On the rehearsal spectrum of "pure run-throughs" to "mind-numbingly tedious detail work," opera rehearsals at the Northern Lights Music Festival are closer to the latter. Maestro Gavriel Heine is particular and exacting. Precise rhythm, nuanced articulation, countless dynamic changes — all this and more needs to be there.
I like it this way. For one thing, it elevates our performances from good to great. Another phenomenon I experience — and I'm sure I'm not the only one — is that by having to pay close attention to the maestro in our initial orchestra-only rehearsals, I'm in the habit of doing so by the time the singers join us. Their artistry distracts me all the same, so I can only imagine how tough it would be if I weren't in a mode of attention, concentration, and discipline.
I also find it energizing to have high expectations to meet in the mid-summer period. My regular orchestras don't perform in the summer, so apart from a few rehearsals with my brass trio, I'm on my own from June to August. I try to keep my standards up as I practice scales, long tones, etudes, and orchestral excerpts at home, but it's easy to become lax, and impossible to practice certain ensemble skills like blending as a section. So I'm grateful to play alongside professionals (many of them more advanced than me) under the baton of a professional for a couple weeks in July.
Celine Leathead, concertmaster of the festival orchestra and first violinist with the Minnesota Orchestra, shared with me her thoughts about our rehearsals. "For the students who get to play in the orchestra, including collegiate-level ones, it's like having a side-by-side experience. There are enough professionals playing that they can learn a ton. For example, figuring out where the beat falls in terms of baton movement.
"And I really enjoy working with students," she continued, "their energy and enthusiasm and love for music. In a professional group not everyone has that year after year."
Celine shares my feelings about opera orchestra playing in general: it's a wonderful treat, but quite challenging. "Playing in the orchestra for an opera is in a way the most difficult thing to do," she says. "Playing together as an orchestra is hard enough, but having to follow what's going on onstage on top of that — it's not easy."
Gwendolyn Hoberg is a classical musician and the owner of the editing and writing business Content & Contour. She lives in Moorhead, plays with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, and writes the Little Mouse fitness blog. She is also a co-author of The Walk Across North Dakota.
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