A Third Afternoon of Lieder

This morning I woke up at quarter to twelve again, to an overcast day where the wind that had brewed up late last evening was still sweeping the tender new leaves of the trees outside. I cleaned up my clothes and papers and books a little, made my bed, spent time on the Internet, and on the whole enjoyed myself. Today the cooking was taken care of, so I had time to play out of the notebook of Anna Maria Magdalena Bach.

I did see Mama this time before I left for the third masterclass. Today the students were not so much in top form, and didn't respond as quickly to corrections as they had yesterday, let alone the day before that. I came only about a minute late today, and the usual opening singer was just beginning her song. Then came the powerful-voiced one, (appropriately named Ilsa, if I remember correctly) with a piece by Wagner (I think), about "Lebewohl." Under the influence of directions her singing became temporarily less aggressive; perhaps nervousness had also been a problem. The singer with the "belly voice" followed with the third (well, really the second) of Schubert's "Harfenlieder," this time about "eating bread with tears." Mr. Fischer-Dieskau asked him at one point not to sing as much with the throat but more from the stomach, and the suggestion worked wonders. After that, because the accompanist of the fourth singer had not arrived, Ilsa sang another song by Hugo Wolff, entitled "Er ist's," about the arrival of spring. Then it looked like the masterclass was over, when the long-awaited accompanist came speeding in just as people had begun to get up to leave. Then the singer who had not been there yesterday sang a piece by Schumann; as far as I could tell, the performance was not particularly controlled, because he and the accompanist were still rather excited, but at least there was a nice range of pitch and effect.

Now I am at home again, eating the bread of idleness -- without any tears, however. Soon I'll check up what's happening tomorrow. I may go to the concert that is to bring the masterclass series to a triumphant close, or I may go somewhere else. Anyway, I'm enjoying the sense of being busy and having something to go out to every day. And now Mama's friend G. is here for a visit, so I'd better go. (c: