Still completely covered in snow outside…although it is very pretty, I am definitely ready for spring.
Yesterday, Mucki and I took a walk through the Altstadt again…I’m really starting to get very acquainted with it. It’s really lovely, cobblestone streets devoted entirely to pedestrians, a fresh produce market in front of Mozart’s Geburthaus, and tiny little alleys hidden here and there. There’s a ton of tourist crap for sale everywhere, but every now and then there’s a place that sells really beautiful jewelry or a music store, or a nice café. It’s more difficult than I anticipated to do in depth exploring with a stroller…especially through the really small alleyways. Most stores also have entry ways that include steps, and adding trying to open a door and fitting myself plus a stroller into a tiny shop where I won’t end up buying anything anyway…is not really worth my time or embarrassment.
It’s interesting, people do look at me kind of funny…like, “why is this young chick pushing a stroller around the Altstadt of Salburg? Is that actually her kid?” But…that certainly is the least of my worries.
Yesterday, Mucki and I went into the Museum Rupertinum, where they had an exhibit featuring Thöny, and Austrian modern artist I had never heard of. His work consisted of sketches, watercolors and some paintings, and it was absolutely wonderful. Each medium he used reflected a different side of the artist…I only wish I had known more background information about the artist before going to the exhibit…a good rule of thumb to have, I think. There were several skyline scenes of Paris, Marseilles, and New York, so it was apparent he had spent some time in those places. It was also very clear that he had studied impressionism as well as a bit of surrealism, his sketches were very representative of Munch and Klimt.
I feel so sophisticated to be able to come to conclusions like that…it seems my art history class paid off!
After walking through the exhibit, I went to the Museum café, called Spoon, and had a coffee…the primary appeal was that they had free internet…and since I don’t have internet at the Dollhouse, it was perfect.
Today, Mucki and I are spending the day at home in the Dollhouse, as Eva has rehearsal from 2-4 and then again from 7-8:30…it was too much trouble to bring both of us along for such a long period of time. But Christoph comes home tonight, so that’s wonderful…it’s always nice when the whole family is together.
Eva and I have had some very good conversations the past couple of nights…mostly me just picking her brain about being a professional artist and how that type of career works. So many female singers sacrifice having a family so that they can devote everything to their careers…and I’m pretty sure I don’t want that. I’ve learned that even though Eva is 34, and just had her first baby, that she is just now breaking into a real career. This is just the beginning for her, although she’s already made some fantastic contacts, like Sir Simon Rattle, and is singing with some pretty famous people, like Ben Heppner…and she’s already started her family. Eva explained to me how lonely it can be, something which I already sort of knew from working at the agency two summers ago. These singers travel all the time for their engagements, and sure, there’s the euphoria you have when you’ve just sung a wonderful performance and the whole audience is clapping for you, looking at you, etc. You maybe get some flowers, have a few chats backstage with your castmates…and then
“You exit out the stage door into some back alley way, or dark dirty street, go back to your hotel alone, make a call to your loved one (if you’re lucky to have a loved one) and then…that’s it. Once you’re off the stage, you’re alone, and that’s a very difficult lifestyle”
A very important thing to keep in mind as I’m deciphering how I want to proceed with my music. But looking at Eva, she’s not alone. Sure, Christoph is gone Monday through Wednesday, but she has a husband and a child to come home to here in Salzburg, and at home in Dusseldorf there’s her dad, her brother, and a whole community of friends. And Eva is just starting everything in her career!
Another dude I met, Gert, a bass singing with Eva at the festival, started his solo career at the age of 40. Now, 15 years later, he lives in Cologne and sings everywhere in the world, the Met, Scala, EVERYWHERE! But, then again, to be a dude in opera and to be a woman in opera is a completely different process.
In conclusion, if my career doesn’t start until I’m 35…then that means I have time to get a little family started beforehand. But then, how do you balance raising and running a family with singing and traveling all the time?
I love to sing, and I know I want to have music as a part of my life. I also know that I don’t mind being alone, but I don’t want to live my life alone. I thrive when I feel like I’m a part of a community, a family. That’s why I have devoted so much time to being a part of a cast in shows at home, because it feels so tight-knit, and we’re working together as a team to create something to share with the community…that’s what I loved so much about performing. I know that at some point, I will want to have a family, because I don’t want to come home to nothing at the end of the day. If singing becomes my full-time work, then it will be my work. When I come home, what will there be?
However, first things first. I can’t go into too much detail about planning anything, because my plans probably wouldn’t even work out anyway. The only thing I can benefit from at present is to learn some German and keep asking questions!
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