We rehearsed the Zeisl for the first hour with Bob before James arrived. As we began, he made some comments about the previous day’s rehearsals. On Sunday, he sat at a table behind James Conlon, with Ignacio, Conlon’s assistant (and our Italian diction coach), looking alternately forlorn, bored, frustrated, pleased, or angry. Last night he told us he had been “alternating between wanting to help you and wanting to strangle you.”It has to be difficult for him to be working with us on these pieces, making decisions about breaths, style and so forth to then see all that work thrown away by a conductor who tells us to breathe anywhere and who prefers that our long, sweeping phrases be broken up into short choppy ones.
But during that hour with Bob, we made music. And jokes. Someone in the soprano section sang a wrong note, and Bob commented. A soprano in the back raised her hand and said , “It was me!”
Bob, who often jokingly expounds on Catholic guilt, responded, “Oh, another Catholic. Have you met Josh?” pointing to a bass who often confesses when he makes a mistake.
A few minutes later, another soprano goofed, and said, “This time it was me. But I’m a protestant, so I know you’ll forgive me.” That brought down the house.
Bob responded, “How long have you been waiting to say that?”
Later on, he was frustrated by a lack of unity in our singing, and started in on his mantra that a chorus must be made up of leaders, with no one waiting around for someone else to start. He said that it isn’t just our chorus where this happens, but that it’s endemic, and that is “why there are so many bad, bad choruses.”
As one, the entire chorus spontaneously repeated the word “bad, bad, ba-a-a-d, b-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a!” like a chorus of bleating sheep.
I guess you had to be there.
Bob was being particularly hard on the men about some pitch issues at one point, and then looked up at the rest of us with a smile, saying, “I’m after the basses because they’ve sung the most so far, but you’ll get your turn.”
That’s one of the best parts of working with Bob. He’s always making comments that I want to write down, so last night I did. Three or four years ago, I wrote down his priceless “Bob-isms” for an entire season. At the end of the year, I wrote a parody of Star Wars for our end-of-the-year dinner in which every single line was a “Bob-ism.”
Conlon arrived at eight, and we did a little more Zeisl for fifteen minutes. Then he dismissed us for fifteen minutes (so much time wasted) when some of the soloists came in to work with us on the Verdi. First in line was mezzo soprano Catherine Keen.
Bob was being particularly hard on the men about some pitch issues at one point, and then looked up at the rest of us with a smile, saying, “I’m after the basses because they’ve sung the most so far, but you’ll get your turn.”
That’s one of the best parts of working with Bob. He’s always making comments that I want to write down, so last night I did. Three or four years ago, I wrote down his priceless “Bob-isms” for an entire season. At the end of the year, I wrote a parody of Star Wars for our end-of-the-year dinner in which every single line was a “Bob-ism.”
Conlon arrived at eight, and we did a little more Zeisl for fifteen minutes. Then he dismissed us for fifteen minutes (so much time wasted) when some of the soloists came in to work with us on the Verdi. First in line was mezzo soprano Catherine Keen.
Next in the room was bass Morris Robinson with baritone Earle Patriarco.
Keen was in great voice, as was Robinson. I couldn’t hear Patriarco, because Robinson’s voice just plain buried him. Morris Robinson looks exactly like the linebacker he once was (at the Citadel). His voice matches. The term “basso profundo” was made for him. Last year my daughter gave me a CD of his spirituals for my birthday – wonderful.
At about 8:45 we had another break and non-chamber choir women were dismissed. The men’s choruses in Verdi were sung once again (please excuse the wandering focus -- this camera follows its instincts):
Finally, the chamber choir stayed behind to work on the Rachmaninoff Vespers with Conlon for the first time. We’ll perform them at the Cathedral Basilica in Covington on Sunday evening.
At ten o’clock we were on our way home.
Tuesday will be day four. Here's the schedule for the rest of the festival, subject, as always, to change:
Tuesday, May 13 Verdi - Chorus Call 6:30PM
Wednesday, May 14 Zeisl, Beethoven - 6:30PM Chorus Call
Thursday, May 15 Verdi (Probable overtime) Open Rehearsal - Chorus Call 6:30PM
Friday, May 16 Performance Verdi - Chorus Call TBD
Saturday, May 17 Zeisl, Beethoven - Open Rehearsal - Chorus Call 9:00AM
Zeisl, Beethoven - Performance - Chorus Call TBD
Sunday, May 18 Chamber Choir Rehearsal at Basilica from 3:30-5:00PM; Chorus Call TBD
Monday, May 19 Piano Rehearsal in LRR 7:00-10:00PM; no early call
Tuesday, May 20 Vivaldi Chamber Choir Piano rehearsal on stage from 5:30 - 6:15PM; Chorus Call for those not in Vivaldi 6:30PM
Vivaldi, Faure, Bach Open Rehearsal - Chorus Call 6:30PM
Wednesday, May 21 Berlioz - Chorus Call 6:30PM
Thursday, May 22 Vivaldi, Faure, Bach Open Rehearsal -Chorus Call 6:30PM
Friday, May 23 Performance Faure, Vivaldi, Bach (note performance order) - Chorus Call 6:30PM
Saturday, May 24 Berlioz - Open Rehearsal - Chorus Call 9:00AM
Berlioz - Performance - Chorus Call TBD
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