Aachen, Lensky, travelling…
Hi there! I hope you are well. This week was really surprising to me. On Tuesday, just after eating I got a call from theatre Aachen, the tenor was not feeling in top form so they contacted me to standby in case he felt worse. The role in question was Lensky from Onegin, a role I did in Wuerzburg and also jumped in few years ago in Detmold. I said yes so, I spent the whole of Tuesday evening, around 6 hours trying to remember the music, text, entrances, meaning, etc. The following morning at 9 am they contacted me to confirm they needed me there to be ready in case I needed to sing. I packed the night before in case they said I would have to go, so I was ready. To travel to Aachen from where I live is around 7 hours the quickest and that is if the trains here are not delayed. I took 3 different trains, and I got in time for the OHP (pre general rehearsal). The production is done by a dear colleague and friend Verena Stoiber. She is the one who recommended me, Verena, I am really grateful you gave them my details and I am glad they decided to contact me. It was a long trip, but I made it on time to see the rehearsal. The tenor sang cautious but well, so I already thought there, he might not get sick after all. The following day, the theatre informed me that the tenor was going to sing the general rehearsal, so we agreed just in case, I would watch the general rehearsal. After watching it, I was able to create a picture and sequence of the whole staging. So, if I need to jump in, I know now the whole main movements, or at least the sequence.
I was happy I was able to see a new city, meet my dear friend, see her work and also to meet new colleagues, both Lensky and Onegin are Mexican, which makes me really happy and proud that there are more Mexicans singing in Germany and have a job and can live from singing opera, what a blessing.
At the end of January, I decided I was going to start looking at roles I sang in the past and put them in my current way of singing, and dust them off so I can be ready in case any jumpings come. This was a perfect opportunity for me to start remembering with Lensky the roles I have sung, last week I did studied Duca from Rigoletto and this week I got to put the whole Russian text back on my memory and voice. It was really challenging. I spent 48 hours with full focus on remembering, text and music, and it was intense and I even felt uncomfortable with the pressure of remembering so much in a small amount of time, but it was worth I am glad I managed to remember 95 percent of all with sureness, there are few bars I change, same melody but different text. Now after few days I got them back in the right order. As an experience it was really nice to have the opportunity to remember a role under some pressure and quick, so now I am ready to jump anywhere this role.
I remember also that I was so happy singing this role in Wuerzburg, it just feels so much part of my character and voice and personality. It is a role I enjoy very much. Thank you God for putting me this small challenge and for allowing me to have this experience.
The following day after the GP I came home, and, the German trains did not disappoint, there were delays in 2 of the 3 trains, so it took me even longer to get back home. In Frankfurt I stopped in 2 of my favourite bakeries and took the time to get a coffee and once in Leipzig, I had also coffee with Aki and some colleagues, that made my journey much less tedious and at the end we had Vietnamese lunch.
Once back home I took the weekend to keep studying and practising very intentionally. I am glad that going with Marcelo, Kunde, Camarena, Jeanette and Alagna, is giving me so much new understanding of my voice and the way I see singing. Also reading and re reading the vocal pedagogues, tenors, singers from the past, is really helping me. By challenging my own knowledge, my own ideas, test them, it is hard but is the only way to free the voice, to know thyself. It is so, there is not short cuts in singing, there are temporary tricks, but they do not last. Only facing oneself is the way to the true sound, it is so in singing and life.
I keep my exercise routine, daily reading, morning pages. I hope you are well and see you next week, take care.
