This took a while…I will try to refine it. This is a view of one of the towers at San Gimignano, a famous town in Tuscany about an hour from Greve (where we are located for MOS). It is referred to as the “medieval Manhattan” because of the very tall towers surrounding the square. “Back…

Well, my stomach has settled down but the zanzara (mosquito) bites are still red, swollen and itchy…need I say ugly as well? I found some Zyrtec at the pharmacy which I will take tonight before going to bed, as it’s supposed to make one drowsy. I had 2 great sessions this morning…11:30, lesson with Jack; 12:30, drama coaching with Dona.…

The heat and mosquitoes and bum ankle have finally taken their toll. To top it off, I woke up this morning (Tuesday) around 3:00 with diarrhea. On top of a somewhat sleepless night on Sunday, I am just done in and decided to forego my 3 classes today. I think it might be a combination of…

Hello, everyone – I have now been here in Greve for one week, and on the practical side of things, it’s been a challenge. Everybody goes “ooh, ahh” when your friend or colleague goes off to study and sing opera in Italy, but few people know about the heat, the zanzara (mosquitoes), and getting used…

Since half of Monday classes were cancelled due to the weather event, they were made up on Friday morning. I had one coaching with Felice, and am starting to work on my second big aria for MOS, “O, ma lyre immortelle” from Gounod’s opera Sapho.Felice knew right away that I presented him with a transposed version (originally…

Hello, everyone – study and coaching are glorious, but it’s an effort due to the heat and mosquitoes, which follow us to the school where we have classes.Here is a typical day – in fact, this was my day today (Francesca, the scheduling coordinator, sends out the schedule around 9:00 pm for the next day): 10:30 – half hour…

Finally, the weather has broken and it’s been a lovely day…yes, quite warm in the classrooms (when you have 3 or 4 singers observing a lesson, and the singer herself wailing away, it gets pretty hot regardless of the oscillating fan).My day started with a 10:30 lesson with Nelly Miricioiu – most of you have heard…

So…first day of class, and word of where it would actually be held didn’t get to all of us. When Dona Vaughn (acting coach with whom I am sharing a flat) and I didn’t show up, Jack sent one of the local MOS coordinators to pick us up and take us to the elementary school where the…

Hello, everyone – this will be short…I need to unpack and start drinking Chianti, or something. My roomie Dona is loads of fun…we are sitting here bitching about the heat, the mosquitoes, and our Southern heritage. Stay tuned…Death by Aria tomorrow and I will have another blog entry tomorrow night. Ciao! Janice