Troy's Handel

This precious DVD came in the mail the other night, right on time to elevate Troy’s spirits and make him feel better.

Handel: Water Music – Recreating a Royal Spectacular.

I think the title pretty much speaks for itself. What can I say, my friends, this DVD is quite magic!

Its 1st part is dedicated to the preparation of this grand show. One of its highlights is the instrument demonstration.
The English Concert orchestra, which specializes in antique instrument performances, demonstrates the difference between the instruments of Handel’s days and today. No wonder those instruments sound so different! Some are really hard to recognize and do not even resemble their descendants.
Thus, the trumpets are almost twice longer, the double bass bows are shorter and steeper and the horns look nothing like their modern version. The “voices” of those instruments add depth and authentic spirit to the performance, thus making it absolutely unique.

Even though, this part of the program is incredible, naturally, I did not think Troy might have any interest in watching it. Surprise!!! He was fascinated! He enjoyed watching musicians, artists, acousticians and historians team up to create the show. Even such grown-up things as the barge make-over or going through the archives captured his attention. And of course, the instrument demonstration and testing their audibility on the water became his favorite part right away.

Kids are full of surprises – you never really know what might captivate them.

The 2nd part of the DVD recreates a truly historic night of July 17, 1717. 07/17/1717…

Numerology, anyone?

That warm summer night two barges floated the river Thames. One was carrying the king of England, the other – the king of music.

For both, King George I and George Frideric Handel, (has any of you noticed that they were namesakes?) that night symbolized their power over England: political for one and musical for the other. Written to be performed just once, Handel’s Water Music was fortunate to soar to the skies of Albion three times in a row. Having heard the music once, George I was so captivated by its beauty, that he wished for it to be played two more times.

Not only Troy loves this DVD. Handel’s Water Music is very special and very significant for him.

 Since his early days, he loved this picture in his Handel book. First we would just sing the music together while looking at it. Later, we would listen to the Water Music CD and look at the picture, while imitating the instruments and pretending to play them. Now, just imagine him watching that antique barge with musicians dressed in period clothes and wigs, floating along the banks of the Thames and playing the greatest ceremonial music of all times! For Troy, with his passion for music and especially for Handel, it is a dream come true.

The only thing that time ever changes is fashion for clothes and hair.

Years go by. Generations switch. But people… people remain pretty much as they have always been. It only took period costumes and wigs to transform modern musicians into Handel’s contemporaries. Their beautiful inspired faces, touched by the light and spirit of Handel’s music did not bear one single trace of our century! It would be almost impossible to picture these musicians driving a car or using a cell phone.

Having watched the program, Troy got busy with his harmonica and figured out how to play it all by himself!

He kept playing it for quite a while, obviously trying to imitate Alla Hornpipe. Of course, the notes weren’t right most of the time, but the tempo was and thus, some parts were recognizable enough for me to understand what he was trying to play.

Later he begged me to play the DVD for him again, and as I played Part 2, he started drawing. Even though he loves bright colors, this time he preferred a pencil. As he was drawing, he kept looking at the screen and saying: “Genneh”,( Handel) “Wohtah”,( water) “sky”, “moon”.

I never saw him making a bigger effort to draw. He was determined to make it look like the show that he saw on the screen. So here is what he got to come up with and according to my mom, who is an artist and an art teacher, for a 2-year –old it’s really good.

Up next – more updates! Stay tuned!

Getting to LOB's Homepage

Dear Friends!

As, little by little, Troy is getting better, my words are coming back to me and my thoughts do not feel numb any longer.

Thus, to our updates.

Last week Bachtrack sent me this link

http://lyricoperahouse.com/page_img.php?cms_id=2

opening up to a review of yours truly on Lyric Opera Baltimore’s homepage!!! Apparently, I happened to be the only one from the whole press crowd to attend this event. Now, hopefully, my name will get stuck and remembered in the right circles and that review will get me on the press list for the next Lyric Opera Baltimore season.

Up next – Troy’s musical update. Stay tuned!

Somehow, I can't format my post the right way -still trying to figure out what is wrong here.

Asking for a Prayer

Dear Friends!
At this time I would like to ask you all to put your prayers together for my son Troy, who has been terribly sick since last week.
He has some terrible virus with the worst cough that does not let him sleep at night (he has been waking up 3-4 times an hour) and makes my poor baby suffer so bad.
When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he always thinks that if he sits up he will cough less. So last night he was even trying to fall asleep while sitting on the couch next to me. When he got really tired he put his head down, coughed and woke up crying so hopelessly that it really broke my heart.
Normally a very active boy, he is so weak that he keeps asking to be picked up and and carried around the room - he has no energy in his legs.

So I thought, because you all know and hopefully like him from my posts on this blog, maybe you could keep him in your prayers.
Thank you all.
P.S. I know I promised you his musical update, but at this point I just can't bring myself to blog about anything but Troy's health.
Thank you for understanding.

Catching Up: Troy, Opera, Reviews, Classes and More

If your life spins around music as much as mine has for the past month, ironically you end up having nо time to blog about it.
It’s ridiculous and kind of scary how much I have to catch up on with you, guys: Handel, Puccini, Verdi and all of the above plus so much more. And that does not even include Troy’s musical progress which will be described in a separate entry.
I set my personal record by going to the opera 4 times last week: 3 of them being for work. This intense tempo that my life suddenly picked up last week reminded me of nothing but a crazy 4-act opera.
Thus, without further delay…

Act 1. Handel’s Rinaldo
Sunday, March 6th, 3:00 p.m. – Handel’s Rinaldo, presented by Opera Vivente, with Troy and mom. I hope that none of Opera Vivente’s people read this post, but I have to say that the part of the performance that we did get to see was more than average and anything but Handelian. Yet the music was …Handel’s and that says it all. Live Handel. Vivacious. Deep. Almost frightfully modern. Excruciatingly beautiful. Handel.
The performance took place in a tiny theater of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Downtown Baltimore. As soon as we walked in, we saw a small orchestra warming up at the foot of the stage. Because recently Troy has been mesmerized with everything-orchestra, I took him up close to see the musicians. As soon as he saw the musicians, he was “gone”. Physically he was next to me, but in his mind and heart he was with them, experiencing music together with them.
He paid the closest attention to the conductor’s comments as the latter explained to the first violin how he wanted her to play the overture. He studied both the musicians and the instruments with endless curiosity and attention and pretended to conduct, while they were warming up. There is no doubt in my mind that the short time spent next to the orchestra (there was no pit and Troy had a chance to stand really close to them) made my son’s day and possibly even his week!
Back to his seat, Troy kept “conducting” through the overture and almost through the whole Act 1.
However, the action on stage did not really interest Troy, and frankly, with all due respect to Opera Vivente, I don’t blame him.
After Act 1, as Troy started showing the first signs of tiredness, we left. However, his orchestra experience was worth a million! It gave him a chance to both learn about music and enjoy it live!

Act 2. Madama Butterfly at the WNO
Never again will I assume that 2 hours are enough for me to drive from Baltimore to Washington DC on a week night! One needs 2,5 or better yet – 3!
As a member of the press, I was invited to attend a specially organized back stage tour 1 hour prior to the performance. Because the traffic was unbelievably bad, I was 10 minutes late. However, after the tour started, the wonderful WNO staff came back to pick up the latecomers, so I still got in.
Walking through a side door that I had never noticed before and finding myself in the middle of the sanctuary where opera magic has been worked for years, was truly fascinating. We were allowed to take pictures up to the point when we entered the sacred “behind the wings” area.
There we were only permitted to look at the Act 1 props neatly laid out on a narrow table and watch the stage manager at work in front of her monitors. It was a short, but fascinating experience.
The performance was incredible. I was fortunate enough to attend the one with Ana Maria Martinez in the title role. Having added Madama Butterfly to her repertoire only last fall, this outstanding soprano can already consider it her signature role.
I happen to remember Joseph Calleja (who sang Pinkerton opposite her in the HGO) tweeting that she was the best Cio-Cio-San he had ever sung with.
Every bit of what he said is true.
Ana Maria Martinez is certainly the best Cio-Cio-San I have ever seen, and I have seen quite a few. Some voices sound as if they have been specially created to sing certain composers. Even though I am sure Ana Maria Martinez is great in every role she sings, her voice is purely Puccinian. The very first opening notes of her entrance aria were quite heavenly and made her voice stand out right away. As the opera progressed it only got better. Her character developed passion and expressiveness that could humble Medea.

(Ana Maria Martinez at the curtain call)

As a press rep I now have access to the WNO photo files, but still much prefer my very own curtain call pics!!!

All right, before I give it all out, I’ll let you read my review here.
Staging Madama Butterfly can be very difficult. The challenge lies in the necessity of portraying a different world, a different universe if you will, which has to be done with a certain amount of authenticity. If a production looks pseudo-Japanese, it might as well be called a failure. In a badly-staged production, even Puccini’s music sounds fake and over exaggerated. That might be the reason why I only recently warmed up towards this opera. Having seen it multiple times, I rarely saw it well-staged.
However, Ron Daniels’ production was wonderful!
The main set was an ancient Japanese house, silently run by kuroko, Kabuki theater dancers, clad in black from head to toe. Used as “unseen stagehands” to change the screens on stage and carry out the props, these “faceless” silhouettes were not that passive. Their silent presence on stage added tension and inner drama to the performance.
Lastly, I just have to brag that I had a great seat – Row 12 Orchestra Center. Could it be any better than that?

Act 3. Tears for Violetta
It all started on Thursday afternoon with my Music Talk, called Verdi. Life in Music.
Speaking about Verdi is an incredible joy. His childhood, his passion for music as a kid, his attempts and failure to enter the Conservatory of Milan, his love story and marriage to Marguerite Barezzi, and most importantly, his utter dedication to music and work each deserves a separate lecture.
Having told my students about Verdi’s life, I moved on to La Traviata and decided to tell my students the synopsis in my own words. (Seniors are not exactly thrilled to read two pages of fine text, so why not make it a bit easier for them?)
And then a surprising thing happened.
As I was telling my students about the scene when Violetta is leaving Alfredo and not being able to tell him the real reason for her departure, she keeps saying: Always love me, Alfredo… I had genuine tears in my eyes!
(Ms. Minna is the lady on the back)
I really did not expect myself to exhibit that much emotion, especially that I never cried in front of my students before. However, my students seemed to have taken it as my strength, rather than my weakness.

Anyway, Friday night the bus picked us up from our location to take us to the Hippodrome. On the bus my students expressed that they wanted to listen about Verdi and La Traviata again, which I did not mind. So I encored my presentation (making sure not to cry this time).
The bus driver, Kim, was deeply moved by the story to the point when she was thinking of joining us, except that we did not have an extra ticket for her.
Our seats were great – Row 16 Orchestra Center.
Apparently, yours truly is at a high risk of getting used to great orchestra seats that she does not have to pay for! (LOL)
My students had a ball! They could not stop talking about the singers and the music all the way home.
I particularly want to mention my student Ms. Minna whom you probably remember from one of my previous entries. Ms. Minna turned 95 that Friday, but chose to go to the opera with us, rather than like she put it, “stuffing herself with wrong food”.
Now that my students developed an appetite for opera outings, they could not be more excited about the upcoming season and keep asking me what I am planning next.

Act 4. Baltimore Opera Is Back
On Saturday night my mom’s friend invited us to join her at the good old Lyric for a free 2011-12 Preview Concert, marking the return of Grand Opera to Baltimore.
By Saturday, I was kind of exhausted from my opera outings and was thinking about a quiet couple of days of not seeing anything onstage. However, the opera lover in me prevailed and Saturday night found us on our way to the Lyric.
What can I say, my friends… It was the most delightful and inspirational opera event I have attended in a long-long time.
Please see my review of it here.

Whew… what an intense but highly rewarding opera marathon it has been! I do feel like I have been running all this time and am just starting to catch my breath now.
(Bryan Hymel and Irini Kyrikidou, having just finished Brindisi)
To top it all, I devoted some of my free time to improve my piano skills.
Think about the best things in your life. They all come easier and turn out three times better if you take them relaxed, right?
Whether you play, teach or review music, your success does not only lie in hard work and deep knowledge.
Having a goal and knowing your material are essential, but when the time comes to perform – breath out and let go.
I’ve always known that about teaching. No matter what I teach, I am focused and yet very relaxed. However, with reviews and music making I still have to learn how to do that. It’s not easy at all. However, if you want the finished product to be sharp and spicy – that’s what you have to do!
Up next, Troy’s musical update.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone!