Tonight is the dress rehearsal of Benjamin Britten's opera "The Rape of Lucretia" at the Norwegian National Opera, and the end of my work as vocal coach on that particular piece. Working on a opera for the first time has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences I have had in a long time, and over the last couple of months I have turned, gradually, into a total opera geek. Maybe it is the level of talent I have been priveleged enough to work with: singers who amaze me every day, musicians who have allowed me to learn about their world, and skillful people behind the scenes in the VAST maze of the opera house. Maybe it is the music –and Benjamin Britten now really rocks my world. Maybe it is something I have found in myself –opera really does reach you in ways that other forms of entertainment don't. IT is probably a combination of all these things, but also, for me, a renewal of love of and joy in the magical aspect of "theatre" –something I thing it is so important never, never ever to lose. Listening to an orchestra warming or tuning up before a performance, watching the lights change from sunset to night, feeling the expectation at a rehearsal, the excitement when something fresh happens, the hilarity when something goes absurdly wrong: all contribute to what makes being in performing space the best place I know. For this production my job has been to listen, to focus on the words, the sounds, the pronunciation, diction and articulation. That has been the work. All the rest has been pure joy.
"The Rape of Lucretia" opens on Thursday 27th January, and runs through February
