November 3, 2011Two years since an update to this page is a new record for me. These last few years seemed to have flown by. So much has happened and everyone is always asking me for an update of What's Up!, so here goes!
Puccini's Il Tabarro
(Pictured: Jonathan Hodel, Kirsten Hoiseth Thayer and Chad Karl)   Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci (Pictured: Jonathan Hodel, Kirsten Hoiseth Thayer Yoonsang Lee and Chad Karl)     Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (Pictured: Jonathan Hodel, Douglin Murray Schmidt and Soo-Ah Park)      Offenbach's Les Contes D'Hoffmann (Pictured: Jonathan Hodel, Benjamin Le Claire and Jacqueline Thompson)     Johann Strauss Jr's Die Fledermaus (Pictured: Jonathan Hodel, Elizabeth Andrews Roberts, Geroge Williams, Benjamin Spierman and Alyssa Bowlby)      (The above pictures were taken by multiple photographers who came to see productions at Opera in the Heights. I do not know their names. I would like to state that I am not receiving any financial reward from these pictures appearing on my website. They are here strictly for the enjoyment of the public at large.) As I wrote above, I lost one opera, but gained another...Die Fledermaus. After arriving home in early October (2010) from the Hoffmann production, and just before finding out about the Fledermaus, I recieved an email which I thought surely must be junk mail. Luckily, I read the byline before deleting the email: "Congratulations, you are the winner of the 2010 Colorado Ski Pass." I contacted Sports Authority to ask them if this was real, and they said that yes indeed it was. I scarcely could believe it. It seems that in late August, I had stopped by Sports Authority's SNIAGRAB ski sale on it's first day and had signed up for a drawing. That something was a free Colorado Ski Pass and I was one of only two nationwide winners. The pass was good for unlimited skiing at three ski areas, A-Basin, Keystone and Breckenridge, and ten days at Vail and Beaver Creek. If you don't know skiing...these are some of the best places to ski in the world. Normally, on any given year, I may ski three to four times at most. This season I ended up sking eighteen times! I must say, I got better during the season, or maybe just gutsier, as I now have been know to ski the occassional double-black diamond (extreeme terrain for those who do not know). I also rode up into the mountains with other friends that had passes and enjoyed skiing with them as well. Altogether, it was an excellent ski season, made even better as it was one Colorado's Best years for snow in the mountains. I think Loveland had around 40 feet of snowfall last year.      Also on the lighter side, I relived a little of my childhood by going to a few rock concerts of groups I have enjoyed over the years. Two summers ago, I went to see Chicago with the Doobie Brothers. Then after singing the Verdi Requiem in Maryland, I was lucky to have purchased one of the last tickets tickets to see the original members of the group Asia perform in a very intimate setting. The group hadn't played together since I was in high school and they are all excellent musicians. Then just last month I saw Night Ranger, Foreigner and Journey all play together the same night. I walked away from each of these concerts with an appreciation for their musicianship, their ability to continue in their craft over many years (some well into their sixties) and an enjoyment of the electric atmosphere that manifests itself over the course of a performance. Each was well worth the time and the money. I think it's great for classical musicians such as myself to get out and see the other side of our industry. Since the death of Lorenzo Malfatti, my Italian vocal coach of many years, my plan had been to go to Germany again to do some auditions like I had in the past. I had intended to go in late 2010 but my performance of Die Fledermaus and the ski pass sealed that season's fate. I did go to New York for a few auditions where I was able to reconnect with some good friends. So my trip to Germany was pushed off until this year. I am writing this blog from Germany and I am still waiting to hear of any auditions this year. I did sing one audition which confirmed some of my suspicions about my voice, in a very good way. I thought I would conclude this brief blog by including some pictures from my trip to Meersburg on the Bodensee, my trip to Bekenried, Switzerland to see some good friends, and my trip to Berchtesgaden with my brother David.
Stauffenberg's House in Lautlingen, and Meersburg, on the Bodensee Bekenried Switzerland on Lake Luzern |
