Here's something you might be interested in.
I got in to the see the piano dress rehearsal of Salome last night. It is impossible and unfair to review a rehearsal but I must say that Allan Glassman, in the role of Herod, is off-the-charts exciting.
I loved him in Boris Godunov as Shuisky but there weren’t many opportunities for him to show off his high notes. As Herod, he rocks!
Seeing the rehearsal brings me back to the interview with Greer Grimsley and Lise Lindstrom.
The role of Salome is a demanding one and Lise, understandably, “marked” the rehearsal last night since tonight’s rehearsal is the sitzprobe with the orchestra. “Marking” means to sing with less than full voice.
In the interview, one of the topics we covered was the athleticism it takes to sing opera at a world class level.
Lise: “I am so glad you brought up the link to athletes. It is completely fair. We train with as much intensity, dedication, and focus as a professional athlete has. We have a ‘game day’ routine before performances and we have the pressure to perform in front of a critical audience. It's not just the day of the performance but the days before and after. We need to listen to our bodies and hear what the body is telling us”.
Greer: “It’s true, except our success rate has to be much higher than an athlete. We can’t bat .350 and call that a success. We have to hit the ball out of the park 99.9 percent of the time”.
SDReader: “So you can’t miss half your free-throws like Shaq”?
Lise: “In singing opera, that’s called ‘retired’."
During the interview, one of the opera staff poked her head in and asked Greer what he wanted for dinner before the shows: beef, veggie, or fish?
Greer: “Beef. This is definitely a beef show.”
Pictured: Allan Glassman
I got in to the see the piano dress rehearsal of Salome last night. It is impossible and unfair to review a rehearsal but I must say that Allan Glassman, in the role of Herod, is off-the-charts exciting.
I loved him in Boris Godunov as Shuisky but there weren’t many opportunities for him to show off his high notes. As Herod, he rocks!
Seeing the rehearsal brings me back to the interview with Greer Grimsley and Lise Lindstrom.
The role of Salome is a demanding one and Lise, understandably, “marked” the rehearsal last night since tonight’s rehearsal is the sitzprobe with the orchestra. “Marking” means to sing with less than full voice.
In the interview, one of the topics we covered was the athleticism it takes to sing opera at a world class level.
Lise: “I am so glad you brought up the link to athletes. It is completely fair. We train with as much intensity, dedication, and focus as a professional athlete has. We have a ‘game day’ routine before performances and we have the pressure to perform in front of a critical audience. It's not just the day of the performance but the days before and after. We need to listen to our bodies and hear what the body is telling us”.
Greer: “It’s true, except our success rate has to be much higher than an athlete. We can’t bat .350 and call that a success. We have to hit the ball out of the park 99.9 percent of the time”.
SDReader: “So you can’t miss half your free-throws like Shaq”?
Lise: “In singing opera, that’s called ‘retired’."
During the interview, one of the opera staff poked her head in and asked Greer what he wanted for dinner before the shows: beef, veggie, or fish?
Greer: “Beef. This is definitely a beef show.”
Pictured: Allan Glassman