A little Mozart with Sir Thomas Allen

This spring I had the good fortune of participating in a Masterclass given by Sir Thomas Allen, as part of the Concours Musical International de Montréal.  We worked in front of an audience for 45 minutes on one of Idamante's arias from Mozart's opera Idomeneo.  As a world-renowned Mozartean, Sir Thomas Allen's stylistic sensibilities are fine-tuned to this repertoire, and he was able to give me some great tips to propel my performance and interpretation to the next level.  Here is a clip of the fruit of our labours, from the masterclass itself.

"Ah, qual gelido orror....Il padre adorato"

Scotland the Brave

It all started as a way to get out of the Schengen Zone for 8 days.  (Because of my arrival in late June, I was risking out-staying my 90 day tourist visa before my Residence Permit comes into effect on October 1).  So I decided to escape to Manchester and the Peak District to visit my sister, and then hop up to Scotland to enjoy some of the Edinburgh International and Fringe Festivals.  What started as an 8-day jaunt turned into a 2-week adventure of couch-surfing, spontaneity, and pilgrimages.  Part of the reason for the extended stay is that I neglected to double-check the date of my flight back to Bratislava. Probably my sub-concious telling me I wasn't ready to leave yet ;)  With an extra week on my hands, I had the chance to add the Isle of Arran and Glasgow to the original sights on my itinerary, which included St. Andrews, North Berwick, Stirling and Edinburgh.  Thanks to the amazing couch surfing community, I didn't have to pay for accommodation the whole time I was away, and I met some amazing people and made some incredible memories!  The picture of the top is the Peak District in England, and below is Haggis, Neeps and Tatties in Deanston, Scotland.

Lessons learned with KS. Christa Ludwig

I was lucky to be selected as one of 10 participants in a week-long masterclass programme with Prof. KS. Christa Ludwig in August.  The masterclass was part of the Academia Vocalis program, and was held at the Hotel Panorama, in Bad Häring, Tirol.  What a gorgeous setting for a summer program!  I wish I could have afforded to stay at the Hotel itself, but I was quite happy with my Pension and couch-surfing experiences in Wörgl.

We spent the week preparing for a final concert, which was performed at the Hotel, with Christa Ludwig acting as Master of Ceremonies.  The programme consisted of Opera favourites and German Lieder.  I opened the concert with Prince Orlovsky's aria, then sang two Mahler lieder from Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit, and a Brahms duet (Die Schwestern) with my friend Jenifer Lary, another curly-haired singer.  It was very cute.  

I learned some very valuable lessons during this program - but not the ones I was expecting to learn.  Instead of gaining insight on German diction, lieder style, or vocal technique, I was surprised to learn that Frau Ludwig, as well as the other program participants, consider my voice to be that of a soprano, due to it's "light colour".  I had never claimed to have a particularly dark voice, which is why I call myself a "lyric mezzo" rather than a "dramatic mezzo".  However, according to the Austrian aesthetic (or at least that of Frau Ludwig), my voice is more interesting in my higher register.  Indeed, I never heard true Mezzos until I arrived at this program.  I didn't know such rich voices could exist in singers so young.  I sounded like the Queen of the Night in comparison.  All this to say, that I am rather confused at the moment, and eager to gain the opinion of other European pedagogues.  Perhaps I will have to market myself differently in Europe than I do in North America.  Or perhaps a "Zwischenfach" or "Falcon" classification will someday be in order.  However, these fach classifications seem to be rather sensitive, and a little old-fashioned, so I may have to just choose - soprano, or mezzo.  

In the mean-time, I continue to be inspired by other "lyric mezzos" with a lighter voice colour, who have been accused of being "lazy sopranos" - Frederica von Stade, Susan Graham, Magdalena Kozena, Anne Sofie von Otter, Angelika Kirchschlager, and Joyce Didonato.  Ladies, give me strength!

Here's a clip of me singing Prince Orlovsky's aria for Christa Ludwig.  You can even hear her voice as she chimes in during Eisenstein's line :)