Next stumble?

I had an audition cancelled yesterday, which is extremely frustrating. Not postponed, like this particular audition has been three times up to now, but now cancelled because they have decided to cast the role in question from within the Opera house’s Ensemble. Initially I had been going to audition to be a member of the Ensemble on a Fest. (fixed to one house for a season or more) contract but earlier this week this was changed to me just auditioning for the one role as a guest (someone who only does one role at the opera house and is not in the fixed Ensemble). As you can imagine, this is extremely frustrating. I didn’t even get a chance to sing to them and, with this audition having been about to happen for four months now, you can imagine the emotional energy and time I have put in to trying to get my first post-Stuttgart job.

Alien concept

For many British singers, the idea of a Fest contract is quiet alien. There are no ensemble Opera houses in the UK, despite there being many singers who are regulars with particular companies. Over there we are much more used to the idea of being freelance, of jumping from contract to contract, city to city, country to country even. Meeting lots of new people at each Opera house, becoming Facebook friends and then never seeing each other again.

In contrast, the idea of a Fest contract only being two years, which is often what the beginner contract is in these houses, is pretty alien to the average German. Having discussed this with a friend of a colleague after our final performance of Ariadne auf Naxos this week, I was struck with how shocked she was that our jobs were not secure for much longer. How could we live like this, she wondered.

The Fest ‘thing’ has quite a bad reputation in parts of the UK opera community. The idea that a house owns you and might make you sing roles you aren’t ready for because you are the house Lyric Tenor frightens people. Also, the idea of performing all the time, rehearing for 6 hours the same day as a performance, having to do shows on Christmas day etc. This is of course an exaggerated view, and though there are some smaller houses that crowbar their singers into as many roles as possible, the fact is that you have to be aware of what sort of contract you are entering and take good advice before you sign up and most houses here aren’t like that, or so I have been told.

I was astonished to learn from my Tenor colleague, Heinz Göhrig, that in his time at Freiburg Opera he performed 120 show nights a year, for three years. That’s a show every three days, and I still consider my 45+ nights in Stuttgart to be a significant number. Since leaving Freiburg, 28 years ago, Heinz has been in the Ensemble at Stuttgart and he is now a Kammersänger, a title bestowed on a singer, usually who has given long enough service and which practically means he has a job for life. A 31 year career to date and still going, always in a Fest, always guaranteed work and income, maybe not a star at the MET or ROH, but I would consider Heinz to be a hugely successful singer with such a career behind him.

So what about me

So what about me…. with this audition cancelled without even getting through the door. Would a Fest really interest me? Would I want a career like Heinz? Would I rather freelance, guest around Europe and have a better chance of spending some time in the UK with my family, friends and wife!

I have an audition in February which, if I get past the 1^st round, will give me the opportunity to sing to a large number of casting directors and Intendant from across Germany. Hopefully, given the chance, this will open up some doors of opportunity. I am also actively looking for management, and am organising auditions and meetings both in the UK and Germany to try and get this sorted soon.  I have plans for at least two recital discs and plans to enter a few competitions over the year.  All of which is me trying hard to establish some sort of a career.

No golden ticket

Because despite being one of 25+ Tenors to have auditioned for the Opera studio in Stuttgart, and having been the one chosen, the fact that I am on an Opera studio/Young Artist Programme is NO GUARENTEE of success. It may help open a few doors, it is a good learning experience and all the things I have written about for the last 5 months have been good for my career development, but I am not there yet.

The Week

The week started with a performance of Ariadne, followed by a last minute trip to Frankfurt to meet up with three friends, two Bass/Baritones and a soprano who are all based there. We had lunch, which for me meant sharing this massive plate of wurst, sauerkraut and potatoes (can you even think of anything more German!)

And then I got to see, and hear (2nd half sitting next to the stage manager as per above picture), the last night of La Sonnambula, in which my soprano friend, Louise, was singing. It was a lovely show and I really like the house at Frankfurt. Best of all was hearing Brenda Rae in the lead role. An American Soprano who has been in the Frankfurt Ensemble for a number of years, her singing of this fiendish role was amazing, some of the best singing I have ever heard. She could do anything on any note. Some of her quiet super high notes were breath taking, and the audience reacted suitably. I did meet her briefly when introduced by Louise and I mumbled my way through a congratulations in the role of star struck super fan.  

The rest of the week included two performances of Nabucco, the final show of Ariadne, and more rehearsals for Il Vologeso. I also got to sing through most of Cosi fan Tutte with a coach, which was great fun.

Football

The highlight of my week, aside from hearing Brenda and Louise in Frankfurt, was an invitation to play, and subsequent playing of, 5 aside football with some guys from the Staatstheater Orchestra. I am a big football fan and I have missed playing 5 aside, which I used to do most Monday nights in London, since I moved here. I jumped at the chance when Florian, a viola player, asked me and the two hours of Thursday afternoon, in a sports hall in Felbach (NE of Suttgart) were great. Hopefully it becomes a regular thing and the fitter I get the better I will play. Though I think my new German friends were impressed with my solid mixture of silky skills and occasional brute strength, maybe not the Violin player whose hand I almost broke.

Football is a great passion to share and I am glad to have found some people to share it with, even if there is a mild language barrier.

A friend I shared a passion for football with as a child was Nick Wilkes, a big Arsenal fan who I knew from the age of 7 to 13 and then got back in touch with in the last few years via the wonders of Facebook. Sadly this week marked a year since Nick took his own life, on the 21^st of January 2014, having battled with Bipolar disorder. I was grateful to get the chance to sing at his funeral and then, later in the year, sing in two fund raising concerts in his memory. Fundraising is still happening and the money raised is going towards supporting a research fellow with 'MQ Transforming Mental Health', a small but important charity doing great work. https://www.justgiving.com/nick-a-w-wilkes Do consider supporting it if you are so inclined. RIP Nick!!

In the meantime, I hope you all have a great week.

Speak soon!

Tom

ps. Health check, down to 96%, slowly but surely....

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