No, tonight I'm at another Opera masterclass with the Maestro. And, we are not the only ones at the opera tonight. Apparently there are operas being performed all over the world as we speak, San Francisco, Berlin, Washington DC, Paris, Boston, Vienna and believe it or not, in Nashville! Nashville, the home of the 'Grand Ol' Opery'? Well who'd a thought it (she says while clicking her cowboy booted heels and re aligning her Stetson).
I won't go through the play list for tonight, as if you are a regular reader, you will know the drill by now. The usual suspects singing, hitting both high and low notes that I can only dream of hitting in my pity-full Karaoke career, the interpreter, and the usual suspects and a few new ones, in the audience. Word must be spreading! In fact not only has the word been spreading, but the whole experience has been spreading. During the summer it spread all the way over to Pinner, North London! The Maestro went on tour. Without me!!
After all the Pilates classes I have given up on a
Wednesday night, after all the hard work I put in (finding the cable for the speakers is always very hard work), after all the dinners I've eaten in a hurry to be ready for seven o clock, after all the Bellini's I've had to listen to instead of drinking, I didn't get to go on tour to the bright lights of London and sit with the Stars... (Not that there were any bright lights, or Stars for that matter, and I think I was on holidays at the time, but that's not the point...)
And to add insult to injury, my eleven year old niece, Eliza, took my place beside the Maestro.
I didn't think as transport manager (I drive everybody to the community centre), or as chief roadie (I carry the stuff in from the car), or as front of house manager (I help set out the chairs in the room we use), or as lighting technician (I plug in the lamps, and switch them on!), or as sound engineer (I plug the speakers into the computer and press the play button when required) all rolled into one, that I could possibly be replaced.
Well I was. By an eleven year old!
Life in the music industry is cruel.
Seriously, and secretly, I'm very impressed that my niece was not only able to take my place, but that she actually wanted to. It's nice that she wanted to sit alongside her Grandad and listen to his music. If the tables had been turned I'm not so sure that Granddad would have listened to hers! As good as Taylor Swift is, I don't think she can hold a note (ha!) to Maria Callas.
Anyway, when I was approached to assist at tonight's performance, I insisted that my contract as 'assistant' be renegotiated before I agreed to assist.
It took some time and patience but the out come of the negotiations, as you can see by the very fact that I'm here writing, was favorable.
Almost as favorable as the 2016 Budget that was announced in Ireland yesterday.
So tonight, in recognition of all my efforts over the past couple of years, my reward will be, at the break tonight, I can have two biscuits with my coffee instead of one...
PS... If there's anyone that I went to school with reading this, Panis Angelicus was on the play list tonight. That should bring you back a decade or two (or three?).
