Travels

My Beautiful Colleague and Friend

What a great pleasure to connect with my beautiful colleague and friend, soprano Alexandra Lang in…wait for it…Wien! I’m touring, she is auditioning. FB more or less brought us together in early December. The stars aligned.Toi toi toi, dear Alexandra. With love,Janice (a/k/a Erda)

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Krampus in Hallstatt

There is a Christmas ritual in Austria called something like Krampus, where mostly little children dress in devilish garb, run around town ringing cowbells and switching the legs with real cane switches of anyone they meet. That happened to me on Dec. 1st when we arrived at Hallstatt, a beautiful Austrian town on the way…

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First Views of Gruss aus Ă–sterreich, Austria

Overnight layover in Hallstatt, Austria, prior to arrival in Vienna on Friday, 2 December. Our lovely hotel Gruner Baum, a coffee mug (no coffee…just yummy Gluhwein), a war memorial, and a photo of some of my travel pals Christine, Lindsay, and Madeline. Weather in D’land and Austria so far cool and sunny. Tchuss!

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Traveling to Austria

Today we leave lovely Munich and cross the border into Austria, where we’ll check into our hotel and lhave limited walking, prior to tomorrow’s trek around Salzburg and…wait for it…everything MOZART. As about 2/3 of us are, er, somewhat “elderly”, this promises to be a more relaxing day in terms of physical exertion. First views…

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Greetings from Munich!

On my 1st Rick Steves Tour to Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna. Here is Day 2 schedule. Incredibly well organized and meeting so many lovely people. Note that we visit a BREWARY this afternoon. Monday, 28 Nov…Dinner at a Munich restaurant (the name of which ends in “haus”) with my dear old friends Lindsay and Christine,…

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Wagner Immersion, Part 3

The weekend of July 27-28 was a stellar and most memorable one for many reasons. First, I was able to spend time with my dear friend and colleague Joy McIntyre, with whom I always have the most Joy-ous time discussing music, politics, travel, and life in general. Joy is a most erudite, entertaining, and brilliant…

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Wallowing Around in Mahler – again!

“O Glaube, mein Herz” (Photo by John Herper) I use this odd term because Mahler has come to mind quite often in the past few months. I have fondly remembered live performances of his glorious music, and sometimes I feel as if I have “over-dosed” in the harmonies and orchestral colors. I never tire of…

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An Important Wagnerian Date

On this day in 1883, Richard Wagner passed away at Ca’ Vendramin Calergi (currently referred to as Palazzo Vendramin) in Venice (see my earlier post about visiting this site in June of 2016).  For those of us who love Wagner (count me in), this is a date to commemorate by listening to some of his sublime…

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Janice and Cindy’s Cultural Venetian Adventure

In June of 2016, I spent a glorious week in Venice with my close friend and colleague Cindy Sadler. We had met in the 1990s while performing in Arizona Opera’s Ring Cycle. Cindy was the only artist who had appeared in all four operas (as Erde, Schwertleite, and First Norn), while I sang the role of Fricka…

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