Brian Dickie

22 days

Saint Petersburg

That was a trip that was!  14 cities in 11 countries in 22 days.  And the search continues for the 45 young singers who will participate in the final stages in Guetersloh in October.  We are at about 34 at this stage, with a good many excellent ones on the waiting list and four more more cities to come.  So the competition is hot and the list of candidates so far includes some major personalities I believe.

About the tird of the total to date are sopranos.  That is to be expected.  What is gratifying is that by chance there is a 50/50 split men and women.  That is a pleasant surprise.  But as usual we are short of first class mezzos and tenors.  So the best of the waiting list mezzos and tenors have the better chance of getting promoted.  But my two final stops are Mexico City and Buenos Aires, the capitals of tenorland!

In my review let me begin with the disappointments.  There were a number of places as usual where we drew a blank.  They were Oslo, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw and London.  This was our first time including Oslo - maybe the timing was bad.  They have their own Queen Sonja competition this year and one can understand that we may have been one too many. 

Riga and Vilnius drew a blank after a couple of competitions when they did well.  The winner last time was Latvian, and we have had excellent Lithuanian candidates plucked from Vilnius including a prize winner in 2005.  So maybe this was an off vintage.  We will be back there in 2011 but maybe not Oslo.  Again Warsaw was a disappointment given the high quality of singers that have emerged from Poland over the years.  We need to look at this more closely. 

London is full of talent - and the best are fully employed.  Finalists picked by me in the past from London have included Andrew Staples and Jonathan Lemalu - but neither showed up for the final stages - too busy!  Both now have stellar careers.

 

Tbilisi

And now the surprises.  We went to Tbilisi for the first time.  Georgia has produced a large number of fine singers over the years.  Remarkable for a country of just three million.  We had a new inexperienced organiser there - but she came up trumps and there will be two Georgians in the finals, a delectable soprano and a fine bass.  Whether they go the full distance remains to be seen. 

There are always very many Koreans auditioning in Germany and although we have had a second prize winner in the past, Woo-Kyung Kim, they by and large do not do well in spite of some outstanding vocal talent.  But this year we snatched two from Munich, one in Berlin and one in Dusseldorf.  I will be surprised if none of these end up winnning serious money in October.

It is not a surprise, but a plus all the same, that Moscow produced three outstanding finalists, including a young tenor who has the makings of being a "total package" - by that I mean graced with a beautiful voice, a handsome presence and musicianship of outstanding sensibility.  He will be watched with interest. 

The waiting list is large and full of quality.  So I think that we have the prospect of a very high class field indeed come October, even if some of the currently elected candidates drop out. 

I have had a great adventure these last four weeks.  I have made new friends and met up again with old ones.  It is enormously encouraging to find that the passion and dedication of the finest young singers, and the enthusiasm and advocacy of those that look after them and promote them, is much the same around the world, with a few exceptions of course.  The successful ones are those that work hard and think carefully about what they are doing and why.  The disappointments are those that are spoilt and regard success as a right rather than a privilege earned.

 

Istanbul

I have been to some fascinating new places and revisited old favorites.  I had the best time in St Petersburg and Tbilisi, a wonderful day off in Istanbul.  We had an excellent series of auditions in the three German cities, Berlin, Munich and Dusseldorf where I was joined by the outstanding leader of the Neue Stimmen organization, Ines Koring, together with her team members Alina-Julia Grot and Karolina Zarzycki without whom things could never run smoothly.  In Berlin Nadine Lindemann was also with us - Nadine was the team leader when I first did this in 1999.  She now heads up the Liz Mohn Foundation, a separate entity which supports amongst other things, the Berlin Staatsoper Studio.

Back in the office tomorrow with a pile of stuff to deal with over the next couple of days.  In particular there is much to be done to give shape to our 2011 season.  And at the end of the week I am heading for Castleton, Virginia.  That will be another story!

Home for July 4

So I am back in Chicago and will take a little break from the blog, maybe for 24 hours or so.  Before Sunday evening I will do a brief retrospective of the last four week marathon, and give an update on the present state of the candidates for the final rounds of Neue Stimmen in October.  And there will be some of the usual personal observations no doubt.  But we are not done yet.  Next stop is San Francisco on July 21.  And I am in Mexico City and Buenos Aires August 23-28.

Meanwhile I am looking forward to the festivities of the coming weekend.

Home at last!

Well not quite - but getting there.  I am at Heathrow where the AA Admirals Club is under construction and there is no Internet access.  So I am sitting out in the general area also known as London's most disagreeable shopping mall.  Here I can connect to you all.  They do have aircraft here as well though you would be forgiven for overlooking that.  Don't you love it?

I think I have had enough of this and will go back to the construction site.  I will arrive at O'Hare around 3.30 p.m.

Postscript to above.  Sensation - there is a One World Lounge managed by BA next to the Admirals Club which I discovered on my way back to the hapless Admirals Club.  It is lavish of course.  Designed to be used by long haul travelers to South America on Iberia and the Far East via Cathay pacific.  And Japan via Helsinki and over the pole on Finnair. Others too no doubt.  JL?  Don't think BA operates from Terminal Three.  More seasoned travelers may know better!

Anyway all those other flights are afternoon and evening so I have this huge place to myself!

Farewell London!

I have had a couple of days based in London but return to Chicago tomorrow.  Today has been a wonderful last dalliance with the place, and a full one too.

This morning was spent at the English National Opera where they had the dress rehearsal of L'amour de loin.  This wonderful piece was first given in Salzburg and was then seen in Santa Fe and elsewhere.  For the audience it requires some thoughtful advance preparation, and is a deeply moving opera.  And the ENO have put together a remarkable team led by director/lighting designer/choreographer Daniele Finzi Pasca. This is opening on Friday and is not to be missed.  There are images of magical beauty and performances by Roderick Williams and Joan Rogers which you will not quickly forget.  Altogether unlike anything that you may have seen before.  I was spellbound.  My Chicago friends will be wise to go in their droves to Toronto when this show appears there in 2012. 

And then I spent the afternoon with my colleague from the Canadian Opera Company, its General Director  Alexander Neef, here as a co producer with ENO of L'amour de loin, and also to hear some of the many singers on the British market.  We shared the time and space at the ever hospitable Royal Opera House.

I will try to get the first flight to Chicago tomorrow rather than wait for the one I am booked on.  So an early start from here at 5.30 am.  So a relatively early night for me although it is already 11.10 pm

English Country House Opera 2

Of course Glyndebourne inspired this country house opera thing but many people do not realize that in fact it has nothing to do with country house opera.  Glyndebourne is about the highest standards, and productions and performances therefore at a level of excellence on a regular basis that equals or exceeds (usually the latter) anything that is available elsewhere.  The fact that it is in the countryside, and  there is a very pretty house attached to the opera house (rather than vice-versa), so people get confused!

You can see something of the history of this remarkable place by going to their website.   And better still buy the newly published Glyndebourne - A Visual History.  This wonderful volume has been produced to mark the 75th Anniversary of the place.  And they have done a remarkable job.  And the text is by Sir George Christie who writes with unassailable authority and a candid style about each of the decades pictured so comprehensively.  Wonderful stuff with a nutshell history of the place by the man who led it as Chairman of the Board from 1959 to his retirement and handing over the reins to his son Gus in 2000.

The performance this evening was of Purcell's The Fairy Queen which has been received so warmly.  It was indeed an enormously enjoyable evening.  William Christie presided over the whole proceedings including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with his usual genial authority as well as rigorous atttention to detail.  The enormous cast of actors and singers produced a truly baroque experience - with the magnificence and scale of the production, sets, costumes, the whole remarkable elaborate approach, the like of which one rarely encounters, especially in these austere times!  Since the Brooklyn Academy of Music is billed as a co-producer I assume that it will be seen in NY in due course.

Dinner during the intermission with George and Mary Christie in the Mildmay Restaurant with, as usual, an assortment of fascinating fellow guests, was yet another reminder to me of the extraordinary good fortune I had to spend 27 years as a Glyndebourne employee.  So many old friends to catch up with and keep in touch with.  With Neue Stimmen this year this will be my only Glyndebourne visit.  I am told that the forthcoming Rusalka is something very special.  With Ana Maria Martinez in the title role it certainly should be.  I was bowled over by her Nedda at the Chicago Lyric this last season.

I am done for this evening.  It is 2.30 am here in London!

Bit of a shocker.......

I had my London auditions today.  All round more than a little disappointing.  Firstly, there were more than forty accepted applicants.  Today just seventeen showed up.  Some canceled so we knew.  Others just failed to show!  That's rude - and will catch up with them no doubt.  This is the only city this year that behaved like that.  I feel embarrassed as an Englishman. 

I am feeling pretty happy though.  The toughest part is over and I am going to have an early night.  And I will be at Glyndebourne tomorrow.  What more can one ask for?

English Country House Opera

I made my first visit today to the little festival opera in Hampshire - Grange Park, in what I can only call Angleterre profonde.  Together with Garsington it has provided additional opportunities for English opera lovers to see good stuff in an idyllic setting.  Glyndebourne was the originator of this back in 1934, and sets the bar impossibly high for others coming along.  Garsington has been a sucess since 1989, and Grange Park came along 12 years ago.  Both are still going strong and are amusing features in the English summer social as well as artistic calendars.  Above you see enchanting Grange Park during the intermission of their production of the Cunning Little Vixen this evening.

I will be at Glyndebourne on Tuesday for Purcell's Fairy Queen in what appears to be a sensational production.  This will be a huge treat.

Its late and I have an early start and long day tomorrow.  Main course is London's Neue Stimmen auditions at the Royal Opera House.  So that's enough for tonight.

Some reflections on St Petersburg

There is evidence to show that during the last 20 years or so St Petersburg has been the cradle of modern Russian singing.  Gergiev’s work at the Maryinsky has been hugely important and influential.  He is a charismatic presence and a magnet.  His sister, Larissa Gergieva, is a very talented musician, a fine accompanist, and in leading the Academy at the Maryinsky, has been involved in the development and emergence of a splendid array of Russian singers.

I heard a good many of the Academy singers yesterday evening.  They were all accomplished of course, some massively so.  I would like to encourage them to come much better prepared than they were.  Being a member of this elite group does not provide a free pass.  It is a privilege that should bring with it a responsibility to represent the institution in the best way in all respects, not just as voices.   The voices are a given.  What is more difficult and takes serious time and focus, is thinking!  And in this case thinking about the repertoire you are going to present, making sure that you prepare it to the highest standard of which you are capable, and putting not just your own best foot forward but that of the institution you represent as well.  I am trying to be helpful here.  Please do not take it as criticism!

I will be hearing a proportion of the young artists in the Jette Parker program at Covent Garden on Wednesday.  It will make an interesting comparison!

Anyway, all that said, there will be two from St Petersburg going to the Neue Stimmen finals in October.

I had a fine last spin around the city this morning.  One of the many pleasures was a good look at the Aleksandrinsky Theater, now known also as the Pushkin Drama Theater, a magnificent creation of Carlo Rossi, one of the most important architects of St Petersburg.  Here below you have both the front and back of this amazing building, built 1828-32.

This is the theater from the Nevsky Prospekt side.  The pediment has the Chariot of the leader of the Muses - Apollo.

And here you have the front of the theater looking up Rossi Street, really a startling beautiful street even by St Petersburg standards.  And not a lot of traffic thank goodness -  I was standing in the middle of the street to take this picture.  At around 11 am today!

I am writing this on the flight to London where I now am!  More excitements over the next few days.  No more tonight though.

Killer day in St Petersburg!

It was a real long one for me.  I was out of the hotel at 9 and got back around 12.45 having walked some 20,000 paces according to my pedometer which was generously donated prior to my leaving on this trip. I was supposed to do at least 10,000 a day - well today is over for me and the meter reads 26,158!

It was a lovely time seeing more of this inexhaustible city.  But I was glad to get back in time for a quick bath and then lunch before meeting my exceptionally capable interpreter here at the hotel at 2.30.  

I then went on my first trip on the excellent St Petersburg Metro.  The auditions have been divided into two parts with the afternoon ones with one gang at the Polytechnic University an enormous place somewhat at the end of the line, a thirty minute ride.  So quicker and cheaper than a cab, and more fun. We ended up in a wonderful hall perfect for the purpose.  After a couple of hours of that we went back to the center in the heaving rush hour crowds and found an excellent supper on the Nevsky Prospect before arriving at the Maryinsky for auditions which started at 8.30 and ended at 11.  And some good ones there were too, in particular some members of the Opera Academy which is presided over by Larissa Gergieva with a genial but firm hand.  Coming out of the Maryinsky at 11.15 in broad daylight was excellent and the old place looked pretty good at that time of night as you can see below.  They were most hospitable - I hope that we can make this a regular date. 

I have another morning in St Petersburg before leaving for London late tomorrow afternoon.  Neue Stimmen auditions are there on Monday.  But Sunday will not be a day off opera - I will be at Grange Park for the first time - to see David Alden's new production of The Cunning Little Vixen.

Amazing new violinist

I made it to the St Petersburg Philharmonic's concert with Ashkenazy this evening.  And there was a phenomenal young violiinist on parade, Sergei Dogadin - only 21.  He is already no doubt well known in the violin world although I was unable to find him in the usual places in Google land.  I must try harder.  I can't believe this guy is not going to be a major star.  Maybe he is already for all I know!   But it was a new name for me.

So it was a nice program, the Beethoven concerto and Heldenleben which Ashkenazy let rip in this beautiful small concert hall - (quick snap with an ancient pocket camera before the show this evening!)

I grew up with a bunch of recordings by this orchestra conducted by the legendary Evgeny Mravinsky so to  hear them in the flesh in their own hall was a real treat.  Its a really small concert hall for such a noisy band,  Just around 1,300 seat maximum I would have thought.  Those Shostakovitch symphonies must have sounded really scary in there!

I then walked back to the hotel, around 9.30 it was by the time we got out.  And it was bright daylight of course.  Here is the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood as it looked at 9.30 this evening.  I then proceeded down the splendid Nevsky Prospect and wound my way back to Arkadia! (that's the name of my hotel for new readers)

My auditions tomorrow are afternoon and evening so I will have another morning free to see more of the riches of this magnificent city.

A quick walk around St Petersburg

I went out for a couple of hours and had a lovely walk around this splendid city.  It is heaving with tourists of course at this time of the year, some of whom you see above this afternoon.  So I am particularly grateful to be in this hotel in a quiet backwater away from the grander hotels such as the Astoria and Angleterre.  But I am five minutes walk from the Winter Palace, St Isaak's, the Admiralty etc.  So it is perfect. 

I am hoping t get to a concertt by the St Petersburg Philharmonic this evening.  Vladimir Ashkenazy is conducting Ein Heldenleben - abnd there is some unspecified Beethoven on the program.

And you see below the nice location of the Arkadia Hotel.  Well worth looking at if you are coming here - unless you insist on a posh place, in which case this is not for you!

A look back at Dusseldorf

The two days in Dusseldorf were pretty dire actually, with huge pressure to get through a hundred singers in the two days.  But we did it, and our patience was rewarded in the last hour of the second day with this little miracle.

I should explain how we conduct these auditions.  It is like a blind wine tasting.  I have no idea of the background of any of the singers – where they have studied, who their teachers are, what engagements they have had etc  So I do not see a resume, something which usually accompanies a singer in the ordinary general auditions one does on a regular basis.  So there is no chance that the “label” can influence my “tastebuds” in the subtle way that some prior knowledge can modify one’s perception of quality.  Yes, we must admit it, it can happen!

So this young lady appeared, aged 24, not unlike three dozen others I heard during the previous 30 hours.  Then something unusual happened – here was someone so totally prepared musically, completely sound technically, and so into what she was singing, that I sat up and took special notice. As her first choice Anne Truelove’s aria from The Rake’s Progress for a young Korean who appeared not to speak much English might be thought to be risky.  But it was immaculate!  It might have been Felicity Lott or Heather Harper…..perfect enunciation, every word given its right weight and inflection.  I was captured.  And then she went on to do the same with Bellini. 

So I did something I rarely do – I asked her who her teacher was.  And it turned out that she is at one the finest schools in Germany with one of Europe’s most highly regarded singing teachers.  They really make a difference these teachers.  In this case it is someone who did not have a substantial career as a singer but turned out to be a miracle worker as a teacher.  He has been around working these miracles these last 30 years or so.  We are indebted to him for a whole generation of world-class singers. It is sometimes true -  “Those who can - do, those who can’t – teach.”

So I am now in St Petersburg  in my cosy little hotel, The Arkadia.  The Wifi is free and the whole feeling is of old Russia – not your normal comfortable western hotel.  But as far as I can see so far it is to be recommended.  We shall see how I get on for these two days.

But now I have some work to get done before going out to have a look around.  I will be back later!

early start tomorrow

My flight to St Petersburg is at 6.40 am tomorrow so I have to be up at 4.  So forgive me, I will be brief this evening.  Or maybe you are relieved........

Summary - we have another three finalists from here, two men, a baritone and a bass, and a soprano.  And she is something of a miracle.

I will try to elaborate on this on my flight into Russia again tomorrow morning.  But it all depends on whether I have a seat on the plane that enables me to get my MacBook out and working.......if not you may have to wait until later.  Meanwhile its time for a few hours of sleep.

Overload

Yesterday was a pretty relentless one.  On these two days in Dusseldorf we have 125 singers scheduled to sing at a rate of nine each hour.  Of course that is far too much an the plan is made on the basis that a whole bunch will not show up.  A bit like the airlines overbooking I suppose.  The problem that arose yesterday was that in the morning everyone showed up.  So I ended up by having a single ten minute break between 10 am and 6pm. 

The same may happen today!  We shall find out in a couple of hours.  But the compensating thing is that we are in a splendid rehearsal room on the 6th floor of the Dusseldorf Opera House, all mirrors and light, with a nice terrace to wander onto if there are a few seconds to spare.  You can see the arrangement in the photo - (click to enlarge).  Behind the singer (a rather good German baritone actually) there is a mirror on the wall in which you can see me in the far distance with my finger on the shutter!  And the sun and trees behind me.  Get it?!

The people here are very good to us.  Unfortunately the Intendant, my old friend Tobias Richter, was not in town.  He leaves here to take over in Geneva at the end of this season.  But I saw him at Lulu in London a couple of weeks back.  But his successor, Christoph Meyer, dropped in to welcome us and have a chat.  So that was friendly - typical in our business on the whole I would say. 

And after all that last night it was a performance of La Wally.  I think that there is a good reason that this peice is rarely performed.  But it was great to hear the beautiful aria, that we hear so often in audition, Ebben, ne andro lontana, in its context.

Off to breakfast now!

Home thoughts from abroad

Life goes on back home while I am making this progress around Europe.   And today we have launched a whole new line of COT stuff -  fun stuff, useful stuff, and just plain........stuff!

You can see the full collection at the  Cafe Press e-store.  I know that this is what you have all been waiting for.  And our ever watchful and patient marketing department is there for you.

The Rhine

I am in Dusseldorf for two days of auditions.  I arrived here at 2pm and have spent the afternoon tidying up all the paperwork of the last two weeks.  It has been a relief to get to it at last and now it is done!  All this is spite of the distraction of the opening day of Wimbledon (Sharapova and Federer both won) and the US Open - Tiger appears to be out of it but one never knows!

I will then be having a relaxed dinner and an early night.  These days are going to be as full as Berlin.  The Deutsche Oper am Rhein are our hosts, and I am staying in the Park Hotel behind the opera house.  So this is a two minute journey to the office tomorrow!  This is the place I stayed at regularly on my Dusseldorf trips years ago.  Its good to be back!

I hope to get to the opera tomorrow evening.  This to see a piece that in my 57 years of opera going I have never seen - Catallani's La Wally.  We who auditon singers a good deal know at least one of the arias.  It will be nice to hear it in context.

Berlin Day 2

As in Moscow, Day 2 was an improvement over Day 1.  We had some super singers and there may be as many as five going through to the finals from here.  But that is as it should be.  We had as many as 125 listed to sing here.  In fact a handful less than 100 showed up.  But they were a fantastic mixed bunch - and this illustrates the importance of Berlin.  We had singers from no less that 25 different nationalities auditioning here.  And it was two long days.  Today started at ten and we were not through until after 7pm.

 Once gain we found that there were fabulous Koreans.  It is a strange fact - but almost 30% of the competitors come from that little peninsula in the far east.  And the star of this morning was a 25 year old Korean with impeccable German and a musical and theatrical talent that will take him the whole way.  But we also had fine young singers from Australia, Israel, China, and Georgia who seem set to go further.

Tomorrow I am off to Dusseldorf for another couple of full days.  And to St Petersburg on Thursday......this means its coming to an and.  This leg anyway!

And so after that long day I spent some minutes more than two hours in the Staatsoper at their new production of Entfuehrung.  This was pretty well undiluted pleasure, and on the music front a total wonder.  The cast was the dream one for the day - the unique Christine Schaefer was Constanze and Pavel Bresnik Belmonte.  But the above all joy was the stunning Anna Prohaska, a rag doll of a Blonde (see her left)  - a great star in the making. And the other emergoing star is of course Philippe Jordan who conducted.  If you can get to Berlin to see this production do try to.  This opera is rarely presented with the honesty and understanding of its essence that we see here.  And we have the additional advantage of NO intermission.  Yes, it is two hours and ten minutes without a break and is riveting.  The pictures here are from the Staatsoper's website.

Saturday evening

So yesterday evening turned out just fine.  The production of Viva la Mamma by the Staatsoper studio  people was most enjoyable with outstanding performances from Viktor Rud and Fernando Javier Rado.  And the rest were not shabby - Evelin Novak, a Croation and a new member of the studio is one to watch. 

But Rud, in the drag role of Mamma Agata, was completely brilliant.  This was a comic performance which was finely judged, never over the top, with a masterly command of detail remarkable for someone so relatively young.  25 or so?  He will be joining the Hamburg Opera next season. He is going places, no question.

And Rado, second prize winner of Neue Stimmen in 2007, is a gloriously voiced bass which combined with his charming personality made a huge amount of the role of the Maestro.  He is a baby too, just 24 I think, with a very bright future.

So if you are in Berlin its worth going to this show.  Small problem - this one act opera is given with an intermission.  A mistake in my view - the piece, sweet though it is, has just enough material in it for 75 minutes of enjoyment.  It is tiresome to break it into two short chunks.

The photo here, "borrowed" from the Staatsoper website, shows Rado and Rud with the delightful Palestinian soprano, Enas Massalha, another great asset of the Staatsoper's studio.

This was followed by a happy reunion with Lothar Zagrosek.  We met for dinner at the excellent Lutter and Wegner next to the Konzerthaus where Lothar had a concert earlier.  So good to see him again.

More later about Day 2 of the Berlin auditions!

Day 1 in Berlin

So we finished our marathon - we were the guests of the Berlin Staatsoper (seen above in the mid morning light after clouds appeared) who kindly provided all the facilities.  The orchestra rehearsal room is the perfect place for these things, excellent acoustic and just the right size.  I will give a fuller report on Berlin tomorrow after our second day.  This is evening is somewhat fraught.  I seem to be double booked and have to be at Viva la Mamma instead of the concert.  But I will still be having dinner with Lothar Zagrosek.  Seems like a good compromise!

Good morning Berlin!

I just woke up to this view out of my window on this gorgeous morning in Berlin.  This is the dome of Berlin Cathedral on the bank of the River Spree.  I am in the Radisson Blu on the opposite bank - the river is barely 50 yards wide at this point.

We have auditions today from 10 to 7 at the Staatsoper, Unter den Linden in this beautiful part of the former East Berlin.  And this evening I will be at a concert by the Konzerthaus Orchestra (formerly the Berlin Symphony) at their beautiful home base.  Its a great program conducted by Lothar Zagrosek - an old friend from Glyndebourne and Canadian Opera Company days.  It will be great to see him.

But between now and then 60 singers will have been tested. And so will I!

Tailing off

Nobody is much reading my meanderings at the end of the week.  And I am done for the week as well.  I hope to come with some excitement tomorrow.  I am in Berlin and this is a city of action.  I hope to have some for you.......

The Big Theater

So I went to the first two acts of the Figaro at the Chamber Opera.  There was some excellent singing including a delightful performance by the Cherubino, Julita Miroslawska, and a powerfully and impressively sung Count from Witold Żołądkiewicz.  I then walked back to my hotel via the Theatr Wielki, stopping it must be admitted for some typically Polish ribs on the way - at an excellent establishment called Restauracja u Fiszera.  No amount of Googling finds a legible website unless you speak Polish.  But its near the opera, very good value, and with delightful staff. 

And I then passed the Theater, all lit up.  Really pretty. 

Warsaw auditions

I walked from the lovely Bristol Hotel through the old town to the splendid Warsaw Opera House, the Teatr Wielki (being the Polish for Bolshoi being the Russian for Big!), where, as in my last five visits here for Neue Stimmmen, the auditions were being held.  It was a clear but not sunny morning.  The place looks as delightful as ever as you can see here.  Of course all this had been reduced to rubble (at least 80% of it) during World War 2, and it was quickly and painstakingly rebuilt.

We had a long but not dazzling day of auditions. It is becoming very competitive indeed now as we get to the end. It happens.  But my two fellow jurors, the immensely distinguished Polish singers Hanna Lisowska and Kazimierz Pustelak, were as charming as ever, and the ever efficient Krysztof Kur presided genially.  These people are so hospitable.  And we had a fabulous real Polish country lunch across the square from the Opera at a place with a totally incomprehensible name - but its the place for cabbage!

This evening I will be back at the Chamber Opera for a performance of Figaro.  I must confess to feeling a little shredded for the first time.  So I may very well not last the course.  Tomorrow I am off to Berlin, but not untl the afternoon.  So I can have a lie in and a nice morning around town.

Remember remember...........

This morning I went to the former KGB headquarters in Vilnius, now the Museum of the Victims of Genocide.  And a chilling place it is.  And all the more so since it is a mere 18 years since the Russians vacated it and departed from this beautiful country.  They are clearly not missed.  Nor should they be.  As a reminder of the human being's potential for evil this is a powerful one.  I think that the officials of all Western Intelligence Services need to come and have a look. They might want to think about their misdeeds, should there be any, being put on display eighteen years down the line....

The banner at the top of this posting is the collage of 21st century school children's paintings in response to this appalling story.  I photographed it outside the museum this morning.  You can not see much detail - but I will be putting  a selection on my photo site later today. I have now done this.

And in the middle you have a padded cell.......

The picture at the bottom is the apparently distinguished and kindly face of this building, at the back of which the horrors of cells, execution rooms, torture rooms and padded cells are there for us all to see.  The Lithuanian story is not as well known as the Holocaust.  It was much smaller is scale but for the victims no less savage.  Healing this will take generations no doubt, but heal it must.  In the meantime it is important to remember.  If only one felt sure that it will never happen again.  Alas it is, somewhere in the world, as I write this.

My flight to Warsaw is delayed - but I will get there this evening and look forward to a performance of Lucio Silla, part of the Warsaw Chamber Opera's annual thorough survey of Wolfgang's operas.