Makropulos…

This week, we had premier of The Makropulos Affair (Janáček) at the theater. I am not singing this production so I could finally go and see a show at our theater. Unfortunately due to the Corona situation the Orchestra was unable to play so the theater decided to go ahead and do the premier with piano. This was the last performance during the next 4 weeks as the theater is forced to close its doors for this coming month of February. The premier was well recieved, although I must say i think specially with a composer like this , you need the orchestra cause I would say most of the colours come from them in this work. Nevertheless our ensemble and guests did brilliantly, I was very happy to see my colleagues and Akiho on stage she was so good and present. The costumes were great and the stage direction was good. The costumes from Julia Berndt were great, she is really good and whenever we work with her is always top. The stage direction which was very well managed was done by Nina Russi. We know each other since few years when I was at the Opernstudio in Zurich, she was there as a reggie assistant and now she is having a nice career as a stage director. I was happy to see her and to see her husband Rico which I also know from Zurich. It was nice to see the way she works and I was glad she made a good Job with Makropulos.

This week I was able to go to Berlin and have some days outside Wuerzburg. I really like Berlin and walking its streets in the different parts of the city. I specially love going to the very nice coffee places they have over there. However everytime I am there a must is the place called Ben Rahim, they have delicious specialty coffee I highly reccomend it. Also a must is to have some Japanese food and also a must is the bakery called Zeit fuer Brot located in the Alte Schönhauser Strasse in central Berlin.

This time we had time to visit the Pergamon Museum. I wanted to visit it since a long time and finally I was able to go. It was closed for a long time. Now there are still some parts closed but much of it is opened. I love old cultures around the world and this museum has a lot to offer. I wouuld reccommend if you are into museums and history that you go and visit it. The link to the museum is this: https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/pergamonmuseum/home/. You can check the costs and opening times.

I keep working this week on my singing and learning Lensky. I have discovered some new things on my singing which I write down as notes in my computer. I find very important to be able to explain at least to myself on paper the processes that I go through. To be able to exteriorize and explain what I do while singing is so difficult and that is why it helps me to write it down to be able to also understand better what I do. It realliy helps me to reinforce my ideas and have more clarity. This can be also applied to other parts of your life. Writing down stuff is always helpful no matter how silly it may seem or how trivial the topic is.

Take care and until next week.