opera summer 2017, #1

A couple of people in my life have asked what exactly it is I do when I'm 'at rehearsal' ... and it's a fair question.  I never really realised just how mysterious opera is - just 'cause I'm in the middle of it, I guess.

Prior to day one of rehearsals... I got my scores a couple months ago, and began learning my parts.  I don't have a lot to sing in the operas I'm doing this summer - I'm not doing a major role - so the process isn't quite as long and involved as it is for some of my friends.  For me, the process was:

• read up on the opera - what's the plot, who are the characters, who am I? also, when was it written, anything interesting happening for the composer at the time, was it written for anyone in specific...
• read through the libretto - get a better sense of the nuances of the story/characters (also: are there any stage directions included?)
• watch a production (if any exist - if not, listen to a recording) - mainly to get a sense for the orchestration
• translate my scenes (presuming the opera isn't in English, which is usually the case) - it's great to have a couple of complete translations on hand, but it's a good idea to translate your own lines (and the people you're talking to/with) yourself so you know what each of the words you say mean ... translation's tricky because language is tricky, you gotta have as much information as you can
• write my lines out phonetically - you gotta sound like you know what you're talking about in more ways than one ... Nico Castell's books are a really great resource for this, especially for checking what's academically correct versus what's typically done.  diction often gets tweaked to make words more intelligible, easier to sing, more impactful, but that's later in the rehearsal/coaching process.
• usually by this point I remember more or less what I'm saying when, but if not the next step is getting comfortable enough with just the text that I remember.  repetition of the text both in the original language and in a comprehensible English translation of my own.  this is the remember-the-thoughts step.
• start adding the music.  I do more repetition of the text in the contour of the line, but not precisely on pitch, to match the verbal thought with the musical thought.  eventually you add the actual pitches and rhythms.
• if I were working on a role, I'd book sessions with a vocal coach where we'd work on putting the whole thing together, especially working on any arias.  looking at effective characterisation, starting to find those spots to tweak diction, looking at places to tweak technique.  since I only have small solo parts, there's time in the rehearsal process to get notes from the vocal coach and work them in then.  (I am doing a duet which I'll do some coaching on, though, over the next couple weeks.)

Once all that is done I'm ready to move into the rehearsal process!  :D

Day 1 (Saturday, Suor Angelica): we started with a sing-through of the whole opera, stopping and fixing spots that didn't quite work for one reason or another.  (also the place to double-check any divided sections for chorus parts.)  Since Suor Angelica is only about an hour long, we sang through the whole thing, got some general notes on diction and technique from the vocal coach, and then took a short break.  After the break, the director walked us through where things would be on the set and talked to us a bit about the ideas she had for the production.  Then we started staging the first scene.  This basically means we go where the director tells us to, and we run the scene several times to make sure the spacing/timing works and everyone knows where they're supposed to go.  After this first session (2pm to 5pm) I was released - turned out I wasn't needed for the second rehearsal (7pm to 10pm), where they were staging the second scene.

Day 2 (Sunday, Suor again): yesterday evening we had one rehearsal, 7pm to 10pm again.  We staged the next three scenes; I was in the last scene.  Again we started with a sing-through and had more detailed notes/fixing time.  While the chorus and a couple of the principals worked on staging the first scene for the day, I and another smaller role went off with the vocal coach to get some specific notes on our scenes, which were the second and third scenes to be done.  Then they staged the second scene, and then my scene.  I already have stand-in props for my scene (I bring in a crate of food), which is cool: often you don't get props until pretty close to showtime.  Granted, they're not the actual props yet, but at least I have the crate and things to pick up, which really helps to get used to moving things around while I'm singing.  After we finished staging, we had more vocal notes, and then the evening was done.

Today I don't have rehearsal, it's a day off.  My job today is to go over the bits I had trouble with in the past couple days: there are a couple entrances I'm having trouble finding, and a couple notes that aren't as steady as I hoped.  Tomorrow we'll be staging the second scene I'm in, and probably a couple more that I'm not in ... and after that, all my work is chorus in this opera, so I might have another day off in between?  I know one of our leads isn't in Winnipeg yet, she was finishing another role elsewhere I believe, and I know she has a couple scenes that will need to be staged.  I don't know if we're going to jump ahead to the chorus-heavy scenes first and then loop back to her - it'll depend on when she arrives, obviously.  And rehearsals will start for the other opera I'm in next week, I believe (need to double-check).  

I'm going to update at least once every couple days - every morning, if I can.  I was thinking originally I'd vlog, but taking a while to write is easier for me than editing video, so unless I get inspired I think I'll stick with text.  I'll see if I can grab a couple pictures while I'm not actively staging, but phones are, ah, strongly discouraged in the rehearsal hall.  XD