Mad as a Hatter ~ & then some.

Vissi d’arte e d’amor,

Non feci ma male ad anima viva": ~Tosca

I think I am certifiably mad.  School went back today & what did we do?  Not schoolwork, that's for sure!  Nope Star & I wrestled with the audition form put out by Opera Queensland for junior performers. Short notice [very short].  Hardly even time to squeeze in a quick lesson.

This is a first for us.  Star is impossible about exams, eisteddfods ~ the usual things, but suggest she may get a chance to perform & suddenly it's on!  Unfortunately not wanting to do the usual things means Star has no standard performance piece to audition with & knowing just what to choose from her repertoire was pretty hit & miss from my point of view.  Plus it is production week for Creative Gen ~ which means Alision is completely swamped!  She has squeezed in a lesson for Star tomorrow, late.  I can only hope we've done things correctly so far. 

 Star has chosen Bist du Bei Mir ~ a Bach piece AVAE has been singing all year to audition with, firstly because it shows she can manage a foreign language [& her German has always been very good], she knows it well enough to be very comfortable, & it falls in a good place for her voice ~ no notes she's likely to crack on!!! 

Now forms aren't the sort of thing I'm a crash hot genius on but how difficult can an audition form be?  Well, I'm still trying to figure out how to circle an answer on the computer.  Then they wanted to know about previous experience ~ but only provided 2 lines!

The opera under discussion is Tosca ~ a full on melodrama complete with multiple deaths: murder by butter knife, suicide from high elevations, execution by betrayal; where people sing instead of dying in silent decency.  There is a children's chorus; enter Star.  From this chorus a soloist will be chosen.  Star is pretty excited.  I am excited for her.  In all honesty I don't think she stands a chance.  She is a little outside the age requirements & looks even older but this is such a great opportunity & a really good test of her nerve & wonderful experience.  Selling yourself to potential buyers never gets any easier as someone who should know once pointed out to me. Guess the Star had best get used to it.

And yes, more driving in Brisbane!  Like I said, certifiable!