So weit, so gut...
I've made up my mind to sing Mozart's
Requiem together with the choir I'm currently playing with. They won't need a pianist (coz they're using an orchestra for the actual performance) after today, so I thought I might as well sing with them.
Being a member of the Symphony Chorus is like having a "passport" to sing in other amateur choirs, lol. ^^
The
Requiem will take place in the last week of May. To be exact, three days before my departure. What a way to celebrate my "departure" - double pun here.
But that means, I only have less than a month to learn up the text, then the music. Most importantly, I've only weeks to brainwash my German-Latin into Italian-Latin, both which sound very, very different. What a way to go! The recent Beethoven's
Missa Solemnis sure has done enough damage, especially when the Symphony Chorus started rehearsing for the Beethoven
last year. Five months plus of German-Latin, and I've three weeks to change all into Italian-Latin. Seriously, I think German-Latin is more singer-friendly, in terms of consonants and the means of breath-conserving.
That doesn't mean I'm going to smoke the performance though. I'm going to take it seriously and put in my best. Because, if you have been following my
livejournal, the
Requiem this coming May is for a special late someone.
Beethoven's Missa Solemnis
WE... MADE IT!!!!
And what a relief! *wide grin* In my opinion we did better than any of the rehearsals! I think this is my best performance ever since I joined the symphony chorus. It was, simply a marvellous experience.
A tribute to choral singing
Missa Solemnis is.
Before gloating and spazzing, let's backtrack:
I was so terribly drained after two consecutive nights of rehearsals (I've been giving my best for the two nights too, and did not save up my voice and stamina for the big day ahead), and I swtiched off during German class this morning. My classmates even said that I looked tired. Oh well. Two nights of
Missa Solemnis had taken its toll.
I didn't manage to catch a wink before leaving home for the warm-up session, because of the time wasted on looking for thigh-high stockings in town (after German lesson, which inconvienently ended late as well). I had decided to wear my high heels to the performing venue because it suits my formal wear better, but intended to change to flats before the performance. Standing throughout the first three movements of
Missa Solemnis ought to kill everyone, and I wouldn't like to crumble to the ground in the middle of
Gloria or
Credo anyway. If so, I would assassinate everyone in the Concert Hall because I can't bear the humiliation - and an insult to Beethoven as well. Lol.
So at late afternoon I boarded the train via town, fuming about why the conductor would want us to report at 17.30 Uhr when performance time is 19.30 Uhr.
He got to be crazy, I thought. And since I had lunch at 14.30 Uhr I'm afraid I might be hungry after the warming-up, and bought bread for dinner. I was glad I did that - the warming-up, which turns out to be a selective run-through of the entire
Missa Solemnis (o_O), only ends after 18.50 Uhr. What the...?! However we made the conductor mad during this session, heh heh. We all went sooooooo out of pitch. Our poor, poor rehearsal pianist - he struggled with the reduction parts because all the four parts were singing four different keys!!!! XD XD XD But because we were trying to conserve our energy and also because of the acoustics of the empty stage (except for us), we could hardly hear anyone.
And 19.30 Uhr came. I was running here and there at the backstage searching for the programme booklets. Haha, go me... =___= I was lucky it didn't affect my singing later. The outburst of
Kyrie! Followed immediately by the high-charged
Gloria. It was wondrous. Everyone was miraculously following the conductor, especially at the concluding
Presto section. And thanks to the latecomers, we get a chance to sit for tens of seconds. Here comes
Credo, and the sustained B-flat on the second page. Yeeesh! I pulled through! And more B-flats and Bs! Not a problem, and I'm so glad with myself. I had thought I might have overstrained my voice after the rehearsals.
Consubstansialem Patri, per quem omnia facta sunt - this was the line that I can't help grinning. I loooove what Beethoven did with this sentence. A beautiful march-like line indeed. It's only tragic that it lasted for only two pages. Alas. The double fugue at the end of
Credo was surprisingly tidy. (If not, then it sounded so from my side, lol.) I was worried because some sopranos tend to rush at this part, considering the impossible speed we were actually going. But I worried too much, haha. We then got to sit again at the beginning of
Sanctus - for around four minutes. A rest well deserved! The concert master today was brilliant - the solo violin melody at the start of
Benedictus moved me nearly to tears. Beethoven's writing is soooo beautiful...
Sigh... The soloists' parts too... I melted in the midst of the lush melodious lines. However, there was a major problem at the end of this movement. The conductor held the fermata too long a tat and the sopranos struggled in vain to sustain the
soft sustained high G. I confessed I couldn't it through the end. For a sustained high G in
pp, it's very difficult to come back once you have released your control over the tone. In other words, staggered breathing is logically almost impossible here. But that aside, the last movement
Agnus Dei has began. And we get a taste of Beethoven's mastery in word-painting. The line
Miserere nobis tugs at heartstrings. Firstly sung by the tenors and basses, and after a soloists' interlude, repeats itself - this time together with the altos. And I was there, twitching my toes and holding my music, dying to sing that powerful phrase when it appears for the third time after what seems like ages to me. The motif for
Dona nobis pacem presented itself, and the
Presto orchestral interlude started -
and all chorus members start to get nervous. Exactly at Page 120. It's a nightmare as described by my previous post. Entries, entries and entries. All made blurred because of the excessive synopation writing. I counted, and counted, and made it through! Seems like I've become the leader for those standing near me. The war-like section is a form of humanity,
and insanity. The conductor thinks it's also honesty and directness. Whatever the case, I managed to enter correctly twice in the middle of the orchestral chaos. I was so contented! I was like:
No way! I got it! I got it! And then I missed my third entrance. o_O;;;
Oooooops... Luckily it was just a
pp section unlike the first two
fortissimo passages, but I'm still not going to forgive myself for it. The closing for entire work was nicely done, wrapping up the "
it has ended, but not yet the end" message from Beethoven.
Summing it all up, I think everyone (including the soloists) did a great job.
Sorry for the looooong entry, but I'm not finished yet. Here comes the POST-CONCERT RANT - or
What Happened Behind The Stage After 20.50 Uhr.
Priscilla and I ran up to our dressing room, me pulling out the stocking, kicking off my flats and changing into high heels again in a snap - and dashed to the soloists' dressing rooms area, which is located directly beside the stage. Just like those
Elijah times, we (and a few of the chorus members) collected all the autographs from the four soloists! Hooooray!!! Another item of memories.
However, apart from running around the backstage with a pen like little girls, the soloists also managed to spare a few moments chatting with both of us. (It's always good to be the last few.) First we started a conversation with the bass, and at the point when we were talking about
Missa Solemnis there was this line he said "this is such a difficult work,
aber all of you were great!" I blinked and started thinking,
wait a minute, that's German... *brain stops working* *shiny eyes* *a splatter of German started coming out of my mouth*
Woohoo!
We were in the bass soloist's dressing room then, and when we came out, we ran into this conversation between the soprano and the tenor, who were standing directly outside the door. "
Haben Sie...
blah blah... abends... blah... gegessen?" and the soprano answered with something I can't quite recall. But it's
auf Deutsch! I take it that most musicians (if not all) do speak German! A note to all - among our four soloists tonight, only the alto is a native German. And anyways, I started another conversation in German with the alto, like if I didn't have enough of German lessons this morning, lol.
To speak to native Germans is an experience, but to converse in German with musicians is an honour.
I would so cherish the memories of tonight.
Countdown to Missa Solemnis - Last Night
Today
was better! The orchestra toned down quite a bit, although it's still difficult for the lower voices sometimes. The soloists improved - well, they are professionals after all - and some of us realised that the strongest singer turns out to be the alto! Rich bodied voice. Wow, I'm in awe, as well as being envious.
We did another run through today, only stopping at critical unbearable moments. The first half of the rehearsal was
Kyrie and
Gloria, and after the break
Credo,
Sanctus and
Agnus Dei followed. It was difficult for the sopranos to sing
Credo right after the break, because we don't get to sing long enough before hitting a sustained B-flat at the second page. There were still some messy parts - people don't know the parts and entrances well enough to sing confidently without waiting for their partners. I reckoned this problem comes from the other choirs. And the soloists' parts also call for some tidying-up. But it was a huge improvement from last night, and the overall outcome was pretty lovely. Tonight was actually a "open rehearsal" event, and Storyteller and Mum turned up - apart from the last two movements, which obviously displayed that we didn't work on them enough due to late entries and untidy interweaving lines (I knew we were spending too much time on the first three movements!) - and commented that everything was pretty good. Mum told me later that she sighted our conductor's wife amongst the audience. *dreads*
On a personal note, I think the choir needs more time to work out the entrances and beats from bar 120 onwards in
Agnus Dei. No point depending on the conductor; I realised tonight that he's only gesturing our entries as and when he likes. Meaning "you are on your own out there, guys" when he's in a bad mood, and "watch me coz I'm
so going to cue you in" when he's in high spirits. So much for the unpredictable war-like section, Mister Beethoven... =______= You confused us all... Too late to practise now, but I'll make my last-minute share of responsibility first thing in the morning.
On an even more personal note, if you've read my lj entries recently that is, tomorrow's performance is dedicated to Soshi...
Countdown to Missa Solemnis - Second Last Night
I did take dinner before tonight's rehearsal, you know. Yet when I returned home I was feeling terribly hungry. Because I realised (in fact, everyone realised) that I had been activating my tummy muscles really hard today. It was overworked, but it saved my voice.
I HATE THE ORCHESTRA.
Do they hate the chorus people so much? The brasses especially. Totally merciless. Like if Beethoven himself wasn't merciless enough. We sopranos are on the safe side, because merciless high notes mean more resonances. But poor altos and tenors. We couldn't even hear them. Even though the altos were just right beside us. I had to look at their mouths to locate my own entrances.
Still I sang to my heart's content. The work kind of grows into you once you had familiarised yourself with it. And since I've been drilling myself on the work ever since the end of last year, there's no doubt I'm quite fond of it. And I realised my voice range have expanded because of
Missa Solemnis. I can effortlessly sing a high B now, thanks to Beethoven, haha. Go ask Frau Lim for proof! I've been hitting the Bs during her lessons one month ago, which is some kind of accomplishment for me.
Back to tonight's rehearsals - I find the soloists not too bad. I still reminisce over those
Elijah days, coz the soloists were just
whoa. Just terrific. This season's a little disappointing though, but I can understand Beethoven is partly at fault. His interweaving lines (I'm referring to the soloists' parts) and his obsession for syncopation in this work. But I find that the soloists either are not familiar with the score, or are just weak. And I rather dislike the tenor's voice and his way of singing. He swoops notes and loves
portamento. Tja. He's making
Missa Solemnis sound like it's just written by Brahms or some other romantics. Tja. The alto is still quite okay, nothing special about her, really. The soprano is always miscounting a beat or two, but most of the time she manages to find the correct beat in the end. Still, all this hoohaa mean that the soloists are often not together.
We went through all movements but
Agnus Dei tonight. What a pity. I was starting to like the movement coz the melody at the
miserere section is so heart-wrenching. What a sensation it will be if I can hear the accompaniment played live! At least it wouldn't feel like I'm singing karaoke (aka singing with the recording back at home) anymore, lol! Hopefully, the conductor would do something about the volume of the orchestra (it's really difficult for two pieces of skin membrance to compete with metal and mallets), and I could pray for a successful run-through tomorrow!
Gute Nacht,
minna! Suesse Traeume und
matta ashita!
Humuhumunukunukuapuaa
My dears, here's the confirmed information:
I'll be in Munich in the month of June. Most probably will be leaving in the last week of May, because my first day of course starts on the 29th of the same month. Last day of course falls on the last week of June, so I'll be back either that same week, or the first week of July.
The frightening thing is, once I reached Munich, I'm told to head straight for the school, where I'll take a placement test immediately before deciding on the level of the course I will be taking there.
...
It's like...
what the?! Because currently I'm terribly under stress coping with my major German exam - the
Zertifikat Deutsch paper. It's one hell of a paper, I can tell you. This exam (which includes oral, aural, reading, grammar and writing) takes place over two days (13th and 20th May). My classmates get to celebrate the post-exam period, while I have to prepare for my flight and brood over the placement test. Tja.
But anyhow, ignore my whining. I need some recommendations -
where should I visit in Germany? It's my first time in Europe, so I have no idea where are the nicer places to explore. Just not too far - I only have weekends off (four hours plus lesson in the weekdays), so not too far please.
Honestly, I only know that the Neuschwanstein Schloss is not to be missed. Anywhere else? Leave me a comment here or in the chatterbox, drop me a mail, or message me, anything! Lol ^^
Ich will mehr schreiben, aber heute bin ich zu muede
It's confirmed that I'll be going over to Munich. That itself, is glee. My requested "location" was kindly granted!
However, due to some confusing documentations and re-sending and attaching and blah, blah, blah via email, I have no idea when I will be leaving.
I'm only sure that it
will be either in June or July.
Will update soon, when I get a reply from the Leiterin. Arrrgh, hopefully she'll reply by Monday morning. I'm really uptight about this. And my preparation for the upcoming major German exam doesn't seem to be going well. The oral section is indescribably impossible.
Wenn wir Italienish beginnen
So closed is the chapter on German Lieder, and it seems that we've worked ourselves into Italien operatic arias.
Frau Lim intends to bring me through one entire month of arias from Mozart's
Marriage of Figaro. The selections are the arias from Susanna, the Countess, Cherubino and Barbarina. Hooray, hooray! It excites me so, because
Marriage of Figaro is one of my three favourite operas (the other two are Rossini's
Barber of Seville and Puccini's
Tosca). I shocked Frau Lim with the extend of my knowledge on
Figaro when I hummed and half-sang the titles she mentioned to me. But still, singing the arias with professional help is going to be a new experience, and of course, much much more fun. I recalled tonight's evening when we worked on
Batti batti o bel Masetto from
Don Giovanni (also from Mozart) and I, struggling for breath at the end of the aria commented after singing that "it's crazy". It's sweet to hear Frau Lim giggle - and she agreed too: "Ya, the modern singers really said that's crazy."
So I'm looking forward to the
Figaro arias. The strange coincidence is, our local opera company is performing that at the second half of the year too. Not that I'm performing or involving myself in any part of that production, lol.
Wenn heute Tag heiss war, regnete es so stark im Abend
...aber ich habe ueber das sehr gefreut.
I came to realise that Herr Lim's favourite movement from the
Missa Solemnis happens to be
Agnus Dei. Because he's not his usual self when it comes to that section. Finally overcoming
Gloria and
Credo (or rather, I think Herr Lim is aware we're behind schedule), we did
Sanctus and
Agnus Dei for the very first time in our combined rehearsals. Next week we're going to rehearse at the concert venue. :)
Herr Lim usually conducts like a "timekeeper" - not because he's lousy or anything along the line! I respect his style as this must be what he believe in, and also how he works. His conducting became "unusual" at
Agnus Dei, and I can see he was self-indulging (although I don't believe we met his expectation). The best music is only achieveable in one's head. But it was nice to see a different side of our beloved conductor, which I did. [Edit: One more thing to add - except for that part where he stamps the floor and posed an action-figure pose (not intentional) at a new section.]
I love
Agnus Dei as well. But I'm forever freaked out when we come to the "war" section in the movement. I'm freaked out by Beethoven's insanity. His insanity for installing a crazy rushing dissonant high-charged section when the majority of the text we sang in the movement is "
Dona nobis pacem". Meaning "let there be peace" more or less. And it's difficult to follow the orchestral accompaniment as well! Arrrgh, "Presto" and Beethoven's obsession with syncopation. *kowtows to the master*
And one last thing. Why do all chorus men has the bad habit of pulling back the tempo? This is one trend I've observe but never seem to understand. Is it that difficult to keep to the tempo and stop indulging in your own voice? Herr Lim is fed up with them - the men are the ones who kept us behind schedule, and I've noticed the same with the adult choirs I'm currently working with. It's really strange. And not very nice either.
