We also worked on the "solo" part of the Schubert Hirtenchor, from the incidental music for Rosamunde, and then the chamber choir women prepared the Suscepit Israel section of the Bach Magnificat. It is meltingly beautiful, and I love singing it.
Next, the rest of the chorus arrived, and it was Miller time (Luisa Miller, that is). We went through most, if not all of it, with Ignacio, James Conlon's assistant, serving as vocal coach. (Later on, Conlon told of his recent conducting experience in Bologna, where he spent time with Ignacio's family in Palermo -- apparently with all the aunts, uncles, cousins and the rest of the clan.)
Toward the end of the opera, there is a lot singing, with the chorus interjecting here and there. Since we jump around in the score during rehearsals, we often don't understand the full musical (or dramatic) context in which we're singing. So, at the end of this tragic opera, when we all sang a rousing "Ahhhhhhhhh!" in a major key to end the piece, Bob started jumping up and down on the podium, shouting a soon-to-be-immortal Bob-ism, "Everybody's dead! That's got to be a minor chord!"
Here are some assorted scenes from the opera rehearsal in which the men's section improves on a section that had been rehearsed only once, weeks before. Also note the "visiting" male soprano in the last scene:
After the opera, we worked through the Bach Magnificat. It was pretty good, if I do say so myself. We've had two rehearsals on the piece, and it's been a couple of months since the last one. Bob commented, "That was fantastic. A chorus this big has no business doing Bach -- but you're proving that wrong."
There was one more priceless Bob-isms during the Bach. There are long melismas throughout the piece (a melisma happens when one syllable of a word has multiple notes -- in baroque music there are many, many, many notes in long, complex runs), and it's necessary to keep the rhythm precise so that all the parts line up appropriately. We often start moving our bodies or tapping our feet to keep time. Bob's comment to the tenors and basses: "I'd like to see that again, more connected this time, and with minimal head movement."
At six, we broke for dinner.
After dinner, the 130 voices of the adult chorus were joined by the 80 or so members of the May Festival Youth Chorus to work on the Mozart Requiem. This chorus is made up of an amazing group of high schoolers from all around the region -- Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. They are the best of the best.
This is their 20th season. The ensemble was formed to give young singers the opportunity to perform in a professional musical environment, and they sing regularly throughout the season with the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops, and at solo concerts throughout the region -- in addition to their performances at the May Festival. They sing one Music Hall May Festival concert each year with the adult chorus, and also shine on their own at the concert at Covington's Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.
Their director is Dr. James Bagwell, who used to be one of us back when he was one of Bob's doctoral conducting students at Indiana University. He is currently Director of the Music Program at Bard College in New York, and also is Director of Choruses for the Bard Music Festival, Music Director of the New York Repertory Singers, conductor of the Berkshire Bach Society Chorus and Orchestra.
He says the Cincinnati group is the best of the bunch. Most of them go on to college to study music, and there are many musical careers that start in the Youth Chorus. They are amazing.
Conlon arrived to conduct this part of the rehearsal. The evening opened up with Bob telling of the last time he called James. "I never know where he's going to be when I call him." The last call reached Conlon in Bologna, from which he informed Bob that the waitress at their favorite restaurant there was gone.
Conlon makes some bizarrely funny faces when he's trying to get us to sound the way he wants, and has some interesting phrases, as well. He told the sopranos at one point, "I want to get your passagios in order," and when the tenors weren't singing as lustily as he would have liked, he said (not intentionally), "Tenors, the ball's in your court." (Snickers all around the alto section.)
A chorus member had the quip of the evening. Conlon was talking about some short pick up notes that weren't getting the proper emphasis, so he commented that "short notes are important, too."
The alto next to me turned to me and said, "It not the size of the note -- it's what you do with it."
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