Wednesday in Vienna with Mitch!!

I caught a train out of Salzburg at 10:02. I finally found a seat on the train, and the car was full of loud German teens drinking beer. I believe they were all going backpacking/camping. I managed to still get a little sleep and they got off one stop before Vienna.

When I arrived in Vienna, Mitch had said he would meet me at the train station and I couldn’t find him anywhere. I also couldn’t get Internet at the station. I called my mother to have her check my facebook and e-mail for me. There wasn’t anything from Mitch, and I didn’t have his number. I waited around for about 2 hours, and then managed to fit my large suitcase in a locker for 4 Euros. I then went to look for an Internet café. I had also sent a txt message to Mitch’s friend Rachel from Florida. Once she woke up she had his cell number and gave it to me. I called Mitch and he had thought I was coming today (Thursday). He and his friend then drove to the station to pick me up with my luggage and go to his apartment. I had been in Vienna for about three hours before we finally caught up with each other.

Once at his apartment, we decided to go walk around and then have dinner. We walked for about 5 hours over half of Vienna before finally back. He showed me where he works, teaches, where the orchestra he plays in practices and performs and other places of interest. With all of our walking and catching up, we managed to completely forget to take a couple of pictures together. I really enjoyed seeing him again and catching up.

Mitch has recently started his own little orchestra. He was telling me about it and how he’s running it with different plans and ideas he has. He had wished I were here during the season so we could do a concert. It went from a thought to something we’re actually starting to formulate. There are many baroque pieces for Soprano, trumpet, and chamber orchestra. So we’re discussing putting a concert together with a set of arias and songs for me to sing with the orchestra, some trumpet concertos and then doing a few pieces together. I’ll just have to come back to Vienna sometime between October and the end of June some year. We both like to be able to do it this coming May/June if we can work it out.

He and I stayed up talking until a little after midnight, so when my alarm went off at 5:45, it was too soon. I hopped in the shower as Mitch continued to sleep and then by 6:15 I was ready to go. He got up and started to laugh when I was just sitting there eating a little box of dry cereal. He couldn’t believe that as a girl I was done already. I laughed and said that when I need to be I can be very fast, while other times I can also take forever.

At 7 we walked to the bus. There is a bus that leaves from the train station about a block away from his apartment and goes directly to the airport. It was very convenient and only cost 6 Euros. I’m pretty sure Mitch went back to bed for a short time after I got on the bus. Now I’m at the airport (with free wifi!!) waiting for my plane. There was only a short line to check in and no line for security. My flight boards in about 20 minutes and I should be arriving in Chicago at about 8:30. Then I have a 10:15 bus to get back to Normal. I should arrive in Normal around midnight. It doesn’t seem too late, but my body will be telling me it’s 7am. Nothing quite like a 24-hour day!

I’ll see you all soon! Ciao!

Es ist fertig

Well, I got a little packing done on Monday night, but no studying. When I got home after the concert, it was 8pm and Martina, the girls and I all had dinner together. Then Martina and I enjoyed one last cup of coffee together before I went up to my room to pack and study. Laura decided she wanted to help me pack and then Lisa came up too… needless to say with the two of them in my little bedroom, nothing got done. Once Martina came up to put the girls to bed I managed to get a little packing done, but then I was ready to go to bed myself at that point. I knew I had to get up early to shower and do my hair and a little more studying in the morning.

Tuesday morning, I got up and actually put some effort into doing my hair. I blow-dried it straight. It was a silly thing to do because it was raining and so my hair tends to get curly and frizzy because of the humidity. I packed my makeup and gown in my little carry-on and went to the college about an hour and a half early. There I got some studying done before our final at 10.

The final ended up being only two pages long and I didn’t have too much trouble with it except for remembering the plural forms of the nouns. I did find out later from a message on facebook from Jasmin that I got an A in German, so I must have done pretty well on the final.

After the final four of us went for one last coffee together at our favorite little café. Then back to the college to hang out before lunch. There some of us started getting ready for the concert. I did Sara Marie’s hair for her. We had our last meal at the restaurant and then it was time to really start getting ready. Our concert was to begin at 3:30 and we needed to get dressed, do hair and makeup, and warm up.

The concert was wonderful. Everyone sang so well, and it was my personal best since I’ve been here. I wore my red gown from my friend Shannon’s wedding. Unfortunately with the little weight I gained while being here and eating all the wonderful food, it was a bit tight and with the boning was almost like wearing a corset. On the plus side, I now understand why some singers like to wear corsets, and I just may become one. It forced me to breath low and really use my breath support. This in turn let me sing really well. Both Mary Dibber (my coach) and Yvonne (my teacher) really congratulated my performance, as did the other faculty. They said my coloratura sounded wonderful as always, and my lower/middle range was clear. Even Yvonne’s husband (a professional tenor who sings throughout Europe) came up to me and commented on just how much my middle range has opened up and become clearer over the five weeks. His mother came up to me as well and complimented my performance. Her compliment for me was one of the best because her husband (also there) is some big-to-do with a Bach society or something (well known in the music/vocal world in Austria and Germany). Martina, Martin and the girls were also at the concert, and of all the children of host families there, Laura and Lisa were the best behaved. They never spoke while someone was performing like some of the others did. The other children had left by the time I sang, so I didn’t have that distraction. Instead, I had Tom Enman. When the piano started playing the chorus part in “Poor Wand’ring One” Tom sang the words. I smiled and thought it was great. I agreed with him that it is much better with the chorus part in.

After the concert we had a cake and champagne reception. We all took our last pictures with each other all dressed up and with the faculty. (I’ll post some of them when I get home because all my pictures are still on my camera and my chord is in my checked luggage).

I left the concert with my family and we all walked to the bus. We just barely caught it and had to run (I was still wearing my gown and heals) and cross the street where there wasn’t a cross walk. (In Austria they are pretty strict about that and you may get a hefty fine).

Once back at the house I finished packing, and kept checking the weight of my suitcase on their scale. After that I called it an early night and went to bed.

On Wednesday morning, I got up and got ready to leave. Then I enjoyed one last breakfast with Martin before he left for work. I then brought my entire luggage down and sat and watched TV with Laura curling up on my lap. At 9, Martina and the girls drove me to the train station. It was really hard to say good-bye. Laura was crying a bit in the car, then hugged me and then wouldn’t let go. I promised to skype with them and keep in touch. We hope to see each other again either when I am back in Austria, or they come to the states (Laura does want to go to NYC).

Last Day of Regular Classes

Martina and I played one last game of rummy after dinner last night. It’s not quite as much fun with just two people, but we enjoyed it while drinking our evening coffee. Laura was sitting watching the game and as we finished up and cleaned up the table, Laure said “Ich bin tired.” Martina and I started to laugh because she was mixing German and English.

This morning we had our last German class with Jasmin. She prepared us for the test tomorrow and went over just about everything that is on the test. Tomorrow there is a festival in her hometown and all the streets are shut down. She won’t be able to make it into Salzburg to give us our finals or to come to our final concert. We all said our goodbyes today and took a class picture with her.

After class I had a 20-minute rehearsal/coaching with my pianist, Mary Dibbern, and voice teacher, Yvonne. We went over my song for our final concert tomorrow. It went really well. I sang through it twice Yvonne and Mary only had one or two spots to point out. I was really supporting the sound and using good breath control. Yvonne was really excited to see that. They also both commented on my coloratura. It was clean, clear and beautiful. I feel really good going into the final concert tomorrow. I just hope my German final is as good.

We had one last master class today co-taught by David Aronson (coach/rehearsal accompanist/conductor at the Vienna Opera) and his wife Sylvia Greenberg an internationally acclaimed Soprano. It was wonderful. They were both so lively and had so much to share.

One last thing for tonight and it is to see Martin Shalita sing Die Schöne Müllerin. Martin is an alumnus of the program who is currently making a career in Germany. Then it’s home to eat, study, pack and get to bed.

Last Weekend

Friday’s master class was a bit of a bore. The woman running it is a coach and pianist/accompanist who works at the Mozarteum. It was only the second master class she’s ever given, and it showed a bit. She was also quite soft-spoken which made it even harder to pay attention.

After the class I stayed around the college for a little while, but then caught the bus home early. It wasn’t until after I had been home for an hour relaxing up in my room that I started to remember Martina saying something about visiting her mother this weekend. When I went down to the kitchen at 7 for dinner, it was to discover little notes left all over the kitchen for me. Martina had left a plate sitting out for me to heat up for dinner and in the frig were sandwiches for lunch on Saturday as well as lasagna to heat up for dinner.

After eating, I decided to relax and take a bath. They have a nice whirlpool tub on the bottom floor. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to turn the whirlpool part on, so it ended up being just a bath.

Saturday I got up early to join Ian and Phoebe for the hike along Lake Wolfgang. (Phoebe is the director of the Salzburg College). I knew not many were going to come on the hike because the weather wasn’t supposed to be good and they wanted to go see Neuschwanstein (the castle Disney’s castle is based on). When I arrived at Mirabell Platz, I found phoebe, but Ian wasn’t there and it was past time to meet. She and I discussed different things we could do, and as it was just the two of us, I opted to go see the Eagles Next also known as Hitler’s Tea Room. Phoebe hopped on her bike to go home and get her car. As I was waiting at Mirbell Platz, Ian finally showed up. He had over slept. I told him we had a change of plans.

Phoebe picked the two of us up and we drove out to the mountain. Ian and I opted to walk up the mountain instead of taking the bus. Three hours or so later and after a couple of stops, one to eat a sandwich, we finally arrived at the top. The Eagles Next or, Kehlsteinhaus, is on the top of Kehlstein Mountain that is 6,017 ft high. We did take an elevator for the last 407ft. The elevator shaft was bored straight through the mountain and linked via a tunnel. The tunnel and elevator are still in impeccable shape. The inside of the elevator is completely surfaced with brass that is polished daily. Kehlstainhaus was built for Hitler’s 50th birthday. From the top of the mountain you can see everything (on a clear day). Unfortunately for us, it was not a clear day. We could see blue sky at the top of the mountain, but below us all you could see were clouds.

After we took the bus down, we looked through an exhibition about Hitler’s regime and walked down to what remains of Berghof. This is where Hitler spent 1/3 of his reign. He didn’t spend much time on top of the mountain. Once the area was taken over, the British bombed the headquarters, others burned some of what was left, and the Americans completely destructed the rest. All that is left are a coup-le of stonewalls. We also walked through a portion of the underground tunnel system Hitler built through the mountain for protection from bombing and gas. There were airlocks, a heating, air conditioning, and air-drying system built in.

Before the three of us headed back into town, we stopped at a new little restaurant that has opened. Ian had schnitzel, I had warm cheese strudel with ice cream and Phoebe had some ice cream. It was amusing to take my water bottle out and see just how thin the air had been at the top, and now at the bottom it looked more like an hourglass.

After spending an hour at the college to practice, I headed home to crash. I went to bed pretty early.

This morning I got up and the family had gone to church. I listened to a couple pod casts of “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.” Then when they got back, we all enjoyed a cookout. It’s gorgeous weather today, so we all enjoyed the weather.

The End is Near

Our talk yesterday was with Joyce DiDonato and her husband Leonardo. Joyce is currently one of the best Mezzo-Soprano’s of the day. Some say she is the Renee Flemming of Mezzos. We could have stayed there for hours asking questions and listening to her. Unfortunately we had to be at the Festival Master Class at 3 and you don’t get in if you’re late.

Christa Ludwig held the master class. Five singers performed. Two are from the states and Vladimir was the only guy that sang. Emily Righter, Mezzo that just graduated from Yale is probably coming to our final performance. Interestingly enough one of the girls in our program overheard a few of the singers from the master class talking about Joyce DiDonato and wanting to meet her. We all chuckled a little since we just had met her.

After the master class, a few of us went to the Augustiner Brewery for dinner. We had a great time and sat outside in the Beer Garden. Unfortunately it started to rain after we had been there for a little while. Everyone moved inside, but we had finished eating, so we decided to go to Café Furst for dessert. The only problem was that the café was on the other side of town and it started to down pour. We decided to stop at the college (which was on the way) and hang out for a little while till the rain lightened up. After about half an hour it actually stopped completely.

Mike and I split a banana split there at Café Furst. After we had been there for a while, and I looked to see what time it was, I saw it was almost time to catch a bus. I left the crew and made it to the bus stop with perfect timing.

This morning we had German at a café to practice ordering food. We first went to Carpedium, but there wasn’t really enough space for all of us to sit together. It was also a little on the expensive side, so we ended up at McDonalds, and we all ordered in German with Jasmin watching and listening. We were then able to sit upstairs and talk about things together. After class, most of us returned to school and up to the library. There we were showing each other videos on youtube we’ve found of singers both good and bad. We also ended up lying on the tables and giving each other massages. It was quite relaxing.

We have one more master class this afternoon in our program. Tomorrow we’re supposed to go hiking along Lake Wolfgang, but its supposed to rain all day. I think many are deciding not to go for that reason. I’ll wait to see how bad the weather is and if anyone really is going.

Jedermann

The play was amazing. Despite only having a very basic idea of the plot and not knowing the language, I was able to follow the play. It took place in an outside theater early evening so lights were not needed. The rain just managed to hold off until we were almost back to the college.

The costumes were magnificent. There wasn’t much to the set, really just the stage and stairs with a few props, but then the stage actually broke apart and there was fire and explosives. It was quite dramatic and caught us all by surprise.

After the play, we had just enough time to go back to the college and grab our things before it closed for the evening. I caught the bus home and spoke with the family for a few minutes before heading up to my room and complete my German homework and call it a night.

Today was essentially our last German class. Tomorrow morning we’re going to have class at a Café so we can practice ordering and asking for the check in German.
It was also my last lesson with Yvonne today. It was wonderful! We worked on “Poor Wand’ring One” as it’s what I will be singing for my final. Then we spent a little time on “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion” from Handel’s Messiah. She gave me some great tools to work with to help polish the piece even more.

We have to eat our lunch a little early today and eat quickly. At 1:30 we’re meeting with a singer (whose name I can’t remember at the moment) and her husband, a famous conductor. It will be another Q&A today, but a short one. At 3:00 we have another Salzburg Festival master class. Hopefully either Vladimir (the good looking baritone) or Andre (the gorgeous bass) will be performing today. If not, they’ll at least still be there.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday was a day like any other day. I had German; a voice lesson then was up in the library for a while. There I fell asleep on the floor for about half an hour having been tired after a late night at the opera.

Lunch was some sort of Wurst in a chili type broth. Then we had a fun master class. This class was for the two student pianists/accompanists that are here than for the singers. The woman conducting the class is a professor at the Mozarteum, the university in Salzburg. She’s originally from Sweden and is married to an American that did one of our master classes earlier. She was quite amusing to watch. At times she reminded me of Mrs. Ventiquattro, my 8th grade math teacher. She would jump up and down all over the room and clap her hands to keep our energy going (class was right after lunch). In the master class, she did much the same thing clapping loudly, stomping, and jumping up and down. It was quite effective.

After the class, I headed home for dinner with the family. I read for a little while, while dinner was prepared. I may have fallen asleep for a short time as well. Martin put both girls to bed, then Martina, Martin, and I had dinner out in the garden. We enjoyed one of the last nice evenings Salzburg will for the summer.

As tired as I was, I called it an early night after dinner.

Today, it’s sunny for the moment. We’re supposed to be getting rain this afternoon/evening. Instead of a master class after lunch, we’re having a talk/ Q&A with alum of the program whom is currently starting a career.

It was a really good talk. Asking many good questions about how he got started and an introductory look into the German Opera system.

Tonight I am going to see Jedermann (Everyman). It is a play that has been put on every year since the start of the Salzburg Festival. The theater is really small and tickets are really hard to get. Our seats are in the last row, and the cheapest and they still cost 50 Euros. It should be a lot of fun. I’ve heard its good from those that have gone already, but it is in German. Many get really dressed up to see this. It’s fun to go to the events with all the paparazzi out taking pictures.

Last night one of the girls managed to get a ticket to opening night of Romeo et Juliette. She stood outside the festival house holding a sign that said, in German, I am a music student and would like a ticket. One man had two tickets, his wife was sick and he was planning to sell his ticket for the full price, but saw her and gave it to her for 50 Euros (originally a 250 Euro ticket). It’s tempting… I would love to see that production of Romeo et Juliette by Gounod.

Ist Montag

I walked about half way home before I caught the next bus yesterday afternoon. I arrived home and Martina started to make supper. While she was making a wonderful shrimp salad, I was going through my flash cards and drinking tea.

After supper, coffee and dessert, I headed upstairs to continue studying, read, and get to bed early.

Today I had to get up and do my hair, makeup and pick out my dress for today. I have a coaching with Mary Dibbern again today and am also singing in her master class after lunch. Then, tonight I have a ticket to the opening night of Mozart’s Don Giovanni! I am very excited. Sofia and I have already decided we’re waiting for the singers to come out to meet them.

The master class was absolutely wonderful. Everything went really well. We discussed how to say the nasal vowels in French without them getting stuck in your nose. She also corrected diction errors; common mistakes.

The Opera was… interesting. At the Salzburg Festival, they have a fascination with doing modern productions. This Don Giovanni was set in the forest and even had a car that drove onto the stage. Zerlina also practically had sex on stage… it was a very intense bloody and sexual production. I’m still now quite sure how I feel about it. The baritone that sang Leporello was incredible and gorgeous.

I walked about halfway home; until the bus caught up with me. Then I crashed for the evening as soon as I got home

Sonntag

It was a big dinner with the family. Edith’s mother came to pick the girls up along with their grandmother (I think). There were 10 of us at dinner. Afterwards, Julia, Edith and I played one last game of rummy before dessert was served. After dessert, I headed upstairs to take a nap before having to get ready for the concert.

The concert was wonderful! The pianist could just make you melt with one finger on a key. The mezzo was phenomenal, I only wish I had her control.

After the concert, a bunch of us went to Murphy’s. If you speak any German in the pub and the bartender’s catch you, you have to buy them a drink, or potentially round for everyone.

I left to catch the last bus home, and had given myself more than enough time to get the bus stop. I would’ve had a 15-minute wait, so I decided to continue to walk to the next stop. I timed things, and kept track of when the bus was to be at each bus stop. It take a little under five minutes to walk from one stop to the next, so by the time the bus caught up with me I had walked more than half way home and had only about 6 stops to go. It had finally stopped raining, so it was a nice ending to the day.

This morning I slept in till about 11, though I did wake up at first around 8:30. There was a band that was being carted around on a truck that started playing right outside my window. Apparently they do it once a year, driving around the neighborhood as some sort of fund-raiser.

I ate a nice little dinner with Martin and the girls, and then came into town. The market along the river was still going on today, so after dropping off my stuff, a few of us headed over to pick up gifts and look around. It’s a beautiful day today, perfect for strolling along the river looking at different booths.

Now I need to start studying for my German quiz tomorrow. I may head back down to the market to pick up a bottle of mint oil that we saw and had a sample of while walking around. Just a drop on a cube of sugar and it cleared my sinuses. It’s also good for rubbing on sore muscles and a drop in water to gargle for a sore throat… the list went on and on. I may also walk home today since we’re finally having a beautiful day.

Samstag

I was able to sleep in a little this morning, but we had a tour of the festival houses at 8:30 and with the weekend morning bus schedule I had to catch my bus at 7:57. I ate a quick breakfast thinking I’d get coffee once in town as I would have a good 15 minutes to spare. Laura was up and asked if I could make her some toast. I did quickly and ran out the door. Unfortunately just as I was getting to the street the bus went by and the next one wasn’t until 8:18. I have not had luck with the weekend bus schedules. I started to walk, in the rain, to town. I got about half way when the next bus caught up with me. I knew I was going to be late, but I figured I head over on the off chance that I could catch them before it started. I arrived about 5 minutes late and as it turned out, the guy that was giving out tour was 30 minutes late.

We couldn’t go into the main theater as there was a rehearsal going on. We walked into the Karl-Bohm-Saal. This is one of the original rooms of the building. The back wall is the stone from the side of the mountain. It was one of the rooms for the Arch Bishop where horse games would take place. Now it is used for intermissions. The ceiling has a mural of the horse games.

The next theater we went into is the theater used in The Sound of Music. It is used for some concerts and operas. The arches are carved out from the side of the mountain. It was built in the 1600s and originally the arches are where the Arch Bishop and nobility sat to watch events. It was all open/ outside. Now the arches serve as a backdrop. Some go into the arches for parts of performances, but no public is allowed. The roof that is now in place is retractable.

The last theater we went into was Haus von Mozart. It is a smaller theater used for chamber concerts such as the Liederabend we are attending tonight. As we are all singers, we stood on the stage and sang a little. Not everyone did, but it was fun.

After the tour a few of us wandered around a little, got coffee, and returned to the college. We were showing each other our favorite youtube videos. We watched a few Victor Borge videos (if you haven’t seen him I suggest phonetic punctuation and page turner). I need to head home for dinner with the family at 1. I hope you wake up to a beautiful morning.

Another Dreary Day

Jürgen Flimm gave the master class yesterday afternoon. He was director of the Salzburg Festival from 2002 until 2004 and has worked in many opera houses around the world including the Met, Royal Opera House, and the Bayreuth Festival (where Wagner built his opera house and houses the Ring Cycle). Only two singers performed. It was Regine Sturm (soprano) and our favorite deep bass Andrè Schuen. They performed the first part of act I Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart. It was wonderful to watch them and see what Flimm wanted them to do with their acting in the scene. They sang through Figaro’s aria. We were all melting a little as Andrè sang.

After the master class we met back at the school to then go as a group along with the faculty to the Augustiner Brewery for dinner and their wonderful beer. We all had a lot of fun. The food was wonderful as was the beer. One group of us stayed for quite a while outlasting the entire faculty. We were just having so much fun talking and trying the different pastries. Some of the faculty came over and asked if there was a sign somewhere that told us to be a loud table. We were just laughing a lot and a couple of us had a loud “soprano singer laugh.”

I got home around 8:30 thinking I’d call it a night and go to bed early. However, as soon as I got home, Martina, Julia, and Edith wanted to play rummy. They had been waiting for me to get home. It is much more fun to play with 4 people. I started to teach Julia and Edith how to shuffle cards creating the bridge. We played and short game and I was able to get to bed around 10.

This morning our German class went to the market to look around and ask questions about how much certain things cost, where they’re from, and what different things we could find in the market. We then went to McDonalds to be inside out of the rain and in the warmth. There some got coffee and pastries (the McCafe is much nicer than ours, McDonalds in general is a lot nicer and the food much better). We then discussed what we had found in the market.

We came back to the college and headed up to the library where we sat on the couches and watched Puccini’s Tosca. After we watched the opera 5 of us walked to the music store where Aaron had purchased the DVD of Tosca. We had a lot of fun walking around town despite the rain. We got back to the college just in time to head to lunch.

Gwen and I ran to Getreidegasse to go to Mango or H&M right after lunch. (The Getreidegasse is a famous shopping street in Salzburg; it is also where the house Mozart was born in is located.) She needed to find a skirt and shoes to wear for the concert in the Marble Room at Mirabell Palace. It was the concert for the competition winners and as it was in the Marble Room we were told to dress up. A few forgot and went to get cheep skirts/dresses. We got back to the college with just enough time to change and be ready to meet Dr. Hardenbergh to walk over to Mirabell. Julia, Edith, and Laura also met me at the school to join us on the walk over. I knew Julia and Edith were coming to the concert, but did not realize Laura was coming. Lisa was home about to go to bed and Martina and Martin were going to see the dress rehearsal for Norma.

The room is gorgeous and it was a very live room, wonderful for singing. The concert was really good. Everyone sang really well. Debra started to get choked up on one of her spirituals (“Were You There When They Crucified My Lord” arr. Moses Hogan). She got through it and sang beautifully, but everyone in the audience was crying by the end. Laura behaved very well throughout the concert. She was quiet and sat on my lap for most of it. She was a little squirmy, but all in all for a 5 yr old, she was wonderful. All the singers loved her thinking she was so adorable and well behaved.

After the concert, Julia, Edith, and Laura went home while I went out to dinner with some of the crew. We went to a little Italian restaurant on the Getreidegasse and enjoyed a nice meal together. Afterwards most went to Murphy’s (the Irish bar just down the street from the college). I realized on our way over that I needed to get home. My house keys were in my computer bag, which was currently locked in the library of the college. I needed to get home before everyone went to bed so I could get in. It all worked our in the end.

I'll be home 2 weeks from today

I had a wonderful coaching with Mary Dibbern. She and I worked on the German Lied I planned for our midterm recital that evening, we also went through 3 of my arias to help determine which to sing for our final performance. We opted for “Poor Wand’ring One.” She helped my tweak my cadenza at the end and spots where I need to take time so my pianist or hopefully as the case will be someday, conductor, will know when to come in/ give the cue to come in. I will be singing in Mary’s master class on Monday, so she and I looked at French diction for the last 5 or 10 minutes. We also had a nice little chat about possibilities for my next step. She’s worked for a few opera companies as a pianist and vocal coach. I’m considering more and more either going for a second masters somewhere specifically in opera or getting my Artist’s Diploma. Without the experience performing complete operas there will probably be few young artist programs that would be willing to accept me. Mary said many times the young artist is thrown right in into supporting roles (some of which are quite large) or even covering a main role.

After the coaching I had a quick make-up lesson with Yvonne. She and I worked on a few technical things and ran through my German Lied. She and I walked to lunch together.

After lunch I caught the bus home and showered, did my hair and makeup in preparation for our midterm recital. I had a quick dessert with Martina and all the girls before running to catch my bus back to school. We all walked over to the little chapel together where we were performing. Everyone sang really well. I know I could’ve done much better, but everyone said it sounded good. I’m excited to sing in the master class on Monday because the piece I’m singing, “Après un Rêve” by Faure, shows of my voice much better than the Lied did.

I caught the bus home after the recital and arrived just in time for the cook out. We all sat around the grill and cooked sausages on sticks. After a long and relaxing dinner, we enjoyed a small cup of coffee and played rummy again.

We had a lot of fun in German this morning to the point class started to go over. I had to leave because German ends at 9:30 and my lesson begin at 9:30 in St Marks across the street. In my lesson we worked on “Après un Rêve” in preparation for Monday.

When I left my lesson there was a fire truck, ambulance, and a couple cops all parked in the plaza in front of St Marks and the college. They were all just standing around. I walked into the college and found out that there was a guy up on the mountain behind the school threatening to jump. I’m assuming nothing came of it if that story was true because all the vehicles have since left.

This afternoon we have a Salzburg Festival master class to attend given by Jurgen Flimm. We are all quite excited to see some of the singers we saw last time again. Especially the Baritone Vladimir Kapshuk (whom many of us have friended on facebook) and the true Bass (who’s name we still do not know). A few of us ran into Vladimir yesterday as we were leaving our recital. When a few of us had gotten to the plaza between the college and St. Marks I swear I saw the bass, but no one else was paying any attention so couldn’t confirm it.

Tonight after the master class we are all going to the Augustiner Brewery. It is right down the street from the college. The plan is to have dinner and our first beer will be paid for by the program (meaning we already paid for it when we paid tuition).

Je suis fatigué; Ich bin müde, I'm tired!

It seems the more German vocabulary I learn the more French I remember. I still haven’t the slightest clue how to string a sentence together in German, but I’m learning a lot of vocab.

We had a fun master class with Professor Moteki yesterday. Sometime after the class, Brendan, Sara and I all went for coffee. We ended up getting Eiskaffee; which isn’t exactly like our ice coffee. Here Eis means ice cream, so Eiskaffee is coffee with ice cream in it. We also split a dessert cake thing that had a chocolate piece on the top with music notes on it.

Once back at the college I grabbed my stuff and went to catch the bus home. Unfortunately when I walked out the door and saw all the traffic, it was not a good sign. I crossed the street and walked the couple of blocks to my bus stop. In that time, the traffic hadn’t moved an inch. Knowing traffic would be better once I was outside the main part of the city, I kept walking thinking to catch a bus further on. As it happened, everything was at a complete jam. I saw 5 buses heading back towards the city, and not a single bus going my way. It wasn’t until I had just passed the bus stop 2 stops from the house that a bus had finally caught up with me. At that point I was so close I kept walking. Of course it started to rain when I was one bus stop away, and by the time I reached home another bus had passed as well. The busses are supposed to be every 10 minutes during the week. Things were just a little off yesterday.

I beat everyone home. I went up to my room and completed my German homework then read for a while. Martina, Martin, Julia, Edith, Laura and I all enjoyed a wonderful dinner together. Afterwards Martin and Laura went up to bed and the rest of us cleaned up. Then we sat and had dessert and coffee. After the coffee, we played cards (rummy). Martina, Julia and Edith couldn’t just stared whenever I shuffled the cards. It’s all those years’ playing cards at the county and state fairs growing up. Martina brought out a bottle of red wine along with chips and pretzels. Needless to say, I didn’t get to bed until 11:30 and I am a little tired this morning.

I have a coaching with Mary Dibbern at 11 today, a makeup lesson with Yvonne at 12:30, lunch at 1, then home. I need to get ready for our midterm concert; which is this evening at 5:00.

I hope you wake up to a wonderful day today. The sun is shining here!!

It's raining

We had a day and a half of gorgeous weather and it’s raining again. The rain started yesterday afternoon just before 5 right as I was going to leave to catch my bus. It didn't just start as a drizzle either; it poured!! I opted to stay inside a bit longer hoping it would lighten up. I still had a good two hours before Martina expected me.

I ended up braving the rain and going home around 6. Martina couldn't believe I was home so early. I walked in the door and Laura ran over to me giving me a hug and wouldn’t leave my side. Two of her relatives (I think they are nieces) are in town to visit for a week or two. They are 15 and 16. Martin was still at work, so just we girls had dinner together. Martina made sure to tell me that tonight she’s making a nice dinner for all of us to eat together and to be home by 7.

We all sat and talked for a while once Martin got home and watched the girls play. Then Lisa was put to bed at 7, I did homework, and the others went down to the whirlpool. I called it a night pretty early. I read for a little while to help relax then shut the blinds and turned out the lights at 8. I hadn’t slept very well on Sunday night, so I need a couple hours extra sleep.

This morning after I ate breakfast, while I was finishing my coffee, I sat with Laura and watched “Dora the Explorer.” Laura just curled up on my lap as we watched it. I could understand a little of what was going on. It helped that the show teaches English.

I had a wonderful lesson this morning with Yvonne. We were working on my midterm piece, which I’ll be performing tomorrow. She’s helping my with my breath support. It’s been something I’ve been working on a lot lately. Yvonne started pushing me in different directions. The support needed to stay standing while she’s attempting to push me over is the same I need to sing. Yvonne had me start singing my piece and would then start pushing me as I sang. The sound was so much better.

Apparently we’re having some spinatstrudel for lunch and some dessert with chocolate. MMM I love spinach.

Guten Tag

Yesterday was a short day. I woke up at noon, had breakfast/dinner then went to school to practice and get online. While there, a couple of us went to walk around town for little while. Our main goal was to get coffee. We ended up at Café Pamina (which is the leading female role in Mozart’s Magic Flute).

The college closes at six on the weekends, so I left shortly before. My next bus wasn’t coming for another 20 minutes. As it was such a beautiful day, I decided to walk until I the bus caught up with me. I walked for a little over half an hour, and the bus finally caught up with me 3 stops from home. I debated whether it was even worth taking it, but at that point I was tired, and hot from the sun. I arrived just in time to have dinner with the family. We then watched a bit of the news, had some dessert and coffee. Then I went up to my room to relax, clean, and get ready for bed.

This morning I caught an earlier bus to school so I could stop at Billa. We were having breakfast in class today to start discussing food. I picked up some milk (Milch) and cheese (Käse).

After class/breakfast I had a coaching in over at the Muffin Hostel which is the “dorm” some of the singers are staying at. We have a few music rooms in the basement for practicing and Professor Moteki teaches in a room there. It’s about a 15 min walk up the mountain and down as well… nothing like having to walk uphill both ways.

My allergies have started to bother me a little. It was a wonderful coaching, but my throat is a little scratchy. I’ve already had two cups of tea and three large bottles of water and its only just 12:30.

Lunch will be pretty soon… I wonder what we’re having today. The last couple of days I’ve been walking a lot. I can only hope I continue this trend for the rest of the time here with the amount of food they serve us. Austrians DO NOT like to waste food. I try to do my best to eat what ever is put in front of me. However, the portions they give us are quite large and I don’t eat much. I tend to eat smaller meals and snack.

Munich!

I got an early start to my day waking up at 5:30. I got ready and headed out the door to catch the 6:57 bus into town (never again am I going to miss a bus). I had planned to meet Jackie and Megan at Billa (the grocery store near the college) to pick up some snacks for the trip. I got there at 7:13 and Jackie wasn’t there. The store opened at 7:15 and Megan and I went in, grabbed a few items (including the German gummy bears!!) and went to catch the bus to the train station. We were wondering what happened to Jackie, but just figured she would get to the train station on her own.

Once at the station, we ran into a couple of the girls, but were missing quite a few. We ran into everyone outside the McDonalds, which was a quick breakfast for many of them. Along with them was Jackie. She had apparently been at Billa a little before 7, but got tired of waiting so she took an earlier bus.

We were waiting for the train and then there was an announcement that our train had been canceled. We were told by one of the conductors to run over 3 tracks and catch the S-Bann, take it to another station, then take the connecting train to Munich. What they didn’t tell us was that we’d also have to run to catch the connecting train. Once all 14 of us were on that train and settled into our seats it was a pretty relaxing 2 hr ride to Munich.

We knew once we were in Munich it would be too complicated for all of us to stick together, so Jackie, Brendan, Mike, and I went off on our own instead of poring over the map to figure out where things were.

The four of us just set off to wander around town. First we headed towards the center of town to the Cathedral Frauenkirche. We climbed up the tower to see the view of the city. To get to the top, there are about 76 steps in a small circular staircase. There is only the one staircase, so you have to share it with the people going in the opposite direction. It made things quite interesting, having to plaster yourself against the wall to let people pass. Then the second part was cramming into an elevator to get to the top. There were some gorgeous views from there.

Close to the cathedral is The New Town Hall and the Marienplatz. The New Town Hall is famous for the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. We timed it perfectly to catch the Glockenspiel playing and the figurines moving. I had remembered this from 10 years ago when I visited Munich. The others had no idea that figurines did anything.

We continued to wander around town, walking in and out of shops. We found the Grand Opera house and walked around it looking to see what was playing (a lot of Wagner).

By not following a map, we managed to find some cute little areas away from the touristy stuff. We walked along the River Isar and saw St. Lukas Church. Then we came across a beer garden where we stopped to rest for a while and the boys ate lunch. From the outside this beer garden looked like a prison, the surrounding walls had barbed wire along the top. Inside it was a sunny little place where a lot of locals go for beer and lunch.

After the beer garden, we continued wandering around and headed back towards the center of town. Along the way we passed by this little shop with a bunch of dirndls in the front. Jackie and I walked in and the boys sort of grudgingly followed. In the back part of the store the boys stopped grumbling because it was basically a second-hand vintage store. There we were all trying on funny hats and Jackie and I both tried on awful gaudy dresses. We couldn’t stop laughing. There was another group of girls from Germany that were trying on the awful dresses as well. We were all laughing at each other and taking pictures. I think Jackie and I both agreed it would be our favorite memory of the day.

We wandered back to Marienplatz where we found a cute little café where Jackie and I had a light lunch. I got a tomato soup (which was white). It seemed odd, but it was delicious. After that we started to wander in the direction of the Hofbräuhaus where we were to meet the others at 5:30 for dinner and some good German beer.

We got a little lost trying to find it. We stopped to ask about 3 different people and were in a blocks radius of the Hofbräuhaus before we finally found it. We were early enough to find a seat, which can be quite difficult. It is known for the beer and the waitresses in dirndl’s that serve the beer. These women (and now some men) will carry up to 5 full liter beers in each hand (it’s crazy!!). The four of us each got a liter of the original house beer partly because that’s the only way it’s served. Jackie and I both got desserts (I got apple strudel: it was incredible!!). Mike got white sausage and Brendan a port knuckle. All the food was incredible. There were women who walked around the place selling large pretzels for a couple Euros as well. It took me 2 hours to finish the liter of beer.

The rest of the gang finally arrived at 7. They had gone out to Dachau (concentration camp outside the city) and had to wait for a train back. Once they arrived, it was late enough that there weren’t any table’s open. They wandered around for a while looking to see if they could find anything. There was one that had some space and apparently there were a few German guys in lieder hosen that wanted the “pretty girls” to join them. They were a little creeped out so opted not to. There was a table that opened next to ours, but was then put on reserve as it turns out for the umm-pa-pa band that had been playing. There are tables throughout the Hofbräuhaus that have family names over the table. If they decide to go, the table is automatically given to them. There is also a tradition for the regulars. If you sit at a regular’s table, the waitresses will not serve you.

Luckily after a few minutes the table behind us opened up and we were all able to squeeze into the two tables together. There we wall caught up on our day and enjoyed the atmosphere at the Hofbräuhaus. It was quite noisy in there so it was a nice change from Austria to be able to be a little louder, laughing and having fun without sticking out like sore thumbs as the “noisy Americans.”

Around 9pm, four of us were ready to go, so we left and caught an earlier train. Once again, our train from Munich to Salzburg was canceled, so we had to take another to the last stop and switch. Once we arrived, we had missed one connection by about 5 minutes. We had to sit and wait for about 40 minutes. Unfortunately we all had to use a bathroom, and as it was midnight, everything was closed. We were all tired and a little hysterical. Luckily, there wasn’t anyone else at the train station. We were all laughing and Brendan kept us occupied reading the history of the Hofbräuhaus in an amusing voice and singing as well. When the train finally arrived, we took seats right next to the bathroom. As it turned out, we were only one stop away from Salzburg and only 3 of us had time to use the bathroom.

Once in Salzburg, we all caught cabs to our respective homes and crashed. I didn’t wake up until noon.

Now it’s about time for the college to close for the evening, I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday afternoon.

Friday Afternoon/Evening

The 14 of us that were planning to go to Munich all met up on the first floor of the college. We all went to the train station together to get the tickets which were only 6 Euros a piece roundtrip. The OBB has a deal for 3 to five people traveling from Salzburg to Munich for 30 Euros roundtrip for a day. It includes train ticket and the public transportation system in Munich while your there. However, everything is so close together in Munich, there isn't too much reason to use it unless you're in a hurry get to something.

After the train station, the 14 of us split up, some went to the outlet mall by the airport, the rest of us elected to go to Europark again to walk around since it was raining. We all agreed to meet up at the school by 6:30 to then walk over to the Christian International Church for the concert our professors were giving.

It was a magnificent concert. All Schuman Lead (Schuman Art Song). Dr. Hardenbergh and Yvonne were both very glad to see the number of us that showed up, it was probably close to 25 of us if not a bit more. Yvonne said it was wonderful to look out into the audience while performing and seeing our "shining faces" sitting forward and soaking it all in. I know from experience it's nice to have an appreciative audience.

After the concert we met a couple of the members of the church who are also from the state. One young man, close in age to all of us, is here studying some sort of bio-chemical engineering (or something of the sort) and is here until November. He joined our group as we headed into town and went to see The Magic Flue on the screen in one of the squares. The production was from a previous Salzburg Festival year. It was an updated version with Papageno dressed as a calypso guy with dreads and Tamino in a business suite. I stayed through the Queen of the Night Aria then went to catch my bus to go home and get some sleep before the trip to Munich.