Alex came round tuesday and we spent a few hours going through the mp3's of the recording. He made excellent comments on how to improve the mixes. 15 years listening in ENO to the balance between the orchestra and the singers give him a surgical precision to his listening. Everything he said I just thought 'oh yes, why didn't I think of that?'. But I couldn't have thought of everything in the 3 days we had. A lot of the time was focussed on just making sure we ironed out any major problems in tuning and ensemble and got a faif general balance between things. With Alexs extra adjustments the balance will be really good.
I'm trying to concentrate on resting - but do feel restless. It's hard to go from a full on project for so long and then - boom - it stops... I am a bit disorientated and run down. I can feel this tiredness in my bones and yet my mind is still very active. Already having thoughts about a new opera!! Perish the thought!! I do have a subject up my sleeve... and if someone came up to me tomorrow and asked me to write another one I would - damn it! My plan was to stop writing big pieces - to concentrate on writing for myself. To develop my performance. To keep it much more connected to the present moment - rather than plotting out a project that can take years and years to realize. Part of me feels I've been there, done that, and I want to keep things more local and short term.
But my imagination is firing away about a new large scale work - all I need is the commission! As things stand right now - that is not likely to come my way. I am out of touch with commissions and connections at the moment. So - my pragmatic side is in fact more in tune with reality - which in many ways is a relief!
I had my association with Lontano for 12 years and wrote two full length chamber operas for that company. It took me the best part of 8 years. Inanna took me 2 years and Siddhartha Spirit Child took me 6 years. To bring Inanna up to speed with this recording took me another 2 years to prepare - so imagine if I wanted to bring Siddhartha Spirit Child up to speed with a recording...! Another 6 years?? Please no, surely not!
Though I haven't gone anywhere near the SSC score for many years my memory is that it is in a better state of repair than Inanna was. Inanna was written with fire and brimstone - in a flash, relatively speaking. SSC - was a more considered piece - I think...which would mean any revisions would be relatively minor. Inanna has had a complete overhaul. SSC may not need that. I think more than anything - SSC needs cutting - which is quicker than writing new stuff.
Once I am fully rested and had a summer break and we have the two DVD's in hand and a CD version of everything too - I will take stock of how to proceed from here.
In the meantime I'm in well-earned limbo land. Walks in the park, gentle exercise, healthy eating, once I have got over this deep tiredness. I will let that take it's own course. The body must catch up with me... I have been racing ahead with my muscial mind (I thrive there!) and my body is demanding I look after her now. She has been very patient! God bless her.
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