and some normal people, there were about 25 people there
if I can remember correctly. Dolora came out and just walked past everyone, did
not stop not even to take a breath. I do understand her though, she was
apparently recovering from sickness and must have been really tired.
Piotr was a sweetheart as always! Gosh I adore him, he is
such a fantastic singer, great actor and such a cool person. He stopped to chat
with us and even said he remembered me from Onegin! It was really cold so I was
wearing my ridiculous hat and as I took it off to take the picture with him he
told me he loved playing that game so we thought the bird should make an apparition
at the picture.
After a while Renée came out and my heart was beating so
fast I could have chocked on it. She talked to everyone and signed everything,
she’s so fantastic! Although she would sign the programs of the stage door
beggars (yes, that’s what I’m calling them now, my friend Felipe’s creation)
with just a line. She finally came our way and we got to chat with her a little
bit and I told her everything I wanted to tell her. She was very sweet but we
could see it that she was very tired. She signed everything and also wrote a
few words for me in my Inner Voice which was so amazing. I forgot to take off
the pathetic hat before the picture, hence:
After all the stage door fever me, we went to PJ Clarks to
grab something to eat and did not leave ‘till 2 in the morning or something. It
was pretty fun, I loved seeing some of my friends again and meeting in person
others. So I guess that was that for that Saturday. Stay tuned for more and
pray that I get into The Hartt School!
Cheers!
