Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Rapping with Donizetti


We had our last chorus rehearsal at the Church last night. On Wednesday we start staging at our rehearsal space which is a big empty building that used to be a sporting goods store. The principals have arrived in town and are enjoying the low temps and driving in the snow. Our “Adina” flew in from Texas. I hope she brought her long underwear with her! I met her last night and she is very lovely. I can’t wait to hear her, and the other principals, sing in rehearsal.
The chorus as a whole is plugging along on our music and language. I know a couple of choristers who are spending the entire day going over and over their music so they will feel comfortable when they have to do staging tomorrow. I am tentatively optimistic about my knowledge of the score. There are parts where I stumble, but I think I can make it through this week with “cue cards” in my hand. I saw a few other singers holding their cards last night so I know more of us are getting weaned off the full score. It can be intimidating to put down your binder and trust your memory. A lot of the language is repeated for the chorus and so is a lot of the theme music. Problems arise when the language repeats but the music changes slightly. This happens a few times and it is tricky to remember the changes. Sometimes it helps to work the staging into the music. I have been known to remember a musical change based on my stage position or the position of a principal. Being able to act out the music is very helpful to me. My degree is in Theater, so the acting always comes easier to me than singing or dancing and I can use characterization to help with rhythm and notes. Maestro Davis commented on my dancing in the church pew last night. I had to explain that it helps me keep up with the 16th notes if I put the rhythm into my body. I don’t think that our staging director, Matthew Lata, is going to appreciate my hip-hop, so I hope I can come up with a time period appropriate movement to go with the music. Until then, I will be “rapping with Donizetti”.

Monday, January 19, 2009

New Recording Device

I recorded our rehearsal last week with an old mini-tape recorder. It was good enough to practise with but a bit irritating. I tried using my mp3 player but found it to not have enough memory so now I purchased a new digital recorder. I am praying that it is clearer than the old recorder so that I don't get a headache trying to hear the piano. With that being said, it was helpful to hear Chorus Master Duane Davis' comments and instructions over again. I should have done this from the first rehearsal. Oh, well, now that I have my spiffy new digital recorder I will be using it for every rehearsal. I play flute and piccolo with a concert band that has a rehearsal tomorrow night so I will be using my new gadget for that also. I hope I get a lot of use out of the purchase, but I don't want to be the "weirdo with the digital recorder".

Even though I could relive last weeks rehearsal over and over again, I am still having a hard time with the language. The chorus' first piece in the show is complicated as far as fitting the Italian into the music. I'm sure if we were fluent in the language it would all make sense, but I find it confusing. There are a couple of moments in another chorus piece that the music is quite fast with a lot of language which gets mumbled if you don't have it right on the 16th or 32nd note. While going over the language in rehearsal I began to feel like it was "rapping with Donizetti" as we droned on in rhythm without singing the notes. In order to remember the words, I have to "rap" it out in staccato and by phrase. I don't believe I will have a second career as an Opera Rap star, but for now it makes the memorization a little fun.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Donizetti isn't that easy

I find that learning a new composer is not as easy as it sounds. I have sung in Italian many times, but Donizetti doesn't use the same phrasing as Verdi or Puccini so it feels almost like a different language. Therefore, my memorization of The Elixir of Love is not going all that great. We have music rehearsal tonight and I plan on recording everything on my MP3 player so I can replay it all week. I always find that group rehearsals help me a lot more than studying alone or even with a vocal coach because other people can find problem areas that I might not be seeing. Sometimes the language dictates how the music is sung and we change phrasing to make it flow better; this is something that we discover in rehearsal that might not be found in private practise. I don't think anyone in this chorus is fluent in Italian, though many have been to Italy and have studied the language. It is great to be able to ask "is that a 'j' sound or a 'g' sound?" when faced with 'giu' or 'giorno'. We always strive to be accurate with the language in order to keep the integrity of the music.
For now; buongiorno.

Monday, January 5, 2009

The Elixir of Love!

The chorus rehearsals for The Elixir of Love have begun. This is my 12th production with Opera Grand Rapids and I am excited to be working on a Donizetti piece. I am always looking for new roles, languages or composers/writers to tackle. My Italian needs work, but I find it easier than French and German. For this production it is nice to see a couple of new faces in the chorus along with the "senior" members. It is always fun and exciting and challenging to start a new opera. The language obstacle adds a little danger to the mix when you are trying to get music memorized before the Maestro and Director come into town. There have been times when I was not sure what was going to come out of my mouth once I had to put the score down and rely on my memory. I would like the opportunity to do Turandot again and get it all correct next time! My second time doing Carmen was great because the music and words all came back to me and I could enjoy doing the fight scene without worrying about what I was singing. The chorus is on stage a lot in The Elixir of Love and that is always fun because we get to work more closely with the principal singers. One of the perks to being an opera chorus singer is that you get to work with professional singers who travel all over the world performing and many of them are willing to share their experiences with us. I always look forward to the rehearsal time that we get with the principal cast because that is when all the work happens and the show starts to take shape. For now we are rehearsing in our borrowed space at the local church once a week with our esteemed Chorus Master Duane Davis.