Hello from England ..after a season of National rejoicing !!

Dear Friends ...long time - no Blogs - my apologies..Facebook has been keeping me occupied for some months, which have included incredible excitements with the wondrous Swedish contralto Anna Larsson, and the enigmatic English mezzo soprano Rosalind Plowright, O.B.E., plus "new" Breathers, at The Royal Opera, London, and Glyndebourne Opera, Sussex. Then the Queens' Diamond Jubilee Celebrations - what an amazing triumph - such love & reverence for this brilliant, spiritual guardian of our quaint country ... One of the most touching visual moments, was when she looked so surprised at her reception on the Royal Progress down the River Thames, on a "tarted up barge " - after weeks of exhausting National Touring - her heart warming expression radiantly exchanged with her Husband & Consort, Prince Philip, finally revealed her surprise & recognition, that she is very dearly loved ..mmmm ....after that, I trolled off to Sweden, for The Vatness Song Festival - creation of the self same Anna Larsson, my very first "Simsannabim Breather",(since 1992 !!) and her golden voiced tenor husband Goran Eliasson. What can I say ? The whole experience was almost like a dream sequence ! They've built their own Concert Barn, seating 350, with state of the art lighting, et al - in a field - at their Farmhouse - by a lake - near Mora - Dalarna !! ...& presented a very fine Internationally acclaimed production of Brittens' "Rape of Lucretia "- designed & directed by the uniquely talented Mathius Clason, & co director - (another of my Beautiful Breathers), the incomparable mezzo soprano, Ingrid Tobiasson - incredible ! "Lucretia" was originally Premiered in 1946 at - Glyndebourne , & the whole Festival had a similar ambience, with Banqueting Marquee, picnics & champagne on the lawns...ah me, I felt really 'at home '...Now we're all recovering from the most amazing "Olympic Games Spectacular" - you can see most of these breathtaking epics on You Tube ..and if you watched the Closing Ceremony ..as the Olympic Cauldron flames were extinguished , you will have heard a few minutes of a divinely beautiful "voice over " - the brilliant English soprano, Eliabeth Roberts - another "Simsibimsi Breather"...she remarkably established that fabulous, floating, celestial sound with her beautiful voice, a few weeks before the event - - in just 4 breathing sessions - true genius ...toi toi toi to you All - k..p b.......g.. Love You All...Madanna XXXOO

The perils of cybernetic automatic interconnections & dubious security systems ....horrendous !!

Hello from Berko in The chilly Chilterns !! Before I warn you about the perils of cybernetic malfunctions, I'll bring you up to date with the past year. As I've been abroad much of the time with some of my most wonderful International Breathers, and without my computer, much has taken place without record - so here goes. In Jan '11, I was lucky enough to accompany amazing Anna Larsson, contralto brilliante, for her debut as a spectacular "Kundry", "Parsifal" at La Monnaie, Bruxelles - singing along with a fascinating REAL live Albino python wrapped around her right arm ..hmmm, talk about a cool contralto ...breathtaking .. then Feb....some tranquil days in London with lovely Melanie Diener, soprano, singing with the LPO ..fun hours in stimulating company. Ainhoa Zubillaga and her colleague Olatz "popped over' from San Sebastian, Spain, taking in the local fresh air & visiting The Royal Opera House, London, for a coaching with my friend Richard Hetherington. Next, a truly wonderful experience at The Royal Festival Hall, London, was as Guest of the great French contralto, Nathalie Stutznmann, singing with Sir Simon Rattle & The Berlin Philharmonic Orch - Mahler 3 ...oooh, another life enhancing performance..In March a magical journey to Dear Friends in Zurich for some 'serious breathing', & lots of fun with younger Friends....most uplifting spiritually, then on to My Family Friends in Munich, followed by fascinating days in Stuttgart at The Opera, with remarkable Rosalind Plowright, creating a phenomenal interpretation of 'The Prioress', in "The Carmelites " - she literally 'stole the show' as reported ...unbelievable - and is back there now for more performances... the next day, due to 'fitting in' last minute bookings, I flew to Stockholm, for Anna L and her Future Stars Programme - very exciting ...The warning about cybernetic malfunctioning relates to a text I was sending to an Agent, regarding a singer. Whilst I was writing the text, a noisy 'text alert' came thro', which I realised, after sending the info. to the Agent - had also 'connected ' with the actual singer I'd assessed - and the text was automatically sent to the Agent and singer - she was surprised and happy as I'd recommended her - but oh, what a disaster had it been otherwise ..scaaary ..does it only happen with iphones? Some investigation is obviously urgent ...have you had a similar experience ? 'byee for today, catch up again soon ...and don't forget ..k..p b.......g ... toi toi toi ...simsannabim...