Feen-tastic

Hey All! Last night, instead of writing to all of you like a good little blogger, I was at a performance of Wagner's Die Feen. The opera is one of Wagner's least known and least performed pieces, which makes perfect sense to me after seeing last night's performance. However, the cast, which was comprised mostly of soloists from Oper Frankfurt, was outstanding, and they made the most out of what they had to work with. An undeniable highlight of the evening was Brenda's aria in Act II. I will never get tired of hearing people scream, "Bravo!" at my wife. Unfortunately, the tenor got sick during the performance, and they had to end the show early. Hopefully he will be healthy in time for the show on Friday.

Brenda posing with one of the many Die Feen posters around town.

The performance took place at the old opera house (aka Alte Oper).

The Alte Oper during the day.

Inside the Alte Oper shortly after the performance.

Brenda and I took a wonderful day trip to Bad Nauheim on Sunday with Florian and Marlar. Bad Nauheim is where Florian grew up, and we were invited to join him and his family for lunch and a relaxing afternoon. His family's house is surrounded by a beautiful forest, so after we ate lunch we took a walk through the woods. It was a great way to spend our Sunday, and Brenda and I both hope we get to do it again sometime.

I should get going; Brenda has the final dress rehearsal for La Clemenza di Tito tonight and I'm going to watch. I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Check back tomorrow!

Hey All! Brenda had a show tonight so I didn't have a chance to write the blog. I will write it tomorrow, though, so check back then!

Does this blog entry make me look fat?

Hey All! I'm writing you on yet another beautiful spring day in Frankfurt. Brenda is back from New York and got over her jet lag with no trouble at all. It helps when trips across the ocean are short; you don't have a chance to get fully adjusted to the new time zone. Since being back in Frankfurt, Brenda has sung her final performance of Die Entführung aus dem Serail and has begun rehearsals for Wagner's Die Feen. Brenda will also be starting rehearsals for La Clemenza di Tito this week. We have about 2 1/2 weeks left in Frankfurt until we fly to Glyndebourne for the summer, and Brenda is going to be very busy up until we leave.

I always feel bad when I don't have pictures for my blog entries so, since we didn't take any pictures during the past week, I decided to take a few snapshots around the apartment.

A beautiful piece of artwork that my ridiculously talented wife made.

Our new puzzle light cover in our living room.

Putting it together is half the fun.

Our kitchen table.

You may have noticed the flying saucer-like object with the apple on it in the last picture. That is our food scale. I mention it because it has become an everyday part of my life. That's right, I'm on a diet and have been since the middle of January (with the exception of my 2 weeks in the US - those were definitely not diet weeks). Early on in the diet process I found a website and iPhone App called MyFitnessPal. I told it how much I wanted to lose and how quickly, and it told me how many calories I can eat in a day. So far things have been going pretty well, although every time I lose a pound I expect to look at my stomach and see a six-pack. Surprisingly that hasn't happened yet.

Brenda just called and is on her way home from rehearsal so that is my cue to bid you all adieu. I hope you have a great week, and I'll talk to you next Tuesday!

a spring in my step

Hey all! It's another beautiful spring day in Frankfurt, and I am about to go enjoy it (or perhaps ruin it) by going for a jog. I would invite my wife to come along but she isn't in the country at the moment; she's in New York City. You see, Brenda must regularly return to NYC for voice lessons, meetings with her management, and burritos. Without those three things, her blossoming opera career could be hindered. She returns to Frankfurt on Friday.

Since my blog entry last week was so light on words, I failed to tell you about Brenda's friend, Insun, who stayed with us a couple weeks ago. She was in town auditioning for an accompanist position at Oper Frankfurt. I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you this or not, but she got the job! Don't tell anybody.

Insun, Florian, and the Brenda Rae

I've been sitting here staring at the screen trying to think of more things to tell you, but I'm drawing a blank. All I can come up with are mundane things like "We filed our US taxes!" and "I made the bed today!", so that is probably a sign that I should wrap this up.

A path I'm about to jog on.

Happy Easter to one and all and I'll talk to you next week!

sunny days

Hey All! The weather has been truly beautiful in Frankfurt lately. I took a few snapshots around town yesterday to give you a feel for it.

Brenda and I are watching a movie at the moment so I am going to keep this short. I hope you're all doing well and I'll talk to you next week!

back in the BRD

Hey All! I made it back to Germany, although I'm a little jet-lagged (I finally got to sleep last night around 5 am). Florian and I had a great time wandering around the midwest. Shockingly, we put on a little bit of weight during our travels, but we had a lot of fun doing it.

Things in Germany are moving along as usual. Brenda is in the middle of performances and has begun coachings for another opera. The 2010/2011 season at Oper Frankfurt ends for Brenda in the middle of May, at which point we will be headed to England. Brenda is going to spend the summer singing as a part of the Glyndebourne Festival. If you care to read more about the show Brenda will be in, you can do so here.

Below are a few more pictures from our midwestern escapades:

Florian in front of a Picasso

Wisconsin's Capitol

Moo

That's all I have for now. I hope you are all doing well, and I'll talk to you next week!

we get around

Hey all! I'm sorry I've been such a bad blogger this week. Florian and I have been very busy trekking across the midwest, and this is the first chance I've had to post a little something on the blog. Here are a few pictures of the places we've been:

Visiting Jim and Joanne in snowy Appleton.

Taking in Chicago's sights with Ron and Marilyn.

Experiencing the nightlife in Des Moines with my parents.

The past two weeks in America have been great, but tomorrow we fly back to Germany. I look forward to writing to you from there next week. Until then, have a great weekend!