Opera singer cooks! :)
Role: Philine, an actress
Singer: Diana Damrau
Opera: Mignon (A. Thomas)In celebration of Damrau’s 41th birthday (Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Diana!), here’s her breathtakingly beautiful rendition of the actress Philine in Ambroise Thomas’ Mignon. I adore everything about her ensemble! Simply exquisite.
every aspect of every costume in every shot is flawless. god I love opera.
Because I am very much obsessed with the violin, I’m going to post about it again.
Tomorrow is my first violin lesson with a new teacher. It’s only for the summer, though. My school-year teacher is a student who actually lives quite far away, so I’ll be going to this teacher for awhile. We’ll call her N.
N was recommended to me by the luthier I regularly go to. Apparently, she’s amazing, and all of her students love her. I’ve talked to her on the phone, and I can already tell I really like her. She uses the Suzuki Method, and so I bought Book 1.
Tomorrow, she’ll want to see everything I’ve learned. Sadly, I don’t know how to use my 4th finger yet, and I’m still trying to stop looking at my left hand, period. I also have incredibly wonky bowing. However, I do apparently have a good tone, I can tune in 5ths without a tuner, and I have a good bow hold.
My goal for the end of the summer? Not sure. I would like to have something to play for the SAI Musicale next semester. It’ll be a nice, supportive environment to play in. I do want to master 1st position and get these tapes off in a year at the absolute latest.
Detailed carving on the back of a violin, seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The paper in the foreground says : “Violin, English about 1680. Pine top and sides, sycamore back, decorated with spiral scroll work and the royal arms of the Stuarts. The final is in the form of a woman’s head. The instrument is not signed but a number of names have been suggested, the most likely being Thomas Urquhart, who worked at London Bridge between 1648 and 1680. The baroque style of decoration and Royal Stuart arms would indicate that the instrument was part of the household of Charles II or James II. Charles II is known to have preferred the brisk and arie sounds of the violin to the contrapuntal fancies of the viol.”
It’s an epiphany.
I just realized something.
I read somewhere that the violin is not an instrument for someone who is impatient, or wants instant gratification.
So here I am, today, after a long, rough practice session, trying to fix my terrible bowing to no avail, praying I won’t have to buy that Bow-Right thing, when it hit me.
The violin can teach me to be patient.
It’s really been bugging me lately that I read quickly, missing details in the process. That’s become a metaphor for my life, and how quickly I move through it. It seeps into all areas of my life.
I can’t learn to play well overnight. And I also think I’m being way too ambitious, because I’m putting too much pressure on myself and losing my patience.
It’s starting to make sense now.
