Sunday morning, Mercedész took me to an English and Hungarian church service in Budapest. (I'm not exactly sure where...I probably could not find it again on my own.) The pastor was American, hence the English and Hungarian. It was very interesting to see. The worship songs were in Hungarian and occasionally sung a second time in English, and there was a translator for his sermon. He was very animated, and I realized how oddly I kind of miss American humor. (I also oddly...and randomly...miss my pair of sweatpants.) There is humor here, of course, but it can be a little different. I have found that "our" humor isn't always understood. I think Americans just full of constant snappy comments (kind of like Gilmore Girls if you've ever seen that). I am realizing as I try that to explain this idea is kind of confusing, so I'll just leave it at that.
Budapest
Parliament in Budapest
We returned to her home for a Sunday lunch. Her mom and little brothers made a great Hungarian meal. And then in the afternoon, it was time for me to head back to Kecskemét. It was nice to meet them, and I hope we can stay in contact. Mercedész said she'd like to meet up with me when I am in Budapest for a visit to the Christmas markets, so that shall be fun.
Noémi's cousins and aunt and uncle
Mátyás Church
After my weekend away, I had lots of work to catch up on...including learning a very difficult Mozart aria that János has been after me about.
Tuesday was stressful. Solfege didn't go the grandest, and it didn't help that I had not prepare as much as I should have. My lesson with János was a half hour of me "composing" Mozart and Sun-Xing on the piano "composing" Mozart in another way, so altogether, we were far from Mozart's composititon. I love coloratura, and it is meant for my voice. However, learning it is another story. It takes me far too long to really "get" it. I was getting so tense and frustrated. At one point János was standing next to me trying to help me "organize" the run we were working on, and I think he thought I was going to cry, so he put his hand on my shoulder, looked at me, and said, "Samantha! RELAX! Nothing wrong! You have to learn how to learn it, too." Argh! I should have had it learned by then!
I did not have piano with Orsolya thankfully because I switched times with someone, so now I have it Wednesday mornings. It had to be done...Orsolya was very disappointed with me in my lesson last week.
Before conducting, I was able to catch Zoltán to talk with him about conducting, something I should have done long ago. That class has been a struggle, and I was in the middle of the ocean and needed to find my way back to shore. Talking with him really helped. Especially after my experience in class on Friday, I was a ball of nerves when it came to conducting. Friday certainly was not his fault but my own for not knowing the piece well enough. He explained some musical things to me and made it a little clearer for me. (I also learned that my thoughts that he was at his wits end with me was a complete creation of my own imagination. Good to know I guess.) Near the end of class, he leaned over to me and asked if I wanted to give it another try. Somehow, from our conversation, I had calmed down and was completely collected as I conducted the "choir." In turn, I was able to respond to all of his directions without hesitation. :)
Wednesday, my lesson with Orsolya was a little better. For some reason, my fingers always fumble all over the piano the first time I play something in there. It's quite ridiculous. Needless to say, she was, again, very disappointed with me. However, I asked to play it again, and it got better. I fumbled again in my Bach piece, but she was apparently very pleased with my musicality, so it made everything better I guess.
Emma and I went to the market after my lesson and then goofed off around stores in town. The rest of the day was spent finishing all of my folk music analyses! Yay! Now, I just have to learn and memorize all twenty with solfa and text. Oh boy! I get to do that, too, with about twenty melodies each for Hungarian music literature and general music literature. Fun times! haha!
In the evening I went to yoga, a much-deserved reward for hard work all day. However, because I went, I was not exactly prepared for my voice lesson today.
Today started out in a not so great fashion, as I awoke 15 minutes before class started. Ugh! And I had gone through such trouble to set my alarm early, so I could review some solfege in the morning. Grand! As I skittered down the hall 15 minutes late for class, I ran into János as he came in, and he just gave me a funny look before laughing. Crazy man!
Solfege went quite well. Progress is showing little by little. I think Klára was quite pleases as well. Methodology, too, went fine. We are learning how to teach songs by rote, which is very useful for me in a studio setting. Chamber music with Roland was another story. I kind of got scolded, but it was deserved. I guess that is what I get for having neglected doing what I should have for the lesson. I know it is my responsibility, and I accept the task and will fix my blunders. (I think "A csitari hegyek alatt" by Kodály needs to top my to-do list for this weekend!)
My voice lesson was okay. I know I sang way too much today, so I was not as fresh of voice as would have been best. Nem baj. What's done is done. I spent the time before my lesson looking at the Mozart aria because it desperately needed it, but it would probably have been most wise to be quiet during that hour. My lesson was more like 45-50 minutes today even though it is only supposed to be 30-minute sessions, but I was the last lesson of the day today. No complaining, but I am slightly vocally fatigued simply because I did sing an awful lot today. All will be fine, though.
Last week, I asked him if we could work with/on my high notes a little more because they went into hiding for awhile. Since then, he's been I suppose "testing" my limits because this was the scenario today:
Me: (after doing a series of ascending staccato vocalises) How high was that might I ask?
János: Why? Well, there was a D-flat or a D or an E.
Me: Not bad.
J: (completely nonchalantly) Well, that was only an F, and then after that F-sharp. No worries. The last one was just a G.
(I get to live beside this! Gratitude 39)
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