westminster

Westminster

May 2008

My iTunes: Say So by Free Chapel

I'm back from my week away, and guess what: I didn't take a single picture! I'm slightly disappointed, but things just didn't work out. First, there was the problem with the weather -- while I had gorgeous weather driving up and back, the whole week was cold and rainy. I could have dealt with cold, but my camera really isn't a fan of being rained on. Then there was the schedule. While my time away was relaxing, I spent nearly eight hours a day manuscripting passages in Genesis. Not exactly conducive to photography, but all the talk about the beauty of creation made me want to go out and see it through the lens! Hopefully the weather will begin to cooperate soon and I'll be able to go out, camera in hand.

And hopefully this week won't be so full that I won't have time to take pictures. I leave next Sunday to spend three weeks in Philadelphia doing an undergraduate research fellowship, and I have a lot to do to get ready: unpacking from this past week, organizing everything from moving out last week, packing for the three weeks in Philly (I am determined to get some good photo sessions in while I'm there!), finishing all the required reading, starting to look through preliminary research (aka more reading), hopefully getting some graduate school research started, and catching up with a few friends. And of course physical therapy and a voice lesson! If I'm lucky, a little sleep would be nice as well. I hope that one day my life will not go at such a break-neck speed. Or maybe I should say back-breaking? = )

Just as a quick update, my back is doing well. I've started physical therapy, which feels great -- I can finally move again! I'm only supposed to sit for 30 minutes at a time, but that's more than I was sitting for the past two months or so. Apparently my back is rejecting the stitches, though, and one or two have already come out. I'd post a picture because I think it's fascinating (and since I can't twist around, the only way I can really see my back is if I take a picture of it), but I don't want to offend the squeamish...

Also, the grades for the semester were just posted today -- I made it through with flying colors. I'm quite pleased with how I did, especially given all the health issues I struggled with!

Finally, I heard back about the audition -- they don't have any spots open for sopranos for the next season. I'm fine with that and wasn't expecting to get anything anyway; I'm just thankful for the audition experience and I really look forward to trying again! I still plan to be in the two operas in the fall, though -- it will just be as a supernumerary again rather than as a chorister (which will probably fit better with my schedule anyway).

faces

Faces

May 2008

My iTunes: The Mermaid's Song by Anne Sofie von Otter

Writing about museums in my last post made me look through some of my old images from museums in Europe. It's difficult to photograph in museums sometimes, usually because of the low-lighting and no-flash-allowed, and the "no cameras" rule is difficult to work with as well...

I took this on my last weekend living in London; I went with a friend to the Sunday morning service at Westminster Abbey, and afterward we walked around the Abbey and looked at some of the smaller side chapels.

One of my favorite things about this image is how each person is looking somewhere different. This was just a very small section of a large painting (possibly a fresco, but I can't remember the exact setting). Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take a picture of the plaque to see what the story is about or when it was made, but my educated guess is that it dates to somewhere in the Middle Ages before the Renaissance. Art at that time was very flat and two-dimensional, and in diptychs and triptychs (two- and three- panelled altarpieces) from that era often had the angels arranged much like these people: very close together, overlapping, and without a clear sense of three-dimensional space.

I hope you learned a little something about art history, but enough of that for today. I'm getting ready to go to my follow up appointment after surgery and see if I'm allowed to sit down again! I sure hope so!

creeping ivy

Creepying Ivy

Apri 2008

My iTunes: You Are the Sun by Sara Groves

How ironic can you get -- I decided yesterday that this week I would do Project Green, and can you guess what project Anna has started? Yes, Project Green! So, I will be joining her this week in trying to find green to share with you!

I thought this image would be a nice one to start with. I really like the look of ivy, especially when it climbs around the windows of old houses. Unfortunately, I didn't find this great place State-side -- it's an old image from when I lived in London. Since I can hardly get out of bed right now, I really can gallivant around looking for green things, so the pictures this week will be pulled from my stash.

2 days until surgery.

mirror, mirror

Mirror, Mirror

April 2008

My iTunes: Lakme: Sous le dome epais, "Flower Duet" performed by Adriana Kohutkova, Denisa Slepkovska, Johannes Wildner, & Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra

As promised, a non-opera picture and posting. This is, once again, an old picture from my time in London. I like the juxtaposition of the mirror with the brick wall. They seem to embody so many opposites: vibrant and monochromatic, clean and dirty, front and back, inside and outside, flatness and depth... I guess that is part of the appeal for me with this image.

This song (which has quite a long name) is a pretty well-known duet. It's absolutely gorgeous. Two of my friends were rehearsing it yesterday and my voice teacher was working with them on it, and when she opened up and sang an example, it was like the whole world stopped to listen. I love watching her conduct and direct. It's like watching a master at work. She is a total inspiration and has the most beautiful voice I've ever heard.

the tube

The Tube

March 2008

My iTunes: Preludio from Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 by J.S. Bach

I thought I'd take a break from opera posts for the day since I didn't have rehearsal today. I've actually gone the whole day without listening to the music on my ipod, too! Perhaps I'll have a non-opera related picture tomorrow as well since our next performance is on Wednesday.

This was a shot I took in the London underground last summer. I'm not exactly sure which tube station it was in -- my guess would be either Camden Town or somewhere else closer to the city center. I think it shows a picture of the fast-paced life that we live today. But there is hope -- moments of stillness amidst the hectic times. The camera is proof!

This is a gorgeous piece -- I have two different recordings. One is a solo recording, the other is with a full orchestra. Both are beautiful. YouTube has some amazing videos of violinists playing this piece. The speed at which they can move is absolutely unreal!

british graffiti

British Graffiti

March 2008

My iTunes: Tutti Zitti from Puccini's Madame Butterfly

Posting may be a bit less frequent over the next week or so because we're coming down the home stretch with the opera. We have rehearsal almost every night this week and the final dress rehearsal is Thursday. I'm so excited! I will try my best to post, though -- I hate getting behind in my postings. I don't know what the policy on photography will be, but if I can I'll get some pictures at the opera.

celtic cross

Celtic Cross

March 2008

My iTunes: Voici Nos Gens! from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette

This is an image I wake up to every morning. To decorate my bedroom, I printed out a bunch of my photographs from Europe in black-and-white and essentially wallpapered two of my walls. This image ended up being right in my line of sight when I wake up. I think it's a good reminder of what I'd like my legacy to be one day. The inscription at the center is in Latin: "In Te Domine Speravi." It means, "In You, Lord, I trusted." The cross was on the wall in one of the cloisters at Westminster Abbey in London.

I thought it was an appropriate picture for today, the day before Easter.

And for those of you who read what I am listening to in iTunes each time I post, yes, I am still listening to the same opera. I've completely fallen in love with the music. This track is rather long (a whopping 17 minutes!), but it has one of my favorite parts of the whole opera in it. The two families are gathered around the bodies of Mercutio and Tybalt as the Duke comes to survey the scene, and they cry out for justice in a sort of call-and-response format. One voice raises the cry, "Justice!" and is echoed by the full chorus in multi-part harmony, "Justice!" The sound just fills the room and makes me weak at the knees. It's fantastic.

big ben and parliament

Big Ben and Parliament
September 2004

My iTunes: La del ciel nell'arcano profundo from Rossini's "La Cenerentola"

I was FINALLY able to upload a picture. I think that blogspot doesn't like the original one I was trying to upload because I am still unable to upload that one, but was able to get this one into the blog. This is an old picture (almost 4 years old!) from my first time in London in September of 2004. It's a shot of Big Ben and Parliament at dusk from the top of the London Eye, which is located just across the Thames.

Hopefully I won't have any more trouble with uploading pictures...

london eye

London Eye
February 2008

My iTunes: Das Rosenband by Richard Strauss, performed by Berliner Philharmoniker & Christine Schäfer

Happy Leap Year Day! (And happy birthday to the few people whose birthdays fall on 29 February and thus only have a birth-day every four years.)

Two days in a row -- I'll bet a few of my regular readers are happy that I'm back to posting!

Today I taught for 9 hours straight... it's been a long day at the end of a long week. The little coffee shop where I meet some of my students hasn't had any wall decorations up for months, and within the past two weeks they put up pictures from Italy. I have to say, my photography is much nicer that the pictures they have now... But maybe I'm just partial.

This is a shot of the London Eye, the largest ferris wheel in the world. The best time to take a ride on it is at the end of the day so that you're up at the top right at dusk. You get a pretty fantastic view of London and, provided you have a nice enough camera, you can get some great aerial shots of Big Bed and Parliament. I didn't go up on it when I lived in London (it's pretty expensive), but maybe I'll dig up some photos from the first time I went to London and did take a ride on the London Eye...

I'm back...

Westminster Abbey
February 2008

My iTunes: Laurie's Song from Copland's "The Tender Land"

It's been one month and one day and I am finally back to posting. I got my computer back a little while ago (no idea what they did to it, but it seems to be working again -- knock on wood -- and there is no more burning smell), but life has been (you guessed it) busy. Really, I don't know when my life isn't busy, but I've finally decided that I need to keep a slower pace for my sanity.

This past week s been quite emotionally draining -- I was going to start posting pictures sooner, but I haven't been up to it. To make a very long story short, a good friend's father passed away on the 17th and I've been concerned for her. I didn't realize how much it was upsetting me that she was so sad until this week. I've been thinking back to Westminster Abbey and how peaceful it is, and I thought it would be a good picture to post for my first one back. I'll try to keep posting, but we shall see how life goes for the foreseeable future...

westminster vines

Westminster Vines
December 2007

My iTunes: In Uomini, In Soldati by Kyle Engler

It's the last time I can put "2007" in a post. The year really has flown! Before I head out to do the usual New Year's Eve festivities, I like to take a minute and think about everything that has happened in the past year and to write down some of the landmark events, both positive and negative. Perhaps I'll share a few of them over the next couple posts...

But anyway, this was a picture I took outside Westminster Abbey. Being an art historian at heart, I like to see the symbolism in pictures (both paintings and photographs). I like the juxtaposition of the old brickwork with the lively vine. It reminds me of the end of a year, with the new and the old right next to each other. Neither is inherently better than the other, but instead they work together to show off a greater narrative thread.

Okay, enough with the philosophical reflections -- have a happy (and safe) New Year's, wherever you are!

westminster abbey

Westminster Abbey
December 2007

My iTunes: Wiegenlied by Luciano Pavarotti

Now that I have Photoshop CS3, I'm starting to pull up some pictures I've taken on my travels and editting a few of my favorites. The first time I went to London, I wanted to take a picture of Westminster Abbey without any people. But the problem was: it's a tourist hot-spot. So the next time I went to London, I went to a Sunday morning service then walked around a bit afterward. There were no people, but there was a sign in this shot that irritated me every time I looked at the picture. But now, thanks to Photoshop... it's gone!