Tokyo, DisneySea, Gunma…
Now is Monday and again, this blog was suppossed to be released yesterday evening. But again yesterday was impossible for me to write, we had a concert in the prefacture of Gunma, in the beautiful Town Hall of Oracho, in which I sang Der Neugierige (Schubert), Jurame (Grever) and the duet of Tra la la la la from L'elisir d'amore from Donizetti. I am glad it went really well and the Town Hall was beautifully done with very nice acoustic. I was surprised that such a little town had an incredible Hall. We must return to record something there, the poeple from the place really liked us and encouraged us to go back again to record, hopefully it will happen one day sooner than later. Akiko Nakajima (a very famous soprano here in Japan who lives in Austria) invited Aki and also me to participate as visiting teachers in a 3 day Masterclass. It was very interesting for me to coach only sopranos, I have never had in my life such an intense couple of days just listening to sopranos and working with them. I share with them what I know about being a singer and artist and worked on their voices. I had though one private student who came all the way from Tokyo to have a second lesson with me, his name is Yuto and he is a very young talented tenor with a beautiful lyric voice. In the final concert there was an agent and a famous actor who are friends of Akikosan, then a Taiwanese Chef cooked for us a deliciuos dinner after the concert. I ate so much. Among the dishes cooked, the karage was amazing made with 5 different taiwanese spices, also the amazing rice made in the taiwanese way with some meat in it, it was delicious and mochi texture like. Thank you very much Cecilia for cooking for all of us.
Last week we came to Tokyo before going to Gunma. I explored Shibuya, Harajuku. I searched and found few coffee places which I wanted to visit and tried their coffee. Wherever I go I always search for the best coffee places cause I love specialty coffee and trying the different beans origins and different roastings and how it affects the taste of the bean. Bought some nice Asics trainers special edition in which they used Kendo textiles on the shoe design. They look a bit retro and they are special to Akiho and I because probably this edition is only sold in Japan and for limited time. Akiho and I bought the same pair of shoes. It is our little tradition, we did that also the last time I was here in Tokyo at the same shop but different model.
We also went to Tokyo DisneySea and I can just say that you should definitely go. It was incredible, the rides and the live show with Mickey Mouse and company with music from between the 20s and 40s in America. The park is big but enough to get around in one day. Maybe you cannot make all the attractions but definitely if you organize yourself well you can get most of what you want done. To start to describe the park would take me ages, partly because I am not so good at descriving things in writing or in speaking and secondly cause there are so many amazing details in the park that I would not finish any time soon talking abouth them. The Toy Story ride, The travel to the center of the Earth, the Indiana Jones, Tower of Terror, Raging Spirits and Soaring: Fantastic flight were definitely my favorites. What a park and atmosphere, wow.
I knew I like teaching but specially these days in Gunma gave me a big opening to learn further and to share the little or much experience I have accumultated in my years as a student and as a proffessional singer. The ladies at the course all were talented but in general most of them if not all have a big language barrier. I am glad Akiho and I have been in Germany long enough to share some advice about the language.
It is very important to comunicate as a singer to the audience, Akiho and I were speaking that here in Japan women are specially shy and they do not really communicate a lot their feelings, not because they do not feel but rather the way they are brought up is not one that shares much or speak about. That is a big difference between let us say my culture the Mexican... in Mexico everything is drama, very spicy one. It is very interesting how cultures are complitely different. Regarthless the origin, in singing it does not matter which genre, one must communicate and express... that is what is all about. Besides technique and language and style, etc... which are complicated enough... all of that is worthless if we as artists do not transmit the emotions of what we are singing. Without heart everything is dead, pointless, useless, superficial. Unfortunately there are still very successful superficial people but it does not mean it is the right thing to do. Anyways, there is a place for every kind of person in this world. The develope of the girls was a big one, for the short time we had with them. I really hope they keep working hard, and that they find their voice in this proffession and that they do not give up singing. Singing career is a difficult one and a long one before one sees the results. Maybe less than one percent of the singers make it to the top quick, but the rest of us have to work really hard and cleverly, always with patience and love. Never to forget why we in the first place are doing this, if we loose sense of that, all is lost. If it is lost it can be found again, so it is never too late to turn the wheel, only until our last breath is taken and the curtain is down. Until next week, take care.
