Monday 3 September 2018

Moving along

A friend complained recently that he could not find anything to do with singing among my links, so this little entry is dedicated to him.

When I was just starting out on the opera stage, I was mobbed by female singers and even got a letter from a fellow colleague accusing me of arrogance and not being as good as my colleagues. I should add that the female colleague did not have a contract the following year - but I was never in competition with the lady, and probably just sang better, or was more versatile, or both. I never asked.



I replied to the guy who had sent me the vile mobbing letter, sending him an autographed photo of myself (probably at my best) and thanking him for his communication. I have no idea to this day why the guy thought he had to criticize me and I decided to forget him and just use stagecraft to upstage him physically and vocally if I happened to be on stage with him, which was fortunately (for him) not often.I never spoke to him about his vindictive gesture.

I never found out for certain who had triggered his maliciousness off, but one or two older female singers as well as my colleague (with whom I had been double-cast in some roles), but I vowed then not to stand in the way of younger singers and not to limp my way out of the opera scene as a hasbeen.

I kept to that vow and quitted the opera stage on a high note - as Brangäne in Tristan and Isolde - after coaching the Isolde in her role (but that's not really relevant). At that time it was even suggested that I take up coaching at the opera, but I did not think I played the piano well enough.

With my retirement from the stage went part of me and it took me a long time to get used to not being a singing actress. Teaching singing was always a chore for me; it got on my nerves actually so I quit that as soon as I could.

So what was left? I had finished rearing my children single-handed after freeing
myself of an intolerable marriage /and choosing divorce rather than suicide, the latter being counted out only because I could not do that to my children), and I taught English and translated with occasional interpretiong until at long last I retired from that.

I still had my chorus, however. In the course of 25 years I had founded several (and left them for various reasons only to start another one!), wrote all the arrangements for all of them, and enjoyed fabulous reviews of all the concerts I 'presided' over. That really was an ongoing challenge, but that, too, had to have an end, and I decided to call it a day almost two years ago.

I had always wanted to paint and thanks to the encouragement of my chilren, too up the paintbrush shortly after the turn of the century and loved painting, as I still do. But that, too has taken a back seat except for occasional commissions, the main reason being that I have no studio in which to make a mess, and hundreds of canvases that I spent thousands of hours painting.

So cnsidering the space shortage I moved on to drawing. I should mention that I also write novels for my own pleasure (now No. 12 in the series) and to keep up my English in a country where I speak German nearly all the time. I also write poetry when the mood takes me, but in English. I have no desire to write in German.

My drawings are abstract. OK, I can draw things, but abstract painting fascinates me more, and abstract pattern and/or line drawings are almost a fixation with me now. I'll add a couple of images here to strengthen my case!

abstract drawing (A3)
When I've been to an exhibition like the Picasso one in London recently, I get a strong urge to paint. I have numerous blanco canvases stacked and waiting to be filled. But will I? Watch this space just in case...

abstract (oils) about 80cm x 1.80 metres
photo montage over my sofa

A selection of works (mostly oils) painted a while back

a few more paintings

I tried extreme realism on this


another abstract A3 (my preferred paper size)



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