Fun at the pool

Tyler, like most kids, loves going to the swimming pool and we are lucky that we have a school pool just along the road from us. Yesterday the boys headed down there and because I was due to sing that afternoon, I didn't get in, but took the opportunity to take a couple of photos.

Tyler doing a 'starfish'

Happy boys

Ready for the big throw

Daddy stalks Tyler

I tried to upload a video directly into here but it wouldn't play ball, so here's the link to it on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a3l5G8VqA4

I'm feeling a bit sung out after all the Easter Masses, and that was still after not doing two of them! I got to sing the Agnus Dei and Kyrie from Mozart's Coronation Mass on the Sunday morning, and then at the Solemn Vespers in the afternoon I sang the Laudate Dominum (Mozart again) which is a lovely piece which sounds deceptively easy. I felt that I did a reasonably good job (and did the Amen exactly as I had planned - yes!) but as always there were things which inwardly had me going 'Oh you didn't have enough support for that note' etc. Sometime I wish the little critic in my head would wait till after the performance to point out my short-comings!

Now I am full-on into rehearsals for Hansel & Gretel. All the soloists are professional singers or have had extensive theatre performance experience except for me. I am singing two roles, firstly the Sandman who puts H&G to sleep and the immediately I change into the Dew Fairy who wakes them up. There is a narrator who ties everything together (particularly important because there are some judicious cuts in order that the opera will be just over an hour long and therefore ideal for first-time opera attendees/children. There's a lot of humour in it and I think once I stop being anxious about my lack of experience I will have a great time. I only have a couple of minutes singing for each role but the Director has a whole back-story for my characters. I have to completely be that character. It's really hard to sing, act, watch the conductor and not trip over my voluminous Sandman cloak all at the same time! Who knew that the words 'I am!' could be said in such an endless variety of ways and with such different facial expressions?