New Recording Device

I recorded our rehearsal last week with an old mini-tape recorder. It was good enough to practise with but a bit irritating. I tried using my mp3 player but found it to not have enough memory so now I purchased a new digital recorder. I am praying that it is clearer than the old recorder so that I don't get a headache trying to hear the piano. With that being said, it was helpful to hear Chorus Master Duane Davis' comments and instructions over again. I should have done this from the first rehearsal. Oh, well, now that I have my spiffy new digital recorder I will be using it for every rehearsal. I play flute and piccolo with a concert band that has a rehearsal tomorrow night so I will be using my new gadget for that also. I hope I get a lot of use out of the purchase, but I don't want to be the "weirdo with the digital recorder".

Even though I could relive last weeks rehearsal over and over again, I am still having a hard time with the language. The chorus' first piece in the show is complicated as far as fitting the Italian into the music. I'm sure if we were fluent in the language it would all make sense, but I find it confusing. There are a couple of moments in another chorus piece that the music is quite fast with a lot of language which gets mumbled if you don't have it right on the 16th or 32nd note. While going over the language in rehearsal I began to feel like it was "rapping with Donizetti" as we droned on in rhythm without singing the notes. In order to remember the words, I have to "rap" it out in staccato and by phrase. I don't believe I will have a second career as an Opera Rap star, but for now it makes the memorization a little fun.