A Day of Surprises

So my roommate and I were woken up by our buzzer ringing at 3:45 AM. Some guy said something in German, rang the buzzer again, and then opened our door. He just stood in the hall with the door open and said something. I just replied "I don't know what you are saying". I think he must have been too drunk to figure out that I was speaking English. Then he said something else and I said to go away and that we were trying to sleep. He sounded frustrated and then shut our door. My roommate then went and locked the door. I would have gotten out of bed to talk to the guy or slam the door in his face, but I didn't have any pants on. After Julie locked the door, she said that it was so scary and her heart was pounding. I guess I'm such an optimist that I just thought that it was a confused person, which I'm pretty sure it was. Once she mentioned how scared she was, I then had a bit of trouble falling back asleep because I was thinking of how it could have gone completely wrong and how we really should lock our door every night now. I wonder how he got in since the building is locked every night. It was probably some drunk guy. The other strange thing was that I still heard people socializing in the courtyard outside at this time 4 AM. What the heck?
I was a little upset because I was supposed to sing in a masterclass today and needed to be well rested and I had to wake up at 6 to meet my accompanist in town at 8:30. I had a good lesson, but it was cut short so that I wouldn't over sing. "Oh Had I Jubal's Lyre" by Handel is coming along well. It's not easy yet, I don't know if it ever will be, but it's getting better. I've always hated that song and refused to learn it, but now it is actually working in my voice. "In Waldeseinsamkeit" by Brahms was ready for the masterclass. However, it was cancelled today.
This week Annette Dasch agreed to come talk with our group and give a brief masterclass. However, she's been sick and cancelled today. I had just found out that I was singing in the masterclass yesterday. This gave not much time to be fretting over it, but it was enough to give me heartburn this morning.
Annette Dasch is kind of a big deal. She currently is singing the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni here at the Salzburg Festival. She's sung all over Europe. I hope that she is able to reschedule and I will get to sing for her.
Our group will get to sit in on a masterclass of another famous singer. Prof. Schiller was able to get tickets for all of us to the Young Singers Project (through the Mozarteum) masterclass with Christa Ludwig. Christa Ludwig was one of the leading mezzos from the 50's-90's and continues to be an amazing teacher. I'm excited, but hopefully she'll give some of the masterclass in English.
Some of us might go hear another famous mezzo. Grace Bumbry, an American mezzo who was carmen in the 1967 festival production, has now moved to Salzburg and is singing at her church on Sunday. If any of you have seen pictures of different Carmens, she's the black Carmen from the 60's. It was on the festival big screen last night. I stayed for the first act because I needed to see my favorites songs, the duet, the fight, and the seguedille. I would have stayed longer but needed to sleep and didn't want to miss the bus. Also, it had started raining, but they handed out ponchos for everyone.

The last two days we had masterclasses by a couple who live in Vienna. The wife, Sylvia Greenberg, is a singer and teacher who is originally from Israel. The husband, David Aronson, is one of the vocal coaches for the Vienna State Opera. He was especially entertaining and a great clinician. Afterwards they answered questions about the opera scene in Europe, particularly in Germany and Austria. There are so many job opportunities over here. Much more, than in the U.S. I guess I really should start learning German just in case.
Another surprise today was that my birkenstock sandals arrived. Just as I was headed out the door, the DHL man rode his bike up to the college. I didn't think they would arrive so soon. Another surprise was that I had to pay an extra 15 Euro (probably for tax) when I picked them up. I like them. The reason I got them online from an American company is that I couldn't find any store in Salzburg that had them and the dollar is generally more affordable and these were on sale. Though, after talking to Emily, I realized that I could have had the group that Munich last weekend pick up a pair for me. Oh well. I'm keeping these ones.
German is finally starting to make sense. I've figured out that I do need to use my dictionary because the provided textbook sucks and is inconsistent with new vocabulary. I was just so used to having an awesome Norwegian textbook and having my Norwegian professor scold us for looking at a dictionary.