On Thursday, December 13th, Long Island City High School’s journalism class and opera class went on a field trip to the Met. The purpose of the trip was to interview Anna Netrebko and Peter Gelb. We all went backstage through the whole Met and we were all able to meet Salvatore Licitra and saw him perform during his rehearsal of Verdis’ Un Ballo in Maschera. We learned some insightful things—like that everything being used in the operas, from the wardrobe to even the very last board on the floors, is made inside the Met. It’s one of those amazing once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you’d just wish you could do over and over again, it was just so intriguing. Once I saw the outcome of all the hard work and labor put into all of the productions (including Romeo and Juliet), I learned to appreciate the live HD opera event that took place at my school this last Saturday on December 15th. I can’t wait to see Hansel and Gretel. If you haven’t passed by and taken a glance at the amazing artwork that has been placed in the art gallery on the first floor, than you should really stop by and check it out. This whole week has been a learning experience, and I hope to encounter myself sharing my fun-filled learning experience with my peers live at the Met. I’m looking forward to buying tickets and watching Hansel and Gretel. Romeo and Juliet is a must see experience for audiences of all ages!

3 days to the Hansel premiere!

David Jackson is one of the Assistant Conductors on the Met’s music staff currently working on Hansel and Gretel. He will also be making his Met conducting debut with the final performance of the new production on January 31. “This is my seventh season,” Jackson said during a break in rehearsals on Wednesday, “and I’ve done two or three productions a year as a cover conductor. This season I have six productions that I cover, and then I’m conducting the last performance of the new Hansel and Gretel, which is wonderful, because [conductor] Vladimir Jurowski is a good friend who had me conduct for him before.” Having been with the company for several years, Jackson is excited to make his debut: “I’m thrilled. It’s a great honor to be entrusted with that performance, with keeping the high standards of the Met and keeping our wonderful production on its right foot.”

What are the duties of an Assistant Conductor? “There’s always a team working on a new production,” Jackson explains, “there’s always [an assistant] conductor, two pianists and a prompter, and we just put our heads together and see what needs to be done. Sometimes a singer responds better to a conductor because that person needs more rhythmic work. Another person might need more vocal or technical work. So we just try to pass things back and forth. We try to make everybody feel comfortable, especially since we have so many invited artists who are away from home. The more they feel they’re welcome, the better it is for the production.”

With this new Hansel and Gretel, Jackson feels that there are special challenges. “I think musically,” he says, “this production is kind of adventuresome. We’re trying to throw into relief the various kinds of music that are in the score. Sometimes they get, I’m not going to say glossed over, but not as drawn out. There are pieces in various keys that are in keys for a certain reason. We are trying to bring out the character of these keys, and especially the psychotic nature of the Witch music. The Witch has many different kinds of music that switch just like that from one to the other, and usually you’d probably hear a more integrated performance of the Witch scene. But here, whenever the music switches it’s going to be shockingly clear to the audience. And I think there’s a psychological reason for that. And by the way, how Richard Jones has brought it out on stage is just fantastic! So we go beyond the storyline, the Christmas-y holiday aspect, right into the psychology of the original Grimm tale.”

4 days to the Hansel premiere!

“Ding dong, the Witch is dead,” Hansel and Gretel style! In these brief video clips Elena Doria rehearses the Met Children’s Chorus in the music they will sing in the final scene of the opera.