Better Get to Livin'

Um, Dolly Parton's new single was released on iTunes a couple days ago. Get it.

Her new CD, Backwoods Barbie, will be released in February. After some amazing bluegrass CDs (it was during her promotional tour for the stunning Little Sparrow that I "discovered" her), she's returning to "mainstream" country.

Her first official music site is here. Pending the full site's launch, there's a cool photo slide show and some of her famous quotes.

The paradox of Dolly Parton: she looks so fake, but she's soooo not. She's the real thing...her songwriting, her singing, even her shtick, which always rings true.

Oh, Dolly. I'm just a little happier knowing that you're around and livin'.

I Love YouTube

So, back in the fall of 2004 I missed this because I heard about it too late. I remember I'd had a pretty dreary night and I deeply regretted the chance to see Renee on late-night TV.

That was life pre-YouTube. Well, it's taken a while, but someone has finally uploaded the performance...and what an interesting performance it is! Lots of ornaments in there...it's fun. William Christie told Renee to sing Handel as jazz...she sure listens to him. :)

2006-07: A Final Accounting

OK, so I decided to take a look at my iCal in order to determine the number of performances I attended last season.

The number is...really big.

I can't quite wrap my head around it.

At the end of the 2005-06 season, I listed the performances I attended, and I got some attention for it.

I wouldn't even consider doing such a thing for last season, because I'm not sure it casts a positive light on me. It just shows that I spent a very hedonistic year.

I guess that's what Europe does to an opera buff?

Oh, and a little update: I now have a few tickets in hand...Metropolitan Opera tickets...

Secret Weapon

In a few weeks, I'll unveil a new format, the likes of which remains unchartered territory for shy, anonymous opera bloggers...

Estivation

I last heard an unamplified classical voice on June 19th (Zurich, Renee Fleming singing the words "Ich kann nicht anders werden, nimm mich wie ich bin!"), and I last heard a classical voice on June 22nd (St-Denis, Dawn Upshaw's (amplified) voice gently fading into the unbearably beautiful ending of Ayre). Not attending performances has allowed me to focus on other things in life, such as work, friends, and activities of daily living (haha).

But a couple months of that is enough. I am not well. I'm starving. I'm falling into a depression! Renee, I miss you!

My academic schedule in 2007-08 will make attending performances a bit tricky. But gosh darn it, I'll make it work. This . . . silence . . . has reminded me just how important vocal music is in my life. Recordings don't help at all; they only make me yearn for the real thing. At the moment I feel trapped in an acoustic wasteland, and without one single ticket in hand for next season, I don't see a way out...

Anyone going through a similar withdrawal?