First audition results of the new season are in!
I will be finishing the year with the lush beauty of La Boheme this December, as Rodolfo.
First opera role in for next season will be a reprisal of one of my favorite roles: Hoffmann in Offenbach’s intoxicating dreamscape of an opera, “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” (The Tales of Hoffmann).
I look forward to discovering what other characters I will be portraying/singing in the upcoming year. Have a happy holiday season!
Happy to have finished my first run of a Tosca production as Mario Cavaradossi. What a thrilling role to sing and I am grateful for the opportunity. Here is the final aria from yesterday’s performance recorded on the phone of an audience member. (Translation below)
(from a live performance on Dec. 10, 2017)
Translation:
The stars were shining, And the earth was scented.
The gate of the garden creaked And a footstep grazed the sand…
Fragrant, she entered And fell into my arms.
Oh, sweet kisses and languorous caresses,
While feverishly I stripped the beautiful form of its veils!
Forever, my dream of love has vanished.
That moment has fled, and I die in desperation. And I die in desperation!
And I never before loved life so much, Loved life so much!
I am excited to have been selected to sing in a Master Class by internationally famous tenor, Vittorio Grigolo, next week! (through Angels Vocal Art in Pasadena)
Since I will be singing the role of Hoffmann, in Offenbach’s “The Tales of Hoffmann”, for Repertory Opera Company this June AND since Vittorio Grigolo is singing Hoffmann for Los Angeles Opera’s current production … I am looking forward to getting coached on the Kleinzach aria by a star currently doing the role!
Here’s a recording of Mssr. Grigolo performing the aria:
I have greatly enjoyed being a part of Peter Mark’s Master Class series this winter. There have been new and difficult lessons … but that is always the case when honing one’s skills and advancing. You fall down and get back up, moving ever onward.
As a result I feel like my technique is finally approaching a level that I would call “beautiful singing” … the kind of singing that is nuanced and luxurious. We are our own worse critics, so it is exciting to me to actually feel that way. Now, of course, it is time to get that embodied so it becomes completely natural.
Fortunately I have the perfect opera lined up to help me along that path toward technical embodiment … Offenbach’s “The Tales of Hoffmann” in June!
For now, my focus is on this weekend. We will be singing in front of a panel featuring music professionals from Los Angeles Opera, San Diego Opera, Long Beach Opera, KUSC and more. I will be singing “Donna non vidi mai” from Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut”.
I am excited to announce that I have three new roles to prepare for January through June:
LOTS of music to begin memorizing as these are all new roles for me. Grateful to be singing and making money for it!
CA-W
Continuing to work on the the sustained High C with various arias. It feels so great to have had the breakthrough where this feels relatively easy to me now.
This past week I worked with my coach, Maestro William Vendice, on “Ecco ridente”, from The Barber of Seville by Rossini. The amount of time Maestro Vendice instructed me to hold out the note made my eyes widen … but sure enough, I was able to manage. Such a great feeling! 😉
I have been taking part in a series of master classes in Beverly Hills with Maestro Peter Mark and had a significant vocal breakthrough this past weekend.
Of course, such breakthroughs are also a result of the work I’ve done with teachers and coaches on a regular basis … it all adds up to whatever metaphor or instructive device it is that has you “get” something. So along those lines I also acknowledge the many hours spent working with Maestro William Vendice, Renee Sousa and Timothy Leon (all of whom I work with regularly).
Anyhow, I just began working on “Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête!“, from La fille du régiment by Donizetti. For those who don’t know, this is the famous aria for tenor featuring nine high C’s.
I have always had a high C … but these recent breakthroughs have made it so that I feel comfortable sustaining it for however long I feel like. Which is profoundly an amazingly satisfying … I always wondered how Pavarotti used to do that!
This is the final high C:
If you are looking for something to do in Southern Orange County this weekend come see La Traviata! I will be singing Alfredo on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.
I signed on last week after one of their tenors dropped out. In under a week I managed to get the demanding but oh-so-rewarding role off book (despite a nasty throat virus that completely stole my voice for most of that time!).
As you can tell … it has been a week full of drama! But what sweeter drama is there than the sumptuously beautiful music of Verdi’s La Traviata?! I will be living the Brindisi on Sunday night, that’s for sure!
Christopher Anderson - West, Full Lyric Tenor 
You must be logged in to post a comment.