Bruckner and board games

Friends,

My sabbatical so far has seemed like a game of Monopoly, one which cannot begin until money is accurately counted and distributed, deeds are meticulously arranged by color, Community Chest and Chance cards are thoroughly shuffled and placed in their appropriate spaces on the board, the money is tucked carefully in discreet stacks on my side of the board, and a token is chosen after laboriously consideration (... the iron, the car, the hat??...).  In short, bogged down in "stuff."

There has also been study.  Bruckner 8 turns out to be a remarkable score (I know, BIG SURPRISE, right?).  One is caught between trying to conceive of the sonic landscape from the page itself - a little like picturing the terrain of Nepal from a two-dimensional map - and listening to a recording of the work, which is intimidating on the one hand and deceptive on the other.  I suggest to my students that, while preparing a particular work of one composer, one must study other works of that composer; never have I felt that more the case than for Bruckner.  So thankful that I had the honor of conducting the 7th Symphony two years ago and have done the 4th as well.  That said, it helps to have heard some of the others, 3, 5, 6 and 9.

A lot of my study, aside from the usual phrase and harmonic analysis and orchestration, has been about perceiving the geist, trying to grasp Bruckner's emotional and spiritual intent.  From a gestural standpoint, I won't want to get bogged down in micromanaging attacks, entrances and cutoffs; I need to trust the Philharmonia to execute - "A great orchestra takes care of its own business."  I start to understand Karajan's physical approach, though I don't want to imitate him.  Essentially, I need to immerse myself more in this score, in this man, in this Church, this cathedral of sound, and trust that when the time comes, on the podium, a physical approach will be revealed to me.


I have heard the piece live twice, once decades ago with Tennstedt and the Minnesota Orchestra in a performance that left me speechless, literally unable even to applaud, and two years ago with Paavo Jarvi and the Cincinnati Symphony, a performance that was sonically impressive but failed to move me as Tennstedt's did.  That doesn't necessarily mean that it was less "good" - there is much to be written about how and why we are affected, as audience members, by this or that performance, but that is another discussion.

About the Scherzo - I admit that I don't grasp the Trio and can only hope that I will get a better understanding of it through further study.  Bruckner's insistence on maintaining the formal structure of a traditional symphony while expanding its spiritual horizons is fascinating to me.  Sonata-allegro form is, as I see it, more conducive to the transformational aspect of his musical ideas.  Still, one must accept the whole, and revel in Bruckner's capacity to transcend beyond the architecture

Enough talking about the piece, time to dive back in to the score.  Thank you for allowing me to share randomness.  The road to mastery, as I have said often, is not a straight line.  It is circuitous, but both the journey itself and the destination are fulfilling beyond words.

And what are YOU studying today?  Where is your musical journey taking you?

- Mark Gibson

"Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!" An initial exploration into differences between opera and orchestra conducting

"Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!" 
An initial exploration into differences between opera and orchestral conducting.

My students at CCM are all required to spend some time with opera; working with singers, conducting recitative, experiencing staging rehearsals, conducting in a pit or in a space other than a concert stage.  This element of their training has grown in importance in recent years, not merely because we do a lot of opera at CCM and most of it has an ensemble that needs leadership.  The fact is that conducting opera is a skill apart from orchestral conducting, both physically and in terms of the role of the conductor; the skillful opera conductor will have many more tools at his/her disposal to aid them in their symphonic work.

Traditionally, the symphony conductor stands before an orchestra, on a podium, and executes the score in whatever fashion suits him/her.  S/he is accountable only to his/her view of the score.  The orchestra is bound to follow the conductor and is encouraged, or required (for better or worse) to watch the conductor as often and as intently as possible.  If there is a soloist, s/he arrives a day or two before the concert, rehearses once or twice with the orchestra and prays that either the conductor has studied the solo work and/or that the conductor might be responsive to what the soloist is trying to do.  As often as not, the soloist is disappointed on one or both counts, and simply follows along with the conductor, who, because s/he is not used to actually accommodating the wishes of a soloist, just does his/her thing.

The opera conductor usually has spent years at the piano as an assistant, playing staging rehearsals for conductors, coaching singers, working his/her way up the ladder to a position of conducting staging rehearsals with piano, slowly amassing a body of repertoire from Mozart to Puccini, in various languages, eventually being entrusted to conduct performances (after the premiere) that must conform to the principal conductor's approach ("Nachdirigieren" - "conducting after," i.e. copying the tempi and style, if not the exact gesture, of the principal conductor).  Over weeks of sheer (and often tedious) repetition, the would-be conductor learns the score and text at the piano in stagings, playing for the principal conductor, or for another assistant further up the ladder.   Given that casts in major opera houses change with some frequency, s/he, once put on the podium, may just as well be required to be flexible in interpretation, and therefore in physical gesture, while maintaining the basic shape desired by the principal conductor.  Of some importance is the fact that the assistant who takes over these performances is not necessarily (politically) in a position to demand that singers - particularly "star" singers - follow him/her, and they rarely have their own orchestra rehearsal to establish their own tempo or sound.

Thus the beginning opera conductor 1) often does not have the chance to put his/her interpretive stamp on a performance, 2) is often relegated to the role of "traffic cop," 3) must follow soloists, as opposed to lead them and 4) must demonstrate extraordinary flexibility of gesture to accommodate different singers in the same role.

Add to this mix: The conductor, be it the principal or the assistant, usually can't have orchestra play at its preferred dynamic level.  A Straussian fortissimo will have to be tempered in performance, lest the singer on stage be overwhelmed and unheard in the house.  This affects the conductor's gesture as well, either demanding frequent use of "the hand" (the infamous flat left hand awkwardly deployed to shush the orchestra) or (more prudently) encouraging the conductor to beat smaller.  Complicating matters even further, being in a pit often affects the conductor's right hand.  The pit podium is usually considerably higher than in a concert hall, and if the conductor's right hand is too high, the front stands in the pit often can't see it and the music at the same time.  Depending on the height of the pit, if the conductor beats too low, the singers can't see the gesture either.   The higher the pit, the easier it is for the orchestra to see, but the louder it gets and more difficult it is to balance with the singers.  If the conductor's head is below stage level, often s/he can't even hear the singers on stage.

 The only way to ensure that both orchestra and singers can benefit from the conductor's gesture is if his/her two hands are at different levels in space, one higher than the other.  As the singer usually has gone through weeks of staging rehearsals with the conductor and shares with Maestro a common understanding of tempo, breathing and style, s/he usually doesn't have to "follow" the conductor and therefore doesn't have to look all the time.

On stage, the symphony conductor never looks up; s/he is always looking either straight at or looking down at sections of the orchestra (when s/he is not looking down into the score).  In the pit, the conductor must look UP, in order to see singers, at the same time keeping the right DOWN, to help the orchestra.

When working with orchestra, the symphony conductor rarely has to account for breathing (other than his/her own), which is often written into the instrumental parts; in the opera pit, the conductor is constantly called on to adjust for a singer's breaths and to shape phrases to align with the singer's inflection of text.  Unfortunately, many conductors simply expect singers to breath like instrumentalists, and, not knowing the text, just beat without regard to the drama unfolding on stage.

The only way to ensure flexibility and to be able to adjust immediately to a singer's breathing or phrasing  is shrewd use of VERTICAL SPACE.  Simply put, what goes up, must come down.  Furthermore, in conducting, what goes up at a certain speed must come down at the same speed, so that if a conductor beats as s/he would normally do in a concert situation, they often risk either leaving a singer in the dust or falling behind a singer who needs to get through a phrase. Thus, the wise opera conductor will save vertical space and use every part of his/her arm/wrist/hand, subtly adjusting even the angle of the baton, to maintain an organic pulse and to efficiently and effectively guide and adjust to the singer.

This idea will be expanded upon as I prepare this chapter for the book, but I wanted at least to share initial thoughts with you as we roll out this summer's opera conducting course at CCM, "CONDUCTING MOZART OPERA: FIGARO and COSÌ," information for which I just posted on the blog.  I learned how to conduct in the opera house; I encourage all of you to explore this crucial aspect of our craft.

Mark Gibson

CONDUCTING MOZART OPERA: FIGARO and COSÌ

FOR THOSE WHO FOLLOW THIS BLOG:

Course:             CONDUCTING MOZART OPERA: Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte

Dates:                July 23-August 11, 2012

Location:            University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music

Faculty:             

Conducting faculty: Mark Gibson, Director of Orchestral Studies, CCM

       Arthur Fagen, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University 

Opera faculty:         David Adams, CCM - Italian Language and Style

                   Marie-France Lefebvre, CCM, Metropolitan Opera – Coaching

                   Ken Weiss, Washington National Opera - Coaching           

       Robin Guarino, Metropolitan Opera, CCM – Directing

       Ben Smith, Director of Opera, Baldwin-Wallace University - Directing

Description:            Join us for a unique course, focusing exclusively on the challenging craft of opera conducting.  Up to 20 conductors and pianists will be invited to participate in this one-of-a-kind experience.  Working with an internationally renowned faculty, led by Mark Gibson, Director of Orchestral Studies at CCM and Arthur Fagen, internationally renowned opera conductor, students will have daily Italian instruction, text and style sessions and conducting and coaching masterclasses.  Students will also participate in staging rehearsals, work with singers and lead orchestra rehearsals, culminating in concert performances of excerpts from two of Mozart’s greatest works, performed either in the acoustically perfect Corbett Auditorium or all’aperto in the piazza of the CCM Village (weather permitting).

There will be two sessions, running concurrently:

July 23 - August 4            Le Nozze di Figaro

July 31 - August 11            Così fan tutte

Schedule:

Session I: Le Nozze di Figaro - Monday-Friday, July 23-27;

Session II: Cosi fan tutte, July 30-August 3

9:00                                                Coffee and Bagels – Orientation and review

10:00-12:00                                    Italian class

1:00-3:00                                    1^st work session

3:30-5:30                                    2^nd work session

7:00-10:00                                    Staging rehearsals with singers

Figaro: Mon.-Wed., July 30-August 1

Cosi: August 6-8

10:00-12:00                                     Italian instruction

1:00-3:00                                    1^st session with singers

3:30-5:30                                    2^nd session with singers

7:00-10:00                                    Staging rehearsals with singers

Figaro: Thursday and Friday, August 2 and 3

Cosi: Thursday and Friday, August 9 and 10

10:00-1:00, 2:00-5:00                        Orchestra rehearsals (Friday w. singers)

Figaro: Saturday, August 4

Cosi: Saturday, August 11

10:00                                                Dress rehearsal

8:00                                                Performance

Application:            Cover letter and resume (include contact information),

Conductors – video documentation

Pianist/Coaches – audio documentation

Application fee ($40, check made payable to “University of Cincinnati”) to:

University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music

                        Attn: Sara Danner-Dukic, Program Coordinator

                        PO Box 210003

                        Cincinnati, OH 45221-0003

Tuition:              Conductors - $3000/two weeks

                        Pianist/Coaches - $2000/two weeks

Deadline:            Applications must be received by Monday, April 2^nd, 2012.  All applicants will be notified by Monday, April 16^th, of their status.  Half of the tuition fee will be due by Tuesday, May 1^st in order to secure placement in the course.