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posted by nathan at 7:14 AMAugust 30th, 2008
Having been here 2.5 months I thought that I had seen just about everything there was to see around here. I've walked on almost all available paths in the Uckfield, Buxted, Framfield, Blackboys area. Today, though, after having decided to follow one of my favorite hiking paths along the stream I saw something I'd never seen before. The glare from the sun made it difficult as I approached to make out the figure before me, but as I grew closer I was amazed. Sitting on her side next to her now born calf was a mother cow. She had just given birth. She looked at me with tired and curious eyes as I passed. Her new born was asleep. I must have missed the actual birth by only a couple of hours, but this seen was memorable enough.
posted by nathan at 3:28 AMAugust 20th, 2008
Last nights performance of Love and Other Demons was the first ever performance that I've been in that had to stop. The reason for this is unfortunate .... one of those things that you wish you could have responded to more quickly. Anyway, this is what happened.
We were well into the second part of the opera after the intermission. I had confessed my love for Sierva to the bishop and suggested to him that she was "terrified" and not possessed by demons. He orders me to have her exorcised anyway. At this point the bishop moves downstage left to his chair and falls asleep. I melt onto the stage hooded by my long black cape next to Sierva's bed. She awakes and begins to sing of her dream. During this three minute aria with female chorus a two story "cage" descends from the fly space slowly to the floor. It weighs three quarters of a ton, sturdy enough to have the entire chorus hanging from it. I'm on the floor listening to Sierva sing knowing that Martina is about to enter. She plays the crazy one and her interruption is abrupt with a loud whisper. I begin to hear as she is about to enter a whimpering. It doesn't stop. It's strange, but effective for the crazy person. Then I hear a very quite "please stop". It was almost a cry. Someone in the audience (turned out to be the intendant of the opera in Brussels) yells out, "she's under the set". I immediately get up and see Martina caught under one of the legs of this 1, 500 lbs. set. It's her ring finger. I'm able to lift it enough to get her finger out from under it. The whole time she is apologizing for stopping the show and saying she can continue! The poor thing! Her finger is smashed flat and she wants to continue! Blood is all over the floor and she wants to continue. I thought she was in shock. I think she might actually just have been incredibly brave.
The curtain was brought in, thank God. She was bandaged and she did continue. Well, the audience was not over yet! There were audible sounds of horror and shock during the exorcism and then at the very end when Sierva was entering the grave a woman shouted from the back, "May God forgive us all!"
Now, that is a night at the opera!
As a side note my colleague who is playing Martina is okay. She's a very brave woman and I must commend her for the way she handled that terrible accident.
posted by Nathan at 6:59 AMAugust 19th, 2008
I just got back from one of my marathon walks through the weald of East Sussex and had an experience I feel like writing about. Near the end of the walk I crested a hill and found myself in a large open field full of waste high grass. I didn't think much about it. There are many such fields along the way. Having been walking for some time my gaze was directed mostly at the ground or at most a few feet away. I had just come from a field full of horses and had been dodging land mines. Anyway, some movement caught my eye fifty or so feet ahead of me. It was a buck whom I had startled and sent leaping towards the nearest edge of the forest. It was a beautiful sight. What I didn't expect to see was then 25 to 30 does and fawns come out of the woods to follow their horned leader. They moved like a flock of birds. Being that they weren't that far ahead of me and needed to cross my path the hairy man inside of me decided to take chase. It was a blast! I divided the herd in two and followed the one that stopped in order to change direction. If only I'd had a spear and a dozen other men could the scene have been any more prehistoric. The desire to catch one was intense and very natural feeling.
Perhaps it's time to cut my hair and shave?
(side note: I rarely proof read my journal entries so please forgive the typos)
posted by Nathan at 2:52 AMAugust 18th, 2008
Well, my Mother saw Love and other Demons. I was worried about this for a number of reasons:
1. the love scene
2. the nudity
3. I'm a priest
4. my lover is a 12 year old (a girl.... thank God)
5. the crucifixion / exorcism with all the blood and mud
6. the difficulty of the music
7. my sister was along and she is VERY Catholic
8. the length of my hair
9. I haven't shaved in two months
and
10. It's not Camelot or Showboat
It turns out that she loved it. Said she's looking forward to the next musical and that she couldn't understand how anyone could memorize music like this, but that it was so intense and so interesting that it was over before she knew it.
In my mind this is a good review!
posted by nathan at 12:57 AMJuly 26th, 2008
Can you spell FLAG*EL*ATE boys and girls?
verb> meaning to flog someone, as a religious discipline or for sexual gratification OR (new addition to the definition) for a scene in a new opera.
Yes, yesterday I flagellated myself on screen for the last scene in the first at of Love and Other Demons. I whipped myself, was spun around in a chair covered.... I MEAN COVERED ...... in blood and, most humiliating of all, lay prostrate on the ground as Silviu (my Transylvanian director) dribbled, splashed and then poured blood on me while standing on a table out of sight from the camera. I've never had liquid splashed on me from above in that manner. It was truly a revolting experience.
By the end of the three hour long ordeal my skin was sticking to itself on the insides of my arms as the blood began to dry into a sticky, sirupy type paste and I looked like fresh road kill. YUCK! I had hoped to go upstairs to the Carmen dressing rooms to say hello to my friend Kate who is singing in the show (she would have gotten a kick out of it), but unfortunately she was called to the stage and I was seriously at risk of destroying any costume I came close to.
Here ends just another story in the life of an opera singer.
posted by Nathan at 1:38 AMJuly 16th, 2008
The family minus one has arrived and already my oldest son has his eyes set on a new toy. This is good for Julie and me because we have been able to put him to work to earn the money for it. It's nice not having to wash dishes, mop floors, clean bathrooms, sweep, vacuum, etc. (He's done a great job for an 8 year old and not one complaint). The object of his desire is a dirt-board. Why didn't we have toys like this when I was a kid? This thing is great! I might get one for myself. It looks like a cross between a skate-board and a dirt bike. It has big off road tires, straps for the feet and can apparently go anywhere a bike can go as long as you're not heading up hill. Here in Uckfield, Framfield, there are some excellent paths in the woods that have been designed for this very purpose. Should I try my luck? My next journal entry may be from an emergency room, but how badly can one get hurt falling on dirt?
posted by nathan at 7:09 AMJuly 2nd, 2008
Grammar is something I love to think about. Yes, nerdy, but I like it. Gabriel Byrne and I were debating the singular or plural of something or other during Camelot and now I'm debating the use of an apostrophe. God knows that I spell like a gorilla and I make more typos than I should, but I like thinking about grammar regardless. Now, the question in hand is how "marquis' daughter" is pronounced. Her in England the word "marquis" is pronounced "markwis". Since that is the case I pronounce "marquis' daughter" like this, "markwis daughter" rather than "markwises daughter" which I keep saying sounds plural. I'm wondering if it has something to do with syllables? We say "Jesus' deciples" without the two "s" sounds, but we say "Chris' book" with two "s" sounds. I really don't know. Guess I'll have to google it :)
posted by Nathan at 2:40 AMJune 25th, 2008
Love and Other Demons the opera
Garcia Marques wrote the book. It's fascinating. Love is a sort of a demon. Or at least a certain kind of love is.
This is the subject matter of the opera I'm working on right now at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival. The past week we (the cast) have been focused on music because, to be frank, it's really hard. At times it is very dissonant and at times not. The tonal centers are sometimes hidden in the widely textured sound coming from the pit and it doesn't always move in the direction your ear would tell you to go. There are motives as well for different places and different people take are based on intervals rather than specific rhythms and pitches. All in all it's very cool and very effective. The use of English, Spanish, Latin and (an African language I can't remember) adds to the vivid painting of the story.
I took my Father and my eldest to a staging rehearsal yesterday. My Father couldn't get past the fact that anyone could learn it. My daughter found the scene to be delightfully disturbing. I think she's right.
The set is going to be incredible. It physically looks like an old cathedral that is being excavated or possibly renovated..... your choice. The ceiling is mirrored, but can allow light to be shown through it. On all three walls projections will be shown of what's happening on stage, what's happening in the minds of the characters, and of past events. We'll do some of the filming of those scenes before the actual performances begin. This is the sort of thing I love and I think the audience will love.
It's all very exciting and I'll keep you posted!
posted by Nathan at 12:02 PMJune 22nd, 2008
My oldest daughter, my Father and I have been enjoying the countryside for the last week here in East Sussex. This, of course, is where the Glyndebourne Opera Festival is and I'm here rehearsing the new opera "Love and Other Demons" that will be debuted in August. Though I loved the area surrounding Aix en Provence last summer (it is truly beautiful) I always enjoy coming back to this part of the world. Glydebourne is without a doubt one of the best opera festivals in the world. From the point of view of a musician it is hard to beat, but from a human point of view I it's the countryside that I love the most. Just today I took a wonderful walk from the middle of Uckfield to an pub located in the town of Blackboys. The view of the countryside from these paths is unmatched because by car they are simply not visible. One of the highpoints of this walk was seeing the house of Vivian Lee and Laurence Olivier. It's a charming cottage with a man made lake in it's back yard. They met, I believe, on the set of That Hamilton Woman...... a great movie.
posted by nathan at 9:08 AMMay 23rd, 2008
I'm in Seattle after having heard a workshop for the new opera by Daren Hagen called Amelia. It is a beautiful piece that focuses on the concerns of a woman as she gets closer to giving birth to her first child. The music has many beautiful textures, the vocal lines are sweeping and the libretto by Gardner McFall is a touching testament to the risk we all take in order to love. I was very moved and am pleased to be a part of this project.
My recent experience in New York with Camelot and then singing for the U.S. Supreme Courts "Musicale" has left me a little drained. Both experiences were so unusual and wonderful that, though I didn't realize it at the time, it took a lot out of me. The people I met in both circumstances are remarkable and have a lot in common, namely, their dedication to their work. Who'd have thought that Supreme Court Justices and Broadway performers would be so similar? Well, I'm honored to know all of them.
