NEW YEAR ROUND UP

It‘s 2023 - Happy Hogmanay! Another year has come and gone. In typical fashion, towards the end of the year time felt as though it was speeding up, but in retrospect 2022 was so jam packed with experiences it feels as though it were twice the length of 2021. I reached some big career mile stones, providing me with an opportunity to sit back and take stock. It‘s important in life to remember where you started, where you‘ve been on your journey, and remember those who supported you on your way. 

I lost my „Jump-in“ virginity first taking my Pirates of Penzance's ‚Kate‘ to Staatstheater Nürnberg, which I was at the time performing in Oper Wuppertal. My experience had all the drama you’d expect coming from the opera world. I was enjoying some much needed time off visiting a friend in Berlin, and packing my bag to leave that afternoon. Still in my pyjamas and half way through cooking our pancakes, I received a call on my work phone. It was one of the agencies I work with in Germany asking if I could jump into a production for a Premiere that was due to take place 4 days later, with the first rehearsal being that evening! Luckily I had almost everything I’d need, the opera gods should’ve been proud, even the correct score. I jumped on the next train, and downloaded the staging video to watch on my journey. Operettas typically involve dance routines, and this was no different. Kate is one of the smaller roles of the piece, but she is required in all the chorus numbers. That means lots of stage time, which means lots of staging and choreography! We spent the next two days working about 10 hour days, with minimal pauses, to get the piece Premiere ready. What a flurry of excitement that was. Costumes being altered, new dialogues being learnt, and the costume department kindly doing my washing as I had only packed enough clothes for my holiday… I had always thought the sound of a „Jump-in“ job sounded more than my nerves could handle. But The premiere was a success and I learnt that I am indeed cut out for jumping in! There is a strange calm that takes over, and the stress of others doesn‘t permeate my energetic field, that is protecting me and enabling me to keep my cool and do my job. 

Then I got the call to do it again, this time in Staatstheater Hannover, as Johanna in Sweeney Todd. I was singing this role in Theater Aachen, our second shot at a 2020 Corona victim production. I was thrilled to be able to bring a role I enjoyed so so much to such a venerable stage. This experience was a real nerve test. We had our „Verständigungs Probe“ the day before. But I couldn‘t get on to the stage and set till the evening of. Unfortunately the video provided this time didn‘t show the stage clearly, due to the set and lighting. So I was not aware that the set revolved, and came apart like a jigsaw during the show (nor did anyone think to tell me)! So I enter the stage ready to start my aria, „Greenfinch and Linnet bird“ taking my position as we had rehearsed, but then the stage starts spinning! You can imagine my shock and surprise, as I quickly contemplated how I would get back to where I was supposed to be once it stopped moving. Then I get my first look at the auditorium, and hear my voice in it as I start to sing. It felt amazing to be singing in such a hall. It seats 1200, and is the largest opera stage I have performed on (so far…). The show went well despite the scenery surprises, and I got a lesson, which I was immediately able to practice, in standing up for myself and self advocating my needs. 

Then followed competition season. The highlight of which being traveling to Jurmala in Latvia, to compete in the 40th Hans Belvedere Singing Competition. There is a somewhat changeable and subjective unofficial ranking in competitions prestige. The purpose of singers entering is to raise our profile to casting directors and Intendants, and have a shot at winning contracts and prize money. They are essentially glorified auditions, or career fairs. Some cost to enter, some are expenses paid. Generally the greater the prestige of the competition the less cost to the singer entering. Belvedere is up there in the top 10, it is one of the older ones around, has a prestigious Jury, and a long history of launching or predicting great careers. My own teacher won a prize back in her competition days and being included as a finalist was such a thrill. It was a wonderful experience. I made it to the semi final of the competition, a huge achievement. I learnt a hard lesson, and enjoyed the community of lovely fellow singers. My lesson was, to always bring a back-back-up of your sheet music. In the confusion of being called back to stage to sing a second aria in the Semi-Final, my pianist picked up another singers copy of ‚E Strano!..Sempre libera‘, which included a cut which I don‘t sing. In a section where I was expecting to have a wee bit of rest-bite, I hear her jump and carry on! I join her a second later, but was naturally startled by the mistake. We will never know if this mix-up had an effect on my scoring, I‘m sure I would have been able to show off my skills even better if we had played the version we had rehearsed. But I learnt that going forwards I will always have a 3rd and 4th copy of my music in my hand, and I will never let anyone rush me into going on stage before I have had a final chat with my pianist - to prevent this ever happening again! But what made the competition really special was the companionship of the lovely group of singers I found there. We ate together, celebrated and commiserated together, sunbathed and swam in the sea, and swapped stories. It was so beautiful to be able to be in a competition, but not feel competitive towards my fellow singers. We had some fascinating and deep conversations about this very dichotomy, and about the joys and hardships of the life of an opera singer. I feel such affection for the people I made friends with there, and hope our paths cross as we tread the boards. 

Then I moved house! I moved to Magdeburg to start my new life as a member of an Ensemble. This is a wonderful characteristic of the German-speaking-world’s Fest-Opera-House-System. To have an Ensemble of salaried singers filling most of the roles in the Houses shows. Job security, social benefits, and the room to grow artistically and be nurtured. The promise of this very kind of contract is the reason I started out my German adventure in 2015 - and to now finally be in the privileged position of holding one, it was a huge full circle moment for me. I started my Season as Eurydike in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. What an experience! To be heading up a production as the female lead for the first time, is a responsibility I did not take lightly. Having seen with my own eyes what a difference it can make, when the leads create an inclusive and friendly working environment, I was determined to do it myself. Eurydike gave me the chance to grow as a performer too, to expand my comedic muscles, with the encouragement of our director Igor Pison, to try out new acting techniques. I also got a (needed) kick in the bum to take my high E out of the practice room and onto the stage! Top F - you‘re up next! It is such a joy to be on stage with my new Ensemble colleagues. Not only are they fantastic singers, but they are all wonderful, kind, generous humans too. I feel like I have come home, a feeling I‘ve never felt professionally before. I am so looking forward to the rest of the 22/23 season we have together, and all of the new women I will get to inhabit on the stage. 

The end of the year taught me the biggest lesson of all. But that‘s for another day... 

I look towards 2023, with excitement about all the roles I‘m going to get to play on the stage, with hope that there’s plenty of joy and friendship in store, and that it also teaches me the lessons I still need to learn. 

Till next time, 

Rosha