4 days to the Iphigénie premiere!

Less than a week before opening night, tenor Paul Groves, who sings the role of Pylade in Iphigénie, is looking forward to the premiere: “We’ve been working on this for a month now, and everything’s coming together really well,” he said during a break from the stage rehearsal on Wednesday morning. “It’s an incredible production! The story is pretty confusing, but Stephen Wadsworth is making it very clear and easy to get as an audience member, which I think is great.” Groves is a veteran Pylade: “I’ve sung the role quite a bit. I’ve done two other productions, the first time was in 2000 in Salzburg, with Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson, and then, all last year, we did it many times in the Robert Carsen production, in Chicago, San Francisco, and in London just a few months ago. Actually, I’ve only done this opera with Susan Graham in the title role, which has been a real luxury for me. But we’ve had different baritones every time.” This time, at the Met, its another tenor. “Yes, a famous tenor!” Groves says, laughing. “You know, Plácido is one of my heroes. I’ve sung with him a lot, we did The First Emperor last year, and in 2000, the first time I sang with him, was in The Merry Widow. And before that, when I was in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, I did a lot of smaller roles when he was in the show. But it is pretty strange, when I was 15 or 16, I had all these recordings, I saw him on TV all the time, and now, when we’re on stage together, we talk about recipes for Thanksgiving and things like that. So every once in a while, I do have to pinch myself and say, OK, I’m singing with Plácido Domingo.”

Having done a lot of Gluck, Groves is quick to point out the challenges in this composer’s music. “The biggest difference between Gluck and Mozart, for example,” he explains, “is the orchestrated recitatives. In Mozart, you finish an aria, and then you get to the harpsichord, or fortepiano, and as a singer on stage you can basically do whatever you want, because all you have is a chord underneath and that’s it. In Gluck, all the recitatives are orchestrated, and that makes it a challenge, for us and for Louis Langrée, the conductor. But it also can be very exciting to work it out dramatically.” Which is one reason Groves likes to work with director Stephen Wadsworth: “I’ve done a few shows with him, and we have a great relationship. I just think he’s a brilliant director, because he studied voice, he knows opera really well, and he wants to make the text and the music fit, he really tries to tell the story. Plus he’s always in a good mood and inspiring. I wish I could do every show with him.”

6 days to the Iphigénie premiere!

The cast of Iphigénie not only features stars like Plácido Domingo and Susan Graham, but also includes two young singers from the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. One of them is mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, currently in her second year with the LYADP, who will be making her company debut on November 27 as the Second Priestess. Born in California, she grew up in Texas and has been living in New York for several years. “I went to Juilliard for my masters,” she says, coming from rehearsals on Monday night, “so I passed Lincoln Center every day.” One day, she decided to try her luck at the Met. “I just sent in a resume and then had an audition. That was it. I was already set to go to Seattle to do their program and never ever imagined that I would get in here. I think that’s actually why my audition was successful, because I wasn’t nervous, I thought, there’s no chance. And months later, they called and said, James Levine wants to hear you.” Cooke feels excited about being a part of the Met’s Young Artist Program. “It’s really ideal,” she explains, “it’s about your own personal needs, focusing on what goes into being a professional singer. You have two voice lessons a week, which in the singing world is unheard of. Most of my friends see a teacher once a month, if they can afford it. We have vocal coaching, which is wonderful, and they also bring in master class teachers—Renata Scotto, Hakan Hagegard, Benita Valente, amazing people!”

In one of the master classes last season, she met director Stephen Wadsworth, who was very impressed with the young singer, so she ended up landing a part in this new production of Iphigénie. “I think he’s the dream of a director,” Cooke says. “He’s living every moment of the show. He’s gone through all of the potential pathways, emotionally, and he’s all about being yourself. You don’t have to hit your mark, you don’t have to do the same exact thing again and again. It’s wonderful because there are all these puzzle pieces but every time can be different. And above all, he’s the nicest person on the planet!” How does she feel about making her debut opposite an opera legend like Plácido Domingo? “It’s bizzare, it’s surreal. And it’s humbling. But this whole experience has been so harmonious. You know, here’s this superstar who’s at this point in his live, and here’s, well, me, who’s new to this, and somehow we’re all on the same playing field. I look at it all and think, how did I end up with these people for my first Met experience? I think I’m still putting the pieces together—am I really here, is this really happening? I feel like sometimes in your life the stars align, and for me, that happened, because all in one moment, I ended up here. It’s been surprise after surprise after surprise. I feel very lucky.”

Lining up outside the church for the auditon.

Several hundred hopefuls lined up outside an empty church near Lincoln Center on two Saturday mornings in October hoping to be cast as one of the more than 250 male supernumeraries in War and Peace.

Patiently waiting to be called.

Many were working actors looking to keep busy during a slow time or experienced Met supers from other productions; however, the long line outside the church included a Wall Street broker, a building handyman, and a Catholic priest. Diverse, yes—but everyone had one thing in common: an excitement about appearing on the vast Met stage.

One of the experienced supers said that this season he was already appearing in the Egyptian army in Aida, and felt he had the marching thing down. (He also confided that he was of Russian heritage and hoped to be cast in the Russian Army, not the French). Another happened to see Carmen at the Met a while back and thought it’d be exciting to be in a big Met production. The rest of us, who were decidedly more pedestrian, just loved opera and wanted to experience it from the other side of the gold curtain. One common element was that everyone agreed they weren’t doing it to get rich. At about $20 per act, and a performance call after 10 pm at night, better money and hours could be found almost anywhere else.

Sasha shows how it is done.

Once inside the church Sasha Semin, a veteran Met supernumerary, who also appeared in the 2002 Met premiere of the production, led groups of 15–20 men in marching drills. He demonstrated with clean and crisp precision, “fingers in,” “chest up and out,” gaze forward!” Suddenly it wasn’t so easy. “Right face, left face, about face.” It was like a grown-up game of “Simon Sez” that defeated some who most decidedly knew right from left, but whose bodies didn’t seem to remember.

Attention!

In the middle of the audition I flashed back to my teen-age years in military school in West Virginia. Much of it spent marching: to the mess hall, football games, holiday parades, and even when I got demerits for bad behavior. Boy, did I hate it. But many years later this has the potential to be a lot of fun (provided I don’t trample the person in front of me). The happy news was that my body remembered its former military bearing, and with some concentration I could stand on one leg.

The directors make a decision; Nicky Romaniello gets measured; Kyle Zingler is photographed.

Those of us who made it through the marching drills were immediately cast and sent for costume measurements and technical reference photos with the stern warning that we were now committed to a rehearsal schedule and eight performances!