The adventures of Miss Despina

Let’s take a look at my working week…

• Tuesday: Yet another Catholic funeral where I sing Bach/Gounod Ave Maria and "Going Home" (traditional words set to Dvorak "New World")
• Thursday: Very Important rehearsal.
• Friday: 3 hours’ portrait modelling work - better than the life modelling as it’s clothes on and better pay. (Not that the nudity itself bothers me at all. The cold sometimes does though.)
• Saturday: Opera Gala.

I’ll never say that my "working" life is boring. Being paid to sit there or stand there doing what I love doing is my idea of fun. The best thing about it is, I’m always meeting new people, and with the nature of the work, one job always leads to another.

In the last three weeks I’ve also done:

• A wedding. Looking fabulous and singing Mozart. Lots of Mozart in fact, bloody loved it.
• Two more funerals. Not so enjoyable, but good for business.
• Surtitling a professional performance of l’Elisir d’Amore. (Thankfully I didn’t have to write the surtitles this time as I did for Cavalleria Rusticana, and would have had to do for Gianni Schicchi if it had been going ahead.)
• Byrd Four. Two to a part. Terrifying.
• Schubert in G. Luscious.

Right now what I am not enjoying is this tedious bloody essay. God I HATE my degree. However the novelty of having a TV is still quite fresh, so I’m going to treat myself to some Desperate Housewives at 10! Mum and Dad have gone away and for the first time since Prague I find myself living completely alone. Strange.

I have a new job. A modelling job. For an art class…

Don’t ask me why, I just thought it sounded fun!

You can’t keep a good girl down for long.

Things are going well.

I am really really busy, very productive, not stressing too much though!

I’m throwing away everything I don’t want, and keeping and making worthwhile what’s important to me.

I have some fun projects coming up - not too much though.

I’m getting on top of my health problems.

Funny and interesting things keep happening to me but I’m too busy to blog.

Like when despite being the best soprano to audition (I have it on good authority), I didn’t get the part I wanted in Candide, and was asked to understudy instead. Two minutes later, yes, really, I was into a production that some friends are putting on at the local conservatoire, which just happens to be the same dates as the Candide. So it looks like I’ll never learn how to poison a fellow soprano’s dinner. But I do get to prance around on a stage singing Sondheim with some great people.

Like the time I accidentally stood on someone in the Co-op the other day. I turned round to apologise, and on the way out of the shop said to Jez "oh well at least it was a chav"!

Like last night when I was practicing in the kitchen, the neighbours put on some crap disco music very very loudly.

Like the new 15 hours a week job I have in Boots where everyone loves me because they don’t have to train me because I’ve done it all before.

Like the friend who phoned me up and offered me just the sort of help I need, that only she can give.

Like going round Ikea with Jez doing the cake dance, the kelpie dance, and the new ikea dance. Then jumping out on him on the other side of the door and licking the window… only it wasn’t him, but a complete stranger. 

Like the gorgeous house we are very likely to be moving into in a month’s time. Yes, really! I’m so excited! 

But enough about me, how are you? No, really? If you can fight my spam-bots, I’d love to hear how you’re doing :)

I’ve hit about 6 top E flats today. That’s almost as good as Natalie Dessay who can hit a top A flat (yes, that’s about 75 leger lines above the stave).

It’s been a good day. I got into the chamber choir! I’m the only non music student, and the only new soprano. My friend Katie (who is far too nice to be a music student) tells me I should be proud of myself, so I am. I also have an interview for a job tomorrow, ok it’s only a crappy shop job but it’s at the Co-op, which sits well with me ethically. I couldn’t work in Tesco, it would be like sleeping with the enemy. I have business cards too, they’re red and lovely and under my name they say "A beautiful voice / A wide repertoire of songs / Perfect for your special day". I got the lady in central library to put one up on the noticeboard. (And noticed that we’re all using Vistaprint designs, bless us singers, we’re all as broke as each other!)

The audition for Candide was simply an audition to be in the show, I have to audition again for a part. I sang Quando m’en vo since it contains all those sexy high Bs (which were, thankfully, working very well). They were asking me to do a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a’s at the very top of my register, my top E just came out as a scream but I’d hit the E flat I need for the fabulous aria (see my previous post). They told me I’d be auditioning for a part within the next two weeks, so I’ve borrowed the music from the library to get a head start, and you know, it’s not as impossible as it sounds. Ok, there’s not much finesse at the moment, but I’ll get there.

Meanwhile, another situation is looking very very promising, but I don’t want to tempt fate by talking about it. You’ll find out soon enough. 

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!