Farewell...

...to the London Coliseum and all the wonderful folk at English National Opera. The revival of The Passenger  was a great working experience for me and the audience reaction to this remarkable piece and production truly special.

Almost there

The Passenger at ENO - Concert Scene

We're in the final stages of preparing the revival of The Passenger at English National Opera. Last night was the Piano Dress Rehearsal and tomorrow the Orchestral Dress Rehearsal, so my job is all but over.

It has been great to revive this show with an almost totally new cast and a new conductor. The differences between this revival and the original production are subtle and interesting, with new aspects of the score and the characters coming out. This makes me very lucky - far from me being the one to 'teach' the show to a new cast, they have taught me more about it. I have gathered more depth of knowledge about this fabulous piece which I will carry with me to the next revival in Tel Aviv in 2013. As with the other show which I have revived several times, Death in Venice, each revival is more rewarding and fun than the last so I a looking forward to the bigger journey with The Passenger; after Tel Aviv to Houston, New York, Chicago and beyond.

The experience has been made all the more rewarding by the calm and experienced hand of conductor Sir Richard Armstrong and by the unsurpassable stage and technical team at the Coliseum. It has been a great experience.

As to the production, well I'm very proud of this revival and I can't wait to see the London audience experience it.

Here's a link to a piece in today's Guardian about The Passenger.The Passenger - English Nation Opera

The Passenger preview

Rehearsals are going well for The Passenger at English National Opera.

This piece is humbling to all of us involved so there is a very special atmosphere in the rehearsal room - a mix of excitement, concern to get it absolutely right, and awe at the subject matter and strength of the piece.

The production is also stunning. An intelligent, grown-up show. We are all feeling the pressure to do our utmost.

After two weeks in the rehearsal room, and with three principal singers tooing and froing to other opera houses for performances, we have reached a point where the whole show is on its feet and working. The excellent, and incredibly quick, ENO chorus have take to their role with enthusiasm and attention to detail. The excitement for us all is growing.

I have had enormous fun being responsible for the production up to now. I enjoy putting a show back together for a revival, and I love being the one in charge (doesn't every director!). The original director comes next week to add his magic to the mix and I'm excited to see his reaction to this cast. I'm confident he will have lots to say, as is only right, and I am looking forward to seeing the show grow further under his guidance.

Cruising

I moan a lot about my job. There are downsides. I don’t get home for months on end. I don’t see my partner for months on end. I rarely see my partner AT HOME. It’s difficult and many relationships don’t survive that stress. Many of my colleagues also have the added complication of children and I am in awe that anyone manages to make that work in this crazy business.

However for me there are rewards. I travel a lot and see the world from a unique perspective ie not as a tourist most of the time but as a temporary resident of each location.

Occasionally for my partner or I there is the reward of visiting each other whilst we work and for me, this week, that means a cruise on the Mediterranean. Yes I know, not bad thank you very much.

I’m on board the Disney Magic, flagship of the Disney Cruise Line, and quite the prettiest vessel out here in the azure sea at the moment. There are some ugly bricks afloat and, though many must be spectacular inside, few are beautiful ships. Each time another vessel comes into or out of port by the Disney ship, their decks are full of jealous punters taking pictures of the beautiful lines of the Magic. It was modeled on the classic British Cruise Liners of the 20’s and 30’s - the Queens - so it can’t go wrong.

The name Disney raises a smirk amongst most Brits and the comment ‘what on earth would you want to do that for?’ However to Americans Disney is a trustworthy brand and a guarantee of quality and service. The Americans are right - it is exceptional, with every member of the family from toddler to Gran expertly catered for. So as I write I am sitting in the adult only Quiet Cove area, replete with pool, jacuzzi, bar, coffee shop, a classical guitarist playing nearby, a matchless view of the Mediterranean, and a martini by my side. There are all sorts of kid-centric crazy things going on barely yards away (and I’m delighted for them) but since I can neither see them or hear them I am very happy thank you. Why would I want to do this? Let me count the reasons!

The Med Cruise has been a reminder of how lucky I am with my other travels though because, of course, it is something of a whistle-stop tour. At most one has a few hours in each destination and with the best will and the most energy in the world, there is only so much of Rome one can see in a few hours. And one is not seeing it at its best in the crowded August heat, cheek by jowl with the rest of the world’s tourists. The circumstances do not endear one to one’s fellow man.

Much of my early travel were done when I was with the Swingles. Then we would often fly into a city in the morning, check in to the hotel, and have a few hours to sleep or explore before the sound check and concert. Frequently we would be on our way early the next morning. I became expert at haring round a city in two and a half hours, seeing all the sights, taking in a museum of two, and generally getting my bearings. In truth, it worked and I would take in a great deal in these short jaunts. I vividly remember something of almost every room in the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, despite staying barely 45 minutes.

Much of the world I saw this way and it has at least given me a firm impression of where I would like to revisit when I have the time and the money - yes well let’s not dwell on how likely that is, but it was a great opportunity none-the-less.

Perhaps now I am older I don’t have the energy or thirst to devour a city this way. Perhaps they all become alike in a way when you can’t really get under the skin of them. I prefer the way my job now allows me to gently feel my way into a different lifestyle and enjoy the near-reality of being a temporary resident of many places in the world.

But will I pass up the opportunity for another chance to taste-test the world aboard the Disney Cruise Line? You bet I won’t! Another Martini? It would be rude not to!

London again

I'm in London for 24 hours. A quick visit to audition extras for the upcoming production of The Passenger at English National Opera. Much much more about that later, but I wanted to quickly share this talk from the always excellent Ted.com by the artist Janet Echelman. This helped keep me occupied on the tedious journey from Zurich and is a reminder to keep ones mind open to new and challenging creative possibilities.

For more, visit her website www.echelman.com/

 

Endings

Bregenz Lakefront in late evening

My time in Bregenz is swiftly drawing to a close, and I haven't blogged since the very beginning of it.

I've been working on the world premiere of Achterbahn (roller-coaster in German) by British composer Judith Weir, and a roller-coaster it has been indeed.

Judith chose a Sicilian folk tale for her subject, a tale of Tina and her journey to understand and accept the role of Fate in her life.

As with all new pieces, when there is no bank of knowledge or performance tradition behind it there is a difficult journey of discovery to make. When it is the very first time the public will see this piece, the choices one makes take on increased weight. So not an easy process, but one which has resulted in a charming piece and beautiful production. I will revive it in London next year at Covent Garden and it will be interesting to see how a little time changes both the process and the final result.

The Summer in Bregenz has been a bit of a wash-out, like much of Europe so I haven't made my usual cherished trips into the mountains. The countryside here is stunning and the Bregenzerwald and the Walsertaal are both well worth the effort to visit. Waking up to the distant sound of the bells on goats clanging down the mountain, the bubble of a mountain stream, and someone chopping wood miles away is a rare reminder of the true pace of life now sadly sped up in most of our existences. I'm sad to leave here without a fix of mountain life.

Also taking my time and mind has been another ending.

I began this blog 18 months ago for the reasons I outlined in my first post, but primarily as a way of keeping in contact with my Father, who was undergoing chemotherapy at the time.

Dad enjoyed travel immensely, though didn't get to see as much of the world as he would have liked. He was amazed and delighted at the places we, his children, were able to visit and the way in which we became citizens of the world. He often said that he was part of a transition generation. He came from a smallholding on the Isle of Wight and the expectation was that he would work on the land and lead a life with a small circumference.

Education, increased communications, and National Service gave him a thirst for more and he educated himself over many years to become a fully qualified architect and member of the professional classes - quite a journey from his basic beginnings. When he was small the few miles to next town was a journey and the trip to the mainland and adventure. He lived to visit much of Europe, Israel, and planned to travel to Canada - things his parents and grandparents could barely conceive.

This blog was a great way of sharing with him things that I had seen, done, or was experiencing, and I was able to talk about things which we would never have discussed. He enjoyed it immensely and always commented on each new post.

Sadly my Father lost his battle with cancer - a cancer ironically brought on by exposure to asbestos, part of the process of progress from which he benefitted so much - two weeks ago. In sorting through his effects we have found many items of family archive - photos, birth certificates, documents and letters - which help build the bigger picture of our family life. These are wonderful and tangible things which we will continue to cherish.

However, how much of our records today will reside on a hard-drive and who will bother to go through them? A folder of e-mails is hardly tangible or wonderful.

It seems to me that things like blogs become more important as, although they are electronic, they are documents which gather experience, emotions, and human life in a way that few other things do today.

So my resolution to myself, to the memory of Dad, and to the archive of the future (should anyone be interested) is to try to be more disciplined and regular with my blog entries. Some may, like Dad, enjoy an insight into my experiences which they cannot share physically, and someone in the future may find it a quaint window into a time gone by. And I will keep benefitting from the often cathartic and always positive process of documenting my weird and wonderful passage through this life.

David Kearley 1930 - 2011

The Summer Job

Straight from the recording studio at the BBC's new Media City home in Manchester to Bregenz for what has become a semi-regular gig. The concert went well, despite my singer's paranoia, but I was glad to get my head and my car back on the road and head to the warm and lovely South.

Bregenz is a special place. At the far Western corner of Austria it nestles at the foot of the mountains by Lake Constance. Though it is only a small town, each year it hosts a large and important international opera festival set on the huge stage on the lake (see my post a couple of months ago) and inside the arresting modern Festspielhaus.

I'm staying a little way above the town on the slopes of the Pfaeder, the mountain which looms directly over the town, and have beautiful views down the considerable length of Lake Constance. My nearest neighbours are a small herd of cows whose bells, real bells, clang throughout the day and evening, their various tones giving an audible sense of the relative size of the animal. A lovely musical noise.

Out of retirement.

I'm coming out of retirement and singing for my super again. I don't very often have either the opportunity or the desire to do this any more, but there are some pieces which I have performed over the years which I cannot resist the opportunity to reprise. Tonight's piece, Dream House by American composer Steven Mackey, is one such as I performed the world premiere in Amsterdam in 2003, the American premiere in Boston in 2007, and recorded the piece two years ago in New York. I'm not ready to let anyone else do it yet.

So tonight we are performing the piece at the brand new Media City in Salford, home to the BBC Philharmonic, who will be accompanying us. The piece calls for one solo voice (the unbelievable Rinde Eckert) and ensemble of four (Micaela, Heather and Mike from the wonderful Synergy Vocals plus me, an erstwhile member), a quartet of electric guitars (Catch Electric Guitar Quartet from Amsterdam) and a very full symphony orchestra. It's loud, puzzling, exciting, and ultimately joyful and great fun to perform. Steve is conducting so it's going to be a great night.

My career as a Director took over from singing many years ago now, and I frankly don't maintain my voice properly, so these rare gigs are very scary. I become the worst kind of paranoid singer, worrying about every catch of phlegm in the throat, every little tickle, and terrified that the top of the voice will not come out right or at all! This piece involves many styles of singing too, from the close harmony work I did in Swingles, to some sections that require full out singing. It is challenging rhythmically and you really need to know the voices around you.That kind of quick switching between vocal styles of production is difficult.

It is interesting to come back to a piece every few years as it demonstrates how once's voice changes over time. Sections that used to be near impossible or cause worry are now easy, where as some simple passages which I used to be able to easily float are now very problematic. The muscles change and harden with age (and underuse!).

Each time I sing again, which works out to be once every 18 month to 2 years, I swear 'never again'. I don't particularly like myself as a performer and, were I directing me, I really wouldn't like me! However it does me good each time to remind myself what the performers I work with in my other life have to go through. It's a good exercise and every director should try it.

Wish me luck - the panic is rising!

Blackbirds update

Three little blackbird chicks making an appearance just before I left! Beautiful to see up close. Shame I won't watch them develop, but at least I've seen them.