So What now ?
Hi All,
Well it’s been all action since I last posted although I haven’t set foot on stage in an opera (unless you count Trial by Jury) since July. I started working with Noelle Barker in April and she asked me to try to keep off the boards for six months or so in order to get myself back in shape without constantly having to get through performances.
Noelle was Audrey’s suggestion, as they work together a great deal, and she has proved a God-send for two reasons. Firstly, I can’t imitate her: I have found that I have ended up imitating the sound of my teacher on a number of occasions, including David Maxwell-Anderson, who I really rate as a teacher, but going on stage and instinctively trying to reproduce his sound rather than using what he says to produce my own was fatal. Secondly, Noelle actually seems to know exactly what she’s doing, a trait all too rare in singing teachers these days I find.
Anyway, she’s pulled me apart and put me back together, and very shortly we shall have some recordings to show for it, along with a relaunch of myself as a singer.
In the meantime, I’ve been having fun working for a company called opera on the run who, as the name suggests, specialize in doing short opera pops gigs and getting out asap. They’re really fun and have really kept me going and helped me to really enjoy performing again. Their performances are almost without exception, rapturously received (one gig was a bit duff but it was for the samaritans, and they had just heard a role play where the samaritan had just tried to persuade a caller that they were scuicidal).
We’ve also just come back from a cruise on the Aurora which ws wonderful (Thank you Stephanie Williams). Apart from the delight of working with Audrey, and being able to dust of the “Be My Love” show for a couple of performances, it was lovely to meet up with old friends baritone: Mark Oldfield, Soprano:Sally Harrison and the outrageously hillarious Linda Ormiston. It was also wonderful to work alongside the wonderful Brazilian pianist Clelia Irazun and the sickeningly talented Linden Trio, all stars individually as well as collectively.
November & December are now looking really busy. I have a Mozart requiem on 10 November in Tewksbury, an Elijah on 25th in Suffolk and return to Leighton House on 5 December for the usual Soiree. On top of this there will be loads of Opera on the Run Gigs.
So all is exciting in my world at the moment. Watch this space and see how well the rebuild works out.
Adios!