I would love to spend time in Chicago some day. Time, that is, that doesn’t include 78 auditions. (Many of which were marvelous, mind you. But still…) I understand that there’s an amazing architectural tour. There are beautiful neighborhoods I’d love to visit. And many friends to meet at amazing restaurants.
But sadly, our Chicago drill exclusively consists of a hotel (albeit a beautiful one…)
…and the inside of a recital hall (again, beautiful…see at right)
.
Nonlinear thoughts from the audition room at Ganz Hall:
- Baritones: If you’re not really into offering Valentin or Mab or any of the heavier stuff for a French aria, consider “Dieux qui me poursuivez” from Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride. 2 minutes long, a nice starter.
- Tenors: “Au mont Ida” from Offenbach’s Belle Helene is an underrepresented French choice. A great deal of fun, with ringing Bb’s.
- Ferrando has shown up; we heard our first “Un’aura amorosa” of the tour. Still haven’t heard from Despina though…
- A thought on long rep lists: We only require four choices on our application, but some folks have been bringing us revised aria lists (which we are happy to accept; we don’t care if you change your rep from the application) with many more choices – as many as 7-8. While I don’t want to encourage this for anyone who feels s/he is best represented by sticking to the obligatory four, there is absolutely nothing wrong with offering a longer list. As long as you’re comfortable with everything that’s on it, it helps us get a bigger picture of where you see yourself and gives a nice palette of choices. (Don’t extrapolate, though; if an organization is very specific about only offering X number of arias, pay attention to their requirements.
A mad dash from O’Hare to Dulles on Monday morning, then 60 more auditions back in Virginia.
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