Gratitude 14

I am thankful for having the opportunity to see an absolutely gorgeous Hungarian opera at the Budapest State Opera this past Friday evening. :)

I know it has been quite awhile since my last post, but since classes began, sleep has been getting limited and work time has been increasing more and more each day. I have finally decided to steal a little bit of time to fill in on the exciting events of this past weekend, which I spent two days of in lovely Budapest. (Also, I have come to the realization that this idea of 365 days of Gratitudes may take me the next ten years at this rate!) But first for a quick account of the rest of my first week of classes:

As Wednesdays are extremely light, Thursday was my next crazy day of classes, holding Folk Music, another day of Solfege, Methodology lecture, chamber music lesson with Roland, and my first official voice lesson with János. Folk Music was simply an introductory to the course, and Methodology was a preparatory lecture on our observation at the Kodály Iskola (primary/secondary school) on the coming Monday. The second class of Solfege wasn't as great as the first, but ups and downs are to be expected...and I am already seeing them! Roland, my chamber music coach, is a lovely man. Strict, but kind. He's really making me think about my performances and what I am conveying to the audience. Text is very big with him, which is a new perspective. I think our sessions together are really going to transform me as a performer. As for János, our first lesson left me without much to say. He has this facade of being all stern and serious with his deep bass voice, but he is really just crazy. He, too, is strict but very kind. I think our lessons together will be a lot of work but great fun. I am getting more pieces to the puzzle of the classical voice to add to the ones Lynn has given me thus far. It's all starting to make sense. Between János and Roland, I am going to grow a lot as a musician and a performer. They expect nothing less than best, and nothing gets past them...no lazy singers here!

Friday, I had my first General Music Literature course, where we simply did a short quiz of identifying music. I also had conducting again....oh boy! I had to conduct in front of the class...it didn't go too badly, but I certainly have a lot of work to do! We also had choir, which is conducted by Zoltán, my conducting teacher.

The weekend:
From choir, we had to practically run to the train station to catch the train to Budapest. It was nuts! Then, we were standing there on the platform and up saunters Zoltán! I don't know how he did it! Maybe he just has a longer stride, I don't know. But he made it there and with time to spare...and he even left after us! Crazy!

Caitlin and I went to the Budapest State Opera right from the train station in Budapest (see photos above) to see Bánk Ban, a famous Hungarian opera by Ferenc Erkel. And we only paid 400 HUF for our tickets (approximately $2.50 USD)! Granted, we had to stand most of the time in order to see, but it was fine. The show was phenomenal! So gorgeous! I cried. More than once. You can listen to this portion of a recording I found online. If only it was complete!



Of course, though, the subtitles were in German, so I only got maybe every 8th or 10th word because my German comprehension is quite limited. It was a lot of thinking! It really makes you appreciate it when things are written/said in English. I think we take for granted those who speak English as a second language, since they do it so well. I respect those who have learned English because it certainly is not a simple language. (However, I do not agree with the fact that U.S. school curriculum leads to more monolingual Americans than citizens of any other country, but that is an argument for another time.)

Our hostel for the night was...interesting. I am not much of a "backpacking" girl, but it was fine. It was an experience. (Probably not one that I will repeat too many times, though! I'd stupidly enough prefer to pay more for privacy and comfort rather than watch my budget so much.) The rest of Friday, we'll just say didn't go as well as I would have liked, so I'll just try to block that out of my mind.

Sautrday, I stayed around the Pest side of Budapest for the first half of the day, while the others went to the Baths. Perhaps, I should have gone to experience Hungary's famous Baths, but I made the choice. Instead, I wandered around, exploring and actually experiencing the city. I got to see places I am sure most do not. In other words, I went "off the beaten path" of touristy things and really saw the city. It was very nice. I wandered into a little church, paid a visit to a music stor, walked along the Promenade, and discovered all sorts of amazing little things and places. Then, I walked across the Szecheny Bridge to meet the others on the Buda side.




This Buda side is my favorite! :) Next time I am in Budapest, I plan to spend all of my time there. I would love to explore the Buda Hills sometime while I am here, too. We had dinner below the Castle District and then took the hike up to the Citadel. Such a lovely place! So quaint and old-style with its cobblestone streets and beautiful Matthias church. In the evening, we went down into the Labyrinth, which I believe is below an old church. It takes you some 12 meters below, which is actually just into the hill upon which the Castle District sits. It was so cool!! They gave us an oil lantern and set us on out way. In complete darkness! Kind of frightening at first but so neat! My little sister Becca would have had a blast! I got some great pictures, too, with the "candle setting" on my fabulous camera, compliments of Dad. :) (Speaking of which, I also got a few pictures at the opera, but I can't really publish those...they aren't exactly legal...)








Afterwards, we made out way to the train station to head home with many crazy moments along the way. Overall, it was a great weekend and am in love with the opera we saw. Unfortunately, it is only ever performed in Hungary. Besides the fact that it is sang in Hungarian, I could totally do the role of Melinda someday...

As for this week thus far:
Yesterday, Solfege went quite well. My ear is getting better. Slowly. Klára is everso patient with me. I get a lot of criticism from the teachers here. Not bad criticism, but constructive criticism. They are very encouraging and only mean for it as a means of helping me become a better musician. János has been getting after me about my own self-critiquing of my singing and how deconstructive it can be. I think he will be good for me in channeling my perfectionism to help me rather than hinder. My lesson with him yesterday was good, but it probably could have gone better. Not to mean that as a criticism but as a comparison to what we have done, what was done, and what can be done. We are still in the "getting to know you" process, so all will be well. New concepts, new teachers, new explanations...all can be perhaps a little unclear and a bit confusing at first. Conducting is getting slightly better. I, again, had to conduct in front of the class. It'll get better. I was ten minutes late to conducting because I was in my piano lesson with Orsolya before...she gets a little carried away. As I mentioned before, she is just crazy but an incredible musician! The whole lesson: "Feel the vibrations of the strings in front of you! The keys do not make the music, the strings do! Play all five notes of the chord as if it was your very being depended on those notes! Feel the music! What was Bach saying? It's all in the music! You must become one with the piano, one with the music! Otherwise, it is simply a task to hit the right keys at the right time. Relax! Let your fingers and the music guide you!" It was all very dramatic. Yet, it was brilliant. For once, I actually enjoyed pressing the keys to the piano. I understood the music in a whole new way, the way it was meant to be felt. She shall be very good for me as well. And I believe she will help me inadvertently in my singing. :) ...and she also checked in on the things she pointed out to me last week...she notices everything!