"Plump Jack" in Munich

The day after we landed in Munich to begin rehearsals on Plump Jack, we were actually granted a reprieve because the orchestra and conductor were busy with another project and couldn't also accommodate time for a sing-through of the opera. Although we were all ready to start work, I don't think one single singer complained about having a full day off in Munich. We were all so tired that most of us ended up checking in to the hotel and then just falling asleep. At the hotel, I got a much needed massage and went to bed at my very first convenience....and what a bed! With plush linens and dreamy European queen sized comfort, this housing experience is a huge departure from the times...there have been several...where I have had a mediocre bed in a mediocre hotel room and ended up sleeping on the floor because the hotel mattress was a lumpy disaster of crushed springs that left me with an aching back in the morning. We happened to be housed at a 5-star hotel with warmed bathroom floor tiles and a full spa downstairs. Not my usual accommodations, but I'm doing my best to take absolute advantage of every aspect of this wonderful hotel and this extraordinary experience. Maestro Ulf Schirmer met with us the next day and we sang through the opera very successfully the first time - very few overt mistakes - just little glitches. The next day was a complete sing through with orchestra and chorus. All of us singers just marveled over Gordon Getty's score as it came to life with full strings, winds and horns. The sound enveloped us and the opera began to take real shape over the subsequent days of rehearsals. Finally, we came to the performance night. It was so exciting to be premiering the work of an American composer in such a beautiful and historically important theatre within Munich. The Prinzregententheater (Prince Regent's Theatre) was built as a festival hall for the operas of Richard Wagner, to his specifications, and opened in 1901 with the premiere of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Because Wagner is considered holy here in Munich performing at this venue was a great honor. After we sang through the opera, the audience stood for us and demanded three  curtain calls! We were all elated to have been received so well in such a musically refined city. The recording studio Our next project was to record the opera for Pentatone Records - a project that Mr. Getty has been trying to make happen for some years now. It was absolutely thrilling to be a part of the recording process. All of these forces, a full orchestra, a full chorus and 10 singers would be come dead silent as the Maestro would say, "Band, leuft" (Band, lift). Then all instruments and vocalists would take a breath, lift their instruments and hold until downbeat. You could literally hear a pin drop. Over several days, we recorded the entire 2 hour opera in short bursts of recorded snippets.  We would sometimes repeat sections over and over until the pitches, blend and enunciation were perfect. I cannot wait to hear the final product and will be proud announce the release of the CD upon its completion. Tomorrow, we leave Munich and begin our long travel day back to the states. We'll leave early in the morning, refuel in Ireland, continue on to drop about half our singers in Newark, New Jersey before making the final 5-hour leg home to San Francisco. I'll be so happy to be home and to stay there for awhile. I am staying in San Francisco for most all of my work until after Christmas of this year. I will be one happy girl to be back on my bike and walking around our sleepy city holding my wife's hand. What an adventure the last couple of months have been - time for rest - but not without the memory of these amazing experiences swimming through my dreams.