I'm still here!

Hello friends! Yes, I'm still here on the blog despite the long radio silence. The website still has an annoying niggle but should be up and running soon. I really do hope to have some very exciting news to post here soon but I can't say just yet!

The last few months have been really busy and I am now paying the price with a really nasty throat infection. I got it just as I was about to record my first thing for the BBC but I sang through it anyway. The recording was with the BBC Phil last week and was of Mozart arias and Schubert songs arranged by Reger and it went really well. I have listened back and am relatively pleased with it, under the circumstances. I'm not sure when it is going out.

The week before was completely mad as I had just got back from singing on a cruise ship when I got a phone call saying Rosemary Joshua had caught a cold and could I stand in for her the next day! It was too good an opportunity to pass up but it did mean having to learn Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate in a few hours as this was at 10am and I needed to be at a rehearsal at 3! In the end the concert went very well and I have had some nice reviews (not that one should really believe them!).

This week has so far been spent in the persuit of health and the right notes in a new piece I am learning. It's very slow work I can tell you and frankly not much fun when you have tonsillitis. I'm off with the fella on holiday to New York on Friday (and to work with Catherine Malfitano on Susanna whilst I'm there, no rest for the wicked) so I really want to get it out of the way before I go.

Thanks for sticking with the blog despite the recent sporadic nature of entries and I promise to write more regularly from now on, except whilst I'm on holiday (because even divas need a break sometimes). Ta-rah!

PS

I hope my website will be up and running in the next few weeks which will have details of concerts etc etc. Check out www.elizabethwatts.co.uk soon!

Update

Hello, and apologies for radio silence. There's not much to tell at the moment but I will keep you posted as soon as I have anything juicy to report! I'm off to Edinburgh of holiday so more anon! Liz

Busy bee

Hello blog fans and apologies for not writing sooner! Things have been really busy since cardiff. In summary: dealing with lots of enquiries arising from my performance and some nice bookings; a camping trip with my old school buddies; standing in at the last minute for a concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Bad Kissingen, Germany; a meeting with the BBC about the New Generation Aritsts scheme; a bout of viscious tonsilitis; a trip to Buxton to see my boyfriend.

Today I did a recital in a beautiful place in Sussex: Champs Hill, and tomorrow I have a Brahms Requiem in Essex. It's nice to be back in the swing of things again, although I could really do with a proper holiday. Because even divas need a break sometimes...

Back to normality

I'm now back home after an extraordinary couple of weeks. To win the song prize and be in the final was an absolute joy. It's been really interesting to read all your comments (on the blog and the cardiff site), and thanks for all your support. Some people seem to have loved what I do and others just not get it, but that's to be expected as we are all different. All I can do is open my soul and sing with it. I can't say I'm not disappointed not to have won but I know all the exposure will have done my career loads of good. I'll keep posting on the blog to keep you up to date with any interesting career developments and inform you when my kitchen is finally done. Hurry up B&Q! Now to exlplain to my orthodontist why I haven't worn my brace for 2 weeks. Oh, and unpack! Because even divas have to come back down to earth...

It's a triumph!

I won the song prize!!! How amazing. It still hasn't sunk in. I still have to focus for sunday though so I'm trying not to think about it too much. Can't write much now as about to have my orchestral rehearsal for tomorrow. I'm just going to go out there and have a ball - I have nothing to prove now!

Here I go again...

I'm through to the main prize final! Have to say part of me thought I wouldn't be but there we go. I can't think about the main prize today though as I have the song prize final tonight. Just at St David's Hall to wrm up before my rehearsal so I'd best do that and sign off. Thanks for all your comments by the way, they mean a lot! I'll try and post later today!