The other day I was saying to myself, I would like something new and challenging to come along, something I haven't tried before. Well, one must be very careful about what one asks for, because in my experience, one frequently gets it. However I could not have been more surprised than I was when the Norwegian National Opera called and asked whether I was interested in doing English vocal coaching for the cast of their upcoming production of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes. As it will be sung in English they need somebody to work with the performers on correct pronunciation and understanding of the language in performance, and as it turns out I had been recommended by someone or other -and blessed indeed are those angels who recommend people for things!
So today I visited the vast white opera building that dips into the water by Oslo's harbour and instantly got lost in the maze of corridors, offices, performing spaces, rooms, stores and staircases, and met the artistic people and the head of the opera and the deputy head of the opera, and in a short time I had agreed to "meet the challenge" and laid a plan for how to go about it. A huge score was thrust into my hand, and the weekend will be spent listening to Britten, reading about Britten about Peter Grimes, and about opera in general. In many ways this very different from the theatre, but I am excited about the challenge because opera represents just about the only field of entertainment that I have not been involved in before; that and circus –though I am told that once things get underway this will be quite a circus too...
