London, audition, Hagen…
Hi there! This week I was in London, back to Germany and then right now Sunday writing from the city of Hagen in Germany.
I flew to London on Monday and got there in the evening. I stayed near Queensway St. close to Hyde Park and Nothing Hill, well connected to the centre. I went there because I got an audition for the ENO (English National Opera). It was my first audition in UK after so many years. I wanted to get in touch with the country that gave me so much as student and I really love every time I visit there. In this occasion I was there just for the audition and really focused mostly on that. Of course, I walked around and got very nice coffee at some of my favorite places there, as well as Japanese food and also went to a Japanese bakery which I really like and got some Sando and Mochi.
I had also the opportunity to meet Jonathan Papp, Audrey Hyland and a fellow tenor called Joshua. Jonathan I met for the first time in over a decade, it was so nice to catch up and have a coffee, I am grateful he took the time to meet, even though he is really busy, he really supported me when I was a student and we did many concerts together and she runs the Solti Accademia, in which I took part many years ago. My dear Audrey I met her while there was a Masterclass going on at the Royal College of Music, we met briefly, as she is the head of the department and was busy, she got me a ticket to join the Masterclass with Marie McLaughlin. It was really moving for me to see the energy of the singers who participated in the masterclass and Marie was really clever with the advice and tips she gave to each singer, she was really spot on, and she was very critic but always kept the lightness so the singers could take the advice as something positive and never in a negative or aggressive way. I was specially surprise the joy that each of them had, and I got the feeling they love singing so much. It was really special. Lastly I met the last morning I was there a dear friend called Joshua, whom I met back in 2010 during a competition in London, since then we have kept in touch, and even met in auditions. This time we went to a coffee called Guillam Coffee House and had a lovely conversation, mostly about life and of course the voice, we are too tenors so we are a lost case hahaha. It was funny, he just returned from a quick trip to Germany and then me, going back to Germany from my quick trip to London.
In preparation for the audition I had to book a room hours before my time, around baker street and later I got into a bus and got to the building in which the audition took place, it was near the London Coliseum, I may say it was raining really strong, and I am glad I had my umbrella and also my Gore-Tex boots. I had to arrive 10 minutes before, and for the first time in a long time, there was no chance to warm up anywhere or have a quick run of the pieces with the pianist, that was really surprising because I expected that ENO would provide what I believe is basic. We travel and prepare for the audition so the least they can do is to give a fair chance to the singers to warm up and meet the pianist to give the best quality possible at the audition. For me it is necessary to warm up before any audition, so I booked the room, still it was challenging because I had to move location and it was rainy, windy and cold, then 10 minutes in the building and straight to the singing in front of the panel. But I knew about it the moment I got the invitation, so I made sure that I least I could warm up before somewhere else and decided to accept the conditions, so at the end I made the best I could in that situation. I sang “Kuda,Kuda” from Onegin and then Faust “Salut demeure”. I did a good job although in one of the notes a little phlegm was dancing haha, but besides that all was more or less how it was practiced. The panel was really nice and very friendly. At the moment as far as I know, it was just a general audition, that means they are just listening to people without any specific role in mind. My part is done and I hope I left a good impression and that they could think of me in the future for a project. I decided to do this audition to challenge myself and to put myself out there, specially now that I have started to freelance and need to make contacts, and, make experience auditioning. I am glad I went there and sang the way I did.
I came back to Germany, spent 2 days at home and again on the road to Hagen, in order to sing a bit of Boheme tomorrow morning and evening with the Orchestra of the theatre. They are auditioning 8 candidates for the position of first Kapellmeister. I have to sing the beginning of Boheme, the entrance of Marcello and Rodolfo. I look forward to it, I do really like singing Rodolfo.
I kept my daily reading, morning pages, and this week only 3 times my exercise routine instead of 4. I hope you are well and please take care. See you next week.
