L'occasione fa il ladro TONIGHT!

Our two weeks hard work for everyone finally comes to the stage! I am very grateful to be in this production working with people who love operas(not fee, just a little HONORARIUM). Everyone has to wear many hats in order to keep the show rolling. I certainly had lots of fun hearing wrong notes from everyone and I appreciated people who dared to make them loud enough to be heard. That's what won't happen in the performance. I admire the musicians who went through all the notes I gave at their very limited free time. The difference was enormous! It is thrilling to hear an orchestra playing fast steady repeating notes very quietly!



Here are the funny quotes I have for the musicians,

1. Every note(rest) is born equally meaningful and every note(rest) deserves great care.

2. “>” doesn’t mean just to put an accent. “>” means more expressive, more meat, more vibrato. Make them elegant!

3. Clean cut offs can bring out more drama.

4. When you have a tr~~, make an opera about it.

5. Don’t rush when it’s getting louder. Don’t slow down when it’s getting softer. Piano/forte only affects the volume, not tempo.

6. Listen to your colleagues carefully, but don’t rely on them for tempo nor your entrance. Get them from the baton.

7. For Fiati: Treat “>” as just a little kick of spice!

8. For Archi: Sneak in your entrance.(No accents)

9. For Ob: make those triplets a tease to the tenor.

10. For Ob, Cl: piano(the light bulb on of Parmenione’s wicked plan to get the girl!)

11. For Cl, V1: grace notes starting on the beats and short (They are the tickles of Parmenione’s evil plan. His thought is “Such a beauty worthes every illegal move!”)

12. When in doubt, stare at Ü!

Oh! Well, time to get ready again.