Utterly Amazing

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, today I did something that was a little out of my comfort zone. I took a few steps past and surprised myself. Today, I picked up the CD of my recital performance from AVT. And I actually listened to it!!

Okay, there are two pieces. I listened to the first, the Pie Jesu. And though I knew where I made my little glitch, and realized that I was a tiny bit flat on one note (but corrected it, so I guess I knew at the time, huh?), I think I sounded okay. No, I sounded good. Wow. I know you're all shocked that the ultra-self-critical, performance-anxiety-ridden "I don't sing in front of people" singer really said that. But it's true. I sounded good.

Then there was the Italian piece. I started listening to Il Mio Bel Foco. And then I popped out the disc. Ugh.

But later . . . now here's the utterly amazing part. I was driving Beck home this afternoon, and I played the Pie Jesu for her. She said I sounded good, but the unprecedented thing is that I sat there listening to myself and let someone else listen, too. After I dropped her off, I listened to the other piece. Yeah, there was a lot of stuff I didn't like. But my high notes were completely on pitch, good tone, nice vibrato, and a few other redeeming features.

I may be a little carried away by this. I went and bought the Puccini aria (a whole book of them, actually!) that I want to sing. From Madama Butterfly. I'll let you know how it goes.