The wind was so strong today ! Around 50 Km per hour according to the weather outlook, and it felt like it! I took my parents out for lunch and they could barely walk from the car to the cafe without looking like they were twin leaning towers of Pisa! At their age they were keeping each other upright from sheer strength of will!
Kyle is a sweet little town, or village, I am never quite sure which! I think of it as a little town because it always has a bustling feel, and the train station is there. We go once each week for an outing which they love, but it is getting increasingly difficult, especially in the winter months.
Actually I think my poor Mum would happily stay in by the fire and watch the world go by, but father likes to chat and talk with anyone who will listen, so for him it is a social outing. The small cafes we frequent know us well, and accommodate the elderly with affection and patience, which is just as well, as my father would make a limping snail seem like Linford Christie ! He gets slower with every passing week!
The entries for Inverness Festival have to be in by the end of the week, so I have been wracking my brain for suitable repertoire to match all the many classes some of my pupils will be entering. The Festival have changed their normal days, so sadly, I will not be available to play for my little darlings! They will have to 'go it alone' ! I have been booked for more than a year to adjudicate at Basingstoke Festival at just about the same time, so whilst they are trying to impress the adjudicator in Inverness, someone else's little darlings will be trying to impress me in Hampshire!
Most of mine who will enter and make the trip without me are old hands, and will acquit themselves very well. They will, of course have to sing with another pianist, who may or may not know when they breathe, or pause etc. It is a learning curve to do this, but a positive learning experience, and quietly toughens them up for the bigger world of performing.
The repertoire is all done now, and lovely it is! I chose Colline's last act aria from La Boheme, for my teenaged baritone L, a gorgeous aria, short and strong, and very suitable for his age. It reminds me of a young man, now a professional singer, whom I taught for about 6 years in the 90's. He had a wonderfully dark bass voice, resonant and like chocolate orange in timbre. He was a very funny guy, and his introductions to his performance were infamous for their accidental humour.
He was singing this very sad aria, where Colline has said he would sell his goods for money to buy medicine for the dying Mimi. He shuffled on his feet, and announced with a grave tone that he was singing '' this aria from La Boheme where Colline was about to sell his coat for a few bob''. When the audience and the other singers all laughed, he told them with a grin that '' this is supposed to be serious you know ''.
I can never hear the aria without seeing his twinkle and grin, only to be sharply surprised and silenced when he opened his mouth and a glorious voice emerged like a downpour of honey.
He's married with a son now, I wonder if little S has his father's twinkle ?!
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