AMD #2

This week for my AMD I watched the German opera Die Zauberflöte  (The Magic Flute) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. As vocal performance majors we are required to take opera chorus where you sing as part of the chorus in one main stage opera production for one credit. We have weekly music rehearsals and staging rehearsals with the conductor as well as the stage director. So far I am having a lot of fun with it and realized that although I am not a huge fan on Mozart you can really jam out to his music! Half the time I find myself doing choreography to the music in rehearsals, rather than actually singing it. This show is playing in March if anyone is free, be sure to buy a ticket and come on down! It is gonna be amazing and the set is going to be crazy!

In order to familiarize myself with the plot and music, I went on youtube and watched a Met production  of the Magic Flute from 1991 featuring Kathleen Battle as princess Pamina. She is one of my idols so I really enjoyed listening and watching her sing so gracefully and effortlessly. This helped me to figure my role as a chorus member and where I fit into the overall plot of the opera. When the chorus parts entered I was able to sing along and this gave me a chance to actually see what is going on considering in the actual performance I will be backstage the entire time. After watching the nearly 3 hour opera I practice my part separately for about 15 mins a day in order to help me memorize for staging rehearsal where I can't use music. If I have any free time in the coming weeks I will try to check out different productions of Die Zauberflöte from the school's music library and watch them in my free time.