Sempre Libera: Day 1

Day 1 of our recording sessions has come and gone! What an amazing experience. I guess I knew what to expect, but there were still some surprises. Mainly, there were things I thought would go faster than they did. But in the end, everything happened exactly as it needed to.

Our friends at Azica records, Alan Bise and Bruce Egre, were absolutely amazing. They were both super chill and supportive and constantly gave us great advice on how to proceed. The sound they are getting for us is beautiful, and the hall is gorgeous with a warm and responsive sound which makes our lives infinitely easier. The piano also has a great sound and Valerie is having a blast playing it. And of course she sounds fantastic!

Today we recorded five of the 16 tracks:

“O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi (Pucinni)
“Traum durch die dammerung”, a song by Strauss
“Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix” from Samson et Delila (Saint-Saens)
“Che gelida manina” from La Boheme (Puccini)
“Pogner’s Address” from Die Meistersinger (Wagner)

I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a plan of attack for recording order keeping our stamina in mind, and I think we did quite well! I think the biggest challenge was the Wagner. It’s long and after four pretty standard pieces we both found it a bit jarring to switch gears to the musical language of Wagner. In the end, though, I think it’s a wonderful performance of the piece.

We had breakfast at a local bakery this morning and lunch at this fun little 50’s diner that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. They had a an incredible pie menu but we both passed (for now!) because we didn’t want to go into a food coma for the afternoon session.

We start up again tomorrow morning and are shooting to do six arias over the course of the day. It’s a big list with one of the three arias I’m the most anxious about; Una voce poco fa. It’s challenging to begin with, but it’s part of a three aria tribute to Maria Cllas, and I’m playing her ornamentations from her 1954 recording. It’s hard!!! But after today, I know we will have a great final product.

Now it’s time for a nap, some drinks, and dinner!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s update!

Thanks 🙂

Ted