Reading, recovering, sleepless...

Hi there! This week was a quiet one, just trying to get over my jet lag and also dealing with a nasty cold.

I had for the first time in my life on Monday and Wednesday where I could not sleep at all. Through the whole night I could not fall asleep and I just had to stay awake and wait until the next night to sleep. Both days I tried to take naps and it worked but it really made me tired because I was also dealing with the cold and felt weak most of the week.

Beacause I had to stay home, I did a lot of reading and thinking. Also I am doing for over a month now, my daily morning pages, which I started because of the book "The artist's way" by Julia Cameron that I am reading.

Although being sick, I am preparing for an upcoming audition on Tuesday. I am preparing Tamino's arias and learning "Si ritrovarla" from Rossini's Cenerentola. I am not at all a Rossini singer, I have so much respect for those who can sing in that kind of tessitura when it is sing correctly. Learning this aria is a very nice challenge, not so great because my voice is heavy and hard because of the cold, but, to be able to learn some of the coloratura and just to jump suddenly to high notes without having the chance to put weight on the voice is really nice. Rossini wrote really nice for the voice. I remember the only other Rossini I have sung is Il barbiere di Siviglia few years ago, I had to be very discipline with the coloratura and very strict with how it is written. I remember talking to Bartoli and she mentioned to me that she always, regardless what she is singing at the moment, she always sings a Rossini aria, to keep her voice flexible and healthy. It is pretty interesting, because for example this aria of Ramiro "Si ritrovarla" is very difficult, there is no way to sing this in an unhealthy way. It is just the way is written that it does not allow you to put too much weight on the voice. At least to me I am finding that Rossini is really healthy to sing and allows the voice keep flexible and elastic.

I also kept my 4 time a week exercise routine, plus my daily reading of Holiday and Tolstoi.

Take care and see you next week.