Thursday, January 31, 2008

Time, not enough of it.

So I have 6 days at home. four of them passed by like a mad motorcyclist on coke. I don't have much more time for all the stuff I was supposed to do, and still haven't: Figure out my taxes (since I won't be here before), take some voice lessons (to fine-tune and make sure I am on the right track), coach (I will be working non stop until my Barbiere, and trying to start preparing NOW, I am shocked to find out, that even though I *did* that role 2 years ago, I have absolutely NO recollection of it. Nada. was I even THERE, or was it a dream? I mean, I got my BLOG to prove it!...)
And oh, I need to *pack!*
gotta gooooo!

Friday, January 25, 2008

Good memories eternalized


Yay, our DVD is coming out! (and can you see I am trying to look away? too much boobie-fest around while I got mine *strapped*!) :-0

Thursday, January 24, 2008

"I feel you , dog". "A little pitchy"." That wasn't your best song"

If the critics in the New York papers are like the judges in "American Idol" then, the New York sun is my Paula, (and thank you for that), the other papers are Randy, and the New york Times is Simon. Yup. Most definitely Simon. Always.
But dude, am I going to Hollywood?

Wednesday, January 23, 2008


Mezzo caught stealing the lamp from her Carnegie Hall dressing room... lol...

The concert went well though :D

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Jeremiah and stuff

This past week ended up being crazy; I thought I was going to have time to re-learn my Barbiere score (since I won't really have much study time until I go to do it in March), and I was hoping to get to go to the gym, and I was hoping to catch up with old friends, and I was hoping to take it easy; After all, the "Jeremiah Symphony" is not such a huge business for me, and I was going to stay in one of the most wonderful hotels in Philadelphia, and spend some time which I was hoping to call "leisure".
But no. This is how things turned out: I happened to feel exhausted (having spent only 3 days at home after Stuttgart) , and I was starting to feel a cold coming on.
I still had to do a morning rehearsal every day, (warm up lots before hand), and sing some pretty important concerts during the evenings. Sure it sounds not that tough, but without proper sleep, and with this cold coming on, I was stepping towards a red line. Then something worst happened and my husband who came with, got that very same cold I was dreading so much.
An easy solution would be to send him back home, but unfortunately the poor thing was SO sick, he could not even get out of bed (which I am sure would have felt much more fluffy and inviting had we been on vacation and in good health).
So this was my week; while trying to get my husband back on his feet, (providing food, medication, love and peace) and being hysterically worried about my own damn health, ( over-doing Zicam, Wellness formula, Vitamins, what not) I was running back and forth between my hotel to the Kimmel Center to my good old music school, (where I had another engagement; taking part in an Alumni concert on my day off).
All was great though, if you think about what I did achieve: I got to sit on a chair on stage and have one of the world's best orchestras, playing Bernstein so close behind and around me, that I could feel the vibration of the sound in the air swirling and taking me with it. And I got to watch one of the important conductors of our time right from that chair next to his podium, and I got to stand up and sing this fantastic music, night after night.
And even more exciting event was that my Maestro asked me to sing a "Post concert" concert with him (at the piano), and at 10:45 PM (an unusual hour for us unusual people), we invited the audience (well, the hard-core ones) to remain with us, and with absolute and sincere joy, we performed my beloved Schumann cycle "Frauen Liebe und Leben" (which I haven't touched for a few years), and only now I realize how much I actually missed it. Missed IT, missed orchestral work, missed the ART SONG.
I am sitting on the train (with my husband, who is finally feeling a bit better), and I am looking forward to my Carnegie Hall dip, coming up in 2 days, where I will again sit in the soloist chair, drowned by confetti of notes, and will be pretty much in the know that I *did* practice, cuz it's Carnegie Hall after all.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Thumbs up

My multi talented, wonderful husband is now (also) a journalist. (So far professionally filming, editing and reporting for companies such as TurnHere.com (check out the Sydney vid) and The New York Post
Please take a look and enjoy his blog . :)

Monday, January 07, 2008

wurst und kartoffeln

Don't say I didn't warn you: if you happen to keep kosher, be a vegetarian, or simply monitor your fat intake, don't come here!
I am only saying that because after a month of culinary despair, I am still trying to figure out where do the locals here get their vitamins; Heavy cheese and all kinds of pig parts stuffed into something is the most common (sometimes it seems like the only!) food here, and if you really insist on vegetables, you are most likely to get a potato. When you watch the locals you can see where all of this goes, and I must say, they are lucky, the women here; they get zaftig,and porky , but its mainly all in their tits and ass. (where as when I dare to take a bite off some damn bratwurst next thing I know it shows on some strange spot on my body. never a good one.)
Yes, my friends, it's been hard. Not only do I have a breakfast buffet every morning in my hotel, which day after day is testing my will power and good common sense , but I really don't seem to have too much of a choice.
I do go to the hotel gym and spa, and I've gotta tell you that even that doesn't leave me all too comfortable.
One evening my husband and I decided to visit the Sauna before our swim, and to our horrified discovery, the people in that tiny room, were all crammed on the hot bench, butt naked. sitting there in silence, with all their well-fed fatty tits ass and bits hanging off the shelf. Now don't get me wrong I am all for nudism, I am open minded and au natural is the way to be, but then again, it was quite bizarre to see Herr Natuerlich "hanging out" there, a tiny meter away from me, and then , see him again the next morning, at the breakfast buffet, enjoying a selection of sausages and potatoes.