Oh No! Not AGAIN?!!!

Insanity (latin)- noun, plural – ties.  1.  the condition of being insane; a derangement of the mind.  2.  doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  3.  wanting to be an Opera conductor.  Here I go again…Those of you who were familiar with this blog 2 years ago will remember that from April-June, 2008, I was hip deep in conducting Europe’s newest production of Porgy & Bess at the Opera Lyon in France.  This was a crazy experience for several reasons:

1.  It’s opera.  Anything that can go wrong, will.  And did.

2.  It’s opera, which means that you are now dealing with singers.  Singers are Different.  That’s just the way life is.

3.  My French sucks.  I took 6 years of that bloody language in grade school, but I could never get past the fact that you had these words with 33 letters in them that ended up being pronounced as 1 syllable.  What up with that?

4.  Porgy & Bess, for all that it has some terrific music in it, is a rambling mess.  For example, there are more titled roles in P&B then there are in the entire Ring Cycle.

5.  If you put that number of Black folk together for two months there’s no limit on the level of lunacy one can achieve.  Trust me.

I’m sure there were some other reasons why it was a nutty time in my life but those are the ones that stick out.  So why, pray tell, do I find myself packing my bags and getting ready for another trip to Lyon?  Have I gone insane?

Well, yes, is the short answer.  It’s probably also the long answer. The extended dance remix answer would have so many adjectives of an objectionable nature that I’m sure the FCC would shut this blog down before sunset. But here I go again.  Starting next week I’ll be blogging from Lyon where I will conduct two performances of a revival of P&B, and then the fun really begins.  In August I shall be blogging from Edinburgh, Scotland, where we are opening the Edinburgh Festival with this very production.  It promises to be a very, very interesting experience.

So, gang, hold onto your horses and stay tuned.  The only thing crazier than conducting opera is taking an opera company on tour!!! I’m thinking it’s time to check that Prozac prescription.