Sitzprobe!

sitzen: to sit / proben: to rehearse

The singers don't always sit during the Sitzprobe, but it's a much less active rehearsal than the rest - particularly for this sometimes-physical comedy. It's a time to temporarily shelve the costumes and props and focus on the music. The singers and orchestra hear each other for the first time. Some singers go back to their scores for the Sitz, some continue to operate only from memory. It's a really individual thing, and it has a lot to do with individual styles of learning.

Sometimes the Sitz becomes a Wandel, and the performers hit their marks on the stage, not really executing the blocking but generally ending up in the area of the stage from where a certain part of the score is sung.

The Sitz is one of my favorite touchstones in the production period, and one of my least favorite days in the summer. The former because it signifies the final coming-together of all of the wonderful and various elements of an opera. The latter because the orchestra pit in our theatre is a difficult place, desperately in need of renovation and enlargement. The players approach it with a mixture of tolerance and resignation, and squeezing 28 musicians into it for two productions every summer is an exercise in flexibility, good humour, and willingness to overlook the details for the greater good. Perhaps someday I won't dread the Sitz...

Ramping Up

Friday Afternoon

A good time was had by all yesterday, recording our Volpone artist podcast. The result was longer than these things should be, but there's not enough time to do much editing. So grab a cup of coffee and settle back for a chat with us.

Download or listen here, and below at right!

Friday Evening

Overnight, the pace has quadrupled. This is nothing new, but somehow we forget it from show to show. Last night, final run-through in the rehearsal room. Typically called the "designer run" because the scenic, costume, and lighting designer get to see the piece the whole way through for the first time. But this one was also a "composer run" because John Musto arrived in time for it. Talk about ramping up the anxiety level... :)

Saturday Afternoon

This morning, we welcome the orchestra for their first rehearsal. About half of the group played this piece in its previous production, so we're starting a little further ahead than last time. Today and tomorrow we have the luxury of rehearsing in the Center for Education. Monday we move into the pit, and that's when my heart is in my throat. But I'll deal with that in a few days.

Saturday Evening

First technical rehearsal in the theatre. Some costumes, no wigs or makeup. It's all about dealing with the BMD and the "Laugh-in" windows.

Guest Blogger

The first person this season to take me up on my guest blogger offer is bass Thomas Florio - come see and hear him as Judge 3 (from Brooklyn, I believe:) in Volpone!

One of the opportunities we're given as part of the new Studio Artist program is a series of Professional Development Classes given by some of the more seasoned artists involved in the Wolf Trap Opera productions. Last week we had a wonderful masterclass with Volpone director Peter Kazaras, and a couple days ago we had a class with Sara Jobin, the conductor of Volpone, who gave us all kinds of hints, tips, and general-things-you-really-ought-to-know-as-a-young-singer. We had the opportunity to ask questions, and at one point I asked about politics in the professional opera world. As young singers we’re all told that politics can play a potentially large role in determining our careers; making the wrong impression at the wrong time with the wrong person can end your career before it’s started, and there’s very little room for error.

I asked Sara just how prevalent these politics are, when our experience at Wolf Trap thus far has shown so little. If they really do play such a large role, I wondered why we haven’t seen them here. Josh Winograde (the Administrative Fellow in charge of the Studio) and Sara looked at each other and immediately agreed that Wolf Trap is very much a special place in the world of opera. The atmosphere here is a simple one of mutual artistry and cooperation. That’s not to say this place is perfect (the drawback to being in the middle of a beautiful woodland setting is that fast food isn’t exactly around the corner), but it’s sure got a lot going for it. If you get the chance, you should come see for yourself – Volpone opens on Friday. ;-)

Always Eat the Chocolate

Total grab bag today. Things are moving very fast here (public disclosure coming soon), and there's not much time to blog, to say the least.

Quotes

"It's not even half bad." Coach Thomas Lausmann, about something... I can't remember what, but it was pertinent.

"I burned the damn popcorn. Knew I should've just eaten the chocolate." Me, during a particular severe bout of nervous eating.

This, from Sunday's New York Times, a terrific article on pianist Leon Fleisher. My favorite moment, a quote highlighted in the print version: The imperative: 'Use your fingers and your hands 'in the service of an idea.' The extrapolation, of course: 'Always use your voice in the service of an idea.'

Singer of the World

Follow our friend and Wolf Trap alum Ryan McKinny during his adventures at the Cardiff competition. Check out Ryan's bio on the official site.

Photo Shoot!

Fun today with some promotional photos of Volpone and Celia.

The Moscateers and the BMD

Above: The Moscateers.

Volpone has 4 servants. In addition to his main man Mosca, there are (left to right) Nano, Epicene, and Castrato. The Moscateers.

Quotes of the Day

From fabulous Bradon McDonald of the Mark Morris Dance Group, during his morning dance/movement class with our Studio (how lucky can we get...), responding to some difficulty with the choreography: "I understand, but I won't take the blame."

Exactly. I will remember and use this.

From our brilliant Volpone director (who, I am duly informed, does read the blog:)): "Whoever first said "the genius is in the details" must have been thinking about physical comedy!" (Actually I thought the devil was in the details, but perhaps we're just being positive here.)

Drama: Easy

Comedy: Hard

Ah, but oh so worth it!

BMD

At left, the BMD, a.k.a. the Box of Many Drawers. Stage mangement's affectionate term for the rehearsal mock-up of a large multi-facted scenic element that becomes a bed, a bridge, a courtroom witness box... you get the idea.

Today's Particularly Appropriate Word of the Day

Golconda \gahl-KAHN-duh\ noun : a rich mine; broadly : a source of great wealth. As in, Volpone's three greedy and gullible avian friends.

Anti-Opera

Saturday was my day off. (Yeah!)

Got to see my son and his girlfriend off to the prom. (Aren't they adorable?) And spent some time with my visiting in-laws who brought the most beautiful strawberries from the farm. Four hours from field to table - nothing you can buy at the grocery store can touch it.

Big Daddy Fox

Volpone (L) and Mosca hatch their scheme in Act 1 Scene 1.

I love Josh Winograde's translation of Volpone's name. (And Josh should know because he premiered the role.) "Volpe" means "fox" in Italian, and when the Italians put "...one" (pronounced oh-nay) at the end of a word, it means BIG. Josh says that Volpone means "Big Daddy Fox." And sure enough, that's apt.

This description of the title character from the libretto: Volpone is a voluptuary; he delights in all things sensual, be it gold or sex. He also has a quick sense of humor and genuinely enjoys exposing the hypocrites around him.

This week it's all Volpone all the time - a small window of pure concentration before Carmen intrudes. As of 6:30pm tonight, we've staged the entire thing. The first time around. That gives us a week to loop back and fix things that seemed like a good idea at the time. (I don't think PK reads the blog, so I'm safe.)

Seriously, after an entire opera gets "on its feet," it would be delusional to think that all of the first round of decisions were to hold. You learn a lot in those first 10 days of staging, and it makes sense to push rewind and see if all of those initial instincts were sound. And now we have a few days to do just that.

I got to have some fun today - went to rehearsal with my computer, intending to sit in the corner and attack my InBox while listening. Turns out there wasn't a pianist assigned to the ZauberKlavier. (The keyboard that magically shadows the singers so that their confidence level with the score continues to grow.)

So I got to play the piano keyboard instead of the Dell keyboard!But the most exciting thing about this photo is the truck in back of me - beginning to load in the set to the theatre!

Back from Berlin

Images and sounds from Saturday evening's fabulous Berlin Night Life:

"That Old Bilbao Moon"

Shopgirls' Duet

Mandelay

The Wolf Trap Comedian Harmonists sing "Mein Onkel Bumba"

For more photos, the program details and some audio clips, go here. Kudos to Steve Blier and cast for a memorable evening. If you missed it, there are a few tickets left for Steve's next extravaganza - Manhattan Diaries on August 11.

Back in Venice with Volpone

One of my favorite moments of the day is reading the stage management notes from the previous day's rehearsal. Included are all manner of critical and useful requests for props, rehearsal costume pieces, etc. But at the end of the report we often get quotes from rehearsal.

“They’re numbered on both sides now? Whoever came up with that – brilliant!” a tenor, on the music stands with the numbers for doors & windows, which had formerly been labeled only on the onstage side. “It’s the same on both sides? I’m so confused!” a baritone, on the same music stands. :)

Growing Pains

Not doing very well at keeping up with the blog on a daily basis, always striving to do better. But sometimes the choice lies in creating opera or talking about it.





Photos above - Berlin Night Life cast. Soloists and Comedian Harmonists.

Photos below - snapshots from rehearsal.

With Volpone in rehearsal, the Berlin Night Life performance this weekend, and the Studio program in full swing, we're trying to convince ourselves that our reach has not exceeded our grasp. Actually, it's not that bad, but we are sort of bumping into ourselves, trying to find that magic alignment of staff resources and spaces that allows us to do everything we'd like to. The daily schedule used to take up to 2 hours to create on a bad day... now 2 hours is the starting point. But it's getting a little easier each day.

The Studio seems thrilled to be here, and we're so excited about rolling out this program. And it would be delusional to think that we could increase the number of singers here by 75% with no growing pains. Then again, delusions are my life.

Nothing to Prove

Had a bad morning, but was cheered up on my way to work by this story on Weekend Edition. One of the semi-finalists in this weekend's Van Cliburn Amateur Competition talks about being an amateur musician. He appreciates the freedom of being "released from having to prove anything." Amen. All musicians - professional or amateur - do their best work when they're not trying to prove anything. But so often, those who depend on their performances for their livelihood (current or future) don't have that luxury.

Scoop

The WTOC's spring newsletter is now on the WT website. Go there for more details on our season than can be gleaned from our regular web pages.

And...

In further pursuit of lightening my mood, this from today's Quotes of the Day: Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults. (Thomas Szasz)

And, to make you happy, here's a snippet of the Comedian Harmonists and Mein Onkel Bumba (who dances a mean rumba).