Thursday June 16, 2005

Yesterday when we talked with Kathleen McCalla, she was so inspiring and incredibly down to earth. We talked for two hours and finished off the discussion with her singing a song from Rustica Cavalleri by Rossini. My spelling may be off, so I apologize. She is well-known in Europe as a Dramatic Soprano and a Dramatic Coloratura Soprano. In fact, she is currently learning the role of Norma. She's been living in Italy for the last 25 years with her Italian husband who is a Verdi singer (his website is linked on hers www.kathleenmccalla.com) and she is strikingly beautiful. She has to be in her 50s or so and still looks like she's in her 30s. I hope I age that well! I really encourage you checking out her website because she's got amazing pictures and sound clips of her singing. I almost cried when she sang her FIRST note. It was amazing and just cut through your heart (in a good way). Her focus was intense, and she's an incredible musician. She told us that she learned a role in 4 to 5 days. An entire role that is. That's a lot of notes and words!!! It was very inspiring.
Today, I found out that there's a piano concert that I'm going to try to attend here in Florence. I love piano music and it'll be a nice change from all the operas we've been concentrating on.

*side note* For some reason my hands and my brain are not connected today and I've been thinking one word and my fingers will type another... So you may have to bear with me if it gets a little out there... I'm trying to catch all of my errors.

I have decided that this summer and fall I'm going to learn the role of Susanna from Le Nozze di Figaro (I already have a recording of it with Bryn Terfel) even if Marie King doesn't cast me. Because I KNOW that I would make a PERFECT Susanna. It's right down my alley. Both Dr. Baxter and Dr. Yenne say that I'm a great Mozart Soprano. But the unfortunate part is that many sopranos make good Mozart sopranos. So, I will have to be perfect. Is it apparent that I'm beginning to get into my opera craze personality??? Just put up with it, if at all possible, and I promise that I will come down after awhile. I think I'm getting over my stage of being burnt out from last semester, which is good, because I have projects to finish. *I offer a smile and a bat of the eyelashes to the gracious professors to which this applies.*

It's getting hot here again which is good and bad. It's now appropriate to wear the clothes that I brought, but now it's going to get tiring in the middle of the day when it's hottest. I can already feel it.

Okay... I've noticed that none of my thoughts are connecting and I'm beginning (or long gone) to babble so I will say Arrivederci and Vi amo!
Baci tutti!
Stephanie Hope