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.