Today is the final performance of Opera San José’s Elixir of Love. It has received fabulous reviews and small audiences. This wasn’t a difficult run, for which I’m quite thankful. The difference between this and Eugene Onegin is, for me at least, huge. I never did completely relax on Onegin. I never completely stressed over Elixir. I’m fine with the latter!

Next up is a week of no playing work. I can certainly use the week off, although it’s not really “off” … I have a house to clean, and we will have Thanksgiving dinner here so I need to prepare for that. I’ll also be going to San Francisco Opera’s production of Elixir. I’m looking forward to that, although I wish it could have been on on a different date; we are going the night before Thanksgiving. Ack! No time to relax, it appears.

The following week is a Symphony Silicon Valley set. We’re playing Suppé’s overture to Pique Dame (no comment), Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto (no oboes) and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 (no sweat … I hope!).

And finally … drum roll … I move into the Center for Performing Arts barn to play Nutcracker. (They have two clips you can listen to at the ballet site. Hmmm. That isn’t us; the tempi are much faster than what we get to play.) Stay tuned for my silly poem and countdown time. 😉