Opera McGill's production of Imeneo closed Sunday March 27th. It was a terrific production, one that I'm extremely proud to have directed. The student casts were remarkable, Hank Knox and his orchestra gave inspired performances from the pit, Ginette's costumes were oh-so lovely, Vincent's sets (taken from Alcina and Lucretia productions) were just exactly perfect, and Serge's lighting connected it all together, even Gingras loved the show:
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/arts/musique/musique-classique/201103/26/01-4383458-imeneo-de-handel-une-reussite.php
We had terrific ticket sales for Friday and Saturday nights - lots of patrons, new audience members, and students. Our matinee on Sunday didn't sell as well as I'd hoped. I was also disappointed in the student turnout - which seems to always be less than what one might expect for many Schulich concerts and events. I don't get that.
At all.
I would think that if someone was spending money on an education in music that they would not be content to just see one performance, they would want to see them all. I certainly did when I was in school. I went to every recital (that was required at Simpson) and every concert given by the ensembles and faculty. I was a piano major who gave two one hour recitals (both would've been considered masters level literature here), played over two dozen other senior voice recitals for fellow voice students, sang in the madrigal and choir (and did the requisite tours), plus played in, sang in, worked set crew, and occassionally danced in 10 productions during my undergrad years. When I was done, I was REALLY educated in music. I had played all the major song cycles by Schumann, Britten and Barber in recitals, had competed in piano concerto competitions, placed third in NATS as a baritone, worked 4 summers at Des Moines Metro Opera, and ended my years at Simpson making my professional operatic singing debut as the Emperor Altoum in DMMO's 1988 production of Turandot.
I also partied as a frat boy (Kappa Theta Psi - oldest local fraternity west of the Mississippi), met and dated my future wife, spent endless days hanging with friends, read the complete works of Shakespeare for a class I took for fun, reveled in a history of the culinary arts mini-course, played hundreds of voice lessons for three great voice teachers (for FREE), and graduated with honors.
Occasionally I get the "you're so talented" or "you're just brilliant" remark, or worse yet the "you're an overachiever". Actually not, I was educated in music during my undergrad years to be a total musician, not a specialist. Yes, my languages sucked (and still do) and some of those recitals were not the best, but I performed music that I loved, listened to music that I did not know, and grew a thousand fold as a singer, pianist, conductor, coach, and person.
I got my 10,000 hours in during my bachelors degree. That's why I'm a success today. Get out there and EXPERIENCE and LEARN and WORK HARD 'cause before you know it, the time is gone.
Oh, and I also learned to pour great drinks while tending bar at faculty receptions! It's an important skill that comes in handy to this day!
I'll get off my soap box now... It's time to stage some Donizetti for Wichita Grand Opera!
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Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Imeneo and Subtext
Continuing in my year of working on 12 operas in 12 months (yikes!), next up is Handel's IMENEO.
Not iDOmeneo -- that's by Mozart. The sad joke I've repeated too many times now is that we actually are doing Idomeneo, just with all the parts in the key of C being cut out... get it? key of C? Yeah -- funny the first time, barely.
Imeneo first came to my attention the year before Glimmerglass was set to produce it. Of course I said, "you mean Idomeneo, right?" and got the look from Nicholas Russell that I now give others... It was a lovely cast - John Tessier, Amanda Pabyan, Michael Maniaci - but I have to admit to not liking the production all that much. With the exception of the brilliant choice to have a bunch of an act set at a dinner table, Alden's other choices were a bit stark.
The score is simply beautiful and the story is, well, simply simple: Clomiri loves Imeneo, Imeneo wants to marry Rosmene, Rosmene is engaged to Tirinto. Got it? Rosmene, after faking a nervous breakdown, decides to bow to the will of Argenio (Clomiri's father) and do the honorable thing by marrying Imeneo - the hero who saved Rosmene and a bunch of other ladies from pirates. Yes, PIRATES! To Be Ungrateful or Unfaithful? That is her question. It ends with Rosmene, Tirinto, and Clomiri all quite Unhappy.
The production design had a caveat attached to it: use as little money as possible. After the expense of La Boheme (the most expensive Opera McGill production to date), we had to explore ways to create Imeneo with less than we might normally spend. What to do now that our audiences have come to expect a certain level of production values?
We decided to go with the adage "what's old is new again". McGill University is trying to begin to think Green, and I've been storing up bits and pieces of sets from other productions over the past four years - so why not use them? Boston Lyric Opera did this last season by using a Conklin set designed for one opera at Glimmerglass and re-thinking it for another opera at BLO. We're going to do something slightly different. The plan is to use the rice paper drops from Alcina to define the space, the sculpted head of Lucretia hung as a "moon", and costumes/props from both Thésée and The Rape of Lucretia to create the period.
My stage direction for this production will be focusing on character subtext and how those ideas motivate the da capo ornaments. Easier said than done... An abstract I wrote for a conference on design was titled "Subtextual Leitmotifs in Operatic Design". Although the paper got sidelined because I was in the midst of doing ten operas during 2010, the ideas in the paper are ever-present in my mind when working with opera singers. (I first explored these a few years back during Opera McGill's Alcina production).
How does a director and the cast discover the subtext? What IS subtext? Lots of people think it's about sex, like when Mozart orchestrates horns to play during Fiordiligi's "Per pieta" aria in the 2nd act of Cosi fan tutte. It's more than that, a lot more.
It's a process of really digging into the actual TEXT, an archeological dig into the character's Environment, their Relationships with the others onstage, their Objectives and Obstacles in each scene, aria, and the overall picture, their Tactics (usually given by the composer - i.e. tempo, key, dynamics, vocal registers), and what's at Stake for each character at any given moment. Those are all very rational ideas to explore. Subtext connects those ideas in two ways: directed internally, they mix in with the emotions and magnify them in so many ways; directed externally, they can hit others onstage and those in the audience with a vivid picture of a character's inner thoughts and emotions. All of us Think one thing, Say another, and Do something else when dealing with our loved ones, our friends, our co-workers, and the strangers on the subway. How do we know what Othello is thinking? He either has to tell us in his text, or we see into his thoughts because of the difference in what he says and what he does onstage. How he says it is also important...
Just a few thoughts about what we'll be concentrating on during March. Of course, we'll also be concentrating on the music, the ornaments, and the voices! Each year Opera McGill presents a baroque opera in collaboration with the Early Music Program at McGill - in period tuning and with period instrumentation. EACH year -- the only academic program in North America to do so, at least to my knowledge. Don't miss it: March 25, 26, & 27 (matinee), 2011 in Pollack Hall in downtown Montreal.
Not iDOmeneo -- that's by Mozart. The sad joke I've repeated too many times now is that we actually are doing Idomeneo, just with all the parts in the key of C being cut out... get it? key of C? Yeah -- funny the first time, barely.
Imeneo first came to my attention the year before Glimmerglass was set to produce it. Of course I said, "you mean Idomeneo, right?" and got the look from Nicholas Russell that I now give others... It was a lovely cast - John Tessier, Amanda Pabyan, Michael Maniaci - but I have to admit to not liking the production all that much. With the exception of the brilliant choice to have a bunch of an act set at a dinner table, Alden's other choices were a bit stark.
The score is simply beautiful and the story is, well, simply simple: Clomiri loves Imeneo, Imeneo wants to marry Rosmene, Rosmene is engaged to Tirinto. Got it? Rosmene, after faking a nervous breakdown, decides to bow to the will of Argenio (Clomiri's father) and do the honorable thing by marrying Imeneo - the hero who saved Rosmene and a bunch of other ladies from pirates. Yes, PIRATES! To Be Ungrateful or Unfaithful? That is her question. It ends with Rosmene, Tirinto, and Clomiri all quite Unhappy.
The production design had a caveat attached to it: use as little money as possible. After the expense of La Boheme (the most expensive Opera McGill production to date), we had to explore ways to create Imeneo with less than we might normally spend. What to do now that our audiences have come to expect a certain level of production values?
We decided to go with the adage "what's old is new again". McGill University is trying to begin to think Green, and I've been storing up bits and pieces of sets from other productions over the past four years - so why not use them? Boston Lyric Opera did this last season by using a Conklin set designed for one opera at Glimmerglass and re-thinking it for another opera at BLO. We're going to do something slightly different. The plan is to use the rice paper drops from Alcina to define the space, the sculpted head of Lucretia hung as a "moon", and costumes/props from both Thésée and The Rape of Lucretia to create the period.
My stage direction for this production will be focusing on character subtext and how those ideas motivate the da capo ornaments. Easier said than done... An abstract I wrote for a conference on design was titled "Subtextual Leitmotifs in Operatic Design". Although the paper got sidelined because I was in the midst of doing ten operas during 2010, the ideas in the paper are ever-present in my mind when working with opera singers. (I first explored these a few years back during Opera McGill's Alcina production).
How does a director and the cast discover the subtext? What IS subtext? Lots of people think it's about sex, like when Mozart orchestrates horns to play during Fiordiligi's "Per pieta" aria in the 2nd act of Cosi fan tutte. It's more than that, a lot more.
It's a process of really digging into the actual TEXT, an archeological dig into the character's Environment, their Relationships with the others onstage, their Objectives and Obstacles in each scene, aria, and the overall picture, their Tactics (usually given by the composer - i.e. tempo, key, dynamics, vocal registers), and what's at Stake for each character at any given moment. Those are all very rational ideas to explore. Subtext connects those ideas in two ways: directed internally, they mix in with the emotions and magnify them in so many ways; directed externally, they can hit others onstage and those in the audience with a vivid picture of a character's inner thoughts and emotions. All of us Think one thing, Say another, and Do something else when dealing with our loved ones, our friends, our co-workers, and the strangers on the subway. How do we know what Othello is thinking? He either has to tell us in his text, or we see into his thoughts because of the difference in what he says and what he does onstage. How he says it is also important...
Just a few thoughts about what we'll be concentrating on during March. Of course, we'll also be concentrating on the music, the ornaments, and the voices! Each year Opera McGill presents a baroque opera in collaboration with the Early Music Program at McGill - in period tuning and with period instrumentation. EACH year -- the only academic program in North America to do so, at least to my knowledge. Don't miss it: March 25, 26, & 27 (matinee), 2011 in Pollack Hall in downtown Montreal.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Boheme Reflections
Opera McGill's production of La Boheme is now history. History is the right word for the four performances - as in all four of our performances were sold out!
It was a beautiful production - from the sets and costumes and lights to the wonderful performances by the both casts, the chorus and the orchestra. Julian Wachner gave beautifully crafted and moving musical direction and in all humility, I did a good job with this one from a staging perspective.
I loved the 2nd act - it was certainly a challenge to do it without a curtain to raise and have the entire chorus onstage ready to go for the first choral "AH!" It was also a joy to stage the 1st and 3rd acts back in November and December and then see them evolve a month later - what a GREAT idea!
I loved my bookends that ran throughout the show - Rodolfo starting the 1st and 4th acts with his feet on the table facing upstage; the parade down the center aisle at the top of the 2nd act which ended with a parade up the center aisle as the act ended; the first image of the show being a lit candle and then the last image being Colline blowing out the candle; Mimi's death taking place spatially on the spot where she and Rodolfo had first sat and expressed their private thoughts during their 1st act arias; plus there was the whole Vincent/Ginette set/costume color palette of Mimi in Pink and Musetta in Green being reflected on the walls of the garrett. The lighting cues were all timed beautifully and boy did the strings sound amazing!
I am very proud of this production and will hold it in my heart and memory for a long while! It's hard to let go. For some of the cast members, this was their last Opera McGill production. Some of these students started out with me during my first year here at McGill: singing in Albert Herring, some singing in the chorus of Cosi fan tutte or playing trees in Alcina and now there they were on the stage singing principal roles!
Boheme was the 14th opera I've produced, directed, or played in my 3 and 1/2 years here. That's a lot. I'm doing 12 operas in 2011 alone. I'm thinking that's too much and wonder how long I can keep going like this. It's worrisome to me, and to my family. Finding balance is now my focus - which leads me to Imeneo.
My production of Imeneo will try to answer a question that I think is at the heart of the piece:
What happens when people are thrown out of balance?
A hero becomes the villain, a rational woman becomes crazed, a poet loses his muse, a man loses his vision, and the unloved get desperate...
Imeneo opens March 25, 2011
It was a beautiful production - from the sets and costumes and lights to the wonderful performances by the both casts, the chorus and the orchestra. Julian Wachner gave beautifully crafted and moving musical direction and in all humility, I did a good job with this one from a staging perspective.
I loved the 2nd act - it was certainly a challenge to do it without a curtain to raise and have the entire chorus onstage ready to go for the first choral "AH!" It was also a joy to stage the 1st and 3rd acts back in November and December and then see them evolve a month later - what a GREAT idea!
I loved my bookends that ran throughout the show - Rodolfo starting the 1st and 4th acts with his feet on the table facing upstage; the parade down the center aisle at the top of the 2nd act which ended with a parade up the center aisle as the act ended; the first image of the show being a lit candle and then the last image being Colline blowing out the candle; Mimi's death taking place spatially on the spot where she and Rodolfo had first sat and expressed their private thoughts during their 1st act arias; plus there was the whole Vincent/Ginette set/costume color palette of Mimi in Pink and Musetta in Green being reflected on the walls of the garrett. The lighting cues were all timed beautifully and boy did the strings sound amazing!
I am very proud of this production and will hold it in my heart and memory for a long while! It's hard to let go. For some of the cast members, this was their last Opera McGill production. Some of these students started out with me during my first year here at McGill: singing in Albert Herring, some singing in the chorus of Cosi fan tutte or playing trees in Alcina and now there they were on the stage singing principal roles!
Boheme was the 14th opera I've produced, directed, or played in my 3 and 1/2 years here. That's a lot. I'm doing 12 operas in 2011 alone. I'm thinking that's too much and wonder how long I can keep going like this. It's worrisome to me, and to my family. Finding balance is now my focus - which leads me to Imeneo.
My production of Imeneo will try to answer a question that I think is at the heart of the piece:
What happens when people are thrown out of balance?
A hero becomes the villain, a rational woman becomes crazed, a poet loses his muse, a man loses his vision, and the unloved get desperate...
Imeneo opens March 25, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
La Boheme rehearsals
I'm just going to put a link in this blog to some terrific photos taken by Adam Scotti during our last room rehearsal of La Boheme in the Wirth Opera Studio for McGill Opera:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamscotti/sets/72157625838333722/
It's going to be a really, really good production. We've got two exceptional casts -- everyone should come twice!! The performances are January 26, 28, 29, and 30 (matinee) in Pollack Hall on Sherbrooke West in Montreal.
If you haven't found our Facebook page, it's here:
http://www.facebook.com/operamcgill
Check out some of our casts' auditions back in the fall of 2010 - interviews and snippets of their singing. We're following the process of creating opera here at Opera McGill during this entire year.
No philosophical musings on this blog -- just to say how lucky I am to be working with such talented students and SO lucky to have an amazing support team: Aria, Jocelyn, Matt, and Philippe!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamscotti/sets/72157625838333722/
It's going to be a really, really good production. We've got two exceptional casts -- everyone should come twice!! The performances are January 26, 28, 29, and 30 (matinee) in Pollack Hall on Sherbrooke West in Montreal.
If you haven't found our Facebook page, it's here:
http://www.facebook.com/operamcgill
Check out some of our casts' auditions back in the fall of 2010 - interviews and snippets of their singing. We're following the process of creating opera here at Opera McGill during this entire year.
No philosophical musings on this blog -- just to say how lucky I am to be working with such talented students and SO lucky to have an amazing support team: Aria, Jocelyn, Matt, and Philippe!!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
End of Year BEST/WORST of 2010 List
So this year's not been the best for my blog. I've feel I've not done a very good job of publishing updates - my apologies. We'll see if 2011 brings a change. My only excuse is that I've been rather busy - at Opera McGill, at Brevard, on outside directing gigs, and being a father and husband. Plus there were all of those letters of recommendation to write...
The following lists stem from my experiences with Opera during the past year, no other criteria was used. I've tried to be funny and honest. Hard to do, eh?!
PJH's BEST Opera Experiences of 2010:
10) "Hänsel und Gretel", Opera McGill: A very simple premise (children's own artwork) caused audience members to weep with joy. Garry and his dopplegänger caused critics to practically pee their pants!
9) The Dance of the Blessed Spirits from "Orpheus", Opera Memphis: Orchestra and Dancers were beautiful, as were the lights cues! Michael Ching and his vision (unique to opera) will be sorely missed down in the land of incredible BBQ.
8) "The Rake's Progress", Opera McGill: Amazing work from Mo Wachner, the chorus and terrific student performances, including Nick Shadow's demise -- Sly at his most sly and riveting.
7) Tinervia's Tarquinias' aria during Opera McGill's "Death by Aria": one of the most musical moments I've been a part of in a long while. Being musical used to be important, now it's a rare event.
6) Otto's Nemorino in "Elixir of Love", Wichita Grand Opera: His American debut in the middle of Kansas was sung impeccably well. He was also a joy to direct -- in my broken German and Italian and his English. I loved working with all of the cast members, young artists, and choristers.
5) Boheme rehearsals during the fall, Opera McGill: Such a joy to work with such amazing casts! The January 2011 performances are not to be missed.
4) Jill Gardner's Tosca, Boston Lyric Opera: Conducted by Bisantz, directed by Lefkowich, cast by Russell -- they kept the faith.
3) "The Pirates of Penzance", Janiec Opera Company at Brevard: Simply hysterical! Go cast, go orchestra, go Gately.
2) Ingrid's amazing, amazing memorized performance of our staged "Pierrot Lunaire" for MusiMars: She's fearless. The Ensemble was also FIERCE!
1) "TnT", Opera McGill: from my crazy idea to do the choreography in retrograde (skillfully done by Jana, Nico, and Garry) to the production design, to both casts' wonderful portrayals, to Mo JdS's abilities at the piano; it was such a joy to walk into rehearsal each day!
PJH's WORST Opera Experiences of 2010
10) Losing 1 of only 4 soldiers in Wichita's "Elixir" after I'd staged the four into the show: It wasn't a soldier's chorus, it was a trio...
9) Sitting through a horrid "Prendi" during Brevard auditions this December: We knew at "PREEEEEEEE-" (sung fortissimo) that she'd be a "no".
8) Renee's "Dark Hope". Aptly named.
7) Some of the tempi I've had to listen to this year: Why ignore the human beings actually doing the singing onstage?! I've found it sometimes helps to actually listen and respond. Just sayin'...
6) Mabel's Dolly Parton wig in "Pirates of Penzance": I simply couldn't see Mary's face to find her lips to see her words because all I could see was hair - EVERYWHERE!
5) My terrible upbeat at the encore of "Modern Major General"; luckily the orchestra remembered what we had rehearsed!
4) Me losing my place in the midst of Armine's Komponist in "Death by Aria"; I had to resort to playing it by ear; memo for 2011 - must get new glasses!
3) Aperghis' "Sextuor" -- the score, not the performance (go McGill ladies!) in MusiMars; total pile of terribleness...
2) Speaking of the remarkable MusiMars 2010: the Stockhausen "Inori" -- the score and the mimes. Mimes and modern music -- such a bad idea. I didn't get it, and don't want to get it, frankly. Emperor's New Clothes if you ask me!
1) Missing "A Quiet Place" at NYCO this fall: I didn't get myself to a performance and really regret missing it. Perhaps City Opera will reprise it next season?!
That's the best/worst I can do. Happy New Year Everyone!
The following lists stem from my experiences with Opera during the past year, no other criteria was used. I've tried to be funny and honest. Hard to do, eh?!
PJH's BEST Opera Experiences of 2010:
10) "Hänsel und Gretel", Opera McGill: A very simple premise (children's own artwork) caused audience members to weep with joy. Garry and his dopplegänger caused critics to practically pee their pants!
9) The Dance of the Blessed Spirits from "Orpheus", Opera Memphis: Orchestra and Dancers were beautiful, as were the lights cues! Michael Ching and his vision (unique to opera) will be sorely missed down in the land of incredible BBQ.
8) "The Rake's Progress", Opera McGill: Amazing work from Mo Wachner, the chorus and terrific student performances, including Nick Shadow's demise -- Sly at his most sly and riveting.
7) Tinervia's Tarquinias' aria during Opera McGill's "Death by Aria": one of the most musical moments I've been a part of in a long while. Being musical used to be important, now it's a rare event.
6) Otto's Nemorino in "Elixir of Love", Wichita Grand Opera: His American debut in the middle of Kansas was sung impeccably well. He was also a joy to direct -- in my broken German and Italian and his English. I loved working with all of the cast members, young artists, and choristers.
5) Boheme rehearsals during the fall, Opera McGill: Such a joy to work with such amazing casts! The January 2011 performances are not to be missed.
4) Jill Gardner's Tosca, Boston Lyric Opera: Conducted by Bisantz, directed by Lefkowich, cast by Russell -- they kept the faith.
3) "The Pirates of Penzance", Janiec Opera Company at Brevard: Simply hysterical! Go cast, go orchestra, go Gately.
2) Ingrid's amazing, amazing memorized performance of our staged "Pierrot Lunaire" for MusiMars: She's fearless. The Ensemble was also FIERCE!
1) "TnT", Opera McGill: from my crazy idea to do the choreography in retrograde (skillfully done by Jana, Nico, and Garry) to the production design, to both casts' wonderful portrayals, to Mo JdS's abilities at the piano; it was such a joy to walk into rehearsal each day!
PJH's WORST Opera Experiences of 2010
10) Losing 1 of only 4 soldiers in Wichita's "Elixir" after I'd staged the four into the show: It wasn't a soldier's chorus, it was a trio...
9) Sitting through a horrid "Prendi" during Brevard auditions this December: We knew at "PREEEEEEEE-" (sung fortissimo) that she'd be a "no".
8) Renee's "Dark Hope". Aptly named.
7) Some of the tempi I've had to listen to this year: Why ignore the human beings actually doing the singing onstage?! I've found it sometimes helps to actually listen and respond. Just sayin'...
6) Mabel's Dolly Parton wig in "Pirates of Penzance": I simply couldn't see Mary's face to find her lips to see her words because all I could see was hair - EVERYWHERE!
5) My terrible upbeat at the encore of "Modern Major General"; luckily the orchestra remembered what we had rehearsed!
4) Me losing my place in the midst of Armine's Komponist in "Death by Aria"; I had to resort to playing it by ear; memo for 2011 - must get new glasses!
3) Aperghis' "Sextuor" -- the score, not the performance (go McGill ladies!) in MusiMars; total pile of terribleness...
2) Speaking of the remarkable MusiMars 2010: the Stockhausen "Inori" -- the score and the mimes. Mimes and modern music -- such a bad idea. I didn't get it, and don't want to get it, frankly. Emperor's New Clothes if you ask me!
1) Missing "A Quiet Place" at NYCO this fall: I didn't get myself to a performance and really regret missing it. Perhaps City Opera will reprise it next season?!
That's the best/worst I can do. Happy New Year Everyone!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Girls in Black Dresses, Cowboy Boots, and Monica’s Waltz
First off, it's been a TERRIFIC audition tour so far! There are some really, really talented singers out there. It's been so exciting to sit in on these auditions! The summer of 2011 is going to be just incredible!
Secondly, please excuse the overuse of exclamation marks...
I thought I might post a list of audition "thoughts" from the road as David Gately and I travel around the U.S. hearing young singers on our annual December tour for Janiec Opera Company. These are simply my own, and are being expressed mostly to try to bring a bit of humor to this process.
1) A rare commodity: pianists who know the repertoire.
2) There are too many sopranos pursuing opera. They are like salmon swimming upstream to spawn or like stars in the evening sky (take your pick on the metaphor…)
3) The more Dr. So-And-So’s listed on a singer’s resume under voice teacher, director or conductor the less impressed I seemed to be with the audition.
4) I know who wrote “Come scoglio”, you don’t have to tell me it’s by Mozart.
5) There are so few men auditioning anymore that each seems like he could be the next Nathan Gunn.
6) New look to try: Cowboy boots with a suit and tie. Each one of the guys with this look got put onto the Yes list.
7) Monica’s Waltz is a terrible aria - to sing and to listen to.
8) So far almost 75% of our ladies wore black dresses, more than half of those in black dresses also chose a pearl necklace of some sort.
9) Mediocrity is the new illusion: Don’t do anything special or out of the ordinary. Generic is the way to go. That way, nothing is communicated that engages anyone on any aesthetic level. It’s safe and incredibly boring and won’t get you noticed at all.
10) It is actually easy to standout from the others: Sing anything fantastically well and know what you’re singing about. Extra points for JOY!
Secondly, please excuse the overuse of exclamation marks...
I thought I might post a list of audition "thoughts" from the road as David Gately and I travel around the U.S. hearing young singers on our annual December tour for Janiec Opera Company. These are simply my own, and are being expressed mostly to try to bring a bit of humor to this process.
1) A rare commodity: pianists who know the repertoire.
2) There are too many sopranos pursuing opera. They are like salmon swimming upstream to spawn or like stars in the evening sky (take your pick on the metaphor…)
3) The more Dr. So-And-So’s listed on a singer’s resume under voice teacher, director or conductor the less impressed I seemed to be with the audition.
4) I know who wrote “Come scoglio”, you don’t have to tell me it’s by Mozart.
5) There are so few men auditioning anymore that each seems like he could be the next Nathan Gunn.
6) New look to try: Cowboy boots with a suit and tie. Each one of the guys with this look got put onto the Yes list.
7) Monica’s Waltz is a terrible aria - to sing and to listen to.
8) So far almost 75% of our ladies wore black dresses, more than half of those in black dresses also chose a pearl necklace of some sort.
9) Mediocrity is the new illusion: Don’t do anything special or out of the ordinary. Generic is the way to go. That way, nothing is communicated that engages anyone on any aesthetic level. It’s safe and incredibly boring and won’t get you noticed at all.
10) It is actually easy to standout from the others: Sing anything fantastically well and know what you’re singing about. Extra points for JOY!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Opera Lives!
After the last few operas I've seen, and I'm speaking as a ticket-buying audience member not as a producer, I'd become increasingly worried that opera was falling into a void. A void of mediocre singing/yelling, terrible language skills and acting without textual connotations (let alone, subtextual!), horrid lighting cues that verged on community theatre, incompetent conducting and pedestrian direction.
A sad state! I'd been seeing this sort of "throw-it-together" opera for awhile now... Everywhere: close at home, far from home, at opera companies with big budgets and at companies with small budgets. It was getting kinda depressing.
And then I took a flight from Plattsburgh, NY, to Boston, MA to see the Boston Lyric Opera production of Puccini's "Tosca'. The reason for my trip was to see old friends who were all involved in the production. The leading lady Jill Gardner, the director David Lefkowich, and the conductor Andrew Bisantz, were all assembled by the artistic administrator of BLO Nicholas Russell for this production. All of us had met at Glimmerglass during our summers there, and now here they were in Boston.
Honestly, I was more interested in seeing everyone than sitting through another opera - particularly when I heard the tenor had become sick and they were bringing in a sub. I also did not know the rest of the cast, and so was getting set for that "same-old" opera I had been seeing at other places around North America.
Well --- OPERA LIVES AGAIN! In spades! The BLO production just blew me away. Starting with Jill's amazing, gutsy, and wonderfully sung portrayal of the title role. I have not seen a singer give such a complete performance -- vocal, musical, and dramatic -- in years. Jill WAS Tosca. I believed every moment and she created such special ones: praying to the Madonna, flirting with her Mario, singing "Vissi d'arte" on Scarpia's temporary cot, stabbing him to death with the scissors (go David Lefkowich!), and her amazingly shocking "leap". You just had to be there to believe it. It was all done with a beautiful connection to the text, attention to Puccini's score, and gorgeous tone. BRAVA!
Supporting her in all of this was the conductor, Andrew Bisantz. I've heard him conduct lots of opera - from Little Women to Manon Lescaut, and was not surprised at how adept he was with this score. I think Puccini might be his forte, as it all seemed to flow effortlessly; sculpting a beautiful performance from orchestra and singers alike, he allowed his leading singers ample freedom to express this tricky score. It's too bad that the Met seems to be hiring young, inexperienced Maestri with big names and big money behind them -- instead of hiring actual conductors who know the scores because they've spent their 10,000 hours actually LEARNING how the buggers go. Note to Gelb...
Not to be missed were all of David Lefkowich's touches. This was not an original production -- rented all the way from Scottish National Opera and arriving via boat. I've only seen David work in original productions, and he flourishes in those. However, the confines presented to him really came to fruition in the 2nd act. It was simply riveting. From Scarpia getting in some good ol' fashioned gut punches on the tenor, to the vivid almost-rape of Tosca, to Scarpia's murder by scissors, I was impressed. No one moves men around onstage in Fedoras better than David Lefkowich!
The rest of the cast was also QUITE good: from Bradley Garvin's channeling of a young Milnes mixed with Hollywood good looks, to the substitute tenor of the day Richard Crawley (who threw himself into the role as if he'd been in rehearsals for weeks), to the supporting roles (T. Stephen Smith's perfect Sacristan to Anton Belov's Angelotti); that sort of deep casting comes from an artistic administrator who knows his business!
So yes, I judged an Aria Contest for Teens - with Miss Boston and her tiara - and there were numerous bottles of champagne and red wine at a dinner filled with old friends from Florida Grand Opera (a surprise). I also had an afternoon with the glorious Ruth Golden, in town to hear the opening night, and was able to see Brevard alumni Nicole Rodin sing in an outreach BLO performance plus have a Starbucks with Margot Rood. Margot's now flourishing in Boston, which is such a great place for singers with small voices...
Just kidding Margot! I'm hoping Boston will figure out what I figured out three years ago -- Margot is one of the most talented singing actors out there. BLO should hire her next...
Next up: Catherine Malfitano's McGill masterclass on November 20; Boheme starts staging at McGill on November 23; Gately and I head off for the Brevard auditions Dec. 4 - 15 (Chicago, Ft.Worth, NYC, Boston). I promise to blog from those auditions!
A sad state! I'd been seeing this sort of "throw-it-together" opera for awhile now... Everywhere: close at home, far from home, at opera companies with big budgets and at companies with small budgets. It was getting kinda depressing.
And then I took a flight from Plattsburgh, NY, to Boston, MA to see the Boston Lyric Opera production of Puccini's "Tosca'. The reason for my trip was to see old friends who were all involved in the production. The leading lady Jill Gardner, the director David Lefkowich, and the conductor Andrew Bisantz, were all assembled by the artistic administrator of BLO Nicholas Russell for this production. All of us had met at Glimmerglass during our summers there, and now here they were in Boston.
Honestly, I was more interested in seeing everyone than sitting through another opera - particularly when I heard the tenor had become sick and they were bringing in a sub. I also did not know the rest of the cast, and so was getting set for that "same-old" opera I had been seeing at other places around North America.
Well --- OPERA LIVES AGAIN! In spades! The BLO production just blew me away. Starting with Jill's amazing, gutsy, and wonderfully sung portrayal of the title role. I have not seen a singer give such a complete performance -- vocal, musical, and dramatic -- in years. Jill WAS Tosca. I believed every moment and she created such special ones: praying to the Madonna, flirting with her Mario, singing "Vissi d'arte" on Scarpia's temporary cot, stabbing him to death with the scissors (go David Lefkowich!), and her amazingly shocking "leap". You just had to be there to believe it. It was all done with a beautiful connection to the text, attention to Puccini's score, and gorgeous tone. BRAVA!
Supporting her in all of this was the conductor, Andrew Bisantz. I've heard him conduct lots of opera - from Little Women to Manon Lescaut, and was not surprised at how adept he was with this score. I think Puccini might be his forte, as it all seemed to flow effortlessly; sculpting a beautiful performance from orchestra and singers alike, he allowed his leading singers ample freedom to express this tricky score. It's too bad that the Met seems to be hiring young, inexperienced Maestri with big names and big money behind them -- instead of hiring actual conductors who know the scores because they've spent their 10,000 hours actually LEARNING how the buggers go. Note to Gelb...
Not to be missed were all of David Lefkowich's touches. This was not an original production -- rented all the way from Scottish National Opera and arriving via boat. I've only seen David work in original productions, and he flourishes in those. However, the confines presented to him really came to fruition in the 2nd act. It was simply riveting. From Scarpia getting in some good ol' fashioned gut punches on the tenor, to the vivid almost-rape of Tosca, to Scarpia's murder by scissors, I was impressed. No one moves men around onstage in Fedoras better than David Lefkowich!
The rest of the cast was also QUITE good: from Bradley Garvin's channeling of a young Milnes mixed with Hollywood good looks, to the substitute tenor of the day Richard Crawley (who threw himself into the role as if he'd been in rehearsals for weeks), to the supporting roles (T. Stephen Smith's perfect Sacristan to Anton Belov's Angelotti); that sort of deep casting comes from an artistic administrator who knows his business!
So yes, I judged an Aria Contest for Teens - with Miss Boston and her tiara - and there were numerous bottles of champagne and red wine at a dinner filled with old friends from Florida Grand Opera (a surprise). I also had an afternoon with the glorious Ruth Golden, in town to hear the opening night, and was able to see Brevard alumni Nicole Rodin sing in an outreach BLO performance plus have a Starbucks with Margot Rood. Margot's now flourishing in Boston, which is such a great place for singers with small voices...
Just kidding Margot! I'm hoping Boston will figure out what I figured out three years ago -- Margot is one of the most talented singing actors out there. BLO should hire her next...
Next up: Catherine Malfitano's McGill masterclass on November 20; Boheme starts staging at McGill on November 23; Gately and I head off for the Brevard auditions Dec. 4 - 15 (Chicago, Ft.Worth, NYC, Boston). I promise to blog from those auditions!
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