Last Tuesday Night as I walked on to the main Pavilion stage at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod I had to pinch myself to make sure that it wasn’t all just a wonderful dream.
To be opening the evening’s Opera Gala was a huge honour for me and knowing that I would be sharing the stage with Rolando Villazón and Rhian Lois brought a tingle to my spine.
My first two arias of the evening were O Luce Di Quest’anima from Linda di Chamounix, by Gaetano Donizetti followed by Je Veux Vivre from Romeo et Juliette, by Charles Gounod.
Rhian Lois then performed Quando M’en Vo from La Boheme, and O Mio Babbino Caro from Gianni Schicchi, both by Giacomo Puccini
Rolando Villazón then treated us to a lovely rendition of L’esule by Giuseppe Verdi .
I then sang my first duet with Rolando Villazón to close the first half of the Gala, Non Ti Scordar Di Me by Ernesto di Curtis & Domenico Furnò. This was so special for me, especially when he produced a rose from inside his jacket and gave it to me during the performance after our little waltz.
For the second half of the evening, I again sang two arias, the first was Qui La Voce Sua Soave from I Puritani, by Vincenzo Bellini followed by Glitter and Be Gay from Candide, by Bernstein. The Gala was brought to an end with the three of us performing Brindisi from La Traviata, by Giuseppe Verdi which was so much fun.
I had a wonderful evening and was thrilled to have so many people in the audience to support my first Opera Gala including my parents, my Nana and Grandad, Gill and Terry, and my wonderful blog friends Hilary and Edwin, and I feel blessed to have shared this experience with them.
I also want to thank James Hendry, the Conductor and the British Sinfonietta for their amazing performances throughout the Opera Gala and for making my evening so special.
