Don't panic, it's not all about me.....need to have a quick chat about some Ghost boat thing.

If you regularly read this drivel you may have noticed that I have a penchant for opera at the cinema. I like seeing opera in this way because the atmosphere in a cinema compared to an opera house is so chilled out and the place is unlikely to sell out so you tend to find yourself having a whole row to yourself and nobody notices if you fall asleep. Always a bonus.

I used to love opera. I still appreciate it but I can't say I love it now. To be fair watching in a cinema is no substitute for seeing the genre live really. The sound in a cinema, no matter how good, can never replicate the power of the voice of an opera singer going at full pelt. There are advantages though. As long as you don't have a chorus who feel it necessary to react to every tiny little thing, being up close, in the middle of the action can be quite exciting. Having said that you are at the mercy of the editor as to what you get to see as they will decide what we as an audience need to see at any particular moment in time but that's just a small quibble.

I am not a fan of Wagner. Last night I saw, in it's entirety, only my second Wagner opera. I saw "Die Walküre" a couple of years back, again at the cinema, and last night I saw the ROH production of "Der fliegende Holländer" with the mighty Bryn Terfel and Adrianne Pieczonka. The singing was stonkingly good, truly fantastic. Bryn was brooding and dark while Pieczonka was hopeful and bright. I have always loved Pieczonka. I think she has the most incredible instrument housed in her body. It is a big voice but because of the shimmer she has at the top you never feel like she is beating you over the head with it the way some dramatic female voices do. She is also a stunningly good actress. It is an overused phrase these days but she really is a true stage animal. 

These two giants of the operatic world were joined by another giant but one who was feeling a little under the weather so an announcement was made at the beginning to ask us to bear with him. They needn't have as far as we in the cinema were concerned, Peter Rose was actually on good form. Totally holding his own as Daland with the other two even if he did resemble a Sontaran from Doctor Who. The chorus, too, were better than I have heard them in a while. The regular chorus were joined by a large number of extra chorus members and I kind of wish I had been in the theatre itself as at one point the stage was filled with men. Don't get the wrong idea, I wish I had been there because the sound must have been enormous.

All in all, I enjoyed it and the two and a bit hours, no interval, flew by. It was a surprise when the end came as it felt there should be another hour to go. This was where I got confused. I wasn't totally up on the story before I went to see it but I knew the legend of the Flying Dutchman and figured that Bryn Terfel's character was probably not going to get the girl, well not in the conventional sense anyway. I am assuming Senta is supposed to be seen doing summat she shouldn't with Erik to make the Dutchman spurn her and set sail alone but in this production she didn't appear to do anything (I might have missed it of course). Then I assumed, after Senta yells after him (The Dutchman that is) that she will remain true to him until death, she would probably kill herself but she just carried her little model boat, she had had since the beginning, to the centre of the stage and cried a bit. A total anticlimax.

That said I had a nice time. Still not convinced by Wagner though. Now, feel free to stop reading here as I am going to write a teeny tiny bit about my cabaret that DID happen on Sunday. So if you are fed up of hearing about it please go about your business and think no more about it.

There was a good turnout, about 44 people turned up (mostly friends or friends of friends, I think there were only 7 people who had no connection to me in attendance) so it was more successful in that respect than I had been expecting. It was only once it was done that I realised what an undertaking it had been. The running times were 45 minutes first half and 40 minutes second half. That is a LONG time to hold your own. I totally understand why people invite "guests" to join them on the stage during these affairs. Takes the pressure off a bit.

Everybody asked afterwards "did you enjoy it?". The honest answer was no, but not in a bad way. I didn't hate it and I want to do it again, and I want to do it again soon, but as a friend said to me, Sunday night was like having your tech rehearsal, dress rehearsal and first night (and last night) all at the same time. This was the first time I had tried out the show. In the future it might be an idea to rent a small hall and invite a few friends to come and see it for free just to give myself the opportunity to try out my material to see what works and what doesn't. To be fair there wasn't much I would change in the material I had but I hope I can deliver it better next time. I forgot a lot and got a bit lost at times, however, I am not terrible at getting myself out of a hole so I don't think I made any of my audience feel uncomfortable when I lost my way.

With hindsight, I am SO proud of myself for getting up and doing it. There is a huge difference between doing a 25 minute set on a bill with 3 other acts and what was, effectively, a one-woman show with 90 minutes of just me (and, of course, the wonderful Simona Budd on the piano). This was an immense achievement and one I need to do again. Who would have thought that 4 years of opera training would have led to this.

If anyone is interested in reading someone else's opinion of Sunday night then follow this link:

How did it come to this? The Pheasantry

A Busker's life for me? Um.....probably not.

Before we get started, a very good friend, who happens to be a bona fide editor sat me down a couple of days ago to tell me to calm down with the exclamation marks. It had crossed my mind that I do use them A LOT but sometimes I can't help myself. Well, I have been limited to one exclamation mark per blog. Therefore we can now play a game, a "Where's Wally" type affair where you have to find the one exclamation mark within today's diary entry. Good luck (really want to use one now).

Opera singing buskers are notoriously hit and miss I find, but in the middle of Covent Garden market (downstairs, by The Crusting Pipe restaurant) there is a "stage" for such singers which is always popular with tourists. For those who have never been here The Crusting Pipe is situated in a well like setting with a gallery type affair above meaning you can stand around the top watching people eat their sausage and mash and watch/listen to the buskers. It is my understanding that the buskers have to audition for a spot in this infamous locale and rightly so as many tourists will, complete their visit to our fair isle, leave the country and these, hardworking buskers will be the only examples they hear of the opera singing talent this country has to offer (although they will probably have seen Katherine Jenkins on the TV so our reputation is in the gutter to start with. Ah Katherine Jenkins, now there is a diary entry waiting to happen but I feel I need to work up to that one). 

I remember fairly well the first time I encountered opera singers busking in Covent Garden. It must have been about 1995 and I was with a friend, sat on a bench in the other busking area just over from The Crusting Pipe. Here you are on the same level as the singers, not looking down on them (by looking down on I mean actually looking down not feeling superior to). We were minding our own business when two woman launched into "The Flower Duet" from Lakme. To an aspiring singer such as myself, new to the village of London, I found the whole experience thrilling (I am from Yorkshire so you will understand we didn't have opera singers in the street up there. It was very exotic) and I clapped wildly at the end. At this point my friend grabbed my hands and said "don't clap, they will want money". Up until this point I had assumed they were either just singing because they wanted to or that Covent Garden employed them to pop up and sing at the unsuspecting public. This was my first experience of this kind of busking and one I will never forget. Now, either busking in Covent Garden is very lucrative or singers just love to do it (or perhaps a mixture of both) as I saw the very same soprano from all those years ago busking by The Crusting Pipe when I walked through about 3 weeks ago. She looked a little older but still seemed to have the same enthusiasm she had all those years ago. If you are wondering, despite my friends protestations, I did offer up a few shekels in appreciation to the duo back in 1995.

Whilst wandering the hallowed ground of Covent Garden market the other day (following an interview for a proper job nearby) the unmistakable sound of an opera singing busker drifted through the air. I followed my ear to the area above The Crusting Pipe and found a red headed mezzo-soprano had just started her set so thought I would hang around for a couple of arias and see if she might make a suitable subject for one of my diary entries. Today's flame haired lovely goes by the name of Evie Anderson and boy does she know how to work a Covent Garden audience. Some of you may know her, be assured I have only nice things to say. It will never be my intention to be horrible about anyone singing in public. Who am I to belittle someone for doing something they love and simply getting out there and doing it (feel free to remind me of this when I get around to my Katherine Jenkins entry. I fear she may be the exception to the rule). I may have criticisms/suggestions but they are only my opinion. I admire all performers who, well, perform. 

So the tune that had enticed me over was that famous mezzo soprano piece, um, "Libiamo" from La Traviata (not a mezzo piece for those of you who are unfamiliar). Midway through she picked up a sign from the floor (placed next to her "donations" basket and CDs for sale) which simply said "Please Pay Me!" (That exclamation mark does not count, it was on her sign! Oh damn.) Nice touch I thought. She did not beat about the bush as regards the "I am not doing this for free so if you are going to stand and watch for a considerable length of time have the decency to pop a few coins in the basket of the man collecting for me" side of things. The man collecting was called Richard by the way, I did not get his last name. He helped out on the singing front as well offering his vocal services in the "Libiamo" and in a rendition of "All I ask of you" from The Phantom of the Opera. At the end of both, Evie ripped open Richard's shirt to reveal a t-shirt with "CDs £10" emblazoned upon it. Another nice touch. If you are going to try and get people to part with their money they might as well be laughing whilst doing it. The thing I liked the most about Evie's set was her programme choices. Although the obligatory "O mio babbino caro" and "Ave Maria" were in evidence there were a few lesser known gems brought out for the occasion. I won't go through the entire programme or else we will be here all day. 

Evie has a really smooth and creamy sound. When she started I thought she was struggling to get to the top however I realised as she worked through her programme that she wasn't as warmed up as she maybe would have liked at the beginning but she soon got into the swing of things and the top became easier. The middle is warm and her diction was excellent. The most successful offering was "Smanie implacabili" from Cosi fan tutte. It was also the piece that the majority of her audience would not have known. It was feisty and alive throughout. She cannily followed it with the Susan Boyle classic "I dreamed a dream" from Les Miserable. Again, a very successful rendition. If I were her, however, I would get a new backing track for it. The one Evie used was just too fast (as were a few other tracks actually). If she had a slower backing track for this piece I think she could have doubled the amount of "donations" she received as the man in the street generally loves "Lez Miz" and would happily part with his hard earned cash if he knows well the song being sung. So I say, make it last a little bit longer with a slower track and you're laughing. There was nice work in the "Habanera" from Carmen too and thankfully she didn't wander round the tables flirting with random men. The other highlight was earlier in the programme when Evie became engulfed by a group of foreign students. Wherever she moved they seemed to follow her. She likened it to being worse than the M25. Very funny and beautifully handled.

I googled Evie when I got home but could find precious little about her. I hope she is busy and I wish her well. I would be very interested to hear her sing in a proper concert hall as the acoustic is not always helpful down by The Crusting Pipe. Would I ever want to do this sort of "gig" myself? Do you know I would give it a go. There are worse ways of making a living and judging by the spoils she received in her baskets she would definitely be eating that night.

So where is the Glastonbury report I here you asking? I have made a few notes and have a few things to say but it is really difficult to comment on these kind of performances. If the muse takes over and I am suddenly inspired I will put it out within the week. If the muse has better things to do and decides to stay away we may have to move onto something else and you will never know what I thought (I did think the Arctic Monkeys were splendid - a little teaser for you there).