Jena, Weimar, Therese…

Hi there! I hope you are well and had a nice week. After last week concert of Dichterliebe, this week I went back to Jena to continue with rehearsals of Therese (Massenet).  It was really nice to continue to work on this beautiful music and to continue getting to know my colleagues, and I find we are a very good team and the pace of rehearsing is going really well. The music is nice and we are doing our best to give a good interpretation of this compact Opera full of colors and intensity.

The main challenge is to be very honest with the singing and the emotions but all well planned and balance, with this romantic music is really easy to get off balance and give too much voice because the colors and the phrasing as well as the orchestration, so one must be well  balanced. This week I was finding how to balance the acting with the vocal production to find a balance without compromising either acting or singing. I am glad we will continue with rehearsals in June. Now we have finished the staging so I have a complete view or mapping of the opera. Now I have a couple of months to find more and more the right way of balancing it. I am really looking forward to continue with the last rehearsals and to the performances in June.  I think I have never had this kind of schedule where I rehearse and then wait 2 months to continue with the production, but it does not bother me, I think instead I find it really good. It is for me good to have the time to process, to get it more ready and to let it seat on my voice and have the time to really fully embody the role.

This week I shared very special moments with my collegues of deep conversations about life and career, about hobbies, personal stories, diverse musical points of view, technique, etc. I also found my favourite coffee shop and bakery in Weimar, so every morning before going to rehearsals in Jena I went there and had coffee, did my daily reading and my morning pages and I kind of found my routine and I am so happy doing this kind of ritual that sets me for the day.

I kept doing my exercise a bit different but nevertheless I kept the discipline although I did not feel particularly excited to do it, but I did it anyways, for me and my health.

Now I am back home and will rest for today, tomorrow a new week and I have to prepare for a concert next week of some Haydn and Beethoven.

I hope you are well and please take care. See you next week.