Friday, Dec. 15, 2006
I am on the train on the way in for our General Orchestra rehearsal,
essentially our first of two dress rehearsals. While today there may be the
slightest room for stopping, at Monday’s Final Dress there will be none.

We have been on stage for 3 weeks now- a total of 13 rehearsals, the first 8
of which were with piano. Last Friday we had orchestra with us in the
theater for the first time. This was a VERY exciting day. I had forgotten
that the chorus had not yet heard the orchestration! It was fun to see them
as staggered as I was when I first heard the spectacular palette of colors
Tan paints with.

The first stage orchestra rehearsal is always a rough one as well,
especially with a new piece. It is the first time that all of the balance
issues between singers and orchestra become clear. On the music staff our
focus shifts immediately to identifying exactly where the scoring needs to
be readdressed so that the vocal line is given its prominence. Often one of
the worst places to judge balance from is the conductor’s podium, and so the
maestro must trust the ears we provide him out in the house.

For the most part Tan is very receptive to balance notes, and his score the
following day arrives with revisions that must be put into the orchestra
parts, as well as notes to himself to mind how loud the orchestra is
playing in certain spots. With some of the exotic instruments Tan has opted
to listen a little from the house while I conducted. At first we had a
small amplifier hooked up to the zheng which appears on stage several times,
but Tan decided that it was loud enough on its own. Tan also listened to
the Bass Flute which appears in the orchestra for scenes with either sex or
ghosts. It needs some very gentle amplification and the proper level was
set.

Thinking back to our first stage orchestra day though, the thing that is
most thrilling for me is that for the very first time all of the elements of
the opera are in the same room at the same time. No more imagining or
guessing. It’s all there- set, costumes, lights, orchestra, soloists,
chorus, ballet. It is what drew me to a life in the opera, and it is a fun
day!

This entry was posted by Steven Osgood on Monday, December 18th, 2006 at 3:36 am and is filed under The First Emperor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.