Brian Dickie

NYT on Castleton

Brian Dickie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:38:58 -0500

You should not miss this piece in the NYT today about the goings on in Virginia this past weekend.

48 hour break!

Brian Dickie — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:08:27 -0500

Commerce Chicago style

Yes, I am still here but I took Sunday off - a lovely day in Chicago and just the perfect one for the pool and total relaxation, long overdue. However Chicago still buzzes in a businesslike way - it remains a city of commerce above all.

But Monday begins another week, enhanced by being able to see our General Manager, Roger Weitz, for the first time since I went on my extended trip at the beginning of June. It is good to have the complete team together again. We have lots of stuff to get done in the coming weeks. Meanwhile at last the sun seems to be shining on a more consistent basis - so life is back to summer normal!.

And there will be another treat today - a catch up session with our good buddy Jim Gandre, Provost of Roosevelt University and former Dean of the Chicago College of the Performing Arts. We used to see a lot of each other, but since his elevation to the dizzy heights of Provost get togethers have been too few.

But, all in all, all quiet on the mid western front.

Lucretia

Brian Dickie — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 09:24:39 -0500

Will Kerley's production at Castleton of Britten's first chamber opera, The Rape of Lucretia (premiered by the English Opera Group at Glyndebourne in July 1946) reveals with shattering effect the power of this piece to move, in spite of some its apparent old fashionedness and religiosity. The direct and sometimes terrifying impact of the performance yesterday evening was attributable to many accomplished performances, none more so than those of the two remarkable young baritones, Matthew Worth and Paul LaRosa as Tarquinius and Junius. But the cast was fine throughout (Tamara Mumford a handsome and sensuous Lucretia) and in the pit Maazel reigned supreme with his fine band of soloists from the Qatar Symphony - in Castleton for the duration.

Kerley's detailed production, on a set by the gifted Nicholas Vaughan which created a remarkable playing space on the tiny Castleton stage, was a model of creative minimalism. Kerley is the man for the age - doing what he did was already a great achievement - and on no money? Yes, we love him!!

I am returning to Chicago this morning.

A typical Castleton day?

Brian Dickie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:37:43 -0500

For this first Castleton Festival a really super tent has been erected/constructed in which the Beggars Opera production in taking place. This excellent space has remarkable acoustics and serves as a concert hall as well. I do not know whether today was typical but the place seems to be buzzing around the clock.

This morning I attended Lorin Maazel's rehearsal (pictured above) with an orchestra made up of a wide range of musicians ranging from high school students from Charlottesville, students from Juilliard, the Curtis Institute and London's Royal College of Music, and members of the Qatar Philharmonic (who are also playing Lucretia this evening), the professional "stiffening" which gave a solid foundation it seems.

Under the amazing Maazel they read through the Overture to Forza del destino, a good slice of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, and the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations this morning.

And this afternoon I had two hours of auditions wth Maazel of the many excellent young singers in the program. Meanwhile Marlena Malas was giving lessons, Dietlinde Turban Maazel was doing an acting class, and no doubt much else was happening that I did not observe. And all this is the idyllic setting of Castleton Farms in the depth of the Virginia countryside. How improbable. How magical.

I am taking a short pause before returning for the opening of Lucretia. More on that tomorrow - not tonight - we will be late!

Off to Virginia

Brian Dickie — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:01:46 -0500

Castleton at dawn Sunday October 7 2007

I fly to Washington this evening to arrive in the dead of night at beautiful Castleton for 36 hours. Tomorrow evening is the opening of the revival of their very successful production of Britten's Rape of Lucretia. It was in part the success of this 2007 production by Will Kerley and conducted by Lorin Maazel that gave final encouragement for the establishment of the Festival at Castleton where the operatic fare this year also includes a new production of The Turn of the Screw as well as revivals of Albert Herring and the Britten version of the Beggar's Opera.

I was there for the Herring last fall but missed in 2007 the Lucretia which this year has some nice COT components - our Owen Wingrave Matthew Worth as Tarquinius, our Governess from Screw in 2003 Arianna Zukerman as Female Chorus, and Tyler Nelson, who will be with us next year in Giasone, as Male Chorus. And Paul La Rosa, the Junius, is a new member of the Ryan Center at Lyric.

In fact the COT family is well represented in the whole company down there. So being there for these few hours will be just like home! Chicago rules in Virginia!

This unique enterprise is the result of an extraordinary commitment by Lorin and Dietlinde Maazel to the advanced training and development, and general encouragement, of young professionals working in opera and other branches of the music business. The opportunity for orchestral musicians to play these great Britten masterpieces under the genial but firm baton of Maazel is extraordinary. And for the young singers involved this place and the work conditions are paradise.

So watch this space for a report over the weekend!

Mavericks!

Brian Dickie — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:34:01 -0500

There is this piece in the NYT today about Gustav Kuhn's festival in the Tyrolean village of Erl between Munich and Salzburg.

Gustav is an old friend and colleague going back to Glyndebourne days. I first met him in a TV studio in Hannover where I went to hear a young tenor who was appearing with Gustav in a young artists TV programme. I hired Gustav (for Entfuerhung in Glyndebourne in 1980) but not the tenor who went on the make a great career in spite of this slight!

Gustav became a fixture at Glyndebourne during the 1980s. A wonderful Mozartian (as is fitting for a Salzburger) and Straussian. His slightly unorthodox career continues and he is a fixture in Paris and all round Italy and much else besides, in addition to running this amazing enterprise in Erl. He is also Artistic Director of the Neue Stimmen project. And it was he who roped me into it. We will have a merry week together in October for the finals! He is for sure a force of nature.

And speaking Mavericks - do not forget Alexander Platt's excellent Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, NY. Again something quite out of the ordinary. It opened on July 4 and runs through until Labor Day weekend. Nuggets galore.

Change in Chicago

Brian Dickie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:12:38 -0500

I have been working here for ten years and much has changed. And most of it for the better. The construction of Millennium Park has been transforming. I was giving thought to that as I walked to the Park Grill at lunchtime. Ten years ago this was an unattractive wasteland bisected by rail tracks. It is now one of the great attractions for tourists as well has having contributed to a major regeneration of South Michigan Avenue.

And north of the river we have the addition of the Trump Tower which appears at last to be completed, externally at least. Here you see it this morning sandwiched between two Chicago architectural icons, the Mies van der Rohe IBM tower and the Wrigley building.

Speaking of change, I revisited my rather garbled and poorly written post of yesterday. I think its better now if as always far from perfect! Such is jet lag.....etc.

I have had another useful day getting to grips with some important things. An early morning breakfast meeting with a board member started things off. And I have begun slowly to figure out the details of the 2011 season, my schedule for the autumn when much of the detail of that season will be put together, and how we are going to manage the change occurring as we come to the end of the current Board presidency cycle. New faces, and a new dynamic are in prospect. This will provide great opportunities. I hope that we will be able to get it right.

I am happy to be moving at a slower pace than that of the last four weeks - pause for breath is good!

Back to Chicago Summer

Brian Dickie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:29:36 -0500

Back to work today, air conditioned office (too cold) al fresco lunch at the pub (too warm). So probably the best place would have been sun bathing in the park, any park - in the case above Lincoln Park, just down the road from our apartment. This one is a bit of a cheat though - my photo is two years old, but all the same the sun worshippers are out in force, the beaches are full, and the city has a really nice summer holiday feel about it.

We are spending time just now on trying to get to grips with the change in the audience's habits. Given that the financial model for American opera companies, and many other performing arts organizations, assumes a certain pattern of audience behavior, we are compelled to take a hard look at how we do things. And so we will be giving pretty weighty consideration over the coming months to whether we should be doing things somewhat differently.

What we do know is that on the whole they like our work. The question is more about whether we are doing it at the right time in the right place. We are entering a serious reassessment period - we need to ensure the future of this company. So in the coming months we, board and management, will be reviewing everything we do, and how we do it, so that we can guarantee that COT is here in 2020. Not just surviving - but continuing to work to the highest standards.

We have a brand new development director starting tomorrow. Taking over from Marla Krupman who has left us for the Museum of Contemporary Art, will be Elena Reinert who joins us after a very successful stint at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. We are greatly looking forward to working with Elena - we know her well since she she was the co-chair of our Opera Underground group; she is a passionate music lover and a delightful energetic personality. She is there to raise money - and she is good at it!

Tomorrow I have an early meeting with a Board member - then to work!

22 days

Brian Dickie — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:50:56 -0500

Saint Petersburg

That was a trip that was! 14 cities in 11 countries in 22 days. And the search continues for the 45 young singers who will participate in the final stages in Guetersloh in October. We are at about 34 at this stage, with a good many excellent ones on the waiting list and four more more cities to come. So the competition is hot and the list of candidates so far includes some major personalities I believe.

About the tird of the total to date are sopranos. That is to be expected. What is gratifying is that by chance there is a 50/50 split men and women. That is a pleasant surprise. But as usual we are short of first class mezzos and tenors. So the best of the waiting list mezzos and tenors have the better chance of getting promoted. But my two final stops are Mexico City and Buenos Aires, the capitals of tenorland!

In my review let me begin with the disappointments. There were a number of places as usual where we drew a blank. They were Oslo, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw and London. This was our first time including Oslo - maybe the timing was bad. They have their own Queen Sonja competition this year and one can understand that we may have been one too many.

Riga and Vilnius drew a blank after a couple of competitions when they did well. The winner last time was Latvian, and we have had excellent Lithuanian candidates plucked from Vilnius including a prize winner in 2005. So maybe this was an off vintage. We will be back there in 2011 but maybe not Oslo. Again Warsaw was a disappointment given the high quality of singers that have emerged from Poland over the years. We need to look at this more closely.

London is full of talent - and the best are fully employed. Finalists picked by me in the past from London have included Andrew Staples and Jonathan Lemalu - but neither showed up for the final stages - too busy! Both now have stellar careers.

Tbilisi

And now the surprises. We went to Tbilisi for the first time. Georgia has produced a large number of fine singers over the years. Remarkable for a country of just three million. We had a new inexperienced organiser there - but she came up trumps and there will be two Georgians in the finals, a delectable soprano and a fine bass. Whether they go the full distance remains to be seen.

There are always very many Koreans auditioning in Germany and although we have had a second prize winner in the past, Woo-Kyung Kim, they by and large do not do well in spite of some outstanding vocal talent. But this year we snatched two from Munich, one in Berlin and one in Dusseldorf. I will be surprised if none of these end up winnning serious money in October.

It is not a surprise, but a plus all the same, that Moscow produced three outstanding finalists, including a young tenor who has the makings of being a "total package" - by that I mean graced with a beautiful voice, a handsome presence and musicianship of outstanding sensibility. He will be watched with interest.

The waiting list is large and full of quality. So I think that we have the prospect of a very high class field indeed come October, even if some of the currently elected candidates drop out.

I have had a great adventure these last four weeks. I have made new friends and met up again with old ones. It is enormously encouraging to find that the passion and dedication of the finest young singers, and the enthusiasm and advocacy of those that look after them and promote them, is much the same around the world, with a few exceptions of course. The successful ones are those that work hard and think carefully about what they are doing and why. The disappointments are those that are spoilt and regard success as a right rather than a privilege earned.

Istanbul

I have been to some fascinating new places and revisited old favorites. I had the best time in St Petersburg and Tbilisi, a wonderful day off in Istanbul. We had an excellent series of auditions in the three German cities, Berlin, Munich and Dusseldorf where I was joined by the outstanding leader of the Neue Stimmen organization, Ines Koring, together with her team members Alina-Julia Grot and Karolina Zarzycki without whom things could never run smoothly. In Berlin Nadine Lindemann was also with us - Nadine was the team leader when I first did this in 1999. She now heads up the Liz Mohn Foundation, a separate entity which supports amongst other things, the Berlin Staatsoper Studio.

Back in the office tomorrow with a pile of stuff to deal with over the next couple of days. In particular there is much to be done to give shape to our 2011 season. And at the end of the week I am heading for Castleton, Virginia. That will be another story!

Home for July 4

Brian Dickie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:46:52 -0500

So I am back in Chicago and will take a little break from the blog, maybe for 24 hours or so. Before Sunday evening I will do a brief retrospective of the last four week marathon, and give an update on the present state of the candidates for the final rounds of Neue Stimmen in October. And there will be some of the usual personal observations no doubt. But we are not done yet. Next stop is San Francisco on July 21. And I am in Mexico City and Buenos Aires August 23-28.

Meanwhile I am looking forward to the festivities of the coming weekend.

Home at last!

Brian Dickie — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:51:18 -0500

Well not quite - but getting there. I am at Heathrow where the AA Admirals Club is under construction and there is no Internet access. So I am sitting out in the general area also known as London's most disagreeable shopping mall. Here I can connect to you all. They do have aircraft here as well though you would be forgiven for overlooking that. Don't you love it?

I think I have had enough of this and will go back to the construction site. I will arrive at O'Hare around 3.30 p.m.

Postscript to above. Sensation - there is a One World Lounge managed by BA next to the Admirals Club which I discovered on my way back to the hapless Admirals Club. It is lavish of course. Designed to be used by long haul travelers to South America on Iberia and the Far East via Cathay pacific. And Japan via Helsinki and over the pole on Finnair. Others too no doubt. JL? Don't think BA operates from Terminal Three. More seasoned travelers may know better!

Anyway all those other flights are afternoon and evening so I have this huge place to myself!

Farewell London!

Brian Dickie — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:10:27 -0500

I have had a couple of days based in London but return to Chicago tomorrow. Today has been a wonderful last dalliance with the place, and a full one too.

This morning was spent at the English National Opera where they had the dress rehearsal of L'amour de loin. This wonderful piece was first given in Salzburg and was then seen in Santa Fe and elsewhere. For the audience it requires some thoughtful advance preparation, and is a deeply moving opera. And the ENO have put together a remarkable team led by director/lighting designer/choreographer Daniele Finzi Pasca. This is opening on Friday and is not to be missed. There are images of magical beauty and performances by Roderick Williams and Joan Rogers which you will not quickly forget. Altogether unlike anything that you may have seen before. I was spellbound. My Chicago friends will be wise to go in their droves to Toronto when this show appears there in 2012.

And then I spent the afternoon with my colleague from the Canadian Opera Company, its General Director Alexander Neef, here as a co producer with ENO of L'amour de loin, and also to hear some of the many singers on the British market. We shared the time and space at the ever hospitable Royal Opera House.

I will try to get the first flight to Chicago tomorrow rather than wait for the one I am booked on. So an early start from here at 5.30 am. So a relatively early night for me although it is already 11.10 pm

English Country House Opera 2

Brian Dickie — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:35:52 -0500

Of course Glyndebourne inspired this country house opera thing but many people do not realize that in fact it has nothing to do with country house opera. Glyndebourne is about the highest standards, and productions and performances therefore at a level of excellence on a regular basis that equals or exceeds (usually the latter) anything that is available elsewhere. The fact that it is in the countryside, and there is a very pretty house attached to the opera house (rather than vice-versa), so people get confused!

You can see something of the history of this remarkable place by going to their website. And better still buy the newly published Glyndebourne - A Visual History. This wonderful volume has been produced to mark the 75th Anniversary of the place. And they have done a remarkable job. And the text is by Sir George Christie who writes with unassailable authority and a candid style about each of the decades pictured so comprehensively. Wonderful stuff with a nutshell history of the place by the man who led it as Chairman of the Board from 1959 to his retirement and handing over the reins to his son Gus in 2000.

The performance this evening was of Purcell's The Fairy Queen which has been received so warmly. It was indeed an enormously enjoyable evening. William Christie presided over the whole proceedings including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with his usual genial authority as well as rigorous atttention to detail. The enormous cast of actors and singers produced a truly baroque experience - with the magnificence and scale of the production, sets, costumes, the whole remarkable elaborate approach, the like of which one rarely encounters, especially in these austere times! Since the Brooklyn Academy of Music is billed as a co-producer I assume that it will be seen in NY in due course.

Dinner during the intermission with George and Mary Christie in the Mildmay Restaurant with, as usual, an assortment of fascinating fellow guests, was yet another reminder to me of the extraordinary good fortune I had to spend 27 years as a Glyndebourne employee. So many old friends to catch up with and keep in touch with. With Neue Stimmen this year this will be my only Glyndebourne visit. I am told that the forthcoming Rusalka is something very special. With Ana Maria Martinez in the title role it certainly should be. I was bowled over by her Nedda at the Chicago Lyric this last season.

I am done for this evening. It is 2.30 am here in London!

Bit of a shocker.......

Brian Dickie — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:30:09 -0500

I had my London auditions today. All round more than a little disappointing. Firstly, there were more than forty accepted applicants. Today just seventeen showed up. Some canceled so we knew. Others just failed to show! That's rude - and will catch up with them no doubt. This is the only city this year that behaved like that. I feel embarrassed as an Englishman.

I am feeling pretty happy though. The toughest part is over and I am going to have an early night. And I will be at Glyndebourne tomorrow. What more can one ask for?

English Country House Opera

Brian Dickie — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:47:06 -0500

I made my first visit today to the little festival opera in Hampshire - Grange Park, in what I can only call Angleterre profonde. Together with Garsington it has provided additional opportunities for English opera lovers to see good stuff in an idyllic setting. Glyndebourne was the originator of this back in 1934, and sets the bar impossibly high for others coming along. Garsington has been a sucess since 1989, and Grange Park came along 12 years ago. Both are still going strong and are amusing features in the English summer social as well as artistic calendars. Above you see enchanting Grange Park during the intermission of their production of the Cunning Little Vixen this evening.

I will be at Glyndebourne on Tuesday for Purcell's Fairy Queen in what appears to be a sensational production. This will be a huge treat.

Its late and I have an early start and long day tomorrow. Main course is London's Neue Stimmen auditions at the Royal Opera House. So that's enough for tonight.

Some reflections on St Petersburg

Brian Dickie — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:13:14 -0500

There is evidence to show that during the last 20 years or so St Petersburg has been the cradle of modern Russian singing. Gergiev’s work at the Maryinsky has been hugely important and influential. He is a charismatic presence and a magnet. His sister, Larissa Gergieva, is a very talented musician, a fine accompanist, and in leading the Academy at the Maryinsky, has been involved in the development and emergence of a splendid array of Russian singers.

I heard a good many of the Academy singers yesterday evening. They were all accomplished of course, some massively so. I would like to encourage them to come much better prepared than they were. Being a member of this elite group does not provide a free pass. It is a privilege that should bring with it a responsibility to represent the institution in the best way in all respects, not just as voices. The voices are a given. What is more difficult and takes serious time and focus, is thinking! And in this case thinking about the repertoire you are going to present, making sure that you prepare it to the highest standard of which you are capable, and putting not just your own best foot forward but that of the institution you represent as well. I am trying to be helpful here. Please do not take it as criticism!

I will be hearing a proportion of the young artists in the Jette Parker program at Covent Garden on Wednesday. It will make an interesting comparison!

Anyway, all that said, there will be two from St Petersburg going to the Neue Stimmen finals in October.

I had a fine last spin around the city this morning. One of the many pleasures was a good look at the Aleksandrinsky Theater, now known also as the Pushkin Drama Theater, a magnificent creation of Carlo Rossi, one of the most important architects of St Petersburg. Here below you have both the front and back of this amazing building, built 1828-32.

This is the theater from the Nevsky Prospekt side. The pediment has the Chariot of the leader of the Muses - Apollo.

And here you have the front of the theater looking up Rossi Street, really a startling beautiful street even by St Petersburg standards. And not a lot of traffic thank goodness - I was standing in the middle of the street to take this picture. At around 11 am today!

I am writing this on the flight to London where I now am! More excitements over the next few days. No more tonight though.

Killer day in St Petersburg!

Brian Dickie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:07:57 -0500

It was a real long one for me. I was out of the hotel at 9 and got back around 12.45 having walked some 20,000 paces according to my pedometer which was generously donated prior to my leaving on this trip. I was supposed to do at least 10,000 a day - well today is over for me and the meter reads 26,158!

It was a lovely time seeing more of this inexhaustible city. But I was glad to get back in time for a quick bath and then lunch before meeting my exceptionally capable interpreter here at the hotel at 2.30.

I then went on my first trip on the excellent St Petersburg Metro. The auditions have been divided into two parts with the afternoon ones with one gang at the Polytechnic University an enormous place somewhat at the end of the line, a thirty minute ride. So quicker and cheaper than a cab, and more fun. We ended up in a wonderful hall perfect for the purpose. After a couple of hours of that we went back to the center in the heaving rush hour crowds and found an excellent supper on the Nevsky Prospect before arriving at the Maryinsky for auditions which started at 8.30 and ended at 11. And some good ones there were too, in particular some members of the Opera Academy which is presided over by Larissa Gergieva with a genial but firm hand. Coming out of the Maryinsky at 11.15 in broad daylight was excellent and the old place looked pretty good at that time of night as you can see below. They were most hospitable - I hope that we can make this a regular date.

I have another morning in St Petersburg before leaving for London late tomorrow afternoon. Neue Stimmen auditions are there on Monday. But Sunday will not be a day off opera - I will be at Grange Park for the first time - to see David Alden's new production of The Cunning Little Vixen.

Amazing new violinist

Brian Dickie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:11:40 -0500

I made it to the St Petersburg Philharmonic's concert with Ashkenazy this evening. And there was a phenomenal young violiinist on parade, Sergei Dogadin - only 21. He is already no doubt well known in the violin world although I was unable to find him in the usual places in Google land. I must try harder. I can't believe this guy is not going to be a major star. Maybe he is already for all I know! But it was a new name for me.

So it was a nice program, the Beethoven concerto and Heldenleben which Ashkenazy let rip in this beautiful small concert hall - (quick snap with an ancient pocket camera before the show this evening!)

I grew up with a bunch of recordings by this orchestra conducted by the legendary Evgeny Mravinsky so to hear them in the flesh in their own hall was a real treat. Its a really small concert hall for such a noisy band, Just around 1,300 seat maximum I would have thought. Those Shostakovitch symphonies must have sounded really scary in there!

I then walked back to the hotel, around 9.30 it was by the time we got out. And it was bright daylight of course. Here is the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood as it looked at 9.30 this evening. I then proceeded down the splendid Nevsky Prospect and wound my way back to Arkadia! (that's the name of my hotel for new readers)

My auditions tomorrow are afternoon and evening so I will have another morning free to see more of the riches of this magnificent city.

A quick walk around St Petersburg

Brian Dickie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:52:37 -0500

I went out for a couple of hours and had a lovely walk around this splendid city. It is heaving with tourists of course at this time of the year, some of whom you see above this afternoon. So I am particularly grateful to be in this hotel in a quiet backwater away from the grander hotels such as the Astoria and Angleterre. But I am five minutes walk from the Winter Palace, St Isaak's, the Admiralty etc. So it is perfect.

I am hoping t get to a concertt by the St Petersburg Philharmonic this evening. Vladimir Ashkenazy is conducting Ein Heldenleben - abnd there is some unspecified Beethoven on the program.

And you see below the nice location of the Arkadia Hotel. Well worth looking at if you are coming here - unless you insist on a posh place, in which case this is not for you!

A look back at Dusseldorf

Brian Dickie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:29:03 -0500

The two days in Dusseldorf were pretty dire actually, with huge pressure to get through a hundred singers in the two days. But we did it, and our patience was rewarded in the last hour of the second day with this little miracle.

I should explain how we conduct these auditions. It is like a blind wine tasting. I have no idea of the background of any of the singers – where they have studied, who their teachers are, what engagements they have had etc So I do not see a resume, something which usually accompanies a singer in the ordinary general auditions one does on a regular basis. So there is no chance that the “label” can influence my “tastebuds” in the subtle way that some prior knowledge can modify one’s perception of quality. Yes, we must admit it, it can happen!

So this young lady appeared, aged 24, not unlike three dozen others I heard during the previous 30 hours. Then something unusual happened – here was someone so totally prepared musically, completely sound technically, and so into what she was singing, that I sat up and took special notice. As her first choice Anne Truelove’s aria from The Rake’s Progress for a young Korean who appeared not to speak much English might be thought to be risky. But it was immaculate! It might have been Felicity Lott or Heather Harper…..perfect enunciation, every word given its right weight and inflection. I was captured. And then she went on to do the same with Bellini.

So I did something I rarely do – I asked her who her teacher was. And it turned out that she is at one the finest schools in Germany with one of Europe’s most highly regarded singing teachers. They really make a difference these teachers. In this case it is someone who did not have a substantial career as a singer but turned out to be a miracle worker as a teacher. He has been around working these miracles these last 30 years or so. We are indebted to him for a whole generation of world-class singers. It is sometimes true - “Those who can - do, those who can’t – teach.”

So I am now in St Petersburg in my cosy little hotel, The Arkadia. The Wifi is free and the whole feeling is of old Russia – not your normal comfortable western hotel. But as far as I can see so far it is to be recommended. We shall see how I get on for these two days.

But now I have some work to get done before going out to have a look around. I will be back later!

early start tomorrow

Brian Dickie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:28:01 -0500

My flight to St Petersburg is at 6.40 am tomorrow so I have to be up at 4. So forgive me, I will be brief this evening. Or maybe you are relieved........

Summary - we have another three finalists from here, two men, a baritone and a bass, and a soprano. And she is something of a miracle.

I will try to elaborate on this on my flight into Russia again tomorrow morning. But it all depends on whether I have a seat on the plane that enables me to get my MacBook out and working.......if not you may have to wait until later. Meanwhile its time for a few hours of sleep.

Overload

Brian Dickie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:00:49 -0500

Yesterday was a pretty relentless one. On these two days in Dusseldorf we have 125 singers scheduled to sing at a rate of nine each hour. Of course that is far too much an the plan is made on the basis that a whole bunch will not show up. A bit like the airlines overbooking I suppose. The problem that arose yesterday was that in the morning everyone showed up. So I ended up by having a single ten minute break between 10 am and 6pm.

The same may happen today! We shall find out in a couple of hours. But the compensating thing is that we are in a splendid rehearsal room on the 6th floor of the Dusseldorf Opera House, all mirrors and light, with a nice terrace to wander onto if there are a few seconds to spare. You can see the arrangement in the photo - (click to enlarge). Behind the singer (a rather good German baritone actually) there is a mirror on the wall in which you can see me in the far distance with my finger on the shutter! And the sun and trees behind me. Get it?!

The people here are very good to us. Unfortunately the Intendant, my old friend Tobias Richter, was not in town. He leaves here to take over in Geneva at the end of this season. But I saw him at Lulu in London a couple of weeks back. But his successor, Christoph Meyer, dropped in to welcome us and have a chat. So that was friendly - typical in our business on the whole I would say.

And after all that last night it was a performance of La Wally. I think that there is a good reason that this peice is rarely performed. But it was great to hear the beautiful aria, that we hear so often in audition, Ebben, ne andro lontana, in its context.

Off to breakfast now!

Home thoughts from abroad

Brian Dickie — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:01:00 -0500

Life goes on back home while I am making this progress around Europe. And today we have launched a whole new line of COT stuff - fun stuff, useful stuff, and just plain........stuff!

You can see the full collection at the Cafe Press e-store. I know that this is what you have all been waiting for. And our ever watchful and patient marketing department is there for you.

The Rhine

Brian Dickie — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:12:17 -0500

I am in Dusseldorf for two days of auditions. I arrived here at 2pm and have spent the afternoon tidying up all the paperwork of the last two weeks. It has been a relief to get to it at last and now it is done! All this is spite of the distraction of the opening day of Wimbledon (Sharapova and Federer both won) and the US Open - Tiger appears to be out of it but one never knows!

I will then be having a relaxed dinner and an early night. These days are going to be as full as Berlin. The Deutsche Oper am Rhein are our hosts, and I am staying in the Park Hotel behind the opera house. So this is a two minute journey to the office tomorrow! This is the place I stayed at regularly on my Dusseldorf trips years ago. Its good to be back!

I hope to get to the opera tomorrow evening. This to see a piece that in my 57 years of opera going I have never seen - Catallani's La Wally. We who auditon singers a good deal know at least one of the arias. It will be nice to hear it in context.