Wagner's Ring - Generals over, cycle 1 starts very soon

The rehearsals are over, now its time for the show. Its been quite a slog - real hard work, and I am not in the whole program, being rostered off Seigfried. Its not the notes thats the problem - its very wll written for the bass, with far greater challenges for the fiddles, celli and horns. It the concentration that is the real test. Gotterdamerung runs for just over 7 hours in this version, with two main intervals of 1:30 and 35 mins, so thats 5 hours of music. Most operas run less than 3 hours, with one or maybe 2 intervals so no more than 2:40 with a break. Rheingold is 2:40 with no break, and althought thats the "short" opera, its still a challenge to keep focus at the end. But Gotterdamerung is altogether a different kettle of fish. The last act as 1:30 and we start it 5:30 after the start of the gig. Its a marathon...

...but amazing satisfying. It keep moving, never gets stuck. The music is remarkable. Such a range of emotions, fantastic scoring, much of it quiet and intimate.

The ring is a huge finish to a huge year. I have performed 42 programs with 835 hours of playing time. No wonder I am a bit knackered!

Photo - Curtains calls after the Gotterdamerung general on 16th Nov. Yes, the full orchestra are on stage. I am in the front row, just inside the LH "house" front column as you look, just behind some of the Rhinemaidens and their wonderfully ridiculous headwear!

Wagners Ring

 

We are a month in to the Ring project - the first time it has been performed by Opera Australia. Its been done in Australia before, but never by the flagship company.

The orchestra is called rather grandly the Melbourne Ring Orchestra. Its basically Orchestra Victoria with a large number of augmenting players, many of whom are world best musicians. Its given the band a real lift, and its sounding just wonderful.

I am one of the principals, which means I am rostered off Siegfried. Its a shame I will not do the whole cycle, but ergonomically its good news as the schedule is crippling.

Pietari Inkenin is wonderful - we are very lucky to have him stand in as conductor are short notice.

The orchestral readings are over, and we have met the singers - what a cast, including:-
Brunhilde - Susan Bullock
Siegfried - Stefan Vinke
Wotan - Terte Stensvold
Siegmund - Stuart Skelton, and many more

Photo - the bass section for Rheingold in rehearsal at OV in Albert Park. We are in a long line across the back, which is how its done in Bayreuth, and other notable bands such at the Vienna Phil. But am not sure I like it - we are a long way from the celli and its difficult to get a section sound stretched out in a long line - the player at either end are a long way from one another, and more worrying from the principal bass. But seems to be working - the orchestra and the basses in particular are sounding awesome. Thats me with the Lott 2nd from Right. The section is Matthew Thorne, moi, Davin Holt, Dennis Vaughan, Emma Sullivan, Hugh Kluger and out of shot Miranda Fitzgerald and Nic Synot. And the other players not on this photo are Kylie Davies and Lowri Morgan, who were on thier way from the UK when this shot was taken.

Ouch, that hurts....

My data was a small part of an Australian study into musicians and injuries:-

Strad article on musos in pain

The results don't surprise me one bit - in fact I think they are conservative. One major issue that is not addressed in the article is that many musos will not admit to injuries for loss of a job or work. Take the case of a muso about to finish a trial for a job - they have just practiced their arse off to win the audition, then have been thro a prolonged period of pretty high stress and pressure on a trial, doing more practice than their counterparts who are not on trial.....all of which adds to the strain on the body. Are they going to admit to back twinge? Not on your life - that could well jeopardise them getting thro the trial and getting a job.

Its the same with free lancers - if you have a chronic condition I would like to think orchestras would still book you, and pay you if you had to take sick leave. But in this world of budget cuts I fear there is pressure to overlook injured players for younger, fitter musos who can get thro the work.

Its a tough world out there....but there is some help to hand, again from the Strad:-

The Strad - injury prevention

Cinderella

I have never performed a Prokofiev ballet, so have been looking forward to Cinderella for some time. Romeo and Juliet comes up quite often, but I have managed to miss those productions with TAB - one day I hope.

This is a new production blessed with choreography by ex Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Alexei Ratmansky.

The music is quirky Prokofiev - challenging to the player and listener alike. Annie O Warburton would not have been too impressed with some of his harmonic progressions and cadences, but I love it. The bass part is a mix of easy stuff with some hair raising challenging moments - the latter all being exposed, of course. I knew what was coming, as half the excerpts for the Birmingham Royal Ballet principal job in 2012 were from Cinders.

Cinderella is a light break before the heavy lifting of Wagner's Ring, which starts rehearsals at the end of September.

John Adams conducting John Adams

August has been another busy month in a busy year. By the end of August I have almost done the same hours behind a bass as the whole of 2012. By the end of the year I will have done 300 hours more than the previous year. Busy indeed.

But I am not complaining - the music scene in Australia is under financial pressure, but its so much better off that other countries. Am an determined to enjoy it while it lasts and while my body stands up to the strain.

The end of my MSO contract saw a mamoth festival of Russian music with Deigo Matheuz, a real star for the future. We did three programs in a week, featuring Stravinsky (Firebird, Petroushka and the Rite) and Tchiakovsky (Violin concerto with Baiba Skride and her amazing Strad, Roccoco Variations with Li Wei Qin (wow) and the first Piano Concerto with Nikolia Demidenko). Sixteen calls in 9 days almost killed me.

After a week off, and lots of physio, it was back to Hobart for a program of Mozart and Britten with the Tasmanian Symphony. And Barba was there too, this time playin the Britten concerto.

And this week we have had the amazing pleasure of John Adams conducting his own music. Adams is rightly respected as one of the best composers of a generation - it was an amazing privilege to work with him. And for one so talented and famous, he is remarkably humble and gracious on the podium. His music is very difficult, both in terms of notes and tricky rhythms. He told a story of a muso in the US once telling him he would go to hell, and be put in a room to play all the parts he has written over the years!!

         

A month with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra - from the Germans to the Russians

 

 

In mid July Alexander Shelley and Colin Currie popped over from the UK to do a program of Rouse and Wagner. Wagner is all the rage this year, as its 200 years since his birth. Verdi too was born in 1813, but is getting nothing like the same airplay. Der Gerettete Alberich by Rouse is a groovy piece, involving every toy in a percussionists toybox and quite a few motivs from the Ring, especially ones involving Alberich, of course. I have been listening to the Ring on Spotify (which is changing my life, its awesome) so am getting to know my Alberichs from my Mimes!! Anyway, its a good piece, if tricky. And the second half had an orchestral "reduction" of Trsitan and Isolde - it was still over an hour! My first gig with Opera Australia was Tristan, back in 2001 - and it was 5:45!! Powerful music.

Next we had the remarkable Simone Young conducting the Last Days of Socrates by Brett Dean, and Mahler 5. Wow. All Bretts music is difficult - this was no exception. We have to use timp sticks in a number of places, and the percussionsts use a bass bow on the cymbals - role reversal time! Brett came and joined the viola section for Mahler 5 - what an wonderful piece that is. Its been a year of doing pieces for the first time for me, and remarkably I had never done Mahler 5 before.

Last week was my first quiet week in the contract - with the exception of Til Eulenspiegel, I was rostered off the rest of the program of Strauss arias and Mozart. Til was fun. I like Fritsch - he was very good to me some years ago when I was principal bass with OV for the first time, in a program with a huge bass solo. Til was fun, and so too was going home at 8.14 after a very short nights work!

Another anniversary about to be commemorated is the Rite of Spring being 100 years old.

Photo - MSO Melbourne Festival marketing

Story time....and the conductor was.....

That sweat-drenched face was bearing down upon us like the archangel of vengeance himself as we almost disemboweled ourselves with feverish effort. Then suddenly, a spine-chilling wail:
"Pi-a-a-a-n-o-o! Bassi! Contrabassi! You grunt away like pigs! You sound as if you were scratching your bellies--szshrump! szshrump!" he would bellow, while, tearing at his clothes, he viciously pantomimed the scratching. "Corpo del vostro Dio! PI-A-A-NO!"

"But Maestro," a player would sometimes protest in a small, hesitant, and resentful voice. "My part is printed 'forte.' "

"What you say?" the Old Man would growl menacingly, unbelievingly, distracted for the moment from his tirade.

"It says 'forte,' " the player would reply, this time in an even smaller, more apologetic voice.

"What? Forte? FORTE?" with an air of incredulity. "What means 'forte'? Ignorante! Is a stupid word--as stupid as you! Is a thousand fortes--all kinds of fortes. Sometimes forte is pia-a-a-no, piano is forte! Accidenti! [Damn it!] You call yourself a musician? O, per Dio santissimo! You play here in THIS orchestra? In a village cafe house you belong! You don't listen to what others play. Your nose in the music--szshrump! szshrump! You hear nothing! You cover up the oboe solo! One poor oboe--one!--and you szshrump! szshrump! Where are your ears? Look at me! Contra-ba-a-ss-i!" in a long,
drawn-out wail. "Tutti! Tutti! Vergogna! [Shame!]"

Samuel Antek, _This Was Toscanini_, 1963