Singing my silly head off this Friday

I will be singing in a concert, 8:00, this Friday at Aurora University, in the Perry Theater, 347 S Gladstone Ave
Aurora, IL 60506 The concert will feature some talented young singers from the Chicago/Milwaukee area. This is technically a private concert but I'm allowed to bring some people, send me an email if you're interested.... The good thing is that, since a private event, admission is free!

Singin' my silly head off this year

Just got two more gigs-- One US premier and one world premier (maybe.)
I will be singing The Armed Man, by Karl Jenkins in Milwaukee on May 20th, and september 11th, and then in the fall I will probably be singing Michael Reagan in the premier and a recording of "Reagan's Children."

Just when I thought I was going to get a break! But I've already heard some of The Armed Man, and it seems like interesting music...

Exciting stuff!

My Birthday Requiem

Last night I had the pleasure of hearing Samuel Ramey the greatest singer of the last quarter of a century, perhaps the greatest singer of the modern era.

The K and I went to the Roosevelt University Verdi Requiem, which featured bass Sam Ramey as one of the soloists. Overall, the concert should have been OK. The Chorus lacked the proper beef to deliver a truly operatic Verdi Requiem and there were some problems with the student orchestra, (which was however, also very good.) The women soloists seemed a little under weight vocally for Verdi's writing... but the singing of Sam Ramey alone was enough to raise this concert to a level of greatness.

For those that don't know, Sam Ramey has reigned supreme over the Bass concert and operatic rep for the last 20 years. But that reign has not been without controversy. Even last night, there were apparent weaknesses and paradoxes in his singing-- and yet, he may be the greatest singer I have ever heard.

The Sam Ramey controversy can be summarized by the time when he appeared in Don Carlo with Jerome Hines, in my opinion, the greatest bass of the previous generation:

Interviewer: "we all thought the other guy (Ramey) was doing just great, and then you came out, and it was like we had forgotten what a real bass sounded like."
Hines: "Yeah, they tell me I really made him sound like my boy...."

Having heard both of these singers live, I can attest to this, Jerome Hines, well, eats Sam Ramey's lunch. Hines is by far the greater bass, and yet, Ramey is still the greater singer. In fact, this is the very reason that Ramey is the greater singer.

All great "new art" represents in a sense, a criticism of what came before it. In this way, Ramey's singing represents the perfect critique of the post war generation of singers. The "post war" generation had as it's halmark the great dramatic voices: Tebaldi, Del Monaco, Hines, London, Callas: singers who made great dramatic thrilling sounds, and were not afraid to make an ugly or unhinged sound for emotional effect. Sam Ramey on the other hand seems incapable of producing a sound that is less than exquisitely beautiful. And while the most prized characteristic of the previous of the post war singers was the full ringing heroic middle voice and top, Sam Ramey seems restrained and refined on those pitches instead seeming to blossom in the rich lower parts of his voice.

It was this refined quality that led to Ramey's career as a "bel canto" singer. "Bel Canto" was a term invented to describe the the way the singing of Mattia Battistini perfectly realized the aesthetic of the middle 19th century. It has long been considered a lost art by many, and many were ready to accept Sam Ramey as a new proponent of this style. However, a closer look would show that the post war singers had more in common with Battistini's singing than Ramey does. Firstly Ramey relies heavily on aspirates (ha ha ha ha) to aticulate notes-- something never heard in battistini's singing. But more importantly, the big middle voice and emotionally declamatory style were Battistini's most distinguishing characteristic-- the things that Sam Ramey most characteristically lacks.

So Sam Ramey represents not a throw-back to the past, but a truly new aesthetic and technique-- one which may be more perfectly suited to the modern era than any singer in history. His voice has endless character and beauty. And perhaps his greatest characteristic is that, more than any other singer I know of, his voice sounds the same on recording as it does in the house. In this way, Ramey's technique represents the perfect solution to the modern career of the recording artist/performer.

Happy Bunny day!

I can't wait to eat that bunny.




Mmm....




In other news, I had a rehearsal for my concert on April 29th. Sick as a dog... It was actually very interesting.... I made myself "sing out" for everything and it actually was pretty good. I take it as a good sign that I can now sing ok even after a week of sore throats, coughing fits and stuffed nose. The concert should be pretty good, although many people missed the rehearsal and others didn't know their music yet.

In other other news, isn't it interesting how we inherit our parents fears. Yesterday at rehearsal, one of the soprani and I walked over to a cafe, a trip that required a nice jaunt over a heating vent. Lisa said she was terrified of them because her dad had fallen through one before. she wasn't there of course, but she has learned this fear from her dad.

Me, I'm afraid of bears and cockroaches. And um...

pigeons.

These are fears that I inherited form my mother. In actuality, I'm not really afraid of any of these things, I think pigeons are kinda cute, and I'd LOVE to see a bear... but yet there is some level where the idea of these things are...

scary.

Cockroaches on the other hand...


Ughhhghghgh.... creepy.

Sick as a dog

all week.

Yuck.

Just saw this today and it made me laugh myself into a coughing fit.

from http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/

kid 1: Paper beats rock! Bam! I blowed up your rock!
Kid 2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes spicy. Now I got a spicy rock-- you can't beat that!

My blog: apparently about Hitler's crossdressing earlobes.

Thanks to the magic of sitemeter, I sometimes can find out how people arrived at this blog. And let me tell you, you people think of some Freaky shite!

Here are some of my favorite searches that have brought people hither:

"mom teaching their songs to masterbate" What!? I didn't even know songs COULD masterbate! I mean what does that sound like? Like, could the song I'm listening to right now be masterbating and I don't even know? And what is dear ol mommy song doing encouraging the behavior! Can a song go blind? Hairy psalms?

"Hitler's earlobes" Now this search I get. You see Hitler actually had very cute earlobes. This isn't often talked about these days what with that whole holocaust thingie, but in his early years he made quite a living as a lobe model. See what I mean? What a QT!

"Crossdresser at Walmart" Everyday low prices. Where else?

"Long Division" Sick bastards!

"bill 4437" for dummies" Yup, they got that right, it sure is!

"Lack of Pants" I sure hope that's what this site is about!

Well, off I go to google "Smurf fashion: trousers or bikinis?"

Big day yesterday

Booked a venue for my story-telling-sing-along-extravaganza in May and signed a contract for an opera and another concert in July-- exciting stuff for me, and also a nice chunk of extra change from the opera. Now I gotta lotta work to do.

The show, the Student Prince was a star vehicle for Mario Lanza, and that's about all I know of it. But it sounds like delightful music and a light comedy in the old MGM sort of style-- if I'm lucky I'll get to do some dancing!

Add on novel

So here are the chapters of what I intended as a community novel. I'm still open to anyone who wants to write a bit... just post it in the comments.
Here's the novel so far:
chapters 1-3
chapter 4
installment 5
mini bit

Dead again

The burritos have no taste

What was the name of this place? Reality swims around when you're possessing someone. It feels like the city, with bits of sensation and thought flooding past with jarring fragmentation.

"Well, Come on." my body says. "It's time to go." She sits there quietly. "look, we can't be late, ok? We gotta go now! If I don't show up with you soon...." My body goes quiet. It smiles in a comforting way. She looks up. "Everything will be ok, I say in a paternal and comforting way, but something isn't right. I don't feel assured. I think I feel...

fear.

This isn't getting me anywhere, and I feel if I stay I might be lost... not yet... I need to go back, back to that day....