A Fond Farewell

Dear SIOP Participants

I hope this letter finds everyone safe and resting after our busy weeks together in Seoul. I was disappointed I could not see everyone after our final performance and did not have a chance to say “goodbye” in person. This short letter will have to do instead.

I wish to tell EVERYONE how proud I am of what each of you accomplished over the course of the program. Many of you exceeded my expectations in performance and despite the many frustrations and disappointments there may have been during the program, I do believe there was much to feel good about in the quality of the performances you gave. For me, the most important things was always the journey you would make during our weeks together.

No one ever said that opera is easy! You have all chosen, at least now, to follow a road that is full of difficulties. The point of any journey is to be a more aware person at the end of it than at the beginning. It was a very challenging experience during our weeks together, but I hope everyone can see how much they did accomplish in a short period of time, under difficult circumstances. Circumstances are usually NOT ideal in this profession, and perhaps the most valuable part of this experience is to be taken from the very challenges you faced and how you overcame them.

Thank you for all of your hard work and your dedication. Those of you that brought your positive attitudes to the program every day are the people that ensured others could find their experiences rewarding. Without you there would have been no show, no value and no bonds of friendship. I hope I will have an opportunity to see you all again soon. In the meantime, please accept all my best wishes.

Gratefully yours,

Kevin Class

Final Push

Thanks to everyone for perseverance and patience. Production week is now in full swing which means LONG days and the potential for exhaustion.

Here is a sketch of the schedule for this week (but NOT official! Make sure to pay attention to announcements for that!)

Wednesday, August 12

11:30-1pm Queens/Tamino/3 Ladies, etc. (ie. those called last night)

1-2pm Tamino/Sprecher - Recitative Scene

2-4pm TUTTI - Work through Act II Musically

6pm Piano Tech Cast A

Thursday, August 13

a.m. TBA

1-5pm Piano Tech (Notes) Cast B

6-10pm Piano Tech (Notes) Cast C

Friday, August 14

9am Orchestra Dress Cast A

1pm Ochestra Dress (Press) Cast B

6pm Orchestra Dress (Audience) Cast C

Thank you for your work on Monday with the orchestra. We did not have nearly sufficient time to rehearse with them, so I appreciate those of you who were on time and respected my instructions to be prepared to sing when called upon. Those who did not take the rehearsal seriously enough to pay attention missed their opportunities and are solely responsible for whether or not they feel comfortable with that material in the dress rehearsal.

Musical Notes Saturday August 8

Musical Notes

Die Zauberflöte – Act II


#12: 3 Ladies - Recall the phrasing and word emphasis we have worked on in the past. “Tamino dir ist TOD geschworen!”

-better on “Man zischelt viel…” again, remember to breathe early.

Tutti: - keep short notes SHORT on: “er denket was er sprechen kann”

#13: Monostatos: -if you get ahead or behind the beat you MUST get yourself back on. There is no possibility for the orchestra to adjust to you here. It is not about watching me, just listen to the pulse of the orchestra.

#16: 3 Knaben: SO much better after we rehearsed. Please REMEMBER all the things we have talked about and rehearsed. You sing very beautifully when you express the words!

#18: Chorus: -I believe you are supposed to enter at the end of #17 so that you are already in place to begin this chorus.
-Review dynamics! “Bald fühlt der edle Jüngling…” is still FORTE.
-Be musical! “würdig sein, würdig sein, würdig sein”: each one gets softer. No crescendo on last ‘sein’ – just beautiful sound and p-pp

#20: Papageno: -1st verse: “mit Fursten mich messen” – remember the Drink cue on this fermata.
-2nd verse (drunken stooper) is a little bit slower than the other two verses.

#21:
Andante
3 Knaben: -Again, beautiful when you express the words and remember the phrasing we have worked on. “Bald prangt” still legato “bald soll” also legato.
-needs MUCH more energy ! remember you are young spirits/angels/boys!!!
-MUCH MUCH MUCH more energy at “Wahnsinn tobt ihr im Gehirne…”: Remember what your words mean and what you are doing. This should not be so pretty!

Suicide Aria:
Papageno: Andante: “weil mich nichts zurücke hält” – long note on “hält”

3 Knaben: -Be ready for “Halt ein…”

Papagena/Papageno Duet: This was a MESS! We’ll run it Monday morning in the break. Cannot do that with the orchestra. Papagena, please look over this music before Monday.

Piu Moderato: Monostatos/3 Ladies: -Do not drag “dir, grosse Königin der Nacht”

Andante: Chorus -Although it is FORTE, please still sing with a beautiful and unified sound. Review your scores and remember the dynamics (p and f). “Dank sei dir, Osiris” should be beautiful and have good phrase direction.

Transition to Allegro: “dir Isis, gebracht!” - slow down just a little.

-“die Schönheit un Weisheit mit ewiger Kron”- this is all piano

Musical Notes - Act I Friday, August 7

Musical Notes

Die Zauberflote – Act I


#1: Tamino - Energize “z” and longer vowel on “u” of “zu Hilfe”
-More time/air through Schlange

3 Ladies -“Triumph” is only a half-note. Put final –ph together on beat 3.

Allegretto: first “ei, ei wie fein” etc., should not slow down so much, don’t drag the tempo

Allegro: Breathe early and anticipate fast parts (eg. “was wollte ich darum nicht geben”)

AWatch for cute: “Du Jungling, schon und liebevoll” (and don’t drag tempo)


#2: Papageno: Enjoy color of words more. Tell story with diction, not just staging.

#3: Tamino: Long vowel on “Dies” and “wie” (ie – don’t cheat the value of the pick-up note).
-“wie” is same pitch (A flat) as “Dies”
-make second “wurde” different than first
-after “was wurde ich?” – we must see first the thought on your face, then movement (this will motivate the music [the ‘heartbeat’ in celli & bassi] to start again.)

#4: Queen: “O zittre nicht” - with more intensity/energy than “mein lieber Sohn!”
-Don’t rush “dies tiefbetrubte Mutterherz…”
-Connect with me for pickup – “zum Leiden”

#5: Tamino: -words must always sound their meaning. Use words like “Strafe”, “beklagen”, “schwach” etc.

1st Lady: more weight/time/emphasis on “Konigen” and “begnadigt”
2nd Lady: more energy on “luge”
3 Ladies: -longer “L” on “Leidenschaft”
-more time (darker sound) “Traurige” (sing the meaning of the words!)
-bigger difference between color of “Leidenschaft verwandeln: der Traurige”… and “wird freudig sein”
Tutti: start with accent on “O” and diminuendo (“O so eine Flote”)

3 Ladies: line moves to “Furstin” (“doch bestimmt die Furstin dich”)

#7: Pamina: “Bei Mannern…” - we need to hear the two-note slur articulation (ie. Slight lift between syllables) rather than long legato (think a bit more “instrumental”)

#8: Larghetto
3 Knaben: always sing with clear phrase direction
stronger on “sei standhaft”

Recitative:
Tamino: -words must be VERY solid (orchestra cannot place these chords if we don’t know where you are).
-remember recitative must ALWAYS sound like conversation NEVER like an aria. Don’t start “singing” for sake fot eh voice but rather tell a story and “talk” to other characters (just do it with pitches)
-in general, can slow a lot of this down. You’re trying to go too fast and we are losing too many important words.

ALL MEN: sing “zuruck”

Sprecher: slower still on “dich leitet Lieb’ und Tugend nicht”

Tamino: -words: “Er ist ein Unmensch, ein Tyrann!”
-more clear on “Riss nicht der Rauber, ohn’ Erbarmern”
-Longer on “o” at “O ew’ge Nacht”

Tutti/Chorus: “Bald, bald, Jungling, oder nie!”
-“Bald” is only an eighth note, don’t make it longer
-do not stress –ling of “Jungling”

“Pamino, Pamina lebet noch!”
-stress is on “mi” – do not sing “mi” and “na” with same stress.

Tamino: -watch me for pickup to Presto on “vielleicht sah er Pamino schon.”
-on second “wilde Thiere Freude…” – crescendo
-“doch, nur Pamina belibt davon” – is a little slower (depressed)

Tutti/Chorus: -Was soll das heissen?” -EVERYONE sings this!!
-dynamics (p and f) “es lebe Sarastro, der gottliche Weise” etc.