Me. Writing. Stuff.
We miss Precious. I miss the abuse that Simon used to throw at him, jokingly. I miss his purrs and cuddles.
Come back, smelly.
It’s worse that we have no proof that he won’t come back. Spotted 2 different cats in our garden in the last week. But, no Precious.
I hope he returns.
See what happens when you miss two rehearsals in a row, Rozz?
Yep, everyone else in the group become brilliant.
I had really good reasons to miss my Opera for Carlow rehearsals, I haven’t missed one before so was annoyed. Was away at training in Dublin and last week, I actually was in the same building as the rehearsals. I was helping out at my husband’s Fashion Show for his school, he was modelling so I couldn’t miss that!
Anyway, enough of the negative! I am back, baby!
So, last night, I got to meet Lisa from Athena Media. She was known as “the girl with the mic” to the rest of the group and was often seen hanging around the rehearsals recording anything she could salvage. I was always envious of the cast that got to be interviewed for the Lyric FM podcast so when Lisa contacted me through this blog, I was uber excited.
I think I did okay. I hope I didn’t ramble too much. Lisa tells me the interview will be available from June onwards so pop that in your diary, peeps.
Fergus tells us that for the next month, we will eat, breath and sleep Opera. Great. Full-scale rehearsals starting next week throughout the Easter holidays.
Do I have the energy?
Can I learn the words to “A good melon”
Is it all about the altos?
These questions and more will be answered very soon.
Tickets on sale for Shelter me from the rain:Opera for Carlow at http://www.gbshawtheatre.ie/theatre.php?day=5&month=5&year=2011
3. Rant
Whenever I cross a pedestrian crossing, I wave or nod or gesture nicely to the car that stopped for me. It’s a nice thing to do. It’s manners. It’s totally not typical of women pedestrians.
Fact. A woman pedestrian is less likely to thank you for taking the bother to stop safely to let their bottoms walk in front of your car. A man usually will. Why is this? I’ve seen women purposely ignore that your car is even there and stride across like it’s their given right to walk across a pedestrian crossing, without looking either way, in case a car is coming.
I’m going to carry out a massive piece of research into this to prove my point. I will stand at a crossing and take note. The study will be called “Is a woman pedestrian more likely to ignore a car that has stopped to let her pass than a male pedestrian?”
The overwhelming response will be yes.
I bet.
So, this weekend the rehearsals have started to pick up.
After I auditioned for a part in the Opera for Carlow “Shelter me from the rain”, I got a part in a smaller piece in the Opera. I sing as part of a small group of 8, 4 men and 4 women. Today, Fergus Shiel met us to begin the rehearsals of just this piece. It is extremely difficult, I don’t read music and you are expected to pick it up within a few goes of listening. Luckily, everyone else seemed to find it hard and it sounds great! The rehearsals are in the County Council Offices and we sang in the Council Chamber where official business goes on!
We are back in tomorrow to go over it again.
WE all met at the end and started speaking about the possibility of a musical society for Carlow. That really would be great. I’ve been involved with this project since September and am loving it. We all dread when it will end.
But until that day, we will go for it! So, if you want to get tickets to this project, go to http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=VCCA&organ_val=33468&pid=6957107
Listen in the our podcast here http://audioboo.fm/boos/285792-an-opera-for-carlow-episode-8 you might hear me sing!!
It gets colder in Oslo-day 2 of Vikings,Munch,Ibsen’s haunt and Chinese food.
Another breath taking cold day in Oslo. At this stage, I’ve robbed my husband of any form of thermal clothing be had-his socks, thermal leggings and thermal top. He claims not to notice the cold. Our hotel is located on the harbor, right across from the new Opera House, it looks like a big glass house with skiing ranges at either side. On our way to the Museum Area of Oslo, we stopped off at a very old looking bakery and coffee shop. I started chatting to a Norwegian Granny who had most excellent English that she learned from the “Telly” why doesn’t TG4 have this effect on us?
Anyway, she was giving out about the Oslo city council. They wanted to put the Munch Museum beside the new and fan dangled Opera area along with every other folklore and historical museums.
The Munch museum is only 2 trams out of the city and you get to discover some gems like this coffee shop on the way. Munch museum is very attractive, nestled in a snowy type forest area. It had a small exhibition area, showing Munch’s poetry and prose that often inspired his art work. He loved writing letters. One of his original attempts of the Scream is housed here, all crayoned in, it looks like a child’s attempt! The original Scream is in the Oslo National Gallery.
The next visit took us on a short bus ride, way out into the country. The Viking ship museum is just that, no more, no less. But, why would you need more? Those archaeologists have found 3 remains of the oldest Viking ships that shipped the rich Vikings to their version of heaven. The museum again, was short and to the point. I do hate it when the museum drags on and on for hours.
On the same grounds was the Norwegian Folklore open air museum. We really loved this, it was totally Christmassy, a winter village purpose built for the tourists, who want a bit of history as well. We slipped around it in the snow and I thought if this was in Ireland, the whole place would be closed down due to massive health and safety risks. I.e. We can’t be bothered getting to work in the snow and we know you’ll sue us if you slip.
In fact, If Oslo was anywhere in Ireland, the whole country would shut down or we would be complaining about the lack of salt and grit. Grrrr. Oslo people are quite sensible with the snow. Rule number one-wear good boots not uggs or slippers. Rule number two-wear warm clothing to protect your skin, not pyjamas. Rule number 3-if you do slip, get up, brush yourself off and carry on more carefully. Don’t even think of suing the shop you slipped outside of.
Anyway, I digress but I think you’ll agree this is an Important observation that could possibly change your perception of life in a snowy Ireland…or not..
After these outings, I had my max fill of museums for the day. Simon had not. He headed away to the “Football museum”, which is everything I would hate and everything he would love. I choose to sit in the Grand Hotel lobby and sip hugely expensive coffee, reading. Y book, hoping for inspiration, Ibsen like. The grand Hotel is pretty hot right now and seems to always have been. Ibsen used to love hanging out here, being bitter about life.
The outside of the Grand hotel looks onto the massive square and après ski market I wrote About yesterday.A huge screen had been erected to show all the amazingly brilliant skiers compete for gold. Later on in the evening, we watched them all be presented with their medals to the sound of mini cow bells being rung out. The vuvezuela is so last year. Bells sound much better, the next big thing. The city was so pretty at night, we indulged in a mug of mulled wine in the Apres ski area before we went in search of food. You may remember that Simon has planned an authentic Norwegian dinner last night. He took me to the oldest and most popular Norwegian place. I have no idea why this is the case. It is basically the same food my Mum makes, which is good, don’t get me wrong but not my holiday eating out dinner I would normally choose. I ordered their specialty-Meatballs, gravy, mushy peas and boiled potatoes. Simon got reindeer burgers and purred carrots. It was fine and I finished up as much as i could, it was a healthy Irish Mum’s portion too. Good value and nice to try, I guess but I shan’t be repeating.
I was hankering for some Asian food after my traditional attempts last night so when Simon returned all foot-balled out, we went in search of the best Asian food in Oslo. Being big fish eaters, sushi is meant to be the best outside of Japan. We tried to get to 1 Chinese place but it was jam packed with Norwegians, the cheek of them. They told us that they had another place outside of Oslo 1 metro away. It was called Nodee. It was utterly delish and very funky. All black with low lighting inside. We sat up at the Sushi bar and watched the chefs skilfully assemble plates of raw fish. The food was really light and full of taste and the desserts were odd but yum, in places. I ordered some Asian delight, with Wahhabi and chilli ice-cream.Simon got mini banana fritter with cucumber panna cotta. It brought a lovely end to an active day in Oslo.
Shame we have to leave tomorrow.
Sign up to flickr to check me out in the snow!
http://www.flickr.com/people/rozzlewis/
We woke ultra early, as is the norm with us. After breakfast, we headed off into the city, it was only a short walk of 15 minutes and it was cold but with my double layering and stealing of Simons thermals, all was bearable at -11. I must tell you that it was minus 11 as I don’t want you to think I’m a moaner. I’m not usually a complaining, cold person but I think you’ll agree that that is cold.
Luckily, the world skiing championships starts today so the city is awash with parties and a massive market in the middle of it. The market is centred around the frozen lake, where little 3 year olds show off their skate skills. Edward Munch style snow sculptures surrounded this lake and market and we sampled melting caramel waffles, norwegian cheeses and mulled wine, which was amazingly good.
To orientate ourselves, we took a walk around the city, right down to the Solid iced harbour and City Hall, an ugly building that has some colourful wood relief paintings of Norse myths. From then onwards, we went to the Ibsen museum and spend an hour browsing through his personal items and reading about him. Ibsen was a bit of a…how can I say it? Not very nice guy, full of himself, confused, bitter about the rejection(his view) from Norway and had an odd relationship with the women in his life. So odd that any women he had a relationship with were unable to maintain a relationship with any other men again. The museum didn’t go into any other details but I’ve continued to wonder about this all day. If you have any input, please comment below! I studied Ibsen in college, loved a Doll’s House, especially the strong roles he gave to his female characters.
After Ibsen, we headed to the Nobel Peace Centre, which gave me plenty to think about. A massive exhibition to the current holder of the award, Liu Xiaobo, Chinese Human rights fighter. One area was dedicated to the Chinese censorship of magazines and Internet sites like facebook and Twitter. Simon was obviously horrified by this. A hugely wealthy country with very sad people controlled in everything they say. We don’t know how lucky we are that we have the freedom to rant about the government and politics here.
Grabbing a leisurely coffee in the bar of the centre, vegging with a book for a while before we headed back to the hotel where a hot bath brought my blood’s temperature back to normal.
Simon is taking me to an authentic Norwegian restaurant later. Yum. But, do I have to go out into that cold?
Oh, yes.
Thermals, ready?
Some pics?
http://www.flickr.com/people/rozzlewis/
You know that feeling when you get off the plane in a new country, to be greeted by heat and the sun in your eyes. Well, I’ve never been a fan of the intense heat but when I stepped off the plane in Oslo, I replayed that feeling of warmth.
I was wearing a sheer white blouse with vest top underneath my navy coat and scarf. There was no point being too hot in Dublin airport but I should have changed into the good old thermals on the plane. It was cold.
Let me say that again. It was cold.
Very.
Cold.
It was also snowing and ryanair had conveniently dropped us off an hour outside Oslo. We trudged into the airport looking for a shuttle bus to take us to the train station.
Did I mention it was a bit cold?
I’m sure Simon heard me mumbling something quietly about the lack of heat but he patiently handed me scarfs, hats and basically nearly stripped himself of clothes to heat me up. He said he always brings 2 of everything on holidays in case I’m cold ax he would prefer to be laden down with clothes than listen to me grumble…quietly…
The train was pretty great…and warm…
Free wifi, rubbish coffee and naughty children. It was almost just like being on an iarnrod eireann train minus the wifi (if only).
We flagged the nearest taxi down once we arrived and he ripped us off splendidly, as was to be expected as all the guidebooks had told us about that. He laughed at me as my teeth chattered, him in his short sleeve jumper, thinking he was great.
We stayed in the Clarion boutique hotel in the city. We received a hearty welcome and a big plate of seeded bread, cheese and ham sandwiches, which were devoured like we had never eaten before. Our bedroom is super cute and I got very excited when I saw a remote control hanging from the side of the bed.
An electric blanket?
No, a device that makes the bed go up or down depending on how strangely you would like to sleep.
The hotel has a relax area, which is a jacuzzi, sauna and gym type thing. It also likes to feed you. A massive buffet breakfast with odd looking and tasting fish dishes with all the favourites like nutella, hotdogs and fried eggs(which you have to cook yourself) it also has coffee( pretty good) and tea all day long in the lobby and at 6, they start serving a hot evening buffet. All for the price of your room, which was expensive but as we learned throughout the day, Oslo is expensive.
And cold.
http://www.flickr.com/people/rozzlewis/
I’m going to be forcing you all to read about the beautifully snowy city of Oslo very soon. You’ll have to wait though, don’t be selfish. I’m in my holidays after all.
Some pics for you to see!
http://www.flickr.com/people/rozzlewis/
Last week was very exciting! Fergus gave us the full score to the opera. It is pretty big and resembles a mini thesis! He also gave us all a copy of the cast, one of the girls scanned the list quickly and said to me “Rozz, you’re on it!”
I get to sing as part of a duet as part of a group song, if you understand! They seem to think I’m an alto2. For those who are unaccustomed to vocal ranges (like me, than!), I;m going to give you a mini Rozzie-opera style class, sort of a Opera for dummies. Please, don’t take offence! Not calling you a dummy or anything!
Okay, right at the top are the cream of the crop-The Female Sopranos, these women( in my observation) can sing rather well, rather high and they can also read music. Amazing. They also seem to be able to pick things up quickly but are given an average amount of attention from the person who is coaching us.
They also sing rather loud, drowning everyone else out. Which is probably the point seeing as they are so good,everyone elses job is make them sound fantastic.
Within each vocal range, you have a 1 and a 2. Number 1 seems to be where everyone wants to be, for some reason. Though, just because you are a number 1 doesn’t mean you will rock. It just means you are more naturally able to sing at a higher range within soprano. However, that doesn’t stop the sopranos all trying to be a Soprano 1, I can tell by listening to some of them that they are really no. 2s and they have developed a soprano 2 complex.
This, of course could be totally incorrect seeing as I know very little about all of this.
But, it could be true…
Now, to the Altos, which is where I am. The 2nd highest range and the most coolest, of course. Again, you can be a 1 or a 2. I can sing both but after my auditions, I have been placed in an alto 2 range. So, I guess that cements it for me. I’m an alto 2, that’s it. The altos seem to get little attention, we hear the song once and we are expected to remember it straightaway. Because, we are harmoninsing and making the Sopranos sound brilliant, it doesn’t really matter if we are singing the right note or not. That is going to change though. We are getting the CD of the opera next week, sung in our own special range!
Below the Altos, you have the tenors and the bass, majority of them are men. I do get suspicious when I see a female in this group. They seem to need the most attention. I’ll be sexist and say it’s because they’re men and they don’t listen but maybe, this group are older and need more time but then you might say I’m ageist.
Finally, it could be down to some obscure reason that my little and unknowledgable opera brain cannot answer.
Idea, please? On a postcard.
So the 4 vocal ranges sing altogether in entirely different notes and ranges, starting at different times resulting in pleasing opera type music!
Very smart?
Did I mention how happy I am with my part? I can’t go into details but I’m glad I got this part and not the other part I could have nearly got. Very mysterious, I know.
My advice, book some tickets and find out!
I haven’t posted for a while, the Opera for Carlow workshops have been happening, I’ve been attending and singing! But, tomorrow, the full score and recording will be given ti us! So, we can practice at home! The solo and pair parts will be revealed so we will see where I stand then.
The tickets went on sale 2 weeks ago for “Shelter me from the rain” and already Saturday night has sold out, there are some tickets left for Thurs evening, Friday evening and Saturday matinee.
For a split second, I thought j wouldn’t be able to take part! My niece’s communion is on the Sunday of the last performance. I emailed Fergus and he told me that Sunday night’s performance has been moved to Saturday matinee. So all is good! Except I’ll have to get up really early to get to my niece’s communion on Sunday morning in Mayo!
That is a party I couldn’t miss!
